NEWSWORTHY
Fate of Miyagi's aging UFO-like traffic lights hangs in balance
The fate of UFO-like traffic lights installed in a northeastern prefecture more than 30 years ago hangs in the balance as local police consider whether they should be removed. The traffic lights in Miyagi Prefecture, famous locally for their distinctive shape, have signals visible to ...
Having taken a dip, bears spotted in places in Japan they've not been seen for years
Rumiko Hamaya, 52, of Nemuro, the easternmost city in Hokkaido, was surprised to see a brown bear swimming in nearby Lake Furen in mid-August. “It might have been swimming for about 15 minutes, dog paddling for about 800 meters,” Hamaya said. One of her colleagues ...
While rooftop beer gardens with cold glasses of one's favorite suds are the popular way among many in Japan to cool off during the hot summer and early weeks of autumn, gin, whether served neat with a bit of water, over the rocks, mixed ...
Fukushima 'ambassadors' visit Taiwan school to offer thanks for 3/11 aid
Three students from Fukushima Prefecture visited a junior high school in Taipei to offer thanks for Taiwan's reconstruction support after the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis. The three junior high and high school students, acting as "reconstruction ambassadors," called on the Taiwanese students ...
Fishing boat sinks in storm off Miyagi; crew of 18 rescued
All 18 crew members aboard a 32-meter fishing boat that started sinking Wednesday in stormy weather about 850 km east of Miyagi Prefecture were rescued by nearby vessels, according to the Japan Coast Guard. The 122-ton Koryo Maru No. 68 from Kochi Prefecture, which had ...
Prayers offered on 10th anniversary of deadly Iwate-Miyagi quake
People offered prayers Thursday as the Tohoku region marked the 10th anniversary of a major earthquake in Iwate and Miyagi prefectures that left 17 people dead and 6 unaccounted for. In Kurihara, Miyagi Prefecture, relatives of the victims and others affected by the magnitude 7.2 ...
Top court upholds tsunami death ruling against city of Higashimatsushima
The Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that found the city of Higashimatsushima, Miyagi Prefecture, responsible for the death of an elementary school student swept away by the March 2011 tsunami. Effective Wednesday, the Supreme Court's Second Petty Bench turned down the city's appeal ...
Tohoku tech firm develops fashion niche to withstand disaster
For Akio Sato, whose electronic components company and home were decimated in the massive Tohoku tsunami seven years ago, starting a fashion business that would one day receive an Imperial endorsement was all but impossible to imagine. The magnitude 9.0 earthquake and ensuing tsunami destroyed ...
Isolated deaths are on the rise in the temporary housing complexes in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures as their tsunami-shattered communities struggle to rebuild anew. The three prefectures have plans to build a combined 30,000 units of so-called disaster-recovery housing for those displaced. About 90 ...
41 structures in Tohoku preserved as witnesses to March 2011 disasters
At least 41 structures in three prefectures in Tohoku have been preserved to commemorate the damage caused by the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters, a tally shows. The structures spread across 23 municipalities in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures are being saved in ...
Tsunami-hit Okawa Elementary holds ceremony ahead of closure in March
The elementary school in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, where more than 80 pupils and teachers lost their lives to tsunami on March 11, 2011, held a closing ceremony Saturday ahead of its official closure in March. About 350 people including pupils and graduates of Okawa Elementary ...
Warning level raised on Mount Zao a week after fatal volcano eruption in Gunma
The Meteorological Agency raised the warning level on another volcano Tuesday, exactly a week after a dramatic eruption at another peak killed one man, injured nearly a dozen others and stranded scores of skiers for several hours. The agency elevated the warning on Mount Zao, ...
