Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first woman destroyer captain assumed her duties Monday, taking the helm of the destroyer Yamagiri based at the Yokosuka Naval Base southwest of Tokyo. Cmdr Miho Otani, 44, who will be in charge of about 220 crew on the destroyer, said in a written statement that she wants to set a […]
Hiroshima Prefectural Police are investigating a string of incidents in Kure City in which women were sexually assaulted by a man wearing women’s clothing, reportsHiroshima Home Television (Feb. 29). At approximately 2:00 a.m. on February 10, Takahiro Murakami, a 41-year-old company employee, allegedly came up from behind a woman walking home in the Washonoborimachi and fondled her body. […]
The Meteorological Agency warned Hokkaido on Tuesday to brace for its worst blizzard in years, and airlines and railways halted some operations. As an intensive low-pressure system moved eastward near Hokkaido, the agency forecast a maximum instantaneous wind speed of 40 meters per second and 40 cm of snowfall in the 24 hours until 6 […]
Japan is seeing growth in its factory activity. The Economy Ministry says industrial production was up 3.7 percent in January from the previous month. It is the first increase in 3 months after a decline of 1.7 percent in December. Ministry officials said on Monday that output rose in 12 of the 15 reporting sectors. […]
Emperor Akihito, 82, has been diagnosed with influenza after suffering a fever over the weekend, the Imperial Household Agency said in Tokyo on Monday, without giving further details. Akihito will rest at his residence in the Imperial Palace. Born in 1933, Akihito was heir to Emperor Hirohito, in whose name Japan fought World War II. […]
Japan and the Philippines are to sign an agreement as early as next week to promote technological cooperation and the transfer of defense equipment.The two governments have been holding working-level talks on the matter since a broad agreement was reached at summit talks in November of last year.The new agreement is expected to include measures […]
Kansai Electric Power Company says it will restart on Friday another reactor at the Takahama nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture, central Japan.The plant in February last year cleared strict government regulations adopted after the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi accident. Its No. 3 reactor was restarted late last month.Final preparations are underway at the No. 4 […]
Police say the driver of a car who ran into pedestrians in Osaka had possibly suffered an acute illness and lost consciousness.Police say the car on Thursday afternoon first hit people crossing a pedestrian scramble, then plowed into others on a sidewalk. The incident occurred at a busy intersection in front of Hankyu Railway’s Umeda […]
Police in Itabashi, Tokyo, have sent papers to the prosecutors on a 54-year-old man who was caught throwing away his pets in a public space in a bid to get rid of them. The man is accused of disposing of a hedgehog and 11 turtles—all still alive—in a vacant lot in Itabashi Ward on Jan […]
A weather observatory in Japan’s northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido says ice floes have reached the coast for the first time this winter.The officials say this is the latest time of the year for the ice to be spotted on shore since observations began in 1959. The observatory in Abashiri City on the Okhotsk coast reported […]
