Asian business bloodlines on brink as lack of heirs pushes owners into arms of private equity
After 37 years in business, Shigeru Nagatomi handed over the keys in December last year. Nagatomi Pharmacy Corp., the Kyushu medical supplies shop bearing his family name, had grown to 23 dispensing pharmacies in Oita Prefecture . Nagatomi had contemplated passing the company to his ...
A court sentenced a 44-year-old YouTube content creator in the city of Oita to two years in prison on Thursday for assaulting and confining his wife at their home after he found she had been posting defamatory comments on videos he had uploaded. The Oita ...
An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 6.3 hit off Kyushu on Friday, injuring a man and disrupting some local transportation networks, authorities said. The 8:48 a.m. quake occurred at a depth of about 20 kilometers under the seabed off Miyazaki Prefecture. It measured a ...
An enormous wooden "lucky cat" has been set up at one of this year's Rugby World Cup host cities to welcome tourists ahead of the event's kickoff in September. The woodcarving of the 10-meter-long cat named "Giant Lounging Lucky Cat Fukunyan" is on display in ...
Beppu hot springs may accept tattooed visitors during Japan's Rugby World Cup and beyond
Local hot spring operators see the event as an opportunity to appeal to foreign tourists.
A wild boar was seen Sunday afternoon strolling around a residential area in Kobe, surprising passersby. The animal appeared at about 4:30 p.m. on a fenced slope in the city's Kitano district, which attracts many tourists who come to see Western-style houses. Some astonished onlookers took ...
Court rejects plea to halt reactor at Ehime's Ikata nuclear plant
A district court on Friday rejected a plea to halt Shikoku Electric Power Co.'s planned restart of a reactor at the Ikata nuclear power plant in western Japan. Residents in Oita Prefecture, which faces the plant in Ehime Prefecture across the sea, had sought a ...
Hotel association in hot spring city Beppu teams up with Airbnb
A hotel association in Beppu, Oita Prefecture, a city known for its hot springs, said Monday it will work with Airbnb Inc. to attract more tourists from abroad. A total of 111 hotels and inns that are members of the Beppu City Ryokan Hotel Association ...
Over 1,100 still living in temporary housing 12 months after Kyushu rains
More than 1,100 people are still living in temporary housing as Kyushu on Thursday marked the first year since a record heavy rainfall of 129.5 millimeters in a single hour poured upon Asakura, Fukuoka Prefecture. Over 40 people lost their lives, and two people are ...
Oita Prefecture temple holding study meetings on Islam to spread understanding
A Buddhist temple in Oita Prefecture is hosting a series of learning opportunities on Islam to give people a chance to learn about one of the world's most practiced religions. Amid an increase in the number of Muslims studying in Japan or visiting as tourists, ...
Last of six people listed as missing from Oita landslide confirmed dead
All six people listed as missing after the landslide earlier this month in Oita Prefecture have been confirmed dead, the Oita Prefectural Government said Monday. The prefectural government has identified a body part found late Sunday as belonging to the last person on the list, ...
Third body found after landslide in Kyushu; three still missing
Rescuers have found a third body at the site of last Wednesday's massive landslide in Oita Prefecture. The body was found Sunday night partially buried in mud near the home of Yu Ebuchi, 21, one of four persons listed as missing after the landslide in ...
