Japan Coast Guard rescues injured crew from Chinese ship near contested waters
The Chinese survey ship Ke Xue requested the rescue by the Japan Coast Guard on Wednesday, saying that one of the crewmembers suffered a hand injury during the survey operation in the area off the southern coast of Miyako Island, according to the JCG.
The JCG patrol vessel picked up the crewmember, a Chinese national in his 40s, from the survey ship and transported him to Naha on the main Okinawa island for hospital treatment.
The Ke Xue is one of a number of Chinese survey vessels that operate in waters in the East China Sea, where China has increasingly stepped up maritime activity and routinely sends survey vessels, coast guard ships, as well as warships and aircraft, often violating Japanese territorial waters and airspace.
Japanese officials said that on Monday, another Chinese survey ship lowered a wire into the sea known as the Japanese exclusive economic zone — an area where Japan claims rights to conduct economic activity — east of Japan's southernmost island of Okinotorishima, without permission from the Japanese government.
The JCG patrol aircraft warned the survey ship to move out of the waters, and the Japanese government lodged a protest to the Chinese side.
© Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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SoraNews24
7 hours ago
- SoraNews24
Popular Osaka all-you-can-eat yakiniku chain Yakiniku Rikimaru opens its first location in Tokyo
In celebration of its opening, diners can also receive 20 percent off their bill if they hurry. A new yakiniku (grilled meat) challenger from the western Kansai region of Japan arrived in the eastern Kanto region earlier this month, and our resident Japanese-language reporter and yakiniku enthusiast Ahiruneko was super excited to scope out the new place for himself. With eight locations in Osaka, all-you-can-eat yakiniku chain Yakiniku Rikimaru just opened its first restaurant in Tokyo's popular Ikebukuro district. It's on the fifth floor of a building directly across from the main building of the Seibu department store and East Exit of Ikebukuro Station. When Ahiruneko visited, he was greeted by congratulatory displays of flowers at the restaurant's entrance celebrating the successful opening of the Tokyo location. His interest was immediately piqued by the three all-you-can-eat course offerings that vary in terms of time and price per person. Here they are summarized: ● Standard Course (green below): 70 minutes/3,498 yen (US$23.70), 90 minutes/3,718 yen, 120 minutes/4,048 yen ● Premium Course (red below): 70 minutes/4,158 yen, 90 minutes/4,378 yen, 120 minutes/4,708 yen ● Wagyu (Japanese beef) Course (black below): 70 minutes/5,258 yen, 5,478 yen, 5,808 yen While the Standard Course comes with unlimited karubi (short ribs), harami (skirt steak), and rosu (loin), Ahiruneko also wanted to sample the tan (tongue) and steak on this occasion, so he opted for the slightly more expensive Premium Course for 120 minutes. Next, he needed to choose what to do for drinks. Since he was already feeling a bit extravagant on this day, he decided to go all-out for an all-you-can-drink course, too. There are three plans to choose from based on time and whether alcoholic drinks are included or not: ● 70 minutes: alcohol included/1,320 yen, soft drinks only/550 yen ● 90 minutes: alcohol included/1,430 yen, soft drinks only/583 yen ● 120 minutes: alcohol included/1,540 yen, soft drinks only/638 yen ▼ Here's a closer look at the drink menu in Japanese. Items with a star next to them are included in the all-you-can-drink plans. Since Ahiruneko had already selected the 120-minute all-you-can-eat plan, he also sprung for the longest 120-minute alcohol-included drink course, and kicked things off with a refreshing draft beer. Then it was time to order his specific meat selections through the provided tablet. He figured he couldn't go wrong with salted beef tongue as his first dish. It sizzled tantalizingly as he dropped it on the tabletop grill and watched it slowly brown and curl around the edges. Taking a bite, he was shocked at the meat's high quality for an all-you-can-eat plan, which often tend to favor quantity over quality. He then decided to order an assortment of four popular cuts of beef, which he grilled one by one and then savored to the fullest extent. ▼ Harami ▼ Karubi ▼ Thickly cut steak ▼ Loin The loin in particular had amazing marbling that he admired prior to throwing it on the grill. Upon tasting it, it was fatty, tender, and had a strong umami flavor. Once again, he could hardly believe that this was all-you-can-eat quality beef. Partway through eating, he also began drinking makgeolli (a Korean rice wine) and continued with that as his beverage of choice for the rest of his meal. At one point, something at the table next to Ahiruneko's caught his eye. That table had apparently ordered the Wagyu Course and a server was torching their slices of wagyu right before their eyes. It made him slightly regret not springing for that most expensive option, but there would always be a next time. He was also somewhat mollified to learn that his Premium Course included leftover bits of wagyu after it had been sliced. They were heavenly, perhaps as to be expected. Of course, Ahiruneko was nowhere near being done, and he asked the server for some additional recommendations from what was included in his plan (which are detailed below). ▼ Rikimaru marinade harami steak ▼ Tripe ▼ Chanja (a Korean dish of salted and spicy cod entrails) ▼ Reimen (chilled noodles) with nori (seaweed), a common dish to eat at the very end of a yakiniku meal In summary, Ahiruneko was very pleased with his experience at Rikimaru. He notes that it feels more like a bona fide yakiniku specialty restaurant than many other casual yakiniku eateries because rather than trying to pack the menu with novel variety, Rikimaru focuses on a smaller number of higher-quality dishes that would likely appeal to yakiniku purists. Consequently, it may not be the best restaurant choice for families with very small children, but for an adult gathering, it would be hard to beat. A couple of his other observations were that most of the dipping sauces have a thick consistency, which may be polarizing for some people. Also, as he entered the second hour of his time limit, the service became noticeably slower. That last point might be due to the restaurant becoming full very quickly after opening on this day, though. When he was finally ready to pay the bill, the total should have come to 6,248 yen given the 120-minute all-you-can-eat and all-you-can-drink courses he had selected. However, he was pleasantly surprised to learn that thanks to a special promotion through July 31 celebrating the opening of this first Tokyo location, he received a 20-percent discount and only ended up paying 4,998 yen. It was a sweet deal that also stung a little bit because then he thought that he really should have sprung for the most expensive Wagyu Course. For any readers who would like to take advantage of this deal while it lasts, Ahiruneko strongly recommends making a reservation in advance–otherwise, there might be a long wait to get in. Of course, if you get too bored in the meantime, you could also check out the fairly new tanuki soba stand-and-eat restaurant just a short walk away instead. Restaurant information Yakiniku Rikimaru (Ikebukuro East Exit branch) / 焼肉力丸（池袋東口店） Address: Tokyo-to, Toshima-ku, Minami-Ikebukuro 1-22-2 FLC Building, 5th floor 東京都豊島区南池袋 1-22-2 FLCビル5F Open 4 p.m.-12 a.m. Website All images © SoraNews24 ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! [ Read in Japanese ]
Japan Today
a day ago
- Japan Today
Wartime child worker reveals dark secrets of Japan's 'Rabbit Island'
By Tomoji Tatsumi Okunoshima has become famous globally as Japan's Instagrammable "Rabbit Island," but little is known about its dark history as a host to a wartime poison gas factory and weapons plant. Today, people come to enjoy the picturesque views of the Seto Inland Sea from campgrounds and hiking trails in the Inland Sea National Park, with the island's charm and intriguing past making it a compelling subject for online content. Eighty years ago, the island hosted a secret poison gas factory that played a key role in Japan's illegal use of chemical weapons in occupied China. It was also a production site for the military's long-range, unmanned, incendiary "balloon bombs" that were used against the United States during World War II. Reiko Okada was mobilized to the island as a teenager for the war effort, helping the Imperial Japanese Army build balloon bombs known as "Fu-Go." Okada, now 95, is one of the few people still alive who has both a "gas notebook" for poison gas victims and an "A-bomb notebook" for survivors of the atomic bomb. Japan, which was a signatory to the Geneva Protocol of 1925 that prohibited the use of chemical and biological weapons, produced mustard gas and other deadly chemical weapons on Okunoshima, at what was the largest poison gas factory in Asia. Okada was sent to Okunoshima as a 15-year-old third-year student at Tadanoumi Girls' High School in Takehara -- near the seaside Hiroshima Prefecture city located on the main island of Honshu -- in 1945. After the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Aug. 6, 1945, effectively bringing about Japan's defeat in World War II, she also worked as a relief worker in the suburbs of Hiroshima. In an interview, the former art teacher from Mihara, Hiroshima Prefecture, declared her willingness to tell the "last story of my life" and warned: "If we do not face up to our responsibility as perpetrators of the war, we will repeat the mistakes of the past." At the end of 1944, the government had proclaimed "ichioku gyokusai," translated literally as "100 million shattered jewels." The phrase served as the last unofficial rallying cry of the empire, expressing the regime's willingness to sacrifice the entire Japanese population, if necessary, to protect the fatherland. Whenever Okada, who was mobilized in November of the same year, heard these words, she stared fixedly at the surrounding waters and thought: "I don't want to die." The following summer, when Japan was bombed by U.S. air raids in various regions, Okada and the other girls were suddenly ordered to "evacuate" poison gas materials to a neighboring island. In the sweltering heat, the schoolgirls donned work gloves and transported the chemical barrels to a dock, making more than a dozen trips a day for over two weeks. Okada says she and the others were given strict instructions by the army not to reveal Okunoshima's location to family or friends. On Aug. 15, students gathered in a square on the island to listen to the "Jewel Voice Broadcast" in which Emperor Hirohito announced Japan's acceptance of the Allied demand for unconditional surrender in a radio address. Then, for about two weeks from Aug. 18, she was involved in an A-bomb relief effort in a middle school auditorium in a suburb of Hiroshima. She says it was a horrific scene where people were dying every day. "It felt like a damp world of maggots crawling inside weakened bodies," she recalled. Okada, who had traveled to the city within two weeks of the bomb's detonation, was certified as a hibakusha -- atomic bomb survivor -- because she had entered the affected area shortly after the attack. Before that traumatizing period, she had spent time on the island in the weapons factory. There, she and her fellow students used a paste made from konnyaku root to build the unmanned, hydrogen-filled balloon bombs, which were 10 meters in diameter and made of Japanese washi paper. Carrying incendiary bombs and an advanced-for-its-time altitude control system, the balloons were able to ride the jet stream across the Pacific and reach North America. Between 1944 and 1945, more than 9,000 of these balloons were launched, mostly from three bases in Japan, and at least 300 are believed to have reached the U.S. mainland, where they caused wildfires but little other major damage. Okada realized her own culpability in the war, however, when she later learned that six people, including children, had been killed by a balloon bomb in western Oregon in May 1945 -- the only known casualties in the continental United States from an enemy attack during the war. After the war, Okada studied at a fine arts college run by Kyoto city. She returned to her hometown of Mihara, where she taught art at a local high school until her mid-50s, before devoting herself to painting privately and peace work. She suffered physical after-effects from her time in Hiroshima shortly after the bombing and from chronic bronchitis caused by her stint on Okunoshima. However, treatment allowed her to overcome her ailments. After the war, Okada also learned that poison gas weapons had wreaked havoc in China. In 1989, after retiring from teaching, she published a book of pictures documenting her war experiences and sent it to Chinese war victims to express her remorse and apologies. Since then, she has continued her anti-war campaigning through her drawing and writing. According to the U.S. military's post-war records, Japan produced 6,616 tons of poison gas that was used in over 7 million ammunition rounds, including artillery shells. Some of the poison gas munitions transported to China went unused and were left abandoned, causing problems when they were later found or unearthed. The Japanese government confirmed the "existence of abandoned chemical weapons" in a memorandum to the Chinese government in 1999. Currently, the total number of chemical weapon munitions left behind is estimated at more than 100,000. Japan and China are working together to dispose of them. Okada believes Japanese people "should accept causing a war as our responsibility, face it, reflect on it, apologize for it, make amends for it and ensure that it leads to friendship and peace." With various conflicts raging around the world, "we don't know when Japan will go to war," she said. "Each and every one of us must not be deceived, and we must all work together to prevent war. "Nationalism is the doctrine that must be feared the most." © KYODO
SoraNews24
a day ago
- SoraNews24
This traditional Japanese castle keep is home to a branch of government
Ruling the land from inside a Japanese fortress. As we enter a brave new world, where AI rapidly continues to permeate society, we're now being fed recommendations based on algorithms that analyse our interests, narrowing our view of what's really out there. That's not necessarily reason for despair, though, as it actually highlights the importance of human interaction and conversations, which are now more vital to broadening our horizons than ever before. With everyone seeing a completely different version of the Internet based on their interests, conversations can introduce us to surprises that would otherwise be completely hidden to us, and that's what happened when a friend told us about a place we absolutely had to visit — the Fukui Prefectural Government Office. Government offices are usually low on the list of places we'd ever think to visit for fun, but the reason for this recommendation became clear after taking a look at the location on a map. ▼ As you can see, this government office is surrounded by a moat. That's right — this site of bureaucracy sits on the site of a former castle, complete with moat and stone walls intact. The fortified site may come as a surprise to castle lovers, even in Japan, but those who know about it like to cheekily describe it as the strongest branch of government in the country. It certainly looks imposing from the road on the other side of the moat, and things get even more interesting when you cross over and enter the grounds. During the Edo period (1603-1868), this site was the headquarters for warriors belonging to the Matsudaira clan, and their spirit hangs in the air today, with the moat and stone walls being authentic remnants of the castle that date back to the 1600s. In addition to the original features there are some modern additions like a wooden castle gate, which helps to keep the government building secure. ▼ We don't know any other prefectural office that's protected by a castle gate. No original wooden buildings remain — the main castle tower was destroyed by fire in 1669 and never rebuilt — but with a lot of the stone features still standing from the time of the original castle, it's easy to feel like you've stepped back in time. ▼ This view would've looked somewhat different in the feudal area. While other castle sites in Japan are overrun with tourists, this little-known spot remains deserted a lot of the time, except for the presence of office workers, the modern-day samurai, so you can really connect to the history and beauty of the site in a special way. It's easy for the imagination to run wild in the quiet serenity here — so much so that we could easily imagine a fallen warrior taking refuge in the shade of this mossy, sloping wall. ▼ If these walls and lawns could talk, what stories would they tell? With Japan being prone to earthquakes, it's amazing that this site has survived several centuries. One close call came with the 1948 Fukui Earthquake, though, when some walls shifted, causing them to visibly tilt, as seen in the photo below. ▼ Another little-known but impressive site here is the well that gave Fukui its name. Called Fukunoi, or 'good luck well', this life-giving water source inspired the name of the castle and the surrounding area, making it an important historical site for the city. ▼ It's also a fascinating site for visitors. The good luck seems to have rubbed off on Fukui's residents as the prefecture was ranked the happiest in Japan in 2024 by the Japan Research Institute's 'Happiness Ranking of All 47 Prefectures'. Fukui has maintained this ranking for 12 consecutive years, proving its residents are doing well in terms of income, health, education, employment, and community connections. Then again, when you have your government looking out for you from a castle fortress, there's a strength and security in that knowledge that's bound to leave you feeling content. So perhaps this really is the strongest branch of government in the country! Site information Fukui Prefectural Office / 福井県庁 Address: Fukui-ken, Fukui-shi, Otemachi 3-17-1 福井県福井市大手3丁目17−1 Open: 8:30 a.m.-5:15 p.m. Closed: Saturdays and Sundays Photos ©SoraNews24 ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! [ Read in Japanese ]
