Latest news with #SeaOfJapan
NHK
22-07-2025
- Business
- NHK
Kansai Electric to restart surveys on building new reactor
The operator of a nuclear power plant in central Japan says it will resume onsite surveys toward constructing a next-generation reactor within the facility. If built, it would be the first new reactor in Japan since the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi accident. Kansai Electric Power Company on Tuesday announced the plan for geological and other studies at the Mihama plant in Fukui Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast. Mori Nozomu, president of Kansai Electric says, "We will seek the understanding of local communities and continue to promote the nuclear power-generation business." In 2010, Kansai Electric started surveys toward replacing an aging reactor at the plant. But they were suspended after the Fukushima Daiichi crisis the following year. Two reactors at Mihama were decommissioned in 2015. The utility's move to restart surveys comes as the government approved a new basic energy plan earlier this year that calls for maximum use of nuclear power alongside renewables. The government had been trying to reduce dependence on nuclear energy after the 2011 accident. A geological survey is the first step for the construction of a new reactor. But Kansai Electric says it will not decide whether to proceed based solely on the results of the studies.
NHK
15-07-2025
- Politics
- NHK
South Korea, China react sharply to descriptions in Japan's defense white paper
South Korea has protested Japan's description of the Takeshima Islands in the Sea of Japan as an inherent part of Japan's territory in its latest annual defense white paper. South Korea controls the islands. Japan claims them. The Japanese government says South Korea is illegally occupying them. A South Korean foreign ministry spokesperson issued a statement on Tuesday, after the white paper on defense policy was presented to a Cabinet meeting in Japan. The spokesperson called the islands Dokdo, and claimed South Korea's sovereignty over them. The spokesperson expressed a strong protest, and called for immediate withdrawal of the description in the white paper. The spokesperson also said the South Korean government will respond firmly to any provocation by Japan over the islands. The country's foreign ministry says it summoned Iseki Yoshiyasu, a senior diplomat at the Japanese embassy in Seoul, to deliver a protest on Tuesday afternoon. Iseki reportedly told South Korean officials it is clear that the Takeshima Islands are an inherent part of Japan's territory in light of history and international law, calling the protest by Seoul unacceptable. China has also reacted sharply to the white paper, which expresses strong concern that Beijing's increased military activities could have serious impact on Japan's security. China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters on Tuesday that the white paper contains a wrong perception of China, interferes in the country's domestic affairs unfairly, and seeks to play up the so-called "China threat" narrative. The spokesperson said China expresses strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition, and added that Beijing has already lodged a protest with Tokyo. Lin called China's military activities legitimate and justified.
NHK
30-06-2025
- General
- NHK
Population of Oku-Noto region decreases 10%, 18 months after powerful quake
Tuesday marks 18 months since a powerful earthquake hit areas along the Sea of Japan coast including Noto Peninsula on New Year's Day of 2024. The death toll from the quake, including those who died later due to disaster-related causes, in the prefectures of Ishikawa, Toyama and Niigata has reached 616. The number could rise as officials are still vetting applications from families seeking the deaths of their loved ones to be classified as disaster-related. The population of the quake-hit areas has been declining. Four cities and towns of the Oku-Noto region, northern Ishikawa Prefecture, had seen a 10.7-percent drop in the local population by the end of April. Officials in the city of Suzu say that more than 1,870 people were living in the Horyu-machi district, but that as of the end of May, the population was 300 fewer, marking the largest decline in the city. A group of residents has surveyed local households and found some child-rearing families are planning to move out due to the uncertain outlook for their futures. The group says many households have their residencies registered in the district, but live in Kanazawa or other cities. Tada Shinro, who heads the group, said that it is uncertain whether the local community can be reconstructed and remain intact. He said that he expects people who have left the area after the quake to visit the district in August for a traditional local festival that is to be held for the first time in two years. He said he wants them to rethink whether they will return and live in the district. Officials are still struggling to bring liveliness back to local communities.
NHK
12-06-2025
- NHK
Helicopter rescue drill for tourists held at Tottori Sand Dunes, western Japan
A rescue drill for taking tourists with heatstroke to hospital by helicopter has been held at the Tottori Sand Dunes on the Sea of Japan coast. About 20 officials from the Tottori prefectural government and personnel from a local fire department took part in Thursday's drill. It was based on the scenario that a woman and her three-year-old son had developed heatstroke near the beach. An official playing the role of a tourist found two dummies lying on the sand and used a cell phone to call for help. Emergency service workers who arrived at the site checked their conditions and determined it would be difficult to transport them by land. They made a radio call for a helicopter to be dispatched. Rescuers descended on a rope to airlift the two dummies. The Tottori prefectural government says 43 people with heatstroke symptoms were taken from the dunes to hospital in the fiscal year that ended in March. It says one of them was transported by helicopter.
Condé Nast Traveler
31-05-2025
- Business
- Condé Nast Traveler
On Japan's Rural Coast, One Sleepy Town's Locals Are Vying For the Megacities' Travelers
This is part of Uncovering Japan, a collection of stories that spotlight the lesser known gems that belong on your Japan itinerary, offering everything from a wellspring of local craft and a vibrant street-food culture to traditional wellness. Read more here. There is a small and rather unremarkable city of 30,000 people in one of Japan's rather unremarkable prefectures, located around three hours due north by train from Kyoto, called Obama. It would have remained that way were it not for something strange and serendipitous that happened in 2008: On the other side of the planet, the United States elected a president who shares his name with the oft-forgotten destination—an event that would unbury this little burg from its hardened obscurity. The town of Obama is located three hours north of Kyoto and stretches out into the Sea of Japan. William Sean Brecht Obama, in Japanese, roughly translates to 'little beach'—a fitting moniker for a city that yawns along a protected cove facing the northerly Sea of Japan. And when American political happenstance lent its name new relevance, its citizens came up with a plan to capitalize on their good fortune—not only to stoke the embers of tourism but to give their home a fighting chance of staving off the depopulation that has plagued many of the country's minor metropolises. Without the glittering towers of Tokyo, or the palaces and pagodas of Kyoto, Obama couldn't necessarily leverage its attractions, new or old. So locals made a bold bet on another cultural currency: its people. While soft smiles and polite words are the signature aspect of the Japanese hospitality experience, visitors can find it hard to pierce the veneer of 'omote'—an outward facing polish that can prove to be a major hindrance to the deeply connective experience many of us travelers crave. But this is not the case in Obama, where its citizens are focused on nurturing more genuine relationships with foreigners, duly inviting them into the fold. Without the glittering towers of Tokyo, or the palaces and pagodas of Kyoto, Obama couldn't necessarily leverage its attractions, new or old. So locals made a bold bet on another cultural currency: its people. And the wager is starting to pay off. With a soaring number of tourists—emboldened by the feeble yen—Japan's conduits of connectivity are already becoming clogged with the steadily accruing crowds. As a visitor, suddenly I craved the Japan I had discovered 20 years ago in my teens, and by the recommendation of a friend, I soon found myself at a rather unremarkable train station on a cold, snowless night late last December. Via MyTownObama, the author visited with geishas not for traditional dancing or shamisen playing; instead they talked for hours. Brandon Presser Obama's last remaining okiya, or geisha house, is inhabited by three generations who trained in Kyoto's illustrious hanamachi districts. William Sean Brecht I had arranged through MyTownObama for a locally based guide to pick me up, and not long after, we were ringing the doorbell of Obama's last remaining okiya, or geisha house, which is inhabited by three generations of these entertaining artisans. Although the grandmother of the house had retired, she briefly entered the salon in her house clothes to offer me an orange. Her daughter and granddaughter, both dressed in brilliant autumnal-themed robes, had trained in Kyoto's illustrious hanamachi districts, though there was no traditional dancing or shamisen playing tonight. Instead we talked for hours—no-holds-barred conversations that started with questions about life as a geisha before evolving into heated discussions about everything from favorite K-pop artists to post-Obama-era (the president this time, not the city) politics. Despite the late night I rose early the next morning to watch a fleet of fishing vessels bring in the latest catch and fill an entire depot with styrofoam boxes of crab, squid, and fish. Long ago, the fishermen explained, there existed what was called the saba-kaido, or mackerel highway, where local traders moved seafood from the port in which I stood across the mountain passes and down to feed the nobles in capital city Kyoto. This was also the channel through which many of Japan's major influences, including Buddhism, are thought to have reached the country's seat of power. Archaeological evidence proves that local merchants were trading with China as early as 300 CE; the elaborate pavilions Myotsu-ji temple complex were built contemporaneously with Kyoto's most storied—and most visited—places of worship, though you would never know it, as I had the entire campus to myself. The friendly abbot, on his break, walked me through. Fukui Hakusan Heisenji is in a valley an hour and a half north of us, about a 20-minute drive east of Fukui city. It's a great stopping-off point on the way into or out of Obama and/or as a day trip from Obama. William Sean Brecht Even today Obama is always looking beyond its borders. A walk down its main commercial streets will reveal a French-style bakery where staff serve the best croissants this side of the Pacific; a Thai restaurant that spins a mean curry (but only until 9:30 p.m., when the owner gets into his pajamas and crawls into bed upstairs); a chic vintage-eyewear boutique where the manager will let you try on every frame in the store; and an impossibly cool leathersmith who uses European techniques to craft one-of-a-kind wallets and satchels. He'll also brew you a thick cup of java from his proprietary batch of African shade-grown beans, if you ask nicely.
