Flying Cars Planned for Iwate

From The Yomiuri Shimbun:

Scheduled to open a hotel at Koiwai Farm in Shizukuishi, Iwate Prefecture, in spring 2026, JR East plans to use flying cars for transfers to and from Morioka Station on the Tohoku Shinkansen line. The company also plans to provide aerial sightseeing tours of Koiwai Farm and Mt. Iwate, intending to establish the service as a new tourism resource.

JR East formed a capital partnership in May with SkyDrive Inc., a startup that develops flying cars. For commercial operations, the company plans to use SkyDrive’s aircraft, which can carry a pilot and two passengers for a total of three people.

Nice to see that the future sky traffic jams are coming to the Inaka too.

Iwate Develops App to Report Bears

Keita Yamamori from The Yomiuri Shimbun:

The app, named Bears, allows users to report bear sightings by accessing the city’s official LINE account, which is linked to the app, then tapping “Bear Information” followed by “I saw a bear! (Report).” Users then input their name, their phone number, the date, the time, the number of bears sighted (selecting adult or cub), and the location (searchable on a map) to submit the report. The process takes about one to two minutes to complete.

Serious commentary: This is actually a good idea to build upon LINE, something that basically everyone already uses to disseminate information like this. Should also be simple to spread this to other municipalities that are having the same problems.

Unserious commentary: This is a shameful example of LGBT discrimination in Japan. Leave bears alone!