Tag - hokkaido

 
 

HOKKAIDO

Naoki Ogi (second from left), head of a committee set up by the city of Asahikawa, Hokkaido, to reinvestigate the death of a 14-year-old junior high school girl reports the results to Asahikawa Mayor Hirosuke Imazu (left) in Asahikawa on Sunday.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 1, 2024
Reinvestigation finds Hokkaido girl's suicide caused by bullying
The reinvestigation committee said the girl, who was found frozen at a park in Asahikawa in March 2021, developed post-traumatic stress disorder from the bullying.
A potato field in summer in Hokkaido. The prefecture is a significant source of food and produced 81% of Japan's potatoes in 2022.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Jun 24, 2024
Hokkaido's farmers look for a silver lining to climate change disruption
As the prefecture becomes warmer, it could produce more apples and sweet potatoes, agricultural cooperative officials say.
Recently, Japan designated Hokkaido Prefecture (including its capital, Sapporo), Fukuoka, Tokyo and Osaka as special zones for financial and asset management businesses. Kumamoto Prefecture was also named a national strategic zone for semiconductors.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 14, 2024
International social infrastructure key to Japan’s high-tech future
Across the globe there is an ongoing search for talent, especially in high-tech sectors, and Japan is no different.
Hokkaido police are investigating the sequence of events leading to the victim's death.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 13, 2024
Suspects in high school girl’s murder used social media to extort her
The victim is believed to have used a picture of one of the suspects on social media without permission, which led to the extortion.
The Hokkaido police headquarters in Sapporo
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 12, 2024
Hokkaido police arrest two women over killing of 17-year-old
The two women are suspected of pushing Runa Murayama, a high school student, off a bridge into a river in Asahikawa in April.
Colin Croy's Japanese is still a work in progress, but he hasn't had much trouble communicating with local customers in Sapporo due to the mutual language of musical performance.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jun 10, 2024
Colin Croy: 'After I built my first pedal, I just kept making more and more'
A St. Louis transplant in Sapporo serves the Hokkaido capital's music scene with equipment repairs, upgrades and customizations.
Yuichi Nishimura is taken into police custody in Tokyo on Wednesday on suspicion of attempted fraud.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 6, 2024
Hokkaido man arrested for defrauding ‘fiancee’ with fake kidnapping scheme
The suspect, Yuichi Nishimura, allegedly enticed the victim with promises of marriage while concealing the fact that he was already married.
A white-tailed eagle is released backed to the wild in Hokkaido in February after having been treated for bird flu with human-use influenza drug.
JAPAN / Science & Health / FOCUS
Jun 6, 2024
White-tailed eagle treated with human drug returns to wild
After having been released in the wild in February, subsequent tracking verified that the bird was successfully living independently in its natural habitat.
Osaka's Umeda district. The city of Osaka and Osaka Prefecture together are among four newly designated special zones for asset management businesses where companies can complete administrative procedures solely in English.
BUSINESS
Jun 5, 2024
Japan designates four areas as asset management special zones
The four areas are Hokkaido and Sapporo, Tokyo, the prefecture and city of Osaka, and the prefecture and city of Fukuoka.
A building housing the Sapporo District Court in Sapporo
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 5, 2024
Mother denies helping daughter suspected of beheading man in Sapporo
Prosecutors claimed that the mother continued normal life while allowing the daughter to hide the head in their house.
The entrance to Maruyama Park, one of Sapporo's most popular parks for summer recreation. The Maruyama Park area is part of a designated region where Sapporo plans tougher bear countermeasures, including the possible use of bear traps.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
May 27, 2024
From coexistence to separation: Sapporo's battle with bears
An increasing number of bears in Hokkaido is forcing the prefectural capital to change its strategy for dealing with the animals.
Padres starter Yu Darvish pitches against the Braves during the second inning in Atlanta on Sunday. The Padres won 9-1, and Darvish earned his 200th pro victory between North America and Japan.
BASEBALL / MLB
May 20, 2024
Yu Darvish earns 200th career victory as Padres rout Braves
Darvish is the third pitcher with 200 wins between MLB and Japan after Hiroki Kuroda (203) and Hideo Nomo (201).
Rapidus' semiconductor foundry construction site in Chitose, Hokkaido, in December
BUSINESS
May 19, 2024
Government to consider more aid to Rapidus, industry minister says
Rapidus plans to start operating a prototype production line at the Chitose plant in April 2025 and launch mass production in 2027.
Members of the Self-Defense Forces are dispatched to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in January after a massive quake. The SDF will conduct a week-long quake drill in Hokkaido starting Monday.
JAPAN
May 19, 2024
Japan SDF to conduct drill for quake in Pacific trenches
The drill includes about 12,000 SDF members, U.S. troops in Japan and Australian military personnel and the Hokkaido prefectural government.
Under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, the Chinese government is stepping up its antiespionage crackdown.
JAPAN
May 16, 2024
Ex-Japanese university professor gets six years in prison in China
Yuan Keqin, a former professor at a university in Hokkaido, went missing in May 2019 while temporarily returning to his homeland.
Discriminatory remarks against the Ainu people by Lower House lawmaker Mio Sugita (center) have prompted calls for introducing penalties under the Ainu policy promotion law.
JAPAN
May 14, 2024
Calls grow for penalizing discriminatory remarks against Ainu
Calls strengthened after a series of discriminatory remarks by Mio Sugita, a House of Representatives lawmaker of the Liberal Democratic Party.
The Northern Lights in Nayoro, Hokkaido, on Saturday
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 13, 2024
In a rare event, the Northern Lights show up in Hokkaido
The aurora borealis was also observed across the Tohoku region.
Hanagasa Ondo folk song performers from Yamagata Prefecture take part in the Japan Parade held in Manhattan on Saturday.
JAPAN
May 12, 2024
New York hosts a Japan Parade
About 100 groups took part in the event where parade-watchers were able to enjoy traditional Japanese culture and food.
Photographer Toko Jinno is passionate about documenting the lives of Japan’s fishermen.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
May 11, 2024
Toko Jinno: 'Eating fish is common in Japan, but the lives of fishers are not so well-known'
Photographer goes behind-the-scenes of the fishing industry in hopes to inspire and educate people to support its workers.
A Rapidus factory under construction in Chitose, Hokkaido on April 26. The Tokyo-based chipmaker was set up with the aim to realize domestic production of state-of-the-art semiconductors.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
May 6, 2024
Rapidus gearing up for mass production of next-generation chips
About three years before the planned start of mass production, Rapidus faces a host of difficult challenges, especially over technology and profitability.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone. 
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan