Tropical depression “Karen” intensified on Thursday morning as it moved in a west northwest direction, according to the state weather bureau. In its 11 a.m. advisory, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said Karen was packing maximum sustained winds of up to 55 kilometers per hour near the center and gustiness of […]
A main building of a castle in Kumamoto has been opened to media for the first time since strong earthquakes hit the southwestern prefecture in April. The jolts caused damage to buildings and stone walls of Kumamoto Castle, a historical landmark of the prefecture. They include 13 structures designated as important cultural properties. Thirty percent […]
The president of Tokyo Electric Power Company has apologized for an extensive blackout that struck Tokyo on Wednesday. President Naomi Hirose visited the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and met with Minister Hiroshige Seko on Thursday. Power transmission cables at a TEPCO facility just outside Tokyo caught fire and caused the blackout that affected […]
A team from the Yokohama municipal government launched an extraordinary on-site inspection on Tuesday of a hospital in the capital of Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, following two elderly male inpatients’ poisoning deaths in suspected serial killings. The raid by the team comprising about 10 experts including doctors and pharmacists will mainly target facilities on […]
There was a large power outage in Tokyo on Wednesday afternoon. Tokyo Electric Power Company says at one point about 350,000 households were affected. The utility says a fire broke out at one of its facilities near Tokyo. The utility is investigating whether the fire caused the outage. No injuries were reported. The power failure […]
Still reeling from a series of earthquakes beginning in April, Kumamoto Prefecture is once again experiencing nature’s fury, this time in the form of Mount Aso’s eruption Saturday. Besides being on high alert for another volcanic eruption, Kumamoto residents are growing increasingly concerned about the long-term prospects for the prefecture’s tourism industry, which has yet […]
President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte will pay an official visit to Japan on October 25-27, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. During the visit, Duterte is set to meet with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. “The government of Japan sincerely welcomes the visit of the president [of Philippines] and hopes […]
The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd. raised anew the country’s economic growth forecast as the Philippines continued to stand out as one of the strongest performers in Asia. In its latest Asian Economics report for the fourth quarter, HSBC economist Joseph Incalcaterra said the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth projection has been revised […]
Police marching bands from around the world have paraded through Tokyo’s upscale Ginza district before an audience of about 60,000 people. The annual World Police Band Concert took place in Japan for the first time in 4 years on Monday, a national holiday. Participants included bands from police headquarters across Japan, a group from the […]
A new poll shows Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s approval rating is above 70 percent. The high figure is expected to bolster his tough policies. A private research firm released the results on Thursday. 76 percent of those surveyed said they were satisfied with Duterte’s performance, compared with 11 percent who said they weren’t. The results […]
