National / Politics Mar 16, 2019
Japan expanding GSDF's presence on southwestern islands with new bases and missile batteries
The move, in response to increasing Chinese military activity in the area, includes the deployment of missile systems.
National Dec 9, 2016
Kyushu Electric fires up Kagoshima reactor after governor gives OK
Kyushu Electric Power Co. restarted a nuclear reactor in Kagoshima Prefecture on Thursday after the prefectural governor, who is opposed to nuclear power, effectively permitted the move last week. Reactor No. 1 at the Sendai nuclear power complex is one of five reactors to have ...
Travel Dec 3, 2016
'Bull sumo' on the subtropical island of Tokunoshima
by Stephen Mansfield
It was 5 p.m. when my plane touched down onto the small airstrip at Tokunoshima, an island in Kagoshima Prefecture that, in its climate and fauna, bears a strong resemblance to nearby Okinawa. The warm subtropical air asserts itself the moment you leave the plane, ...
National Oct 21, 2016
2017 gubernatorial elections may pose snag to Abe's reactor restart quest
by Stephen Stapczynski
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ambition to restart the country's fleet of nuclear reactors may face further challenges from regional elections. The victory of an anti-nuclear gubernatorial candidate in Niigata on Sunday, following a similar win in Kagoshima earlier this year, is complicating the efforts of ...
National Apr 8, 2016
Bodies of last two ASDF airmen recovered from cliff in Kagoshima
by Reiji Yoshida
The bodies of the last two crew members and the wreckage of an Air Self-Defense Force airplane have been found on a cliff in Mount Takakuma, Kagoshima Prefecture, defense officials said Friday. The discovery brought the three-day search to a tragic end. On Thursday, the ...
National Aug 28, 2015
Kagoshima governor calls remark about women 'slip of the tongue'
Kagoshima Gov. Yuichiro Ito sought to explain Friday as a "slip of the tongue" an apparently discriminatory remark toward women he made the previous day in which he questioned the use of teaching trigonometry to women. "What would be the use of teaching women the ...
National Aug 19, 2015
A very small eruption was observed at Mount Sakurajima early Wednesday, the Meteorological Agency said. The eruption at 3:13 a.m. was the first observed at the 1,117-meter volcano overlooking the city of Kagoshima since the alert level was raised last week to 4 on a ...
National Jul 24, 2015
Powerful Typhoon Halola may move close to Okinawa and the Amami area of Kagoshima Prefecture from Friday night to early Saturday, and the Meteorologcal Agency warns of strong winds and high waves. The typhoon is expected to particularly batter Okinawa's Daitojima area on Friday night, ...
National Oct 1, 2014
The restart of reactors at the Sendai nuclear power plant in Kagoshima Prefecture appears unlikely before January, as the plant's operator only submitted the necessary documentation to regulators on Tuesday, months later than originally planned. Kyushu Electric Power Co. submitted roughly 600 pages of documents ...
Voices | FOREIGN AGENDA Aug 25, 2014
Use them or lose them: There's more at stake than language in reviving Ryukyuan tongues
by Patrick Heinrich
With the last speakers of the Ryukyuan languages dying out, an identity is vanishing too.
National Aug 13, 2014
The Defense Ministry asked local authorities on Tuesday for their cooperation in establishing a Ground Self-Defense Force unit on Amami-Oshima Island as part of efforts to boost the defense of remote islands in the region. Parliamentary Senior Vice Defense Minister Ryota Takeda made the request ...
National / Politics Apr 25, 2014
A House of Representatives by-election, the first national-level contest since the April 1 tax hike, will be held in Kagoshima Prefecture on Sunday to fill a seat formerly held by a ruling party lawmaker who resigned in February over illegal election campaigning. Voters are expected ...