Tag - hokkaido

 
 

HOKKAIDO

Seiichi Katsurada, president of tour boat operator Shiretoko Yuransen, bows in front of the Kushiro District Court on Wednesday prior to the first hearing of his trial.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 12, 2025
Head of Hokkaido tour boat operator pleads not guilty over fatal sinking
The operator’s president apologized to the bereaved families of the accident, which left 20 passengers and crew members dead and six others unaccounted for.
Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Nov 9, 2025
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years
A surge in bear attacks in Japan may be nothing new, revealing a complex mix of ecology, policy and culture.
Fisheries minister Norikazu Suzuki announces the resumption of Japanese scallop exports to China at a news conference after a Cabinet meeting on Friday at the National Diet Building in Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Nov 7, 2025
Japan resumes scallop exports to China
China banned imports of Japanese fishery products following the release of treated water from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant into the sea.
A test launch of an upgraded Type 12 ground-launched antiship guided missile
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2025
Japan to deploy ground-based long-range missiles at four sites
The Defense Ministry plans to field ground-launched missiles in Hokkaido, as well as Shizuoka, Kumamoto and Miyazaki prefectures.
A highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak has been confirmed at a poultry farm in the city of Tainai, Niigata Prefecture, authorities said Tuesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 4, 2025
Japan confirms third bird flu outbreak of season
A total of 630,000 egg-laying chickens at a poultry farm in Niigata will be culled.
Ground Self-Defense Force personnel unload a box trap during a training exercise on wildlife damage control.
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2025
SDF to provide logistical aid for bear capture efforts
There have been over 8,000 reported bear sightings in the prefecture this fiscal year, and 50 people have suffered injuries, including three fatalities.
A front page report from November 1950 indicated that the government was in talks with French and British companies about launching television for the first time ever in Japan.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Nov 1, 2025
Japan Times 1950: Negotiations under way to bring TV to Japan
In November 1950, British and French officials were offering their broadcasting technology to help Japan launch its first television channel, pending a permit from the government.
Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 31, 2025
Russia says peace talks with Japan only possible if Tokyo abandons ‘anti-Russian course’
Soviet troops took control of four islands off Hokkaido at the end of World War II.
Flotation devices from the missing tour boat Kazu 1 drift at a rocky coastal area of the Shiretoko Peninsula in Shari, Hokkaido, in April 2022.
JAPAN
Oct 29, 2025
First hearing on fatal Hokkaido tour boat sinking set for Nov. 12
The Kazu I tour boat sank off the Shiretoko Peninsula in April 2022, killing 20 of its 26 passengers and crew members and leaving the other six missing.
Haruo Kataoka (center) applauds after being reelected as mayor of Suttsu in Hokkaido, in the town on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 29, 2025
Hokkaido town mayor backing nuclear waste survey reelected
The 76-year-old independent incumbent, Haruo Kataoka, defeated former town council member Shingo Ogushi.
Kunashiri Island is seen across the Nemuro Strait, just before sunrise from Rausu, Hokkaido. A strong earthquake struck the area at a depth of about 40 kilometers early Saturday.
JAPAN
Oct 25, 2025
Strong quake shakes Hokkaido as authorities urge vigilance
The quake, with an estimated magnitude of 5.8, measured a lower 5, the fifth-highest level on the Japanese seismic intensity scale, in the city of Nemuro.
Hokkaido Prefectural Police on Thursday seize items during a search of locations linked to the now-closed North Safari Sapporo zoo.
JAPAN
Oct 23, 2025
Police raid closed Hokkaido zoo for unauthorized land development
As of Oct. 4, 312 animals, including tigers and lions, still remain at the zoo.
Japan reported its first bird flu outbreak of the season on Wednesday, raising concerns that egg prices could rise further.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 23, 2025
Bird flu outbreak in Hokkaido raises concerns over rising egg prices
About 459,000 laying hens at poultry farm in Hokkaido will be culled to prevent further infections.
Hokkaido Gov. Naomichi Suzuki attends a meeting to tackle bird flu held in Sapporo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 22, 2025
Bird flu season begins in Japan with infection confirmed at Hokkaido farm
The Hokkaido government has started to cull some 459,000 laying hens at the farm and imposed a ban on the transportation of hens within a 10-kilometer radius.
In early October, 100 grams of autumn salmon roe in central Sapporo was priced at just below ¥2,000.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Oct 20, 2025
Prices for Hokkaido’s autumn salmon roe jump as catch numbers fall
As of early October, 100 grams of autumn salmon roe in central Sapporo was selling for just under ¥2,000.
Wind turbines along a beach in Happo, Akita Prefecture, in September 2024
BUSINESS
Oct 17, 2025
Akita urges quick resale of offshore wind sites after Mitsubishi pulls out
The fledgling offshore wind power industry is grappling with high interest rates and material costs, as well as a pushback against green policies in some countries.
Takuya Matsui, head of a library run by the town of Shari in Hokkaido, stands in July in front of the library's bulletin board filled with answers to students' questions, holding a book made by compiling the answers.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 15, 2025
Book offering life tips from Hokkaido library's bulletin board becomes nationwide hit
The library's director said a question box was set up in 2023 to expose teens to diverse ways of thinking "in today’s social media-centric world."
Family members of Yuichi Hirotsu harvest kerner grapes at their vineyard producing pinot noir, kerner and other grapes in Yoichi, Hokkaido, on Oct. 6.
JAPAN
Oct 15, 2025
A Japanese pinot noir town blessed by climate change now worries about the weather
Yoichi had its hottest summer since record-keeping began, with average temperatures of 22.1 degrees Celsius between June and August.
Ghost of Yotei, the follow-up to 2020's smash hit Ghost of Tsushima, is a violent, vengeful and engaging romp through 17th-century Hokkaido that fails to stick the landing on its most sensitive cultural material.
LIFE / Digital
Oct 11, 2025
Ghost of Yotei’s bloodstained fun sidesteps Ainu identity
Set in Ezo (modern-day Hokkaido), the highly anticipated samurai action-adventure game contains familiar thrills but subpar substance.
Children play with the AED-themed Toy Cocoro.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 7, 2025
Hokkaido company president develops defibrillator toy to promote awareness
The toy sold out soon after going on sale last autumn, but it will be available for purchase again next March.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years