Nipponica

ANA was commissioned to conduct part of the training that deals with preparing astronauts mentally for their space missions, looking into their skills such as leadership, teamwork and decision-making.

The training started in April last year and is expected to last through October this year. It helps candidates acquire the necessary knowledge and skills required of astronauts.

It is the first time a private company has taken part in the agency's training for an extensive period of time and JAXA said it is ramping up collaboration with private companies to sustainably offer training for future astronauts.

The Nikkei stock index closed with its largest single-day point drop in history on Monday, tumbling over 4,400 points and 12 percent, in a global market crash amid a firming yen and escalating fears of a U.S. recession triggered by disappointing economic data.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei Stock Average on Friday recorded the second-biggest daily drop in its history, as stocks extended losses following a sell-off in New York overnight.

The index plunged to 35,909.70, down 2,216.63 points, or 5.81%, marking its lowest close since Jan. 26.

Wheeee.

Kengo Naganuma, 24, lives just 40 meters away from a platform of JR Hirai Station in Tokyo's Edogawa Ward and is suspected of having targeted people there from his balcony. The police confiscated eight airsoft guns from his home.

"I wanted to shoot people and see their reactions," Naganuma was quoted as telling the police. He also told them he had done it on other occasions.

A simple lesson of cause and effect for our young friend.

The helicopter did not emit fire or smoke, and no injuries had been reported, according to police. Authorities are investigating details of the incident.

Japan should reaffirm its recognition of history in a proposed joint declaration with South Korea next year, outgoing South Korean Ambassador to Japan Yun Duk-min said in a recent interview with Jiji Press.

Yun reiterated hopes that Japanese and South Korean leaders will announce such a declaration in 2025 to mark the 60th anniversary of the normalization of bilateral diplomatic ties.

Japan has always considered its history of Korea, and all the negative aspects of it including comfort women, to be a closed book that should never be invoked. Doubt this will change that policy.

The Osaka Healthcare Pavilion at the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo is getting a lot of criticism over its English name — “Nest for Reborn” — which some native speakers say is grammatically incorrect.

However, many native English speakers have said the name is a little strange. In English, the preposition “for” should be followed by a noun, but “reborn” is an adjective, making it difficult for readers to understand the meaning of the pavilion’s name.

When officials of participating countries met in Nara City in June, “Nest for Reborn” was discussed in private conversations as “confusing English wording.” An official from Europe said the name is grammatically incorrect and not suitable for the event.

Maho Yamamoto, 27, who visited on the final day of the ride, told the Mainichi Shimbun, "Since it (the closure) was announced, I've been counting down to this day. The ride's charm is its ability to simulate space." Her mother, Kumiko, 62, said with a smile, "I'm overwhelmed with emotion. I've been bringing my daughter to Disneyland since she was little, and we used to ride it twice or three times a day. It's a bit sad, but I'm also looking forward to the new Space Mountain."

The curry bread of Japan's 7-Eleven convenience store chain has been certified by Guinness World Records as the most sold freshly made curry bread in volume in 2023, the chain's operator, Seven-Eleven Japan, said Thursday.

The bread, fried in store, logged 76,987,667 pieces sold.

And someone, somewhere today in Ireland is cashing a very big check.

You can pretty much assume what 90% of the first-time visitor's itinerary to Japan is going to be. They are going to spend some days in modern Tokyo, probably take a day trip to the Great Buddha at Kamakura, then take a bullet train to temple-y Kyoto, and if time permits, take a side trip to ancient Nara or take Instagram photos of the Torii in the sea near Hiroshima. You know the picture. All of that is pretty much a given, and the only variety in many trips is likely to be whether there is also an excursion to somewhere like Nikko (home of the Three Wise Monkeys) or Hiroshima (lest we forget) or very occasionally some places further beyond (mountain spa onsen, check), especially if there happens to have been a recent travel feature about it in the New York Times.

Why is it that visitors to Japan have such a concentrated, predictable itinerary when visitors to France are fanning out in every direction from Normandy to the Dordogne or Provence?

As a totally selfish person, I very much welcome the tourists to continue to stay on the Tokyo-Kyoto path and stay away from my part of Japan.

The mayor of Moka, Tochigi Prefecture, announced in a recent regular press conference that city employees spray painted the design on a total of 59 grates at 19 locations, mainly in areas where thefts of the grates have occurred.

In the city, there has been a string of grate thefts: 25 pieces in six cases in fiscal 2022, 40 grates on 25 occasions in fiscal 2023, and 23 in 11 cases as of the end of June this fiscal year. Without covers, vehicles and pedestrians are at risk of falling into the gutters, so measures to prevent theft were urgently needed.

The bus will travel at speeds of up to 12 kph along an 800-meter loop of road at the Haneda Innovation City complex in Ota Ward, Tokyo. For the time being, a staff member will be aboard the bus, which can carry 11 passengers, and may switch to manual operation in some situations. The bus’s operations will be monitored from a base in Ibaraki Prefecture.

Tokyo Disneyland on Wednesday closed its highly popular Space Mountain ride for renovations until 2027, its operator said, after the roller coaster traveled a total of 22.6 million kilometers since its maiden voyage in 1983, equivalent to 29 round trips between the Earth and Moon.

While its general design will not change significantly, new sound and lighting effects promise to dazzle guests even further, said Oriental Land Co., which will invest around 56 billion yen ($372 million) in the makeover.

Pour one out for one of the classics. I do trust that Oriental Land Company will actually improve the ride as their work over the past decade has usually been exceptional compared to the drastic decline of the Disney parks on the other side of the Pacific.

The main mutation of the virus currently spreading is KP.3, a subvariant derived from the omicron strain. KP.3 has strong transmission capabilities and can evade immunity, so even those who have been vaccinated or previously infected need to be cautious.

Of the past 10 waves of COVID-19, four have peaked in August. The virus has been replaced by new variants approximately every six months, and experts believe that the trend of infection spread in summer and winter will continue for the foreseeable future.

Grilled eel, a popular summer delicacy in Japan, is behind a department store food poisoning incident that has left more than 140 people sick and one dead, the store’s president said.

Shinji Kaneko of Keikyu Department Store in Yokohama – about an hour from Tokyo – apologised after the customers, who last week bought lunchboxes containing eel, suffered vomiting and diarrhoea.

Gov. Hideaki Omura appeared before 16 cosplayers from eight countries who were dressed as Naruto Uzumaki from the manga "Naruto," Ponyo from the animated film "Ponyo," Oscar from the manga "The Rose of Versailles," and other characters, with his hands spread out like airplane wings. The governor was dressed as Arale Norimaki from "Dr. Slump," which was created by famous manga artist Akira Toriyama, who passed away this spring.

Adding this to my 'images of midlife crises' folder.

Kishida said, “The situation [of Russo-Japanese relations] is very tough, but the government’s determination to resolve the issue of the four islands’ ownership and concluding a peace treaty is unshaken.”

He also said the resumption of the four-island exchange program, including letting islanders’ descendants visit their family graves, “is one of our top priorities,” and that he would continue to urge the Russian side to engage in the program.

Yeah, my money is on Russia never restarting this program until there is major structural change to the current regime in Moscow. Things are too far gone to allow goodwill programs like the former visitation scheme.

“The chief reasons behind the record-low inventory is a decline in production last year due to high temperatures combined with water shortages, and the relative cheapness of rice prices compared to prices of other crops such as wheat,” farm ministry official Hiroshi Itakura told Agence France-Presse.

“The increase in demand by foreign tourists has also contributed,” Itakura said, and added that “we are not in a situation of facing shortages of rice”.

This is the headline that would stoke the most outrage in the country. Never mess with the rice.

A veteran Japanese lawmaker known for advocating close ties with Russia is visiting Moscow for talks with senior government officials, a source close to him said Monday, in defiance of a government advisory against such trips.

Marking his second trip to the country since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Muneo Suzuki, a 76-year-old independent House of Councillors member, arrived in Russia on Sunday and is scheduled to return home on Thursday, according to the source.

His reasons for pushing Russian ties are not disclosed in the article.

Around 4:15 p.m., local fire authorities received an emergency call from a male passerby reporting that a helicopter crashed in the city of Yanagawa, Fukuoka Prefecture, and that smoke was rising from the accident site.

According to sources including the aviation department of the prefectural government of Saga, next to Fukuoka, the crashed helicopter was from the four-seater Robinson R44 type and was operated by SGC Saga Aviation Co., based in the city of Saga.