Tag - hokkaido

 
 

HOKKAIDO

An aurora is observed in Bihoro, Hokkaido, on Friday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Dec 2, 2023
Aurora observed in Hokkaido for first time since 2003
The aurora, which was seen Friday, was apparently the result of a massive explosion that occurred on the sun's surface about two days earlier.
Rapidus Chairman Tetsuro Higashi says engineers who had left Japan to work abroad are now joining Rapidus to help it revive the domestic chip industry.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 30, 2023
Rapidus hunts for engineers to help Japan regain faded chip glory
Securing engineers in a country with a declining population is among the most pressing issues for the company.
A boar captured in a project to connect farmers and young hunters
JAPAN
Nov 26, 2023
Efforts underway to help license holders get hunting experience
Crop damage and and dangerous animal encounters are on the rise in Japan, but active hunters are dwindling.
Tunnel construction for the Hokkaido Shinkansen has proved slow in some areas due to geological reasons and the difficulty of blasting through the earth.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Nov 20, 2023
Tight labor market puts Hokkaido Shinkansen 2030 goal in doubt
The 212-kilometer route now under construction will link cities between Hakodate, at the southern tip of the prefecture, and Sapporo.
A research team including Hokkaido University scientists has discovered the skeleton of a new dinosaur that was curled up in a position like that of a sleeping modern-day bird.
JAPAN / History
Nov 17, 2023
Team including Hokkaido University scientists unearths new dinosaur
The focal point of the discovery is that evidence of the dinosaur's behavior was preserved, something rarely seen in fossils.
A Tsuruha Holdings store in Otaru, Hokkaido. The drug store chain is considering selling the entire company for about $4 billion or even more, sources said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 15, 2023
Japan’s Tsuruha weighs sale after proxy battle with Oasis
The company is working with an adviser on the potential transaction and has reached out to some private equity firms to gauge their interest.
Blair Masters and Talisker Scott Hunter pose for a photo with their kei truck, nicknamed “KT,” outside Ebisu Circuit in Fukushima Prefecture.
LIFE / Travel / Longform
Nov 6, 2023
The little truck that could: A fresh way to tour Japan's north
Travelers have documented almost every corner of Japan. Perhaps a new kind of adventure would be doing those same journeys by different means.
In September, the Sapporo Convention Center played host to the first Adventure Travel World Summit ever to take place in Asia.
LIFE / Travel
Oct 28, 2023
Travel pros warn against diluting ‘Japaneseness’
“Don’t dilute the Japaneseness, because that’s what makes it special,” said one travel expert. “We want to come to Japan.”
A rendered image of the completed Rapidus factory being built in Chitose, Hokkaido
BUSINESS / Tech / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Oct 23, 2023
Hokkaido waits to gauge impact from upcoming Rapidus chip plant
The nationally backed effort to revive Japan’s semiconductor industry has been called the region’s largest-ever development project.
Chef Stuart Brioza (left) of San Francisco’s State Bird Provisions explores the vineyard at Domaine Takahiko in Yoichi, together with his partner, Nicole Krasinski, and their son, Jasper.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 22, 2023
A California chef's quest across Hokkaido for umami
Acclaimed chef Stuart Brioza has been to Hokkaido many times — but never with a focus like this on the island’s stunning natural bounty.
Due to the small number of priests in the Orthodox Church in Japan, some have to care for as many as five different churches.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Oct 14, 2023
Rev. Stephen Keiichi Uchida: 'Your life has value’
Rev. Stephen Keiichi Uchida serves as a priest in the Orthodox Church in Japan and leads three churches in rural Kushiro, Hokkaido.
Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto speaks to reporters in Sapporo on Friday.
JAPAN / Society
Oct 6, 2023
Sapporo to push back Winter Olympics bid to 2034 or later
Sapporo mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto will meet with the Japanese Olympic Committee next week to request the change.
ASML is the world’s only maker of very high-end semiconductor lithography equipment and is one of Europe’s most valuable technology companies.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 27, 2023
ASML to open Hokkaido facility as Japan's chipmaking push gathers steam
The maker of high-end chip equipment, which currently has eight sites in Japan, plans to grow its headcount by around 40%.
A cross-section illustration of the second Seikan Tunnel proposed by the Japan Project-Industry Council
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Sep 25, 2023
Is the plan to build a second Seikan Tunnel realistic?
Advocates suggest shorter travel times and revitalized communities, while critics worry about the price tag.
Hokkaido Gov. Naomichi Suzuki (right) visits a refrigeration facility in Monbetsu, Hokkaido, where returned stocks of scallops are piling up, on Sept. 14.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2023
Hokkaido seafood piles up in freezers following China ban
Scallops and other products are amassing in freezers at processing facilities in the prefecture, costing businesses more for storage.
Takao Masuda, executive vice president of research management at Hokkaido University, speaks at a news conference in Sapporo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 21, 2023
Hokkaido University admits misconduct by chemistry research team
Unnatural gaps and signs of data manipulation were found in research related to artificial catalysts used to facilitate chemical reactions.
New Defense Minister Minoru Kihara says Japan-U.S. joint drills are very important for strengthening the U.S. commitment to the region.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 17, 2023
Japan and U.S. boosting joint drills with eye on 'actual combat'
The exercises are intended to prepare forces in areas where a contingency could be possible, in view of military activity by China and Russia.
Rapidus CEO Atsuyoshi Koike says his ambition is to realize a "Hokkaido Valley" that can compete against Silicon Valley in size.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 12, 2023
Japan's Rapidus aims to create a chipmaking 'Hokkaido Valley'
The startup, backed with billions of dollars in taxpayer funds, is plotting a course to mass-produce 2-nanometer logic chips by 2027.
Get a taste of Hokkaido’s playfully named chan-chan yaki — or griddle-cooked salmon.
LIFE / Food & Drink / JAPANESE KITCHEN
Sep 11, 2023
Recipe: Hokkaido-style griddle-cooked salmon
This dish reflects a combination of Ainu food traditions from Hokkaido.
The Kazu I tour boat is lifted from the surface of the sea off the coast of Shari, Hokkaido, in May 2022.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2023
Hokkaido tour boat sinking caused by safety gaps, report says
The operator of the Kazu I sightseeing tour boat, which sank off Hokkaido last year, had no safety management system, according to a government report

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?