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December 22, 2024
 

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OKAYAMA

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announces measures to counter the spread of "forever chemicals" in drinking water in the Upper House of parliament in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 3, 2024
Japan eyes new PFAS regulations for drinking water by spring
Water suppliers nationwide must upgrade their safety standards to counter the spread of "forever chemicals."
A resident of Kibichuo in Okayama Prefecture takes a blood test in the town on Monday.
JAPAN
Nov 25, 2024
PFAS blood tests start in Okayama Prefecture town
About 800 residents are expected to take a blood test under the program, which runs through Dec. 8.
Suspect Kunihiko Katsuta leaves Tatsuno Police Station in Hyogo Prefecture as he is sent to prosecutors on Friday. The waist strap and handcuffs are blurred for privacy reasons.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 8, 2024
Man arrested over 2006 Hyogo stabbing did not know victim, police say
Kunihiko Katsuta has confessed to stabbing the 9-year-old girl with a knife, but he has denied any intent to kill her, police say.
Hyogo Prefectural Police investigators call on people at a station in Kakogawa, Hyogo Prefecture, on Oct. 16 to provide information related to the 2007 murder of a girl in the city.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 6, 2024
Inmate hints at involvement in murder of another girl in western Japan
Hyogo Prefectural Police plan to arrest the man soon on suspicion of attempted murder in another case.
Kazuhiro Soda’s “The Cats of Gokogu Shrine” follows not only the felines that live on the grounds of the title shrine in Ushimado, Okayama Prefecture, but also the local community members, many of whom are of retirement age.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 25, 2024
‘The Cats of Gokogu Shrine’: Documentary paints intimate portrait of a community in decline
While stray cats that inhabit the grounds of a local shrine take center stage, the film also celebrates the aging humans doing their best to preserve their neighborhood.
“The Cats of Gokogu Shrine” centers on a local shrine in Ushimado’s Honmachi district, which has become home to a colony of street cats.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 12, 2024
Kazuhiro Soda embraces the wisdom of street cats
The filmmaker turns his camera closer to home in his new documentary, “The Cats of Gokogu Shrine,” and brings a community into focus.
Okayama and Tottori prefectures are some of the least-visited regions in Japan among foreign tourists — which is why they offer such a welcome break from crowd-clogged cities like Tokyo and Kyoto.
LIFE / Travel
Aug 23, 2024
In Japan’s flyover country, 72 hours of hidden gems
Some of Japan’s least-visited prefectures among foreign tourists host opportunities for peace, quiet and rural beauty.
Yusuke Yamazaki, former president of Nishiyama Farm, arrives at Narita Airport in Chiba Prefecture on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 13, 2024
Ex-Nishiyama Farm president arrested after deportation from Indonesia
Yusuke Yamazaki had been on the international wanted list for his alleged involvement in investment fraud involving overseas fruit sales.
Koichi Kondo plays the harmonica. Playing harmonica was like life itself for members of the Bluebird Band, according to his words.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Mar 4, 2024
Harmonica melodies of Hansen's disease patients live on
A band featuring the instrument was founded in 1953, at a time when prejudice against the disease was still strong
Japan Airlines has kicked off an unmanned drone service to deliver goods and medical supplies in the remote town of Setouchi.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 29, 2024
Japan Airlines starts drone service in remote areas for disasters
The carrier is working with local authorities in the town of Setouchi, a tiny inlet in Okayama Prefecture that's home to 8,000 residents.
Hiruzen Kougei employee Moeko Hirao, craft brewer “Sugichan” and furry friend Tsubu help out with the tomato harvest at 6:37 a.m.
LIFE / Travel / Longform
Oct 16, 2023
The farmer's intern: A month in the Japanese countryside
Escaping the chaos of Tokyo for a month, our writer heads to rural Okayama Prefecture and discovers the delights of natural farming.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Jun 5, 2023
Bridge marks 35 years connecting island isolated under past leprosy policy
The Oku-Nagashima Bridge in Okayama Prefecture has become a symbol of acknowledgement that the segregation policy, under which patients suffered for decades from discrimination, was wrong.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Feb 27, 2023
‘Made in Japan’ jeans from Okayama still evolving, 50 years on
Fully domestic-made jeans were first manufactured in Okayama Prefecture to imitate American clothing, but have developed into unique, luxury products that sell at high prices.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2022
Men from Shiga and women from Okayama top Japan life expectancy
At the other end of the rankings, Aomori Prefecture was at the bottom of the longevity list for both men and women, at 79.27 years and 86.33 years, respectively.
JAPAN
Nov 25, 2022
Human rights violations confirmed at leprosy sanatorium
According to the report, 1,674 residents died in the facility between 1938 and 1998, and autopsies were performed on 1,184 of them, about 70% of the total.
JAPAN
Oct 28, 2022
Japan confirms season's first bird flu cases
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has instructed government officials to be on high alert over a possible spread of cases and promote quarantine measures after the virus was found at two farms.
BUSINESS
Oct 12, 2022
Local Japan governments eye taxes to prevent deforestation by renewable energy firms
While the use of renewable energy sources is growing, local communities are worried about the environmental destruction the creation of such facilities may cause.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
May 15, 2022
Sara Yoshihara: ‘The best reaction is when a kid with allergies stops by and gets to have a treat’
A wheat allergy diagnosis prompted Hototogisu Bakery and Farm to switch to gluten-free products, which has helped foster a community.
Freed anti-whaling campaigner Paul Watson arrives in France
U.S.-Canadian anti-whaling environmental activist Paul Watson, who was released from prison in Greenland's capital Nuuk after five months in detention, arrives with Lamya Essemlali, president of Sea Shepherd France, at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Roissy-en-France, near Paris, on Friday.
Nippon Steel alleges undue White House influence on doomed deal review
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the economy at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Dec. 10.
Record 78% of people in Japan feel anxious, government survey finds
The public opinion survey on people's lives, conducted by the Cabinet Office, found that 28.1% of respondents think that their standard of living is at a lower-middle level among the general public — the highest percentage to give that response in 35 years.
Police raided suspect's home to arrest him after fatal Kitakyushu stabbing
Broken window glass is seen at Masanori Hirabaru's house in Kitakyushu's Kokuraminami Ward.
Taiwan lawmakers brawl over bills that would 'damage democracy'
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party and opposition party Kuomintang brawl in parliament in Taipei on Friday.
Casual workouts, cool living, ‘complete’ food: Japan’s health trends of 2024
In 2024, efficiency trumped effort among Japan's fitness-focused aspirants.
The mighty Mekong River's growing plastic problem
A group of elephant keepers in Chiang Saen, Thailand, remove plastic waste from the Ruak River, a tributary of the Mekong River, as a pair of Asian elephants bathe behind them.
Japanese officials inspect Yokota Air Base over PFAS concerns
The Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo in September 2019. An inspection of the base by Japanese government officials on Friday came amid public pressure to investigate suspected links between the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam by the U.S. base and contamination of soil and groundwater in western Tokyo.
Crime numbers rise in Japan for second straight year
A police officer stands in front of the residence of a man alleged to have stabbed two junior high school students in Kitakyushu.
A year of Oscar wins and a quiet push for diversity
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Evil Does Not Exist,” released in Japanese theaters in April, sharply dramatizes the clash between rural and urban values. The film won five awards at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, including the second-place Silver Lion prize.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Yasuyuki Yoshida stirs a brew in a fermentation tank at his brewery in Hakusan.
The quake that shook Noto's sake brewing tradition
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