Lack of aid guarantees divides prefectures over emergency business closures
The possibility of closures has prompted concerns that without financial guarantees from the central government, the impact could devastate local economies.
Osaka court rejects retrial over Wakayama curry poisoning murders
The Osaka High Court has rejected a retrial petition by an inmate who was sentenced to death for murdering four and sickening over 60 others in 1998, by poisoning curry served at a festival in Wakayama Prefecture. Lawyers for Masumi Hayashi, 58, plan to appeal ...
Health hotlines in Japan flooded with coronavirus test requests
As the new coronavirus threatens to spread through Japan, hotlines for virus-related consultations are being flooded with requests from concerned people who want to be tested. While some government authorities have taken steps to handle the situation, including by adding telephone capacity, others are expected ...
Eight more COVID-19 infections confirmed in Tokyo as Japan sees spate of domestic transmissions
As Japan struggles with a daily increase in the number of domestic cases of the COVID-19 virus, eight people in Tokyo are found to be infected.
From Tokyo to Wakayama to Okinawa, Japan on edge as COVID-19 spreads
Japan was on high alert Friday due to the rising number of confirmed COVID-19 cases nationwide, including that of two taxi drivers and a doctor, as well as the nation's first death blamed on the virus. The latest cases bring the number of people who ...
Nippon Steel to halt Wakayama blast furnace and shut down Hiroshima plant
Japan's largest steel-maker, Nippon Steel Corp., said Friday it will halt two blast furnaces, one in the city of Wakayama and another in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture, to accelerate a cutback in output amid deteriorating market conditions. The steel-maker's Kure Works in Hiroshima has two blast ...
A month of ice and fire: Japan's best winter festivals
Winter this year may have been relatively warm, but February brings a host of festive events across the country for snow-lovers and heat-seekers alike.
Rock singer Hyde joins other Japanese musicians in promoting their hometowns
When Wakayama's newsletter featured native rock star Hyde on its front cover, phones at the municipal office lit up, alarming officials. "The response to the newsletter was beyond our imagination," recalled a city official. The Wakayama Municipal Government received over 1,200 inquiries about the monthly newsletter ...
Cat under the kotatsu: Wakayama chicken meat seller runs fruity campaign to help felines
A store that sells chicken meat has launched a kooky social media campaign to leverage Japanese people's seemingly unrelated love of mikan (mandarin oranges), kotatsu heated tables and cute felines to raise funds for a network of shelter cat cafes. Nakata Chicken in Wakayama Prefecture ...
Looking to boost regional revitalization and work-style reform, local governments across Japan have entered an alliance to promote the "workation" concept of telecommuting from resorts and other vacation spots. The alliance brings together seven prefectural and 58 municipal governments to spur migration from urban to ...
On a recent summer evening, tranquility reigned in this small neighborhood in Wakayama, where nothing but the occasional barking of dogs and chirring of grasshoppers broke the peaceful silence. This rural idyll, however, was somewhat marred by the eerie sight of an empty lot that ...
Tokyo court rules against 2016 deportation order for 'Cove' dolphin activist Ric O'Barry
The Tokyo District Court ruled Thursday against a government deportation order issued to a U.S. activist opposing dolphin hunts when he tried to enter Japan three years ago. The government had argued that when Richard "Ric" O'Barry, 79, who featured in the Oscar-winning documentary "The ...
