NEWSWORTHY
Emperor and Empress visit those affected by July rains in Okayama
Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko made a one-day trip to Okayama Prefecture on Friday and met people affected by the deadly downpours in western Japan in July. The Imperial Couple visited areas hit by torrential rains, which caused widespread landslides and flooding that killed more ...
Wooden housing that sheltered Fukushima displaced now relocated for use in rain-hit western Japan
Purpose-built wooden emergency homes constructed using a traditional nail-less building technique and used by people displaced by the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis have been relocated to Soja, Okayama Prefecture, which was recently hit by torrential rains. In early August, carpenters in Soja began putting together ...
Okayama Prefecture appeals for more tourists and volunteers to visit with dance video
Local people are calling, through a dance video, for more tourists and volunteers to travel to Okayama, one of the western Japan prefectures that sustained heavy damage in last month's torrential rains. The clip, the first in a planned series of videos designed to support ...
Mobile bookstore donates used books to those affected by west Japan rain disasters
A mobile bookstore, dubbed the "Book Bus" and operated by Value Books, spent three days from Tuesday visiting areas of western Japan that were ravaged by torrential rains last month, and provided free books to those affected by the rain disasters who are now ...
80 percent of residents did not follow evacuation advisories for Typhoon Jongdari: survey
About 80 percent of residents in western Japan did not follow evacuation advisories issued late last month in relation to Typhoon Jongdari because they believed their houses were safe, a recent survey found. The online survey, conducted on Aug. 1 and 2, covered adults in ...
A photo studio in Okayama Prefecture has offered to restore — free of charge — photos damaged by the heavy rains that ravaged western Japan last month, prompting people in the disaster-hit areas to send in tens of thousands of photos. Staffers and volunteers at ...
Typhoon swings toward Honshu, threatening to bring more misery to western Japan
More trouble projected for flood-hit western Japan as Typhoon Jongdari nears on unusual path.
Tap water supplies fully restored to rain-hit Mabicho district in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture
A water outage that had been crippling the Mabicho district in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, after it was hit hard by recent torrential rain, was fully resolved on Tuesday morning, according to the city government. Tap water supplies have now been restored to about 8,900 households ...
Kumamoto, remembering quake aid, returns favor by helping flood areas
Kumamoto Prefectural Government officials are supporting disaster relief activities in downpour-hit western prefectures to return the favor they received following powerful earthquakes in 2016. Kumamoto Prefecture and nine local governments have sent more than 160 personnel to help out in Hiroshima Prefecture and elsewhere, capitalizing ...
Hundreds of temporary housing units planned for rain-hit Ehime Prefecture and city of Kurashiki
Work has started on the construction of 158 temporary housing units in Ehime Prefecture for people whose houses were destroyed or heavily damaged by floods or landslides caused by the torrential rain that hit western Japan earlier this month. Meanwhile, the prefectural government of Okayama ...
Thousands of people are still staying at shelters, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, after special storm warnings were issued in eight prefectures in western and southwestern Japan.
The government estimates the cost of damage across the nation from weather-related events this month at almost ¥120 billion.
