Latest news with #Tokara
Daily Maverick
18-07-2025
- General
- Daily Maverick
AirFryday: Baby gem squash, cooked in an air fryer in minutes
Somewhere along the way, somebody decided it was a good idea to pick gem squash when they've barely started developing, whereupon lots of people thought, what a good idea, let's cook these flavourless little green things and pretend we like them. Baby gem squash need help. There's not much flavour in them, and I sometimes think it's a shame to cull them so young, before they have a chance to grow up and become those lovely adult gem squash that I like to cook with parmesan and lots of butter. Their one advantage is that you can eat the whole thing, their shells being so soft that they're merely a part of the fruit itself. Yes, squash are fruit. I have a similar problem with patty pans. They have hardly any flavour to speak of, other than tasting vaguely squashy. Or squishy. Like patty pans, baby gems need to have flavour added to them if they're to be at all palatable. But, just add flavour, and that little problem is solved. I decided to give them a go in an air fryer and see how they turned out. Not bad, actually. Tony's baby gem squash cooked in an air fryer (Serves 2 as a side dish) Ingredients 6 to 8 baby gem squash 3 Tbsp Tokara premium multivarietal extra virgin olive oil, or similar 2 tsp Rozendal fynbos vinegar, or balsamic vinegar 1 tsp garlic powder 1 Tbsp oregano leaves, or 1 tsp dried oregano Salt and black pepper to taste Method Add the olive oil, fynbos vinegar, herbs and seasonings to a bowl and whisk. Slice the tops off the baby gems, slice them in half through the middle, and add them to the bowl. Toss well. Preheat the air fryer to 200°C. Cook for 15 minutes, shaking the basket after 5 and 10 minutes. If not soft enough for your liking, cook for 3 to 5 minutes more. They should be ready to serve as a side dish. DM Tony Jackman is twice winner of the Galliova Food Writer of the Year award, in 2021 and 2023.
NHK
17-07-2025
- NHK
Some evacuees from quake-hit Japanese remote island chain returning home
Some residents who evacuated from a quake-hit remote island chain in Japan's southwestern Kagoshima Prefecture began heading home on Wednesday. Since June 21, seismic activity has intensified around the Tokara island chain. Evacuations started on July 4 on a voluntary basis among residents of the islands of Akusekijima and Kodakarajima. The islets are part of Toshima Village in Kagoshima Prefecture. As of Wednesday, a total of 67 islanders were staying in hotels in Kagoshima City on the main island of Kyushu, and elsewhere. Amid increasing requests to return home, 16 Akusekijima residents boarded a village-run ferry at the Kagoshima port. A fisherman in his 70s expressed concern, saying: "I'm still worried about tremors continuing in the region. I left my fishing boat at sea and thought it would be safer to move it ashore because of typhoons and other risks. I want to thank the people who offered me various kinds of support during the evacuation." The ferry left the port at 11 p.m. and was scheduled to arrive on Akusekijima Island after 9 a.m. on Thursday. Village officials say some residents who wished to return home said their children felt stressed from staying for a long time in a hotel. Others said they were now able to sleep well and their health had improved. The village says more people are requesting to return on a ferry due to leave the port on Friday. It says it will work to grasp who wish to return, and continue to provide them with support.
NHK
15-07-2025
- Climate
- NHK
Tremors shaking Japan's Tokara island chain top 2,000
Weather officials in Japan say the number of tremors that can be felt by humans has topped 2,000 around the Tokara island chain in the country's southwest. The officials are calling for people to remain vigilant for more earthquakes that could measure lower 6 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of zero to 7. Seismic activity intensified on June 21 around the islands of Akusekijima and Kodakarajima, which are part of Toshima Village in Kagoshima Prefecture. A powerful earthquake measuring lower 6 hit Akusekijima on July 3, followed by two jolts with intensities of upper 5 on July 6. Another quake measuring lower 5 struck on July 7. The Japan Meteorological Agency says that a total of 2,046 tremors with intensities of one or higher have been observed in the sea off the Tokara islands as of 4 a.m. Tuesday. There were 83 on Sunday, 39 on Monday and two on Tuesday as of 4 a.m. The sea off the island chain went through a series of earthquakes in 2021 and again in 2023. But the current swarm has been far larger in terms of the number of jolts.
South China Morning Post
14-07-2025
- South China Morning Post
Megaquake fears shake Japan after 2,000 tremors hit island chain since June 21
More than 2,000 'felt quakes' have shaken a string of islands in southwestern Japan since June 21, according to the country's weather agency, triggering fears that they are presaging a megaquake. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) logged four temblors with an intensity of 4 in the area on Sunday and at least one on Monday, according to the Kyodo news agency. A level-4 temblor on Japan's 10-level Shindo scale is considered a 'felt quake' as people will notice the shaking, which can set suspended fixtures swaying and topple objects on tables. Residents board a ferry to evacuate from Akuseki island in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima prefecture, southwestern Japan, on July 6 after strong earthquakes hit the area. Photo: Kyodo More than 60 residents have been evacuated from the Akuseki and Kodakara islands in the Tokara chain since July 4, after a quake measuring a lower 6 hit the area. Only 20 remained on Akuseki, which has an area of less than 8 sq km (3 square miles) and a population of 89, Nippon TV reported on Wednesday. One evacuee told the broadcaster he was still traumatised by his experience and had trouble sleeping. 'I always dream about earthquakes, or the island. Then I wake up. I feel the earthquake in my dreams, and in them, I go through exactly what I had actually experienced in real life.' Some evacuees have asked to be allowed to go home, but local authorities say they can do so only when there are five straight days without a quake measuring 4 or above. That, however, would not be soon, going by the weather agency's observations. 'The seismic activity remains dynamic,' JMA official Ayataka Ebita said earlier this month.
South China Morning Post
05-07-2025
- Climate
- South China Morning Post
Latest Japan quake has ‘no causal connection' with manga prophecy: weather agency
Japan 's weather agency said an earthquake that rattled small islands in the nation's southwest on Saturday was in no way connected to a manga author's disaster prediction that went viral on social media. 'It is absolutely a coincidence. There is no causal connection,' Ayataka Ebita of the Japan Meteorological Agency told a press conference. Earlier in the day, a temblor with a preliminary magnitude of 5.4 struck off the Tokara island chain, the latest in a series of seismic events in the area. Speculation has spread that Japan will be hit by a major disaster in July – specifically on Saturday – based on a prediction made in The Future I Saw, a manga written by Japanese artist Ryo Tatsuki. 10:45 Why a viral manga warning of a megaquake has some travellers cancelling Japan trips Why a viral manga warning of a megaquake has some travellers cancelling Japan trips Tatsuki gained a profile after her prediction of a 'major calamity' in March 2011 coincided with a catastrophic quake-tsunami that struck Japan's northeast and led to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident.
