Koji Nishimura & Kazuhito Suwa from The Asahi Shimbun:
The maximum number of hourly slots at Kansai International Airport will expand from 45 to 60, and the maximum number of daily slots at Kobe Airport will increase from 80 to 120 under the agreement.
Kobe Airport awakens and seeks a purpose for its existence.
From The Japan Times:
Narita International Airport has decided to accept imported jet fuel to deal with a shortage that has impacted foreign carriers seeking to increase flights during a surge in demand.
The airport is in the process of receiving jet fuel that a Japanese trading company has procured from abroad for its airline clients. It will be the first time Narita has used its own fueling and transport facilities to maintain supply, a spokesperson said last week while declining to give details such as the quantity of fuel to be imported.
From The Yomiuri Shimbun:
JAL was nominated by foundation members in many countries and regions after all 379 passengers and crew escaped from a JAL plane following its collision with a Japan Coast Guard aircraft at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport in January. The escape was widely hailed as a “miracle.”
Well deserved as that crash could have easily ended up with a much darker ending.
From The Yomiuri Shimbun:
Operations at Hawaii’s Hilo International Airport were halted when security screeners spotted two items that looked like grenades in a bag belonging to a man from Japan.
Officers evacuated the terminal area Tuesday morning while a bomb squad determined the grenades were inert, according to a Hawaii Police Department statement. Airport operations resumed about an hour later.
Nothing to declare, apparently.
From The Yomiuri Shimbun:
Walt Disney and Japan’s Oriental Land Company unveiled plans on Tuesday to launch a new cruise ship that will set sail from Tokyo in 2029, adding a ninth vessel to the brand’s growing fleet.
The new ship will be modeled after the Wish, the largest vessel in Disney’s fleet. OLC, the operator of Tokyo Disneyland, will also operate the new cruise vessel.
The best news of this announcement is that operations will be run by OLC, who has surpassed Disney itself in providing excellent service at their parks.
Richard A. Brooks from The Guardian:
A reportage of stations along the circular JR Yamanote line in Tokyo, capturing the hustle and bustle at the heart of the world’s biggest urban area. In service since 1885, the line is the city’s oldest, most important and most famous, with millions cramming on to the 35km (22-mile) route’s distinctive green cars every day
Some nice photography inside of the transport infrastructure that keeps Tokyo alive.
Hiroyuki Oba from The Mainichi:
It's often said in discussions about United States military bases in Okinawa and related issues that Japan is subordinate to the U.S. and lacks sovereignty. As someone who has never lived in a town hosting a U.S. base, this reporter had always thought that the blatant ruler-subordinate style of relationship under the postwar occupation had lifted.
It's been four years since I happened to witness a certain episode and began researching the activities of U.S. military aircraft above the Tokyo metropolitan region. Looking back, I think my previous views were naive.
Good article highlighting Oba's reporting over the past few years about US helicopter flights over Tokyo. These things need to be said out loud.
From Kyodo:
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.
From The Guardian:
Starting this month, the large machine with enormous arms, a crude, disproportionately small Wall-E-like head and coke-bottle eyes mounted on a truck – which can drive on rails – will be put to use for maintenance work on the company’s network.
Sometimes living in Japan feels like living back in the 1980s. In this case, and basically any time robotics in involved, this is the FUTURE I was promised. Keep being weird, JR.
From Kyodo:
SkyDrive sought to develop a flying taxi that can carry up to three people to showcase its technology at the expo as one of the event's main attractions, but it decided last month to withdraw the plan and only perform demo flights without passengers.