Japan says Coast Guard plane apparently not cleared for take-off before runway collision
Tokyo, JapanReuters Japanese authorities said on Wednesday a passenger jet that collided with a Coast Guard turboprop at a Tokyo airport had been given permission to land, but the smaller plane had not been cleared for take-off, based on control tower transcripts. All 379 people aboard the Japan Airlines (JAL) Airbus A350 managed to evacuate […]
Postcards: Social media inspires Japanese women to dash into rickshaw pulling
MARIKO KATSUMURA and ISSEI KATO, of Reuters, report on the rise in women rickshaw pullers on the streets of Tokyo…
Postcards: For Japan’s ageing soccer players, 80 is the new 50
KIM KYUNG-HOON, SATOSHI SUGIYAMA and TOM BATEMAN, of Reuters, report on the new over-80 division of Tokyo’s “Soccer For Life” league…
Essay: Japan is paying families a million yen to move to the countryside – but it won’t make Tokyo any smaller
In an article first published on The Conversation, PETER MATANLE, a senior lecturer in Japanese studies at the University of Sheffield in the UK, looks at the latest Japanese efforts to ease Tokyo’s overcrowding while revitalising rural areas…
China’s lockdown protests spread to campuses and cities abroad
Hong Kong, ChinaReuters Protests against China’s strict zero-COVID policy and restrictions on freedoms have spread to at least a dozen cities around the world in a show of solidarity with rare displays of defiance in China over the weekend. Expatriate dissidents and students staged small-scale vigils and protests in cities around the world including London, […]
With flowers and a gun salute, Japan bids farewell to Abe at state funeral
Tokyo, JapanReuters With flowers, prayers and a 19-gun salute, Japan honoured slain former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday at the first state funeral for a former premier in 55 years – a ceremony that has become as controversial as he was in life. The ceremony started at 2pm, with Abe’s ashes carried into the […]
Japan bids sombre farewell to slain Shinzo Abe, its longest-serving premier
Tokyo, JapanReuters With prayers, flowers and flags draped in black ribbons, Japan on Tuesday said farewell to Shinzo Abe, a polarising figure who dominated politics as the country’s longest-serving premier, before being gunned down at a campaign rally last week. Crowds packed pavements lined with a heavy police presence as the hearse carrying Abe departed […]
Tokyo June heatwave worst since 1875 as power supply creaks under strain
Tokyo, JapanReuters Japan baked under scorching temperatures for a fourth successive day on Tuesday, as the capital’s heat broke nearly 150-year-old records for June and authorities warned power supply remained tight enough to raise the spectre of cuts. The heatwave comes less than two weeks before a national election in which prices, including the cost […]
StrangeSights: A cafe for those with deadlines; French nun becomes world’s oldest person; and, ‘Elvis’ returns to Australian town…
DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
Updated: Quake in Japan kills two, halts factories, cuts power to thousands of homes
Last updated: 12.30pm, 18th March, 2022 (AEDT)Tokyo, JapanReuters A powerful earthquake off Japan’s northeast coast left thousands of homes without water and power on Thursday and forced factories to suspend operations, adding to supply chain woes for makers of smartphones, electronics and automobiles worldwide. The magnitude 7.4 tremblor struck just before midnight on Wednesday east of […]