Latest news with #Yonaguni
Japan Times
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Japan Times
Japan aims to complete Yonaguni evacuation shelter in 2028
The central government has said that the construction of an evacuation shelter on the country's westernmost island of Yonaguni, in Okinawa Prefecture, will start next fiscal year, with the completion expected around spring 2028. The schedule was included in a progress report released Friday that details the construction of such shelters in five municipalities covering Okinawa's Sakishima Islands, including Yonaguni. Japan started the project bearing in mind a possible emergency over Taiwan in the Nansei southwestern island region, which includes the Sakishima chain and stretches from Kagoshima Prefecture to Okinawa. Underground shelters will be built in the five municipalities to accommodate local residents for about two weeks in the event of an invasion or a missile attack. The town of Yonaguni will build a shelter on the underground level of a new town office complex that will be capable of holding about 200 people. The city of Miyakojima plans to start the construction of its shelter this winter, while the city of Ishigaki aims to begin such work as early as fiscal 2026. Each facility will have a capacity of about 500 people. The town of Taketomi and the village of Tarama hope to draw up detailed designs for their shelters as early as next fiscal year.
NHK
2 days ago
- Science
- NHK
Simulation indicates ancient people crossed Taiwan-to-Okinawa waters by canoe
A research group in Japan has made a supercomputer simulation on how ancient people crossed the waters between Taiwan and the southwestern Japanese island of Yonaguni about 30,000 years ago. The simulation was a follow-up of a 2019 experimental dugout canoe voyage conducted at a strait between Taiwan and Yonaguni by a project team including researchers from Japan's National Museum of Nature and Science and others. The voyage was aimed at examining a hypothesis that human beings crossed the 110-kilometer-wide strait, where the strong Kuroshio Current intervenes, around 30,000 years ago. The dugout successfully reached Yonaguni. The follow-up research team was led by Deputy Senior Scientist Yu-Lin Chang at JAMSTEC, and Professor Kaifu Yosuke at University of Tokyo. The researchers used a supercomputer to simulate whether such a voyage was successful under different conditions that existed 30,000 years ago. Based on the experiment, the team assumed that the canoe traveled up to 1.08 meters per second, and used a numerical model to recreate sea currents 30,000 years ago on the computer. The purpose was to determine under what conditions the canoe could reach Yonaguni Island. At that time, the Kuroshio Current is believed to have been 10 percent faster than present. But the researchers found that if paddlers departed from northern Taiwan, headed southeastward against the current at a constant speed, they could reach the island. The team calls the ancient people who crossed the waters challengers with a strategic perspective. Professor Kaifu said that he believes ancient people were aware of the dangers involved in the crossing but they must have been so confident that they took the risk. He said that in that sense, ancient and modern day human beings are similar. The findings have been published in US magazine Science Advances.
Japan Times
2 days ago
- Science
- Japan Times
Rowing from Taiwan to Japan was possible 30,000 years ago, says team
A Japanese team has concluded that it was possible to travel from Taiwan to Japan's westernmost island of Yonaguni in a dugout canoe 30,000 years ago. The voyage in a log boat, with no sails, was possible if all the rowers were highly skilled and adjusted their course with the fast Kuroshio current in mind, the team said. The team's findings resulted from a project by Japan's National Museum of Nature and Science to recreate how Japanese ancestors traveled from mainland China to present-day Taiwan, which was connected by land at the time, and then sailed to Yonaguni, east of Taiwan. The findings were included in two papers published in U.S. journal Science Advances on Wednesday. "You can see Yonaguni from some of the high peaks in Taiwan, but you don't arrive by chance (at Yonaguni) just by drifting," said Yosuke Kaifu, the team's leader and professor at the University of Tokyo. "We surmise that our ancestors picked a date to start the voyage based on the seasonal, weather and sea conditions, and rowed out to sea in a group of men and women with the intention of settling down (in the new location)," he said. The voyage was re-enacted in 2019, involving four men and one woman rowing a 7.5-meter-long dugout canoe. The group left the eastern shore of Taiwan on the afternoon of July 7, 2019, and arrived at Yonaguni in Okinawa Prefecture 45 hours later despite being swept away by the ocean current at times. The oldest archeological sites in Okinawa and the neighboring Amami island region of Kagoshima Prefecture date back 27,500-35,000 years. As boats used back then have not survived to this day, the research team initially created a boat made from reeds and a bamboo raft. It found, however, that such boats were too slow. Although a dugout canoe would have been difficult to build using stone axes, the team concluded that this was the only option, as no other boat possible back then could reach a speed allowing the crossing of the Kuroshio current. An ocean current simulation by researchers from the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, or JAMSTEC, and Ehime University has shown that sea levels at the time were lower than now. While faster back then, the Kuroshio current flowed closer to Yonaguni. The team selected a southern point in eastern Taiwan to set off on its voyage, but it found that a point some 100 kilometers north of the point of departure was a better option.
NHK
29-05-2025
- General
- NHK
Japanese govt. confirms China has removed last buoy from Japan's EEZ
The Japanese government has confirmed that China has removed its last remaining buoy from Japan's exclusive economic zone off Okinawa. The buoy was detected to the south of Okinawa Prefecture's Yonaguni Island last December. The Japanese government had demanded its immediate removal from Japan's EEZ and has been monitoring the situation around the waters. The Japanese government said in February that a Chinese buoy in the waters around Okinawa Prefecture's Senkaku Islands had been removed. China explained that it had moved the buoy. Japan controls the Senkaku Islands. China and Taiwan claim them. The Japanese government maintains the islands are an inherent part of Japan's territory, in terms of history and international law. It says there is no issue of sovereignty to be resolved over them. Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hayashi Yoshimasa told reporters on Thursday that he understands that the buoy south of Yonaguni Island is no longer an issue. He said China has not offered an external explanation and he will refrain from answering questions about its intentions. Hayashi said the Japanese government has been routinely patrolling the waters under its jurisdiction and the relevant government agencies will continue to cooperate in vigilance and surveillance activities.
New York Times
14-03-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
The Dodgers wanted to ‘paint Japan Dodger blue.' Now they're witnessing it in person
TOKYO — Shohei Ohtani greets you at the Tokyo Dome before the two-way star even enters the building. After all, the Los Angeles Dodgers star's face and likeness are plastered on advertisements in every corner of Japan. Ohtani's star power is unmatched, and the Dodgers are seeing the fruits of Sho-economics. When they signed him, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman preached the idea of 'painting Japan Dodger blue.' Now, the team is seeing that in person. Advertisement 'I think our mission was accomplished,' manager Dave Roberts said Friday, as the Dodgers arrived in Tokyo for their season-opening series against the Chicago Cubs. It's an endeavor fueled by their ownership in more ways than one: Guggenheim Partners, the team's ownership group, are title sponsors of the Tokyo Series as the Dodgers roll out a glitzy roster that features Ohtani alongside fellow Japanese stars Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki. The #TokyoSeries pitching matchups are set! Game 1, Tuesday: Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. Shota Imanaga Game 2, Wednesday: Roki Sasaki vs. Justin Steele — MLB (@MLB) March 13, 2025 This is the vision the Dodgers wanted. When they arrived at Haneda Airport on Thursday, the crowds were so massive that they had to exit through a different terminal. When Roberts walked the streets of Shibuya, he saw nothing but Dodgers hats. When Kiké Hernández hosted a meet and greet, camcorder in hand, it looked like the biggest collaboration between someone from Puerto Rico and Japan since Bad Bunny dropped the song 'Yonaguni.' 'I'm sure that my teammates are really enjoying Japan right now and I hope that they continue to do so, but also I hope that the fans get to see my teammates enjoy Japan,' Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton. That, they have, making their presence felt from the moment the Dodgers arrived. 'There's a lot of people outside the hotel and the Dome…(and) you see Shohei's face all over Tokyo,' Tommy Edman said. 'You see Dodgers (gear), just walking down the street. You get the sense that the Dodgers are being Japan's team.' The media crush was so massive that the workout day interviews were held in a ballroom at the Tokyo Dome Hotel. Hundreds of cameras as the Dodgers' trio of stars posed together, with the 5-foot-10 Yamamoto getting onto his tip-toes standing between the much taller Ohtani and Yamamoto. When the club went through workouts Friday at the 55,000-seat Dome, a crowd of 10,507 paying Japanese fans were there to watch. The tickets, worth 2,000 yen (approximately $13), sold out the allotment within an hour. Just about everyone was wearing Dodgers gear, applauding politely as Max Muncy, Miguel Rojas and Will Smith hit batting practice home runs. Advertisement 'Being able to experience that today was something that gives you a lot of excitement about the game of baseball, how they live it here,' Rojas said. 'The players who came before me — a lot of Venezuelan players have played in this league and they've talked really highly about the Japanese fan base. It's really cool to experience something like this that I've never experienced before in my life.' 'We were starting to have a little fun with it,' Muncy said. They shouted for Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw, but also for the lesser-known players in the building such as relievers Jack Dreyer and Anthony Banda. Japan's most famous American baseball team flexed its celebrity status. The fans even called out to Freddie Freeman's son, Charlie. 'This is a cool experience,' Freeman said. 'It's practice and we have all these people in the stands. So getting chants for Charlie, I didn't hear it, but I'm sure he was loving every second of it.' It's clear in person: Dodgers are ninkimono here in Japan. 'I think the Dodgers are trying to get right there with the biggest organizations in the world,' Rojas said. 'I'm talking about Real Madrid, Barcelona, all the teams that are worldwide. I think the Dodgers are really close to that.' They're just getting started in Japan, with a pair of exhibitions the next two days against the Yomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers before sending out Yamamoto and Sasaki to start each of the two games against the Cubs. For Yamamoto, it'll be his first Opening Day start, a chance to showcase his skills back in his home country for the first time after signing a record $325 million contract with the Dodgers ahead of the 2024 season. 'I really feel the excitement of the country with the games being played here,' Yamamoto said. 'I'm looking forward to pitching in front of the fans as well, so I want to do my very best to make sure I do that.' Advertisement For Sasaki, it's his major league debut — a chance to prove how electric he can be in Major League Baseball. 'For me, it's more about being able to pitch in this different uniform and with a different team and making sure I do perform at my best,' Sasaki said. And for the Dodgers, it's the opportunity to plant their flag in the country and soak in a nation that has embraced them and their biggest stars.
