Nipponica

Japan's last three sets of "UFO-style" traffic lights will be removed from intersections in this Miyagi Prefecture capital at the end of July due to aging, but in fact, a similar set is still working in Nagoya.

These traffic lights have been popularly known as "UFO style" because of their unique shape, floating in midair while emitting green, yellow and red lights in all directions. Developed by a manufacturer in Aichi Prefecture in the 1970s, there used to be a total of around a dozen units in prefectures including Aichi and Miyagi. Local residents in Sendai who have been accustomed to them over the years are sad to say goodbye, but their "gene" is still alive in their hometown Nagoya.

I have never seen these before in real life but I do love the design. I can see that they would only work well over narrow roads due to the all the signaling being centered over the intersection, but it is quite a cool thing.

A United Airlines plane bound for Guam on Sunday returned to Chubu airport in Aichi Prefecture for an emergency landing after detecting a system malfunction during the flight, the transport ministry said.

Flight 136, a Boeing 737 aircraft, made the return landing at around 11:35 a.m. There were no injuries among the 44 passengers and six crew members on board, according to the ministry.

While everything regarding getting the plane on the ground went to plan, the increased scrutiny of Boeing and airlines make accidents like this more and more prominent in the public mind.