Japan driving schools go full speed with lessons amid coronavirus scare
Driving lessons for license holders who rarely drive have been seeing greater demand amid the COVID-19 epidemic as people seek to avoid using public transportation to get to work. Paper Driver School Kitakanto in Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture, has received many applications from people who were ...
Five people are reported to have passed away from complications related to COVID-19.
Seventh Diamond Princess passenger dies as three prefectures register first coronavirus cases
A Hong Kong man who had been on the coronavirus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship has died, the Japanese health ministry said Saturday, bringing the total number of deaths from the ship to seven. The man died on Friday, the ministry said, making him the second ...
Pilot's vertigo caused deadly 2018 helicopter crash in Gunma, government report says
Transportation authorities concluded Thursday that pilot vertigo caused an August 2018 helicopter crash in a mountainous area that killed all nine crew members. Noriyuki Amagai, the 57-year-old pilot of the Bell 412EP rescue helicopter, is believed to have lost his bearings due to "spatial disorientation" ...
Maebashi Station gives students tickets to school of their dreams
With many students busy with last-minute efforts to pass entrance exams, Maebashi Station of East Japan Railway Co., or JR East, is attracting attention for distributing replica tickets bound for a person's first-choice school. The idea of making such tickets to show support for students ...
Police were hunting for a suspect in the shooting death of a 51-year-old man in an apartment building parking lot in Gunma Prefecture on Friday evening, authorities said. Keisuke Kihara was found with gunshot wounds to his head and abdomen and pronounced dead at a ...
2020 Olympics fuel race to monetize autonomous driving
One day in December, a self-driving bus in Gunma completed an 18-km run from Maebashi to Shibukawa and back, dropping fare-paying passengers off at designated stops and navigating public roads. The driver, who got the bus humming with the push of a button, stayed behind ...
Gunma likely to start vaccinating pigs as swine fever spreads through Japan
Japan will likely add Gunma to the list of pig-vaccination areas following the confirmation of swine fever in two wild boars in the prefecture, the farm ministry said Friday. The government will seek expert opinions on vaccination before the governor makes a final decision. Gunma’s ...
Relatives on Monday prayed for the victims of the 1985 Japan Airlines jumbo jet crash, the 34th anniversary of the world's deadliest single-aircraft accident. A ceremony was held in the evening in the village of Ueno, at the foot of the Osutaka Ridge in Gunma ...
Surprise eruption of Mount Asama sends authorities scrambling to get word to visitors and residents
The unexpected eruption of a volcano in a popular upland tourist district sent authorities scrambling to get word to tourists and residents on Thursday. Mount Asama spewed smoke and ash for about 20 minutes the previous evening. It last erupted in 2015, and was on ...
Ruling coalition-backed Ichita Yamamoto wins Gunma governor race
Ichita Yamamoto, a former House of Councilors member supported by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling coalition, won a gubernatorial election in Gunma Prefecture on Sunday. Yamamoto, who served as Upper House member of the Liberal Democratic Party for 24 years and also as state minister ...
With charm and color, Japanese farmer works to bring konnyaku to the world
Haruna Endo never saw it coming, but after over a decade of trial and error, she is finding success selling her konnyaku (devil's tongue) jelly by creating eye-catching products to consumers from both Japan and abroad. "It was as if I was struck by lightning," ...
