NEWSWORTHY
Japan's two Aegis Ashore anti-missile candidate sites run into local opposition
Located in northwestern Honshu on the Sea of Japan coast, Akita Prefecture has long been thought of in Tokyo and especially western Japan as remote — part of poet Matsuo Basho's famed "The Narrow Road to the Deep North." The prefecture is well-known for the ...
Defense Ministry starts field survey for Aegis Ashore deployment in western Japan
The Defense Ministry began a field survey at a Ground Self-Defense Force training area in Hagi, Yamaguchi Prefecture, on Monday for the envisaged deployment of the Aegis Ashore land-based missile defense system. The ministry will conduct a similar survey at a GSDF training area in ...
The municipal assembly for Abu, named in May as a potential host site, unanimously adopted a petition asking the Defense Ministry to retract its plan to deploy the missile system.
The recent discovery of an uninjured 2-year-old boy who had been missing for three days on an island in western Japan is being called a miracle.
Mother of toddler found safe in western Japan 'overcome with emotion'
The mother of a 2-year-old boy who was found safe three days after he went missing on an island in Yamaguchi Prefecture expressed her relief and joy at being reunited with her son. "I didn't think I would be able to meet him alive," Mio ...
Survival of Japanese toddler, found after being lost for three days, hailed as a miracle
The 2-year-old boy was found barefoot sitting on a mossy stone in the middle of a mountain stream, after spending 68 hours alone in temperatures topping 30 degrees Celsius.
Toddler found safe after three days missing on Yamaguchi Prefecture island
A 2-year-old boy was found safe Wednesday after going missing for three days during a visit to the small island of Yashiro in western Japan, police said.
Tourists trading in their Japan guidebooks for Instagram
Tourism is booming in Japan, but a growing number of visitors are ditching their guidebooks for an app best known for celebrity snapshots and images of food: Instagram. The social photo-sharing service is proving to be especially popular among those seeking destinations off the beaten ...
Japan's land-based missile defense plan will cost double the initial quote, Defense Ministry says
The Defense Ministry has newly estimated that two land-based missile batteries the nation aims to deploy could cost around ¥400 billion ($3.6 billion), double the initial quotation, according to a government source. If the prices of interceptor missiles and other expenses are included, the total ...
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.
Hotels and tours in western Japan see cancellations after rain disaster
Thousands of people are canceling trips to popular tourist spots in western Japan even though many of their destinations were left unscathed by the recent deadly rain disaster, local officials said Wednesday. Dogo Onsen in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, known as one of Japan's oldest hot ...
West Japan rains to be designated 'extremely severe disaster' to increase state aid subsidies
The government plans to designate the torrential rain that wreaked havoc in western Japan as a disaster of extreme severity so that subsidies for reconstruction projects can be increased.
