From The Yomiuri Shimbun:
They said that the explosion occurred in a building on the premises where biomass fuel is brought in. It is said the employee taken to the hospital suffered burns on his hands but was conscious when being transported.
From The Mainichi:
Japan's All Nippon Airways Co. said Friday it will expand its flights between Tokyo and Europe, launching new routes connecting to Milan, Stockholm and Istanbul starting later this year to stoke demand for travel to and from Japan.
Mia Glass from The Japan Times:
The government will introduce a new preclearance system from next January, starting with tourists from Taiwan, NHK reported. Visitors will be able to complete most of their immigration screening before departure to help shorten the time taken for entry procedures on arrival, according to the report.
There are not much details on how this will function, but I doubt it will mean that Japanese immigration officers will be deployed to foreign airports like the US version of this program. I assume it will just be a more rigorous check of paperwork and perhaps receiving your passport visa sticker before boarding. Perhaps using automated immigration gates in foreign airports?
Rei Kubo from The Mainichi:
On the morning of April 10 this year, when a chill remained in the air, Muslims gathered in a residential district of the Osaka Prefecture city of Ibaraki. They were there to celebrate Eid, marking the end of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting. Altogether, about 300 people from the Middle East, Southeast Asia and other regions visited the two-story Osaka Ibaraki Mosque, which is adorned with golden decorations. During prayer, the mosque was so full that some prayed on the rooftop.
A good story of local residents accepting and befriending members of a minority community. More of this needs to happen throughout the country.
From The Japan Times:
It can pull up to six containers at a time, trundling between aircraft and airport buildings over a distance of around 2 kilometers with no driver in the cab.
The Level 4 vehicle, meaning that it does not require human interaction in certain settings — although a human driver can still request control — has been in operation since July 1.
Hiroaki Homma from The Mainichi:
A memorial marking 79 years since the Nemuro air raid by U.S. military planes near the end of World War II, which claimed the lives of approximately 400 people, was held in this north Japan city on July 15
About 30 people, including bereaved families and others concerned, gathered at Narumi Park in the center of Nemuro, where the largest number of people were killed by the bombardment, to pray for the souls of the victims and to think about the importance of peace.
You rarely hear about how the Second World War affected Hokkaido but citizen did suffer from similar raids than those in the rest of the country.
From The Yomiuri Shimbun:
The rainy season appears to have ended in the Kanto-Koshin and Tokai regions, the Japan Meteorological Agency announced Thursday.
And now the Sun rules over us all...
Julian Ryall from South China Morning Post:
Okinawa prefecture has been the hardest hit by the new strain of the virus, with hospitals reporting an average of nearly 30 infections per days. The KP. 3 variant has accounted for more than 90 per cent of Covid-19 cases nationwide, the Fuji News Network reported, leading to renewed concerns about bed shortages at medical facilities.
This thing is far from over and, to dust off a phrase from 2020, turning into the new normal. Mask up.
Donican Lam from Kyodo:
The Japanese game arcade industry, which took a significant hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has seen nearly 8,000 stores disappear over the past decade, with a 30 percent reduction in the last five years alone, a recent survey from credit research firm Teikoku Databank Ltd showed.
But claw machines have bucked the digital and console trend, with demand for prize games remaining high even during the pandemic. The Japan Amusement Industry Association says revenue from the games hit 306.2 billion yen ($1.9 billion) in fiscal 2021 and the genre now makes up nearly 70 percent of an amusement facility's overall sales.
UFO Catcher is my arch nemesis...
From The Japan Times:
Two cases of sexual crimes allegedly by people linked to the U.S. military have occurred since 2021 in Kanagawa Prefecture but were not publicly disclosed, prefectural police officials said Thursday.
The police reported both cases to the U.S. military, but the prefectural government was not aware of the incidents.
Turn out that the lack of notification of these crimes expands beyond Okinawa.
Shoko Washizu from The Mainichi:
The survey was conducted from April to May. It was initially anonymous, but was later switched to a named format. Valid responses in the latter format totaled 64,829, with 24,343 from junior high students, 7,286 from high school students and 33,200 from parents and guardians.
Asked whether the 12 single-gender prefectural high schools should become coed, 56% of junior high children said, "either is fine," while opposing views were neck and neck, with 18% saying the schools should be coed and 19% responding they shouldn't.
In contrast, 57% of high schoolers opposed coeducation across the board, with only 7% in favor and 33% indifferent. The most common answer for opposing coed school was that "both coeducational and single-gender schools should be options," cited by 35%.
This seems like a strange result and am curious about more detailed reasons that students and guardians resist coed schools and if those opinions are skewed towards one gender over another.