National Oct 7, 2019
7-year-old girl still missing after police end 16-day-long search in Yamanashi Prefecture
“We did all we could in the search,” local police chief Hisashi Inoue said. “We’re sorry that we couldn’t find her.”
National Oct 2, 2019
Hunt for missing 7-year-old girl continues in Yamanashi and Kanagawa as family releases picture
Yamanashi Prefecture authorities continued their search on Wednesday for a 7 year-old-girl who went missing last month, as family members released a photo of her taken on the day she vanished. Misaki Ogura, a first grader from the city of Narita, Chiba Prefecture, disappeared on ...
National Sep 24, 2019
Search continues for 7-year-old girl missing from Yamanashi Prefecture camp site
Police and rescuers on Tuesday continued to search for a 7-year-old girl who went missing three days ago at a mountain-side campsite in Yamanashi Prefecture. Misaki Ogura, a first grader from Narita, Chiba Prefecture, arrived at the site in the village of Doshi on Saturday, ...
National Sep 13, 2019
Shrinking Yamanashi village converts 150-year-old home into hotel in hope of reversing decline
A new hotel in a traditional wooden house has been opened in a small village in Yamanashi Prefecture in the hope of revitalizing an area that it is grappling with a declining population. The village of Kosuge, where the population has fallen by 40 percent ...
National Aug 26, 2019
A woman in her 20s was confirmed dead after being hit on her head by a falling stone while climbing Mount Fuji, Japan's highest peak, local police said Monday. An ambulance was called at around 7 a.m., reporting that the woman climbing in a group ...
Food & Drink Jul 29, 2019
World-class white wines in the shadow of Mount Fuji
by Elin Mccoy
Inside a 19th century silk merchant's house in Katsunuma, Yamanashi Prefecture, the three Aruga brothers are pouring several white wines in their timbered tasting room. All are made at their Katsunuma Jyozo Winery Co. under the Aruga Branca label from Japan's unique grape variety, ...
National Jun 19, 2019
UNESCO lists Kobushi mountains spanning Tokyo and three other prefectures as biosphere reserve
UNESCO on Wednesday added the Kobushi mountain region, which straddles part of Tokyo and three other prefectures, to its list of biosphere reserves, Japanese officials said. As of July last year, 686 areas in 122 countries have been designated as biosphere reserves — areas for ...
National Apr 26, 2019
Number of abandoned homes in Japan edges up to record high of nearly 8.5 million
Empty homes now account for 13.6 percent of Japan’s housing stock, with the bulk of them concentrated in Yamanashi and Wakayama prefectures, government data show.
National Apr 9, 2019
Japan-U.K. ties get boost with gift of thousands of cherry trees for British schools and parks
by Grace Campbell London
Thousands of cherry trees will be planted across Britain to celebrate its relationship with Japan, with a high school becoming the first site to get one. The initiative is being organized by Japanese individuals and companies in both countries as a symbol of friendship, and ...
National Mar 7, 2019
Even Mount Fuji climbers who don't plan to push for the summit will be asked to pay up
Even hikers who have no intention of reaching the summit of Mount Fuji will be asked to make a donation of ¥1,000 for stepping foot on the country's highest mountain from this summer, local prefectures said Thursday. Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures, which the 3,776-meter-high volcanic ...
National / Politics Jan 28, 2019
Ruling bloc-backed candidate Kotaro Nagasaki wins Yamanashi gubernatorial election
Former House of Representatives member Kotaro Nagasaki won the Yamanashi Prefecture gubernatorial election Sunday with support from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling bloc. Nagasaki, 50, who ran as an independent but with recommendations from the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner Komeito, defeated three ...
Food & Drink Jan 12, 2019
Old-fashioned wine techniques for a forward-looking region
by Dave Hueston
In the countryside of Katsunuma, Yamanashi Prefecture, just north of Mount Fuji, a family-run operation has been making wine the old-fashioned way for almost 100 years: squeezing grapes by hand inside wooden presses. Every year in mid-October, Hitoshi Mitsumori, 54, along with his wife Kaori, ...