Japan

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Japanese Princess Delays Wedding, Cites 'Immaturity'

Mako's much anticipated wedding to a commoner gets pushed back to at least 2020

(Newser) - Japan's Princess Mako will remain a princess a little longer: The emperor's granddaughter, who announced last year that she planned to marry a commoner, is delaying that union, reports Reuters . Unlike certain other royals planning to marry commoners , Mako must rescind her royal status when she marries Kei...

In This Cafe, Your Barista Is a Robot

Japan's Henna Cafe debuts Sawyer the robot to brew your coffee

(Newser) - Japan has a new cafe where customers can enjoy coffee brewed and served by a robot barista. The robot named Sawyer debuted this week at Henna Cafe in Tokyo's downtown business and shopping district of Shibuya. The shop's name in Japanese means "strange cafe," reports the...

Craving a Banana Peel? Japan Has the Perfect Fruit

Peel from Japan's Monchee banana has texture like 'lettuce' and a slightly bitter taste

(Newser) - About the only thing banana peels were good for up to this point were comedy pratfalls and composting. A farm in Japan appears to have changed that, producing a banana with a tasty edible peel thanks to what Quartz labels a "bizarre method of production." The technique used...

1 Killed, 16 Hurt in Eruption, Avalanche at Ski Resort

Flying rocks from Japan volcano hit gondola

(Newser) - At least 16 people skiing on the slopes of a volcano in central Japan were injured by flying rocks during a surprise eruption and a subsequent avalanche Tuesday, and one person later died. Six skiers, including the man who died, were among 30 Japanese soldiers who were participating in ski...

To Protect Deer, Train Will Sound Like Friend and Foe

New system for preventing train-deer collisions in Japan

(Newser) - The BBC reports officials once tried to keep deer away from trains by spraying railway tracks with lion poop. So a train that barks like a dog isn't the strangest idea ever. A team at Japan's Railway Technical Research Institute has developed a system to keep deer safe...

More Bodies Wash Up in Japan
More Bodies Wash Up in Japan

More Bodies Wash Up in Japan

Boat containing remains of 7 men found, with possible 8th body

(Newser) - There were clues as to the men's origins: a cigarette package bearing Korean words, a badge bearing the likenesses of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. The signs point to North Korea, and to some tragedy at sea. Japanese police say the wooden boat found capsized and washed...

Days After Hawaii Missile-Alert Gaffe, a Repeat in Japan
Now, a Missile-Alert
Goof in Japan

Now, a Missile-Alert Goof in Japan

Broadcaster NHK sent it out via its app

(Newser) - It's deja vu all over again. Following Saturday's erroneous alert of an incoming "ballistic missile threat" in Hawaii comes a similar gaffe from Japanese national broadcaster NHK. A message was sent out via the NHK app Tuesday that read: "NHK news alert. North Korea likely to...

Japanese City Issues Emergency Fugu Warning

Supermarket accidentally sold deadly liver

(Newser) - A Japanese city activated its emergency broadcast system Monday not for a missile alert, but for a warning about the country's deadliest delicacy. Emergency system loudspeakers in Gamagori, central Japan, warned residents that a supermarket had sold packages of fugu without removing the liver, one of the deadliest parts...

He Escaped Capture for Years. Then Facebook Saw His Tattoos

Shigeharu Shirai was arrested Wednesday in Thailand

(Newser) - A Japanese yakuza boss who's been a fugitive since allegedly committing a 2003 murder was done in by his extensive tattoos. The BBC reports Facebook photos of Shigeharu Shirai, variously reported as being 72 or 74, showed the frail and elderly man doing what frail and elderly men might...

Logan Paul Gets His First 'Strike' From YouTube

Star hears his fate for posting suicide video

(Newser) - After more than a week, YouTube has revealed the punishment star vlogger Logan Paul will receive for posting a video of a suicide victim in Japan . Paul, who laughed and joked about the dead man during the widely condemned video, will have his channels removed from the Google Preferred platform,...

Locked Away for 15 Years, 42-Pound Woman Found Dead

Her parents now face charges in Japan

(Newser) - For at least 15 years, Airi Kakimoto was confined to a 32-square-foot room without windows or heat, according to police. Her suffering would only be exposed with her death. Authorities in Japan say the 33-year-old was found dead in her parents' Neyagawa home on Saturday. She died days earlier around...

World's Biggest Nuke Plant Gets a Long-Awaited OK

TEPCO gets OK to restart nuclear reactors, to the displeasure of some

(Newser) - The biggest nuclear power plant in the world sits idle, as it has for nearly seven years. But that state is set to change, and not without public trepidation. The Guardian reports that Japan's nuclear watchdog this week gave Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) the green light to restart two...

S. Korea: Parts of WWII Sex Slave Deal Were Kept Secret

Panel reviewed 2015 'comfort women' agreement with Japan, found it lacking

(Newser) - Exactly two years ago, Japan and South Korea agreed that if Japan did what it had promised, the issue of WWII sex slaves—or "comfort women," forced to work in Japanese brothels for soldiers—would be "finally and irreversibly resolved." Maybe not. A panel put together...

Man Is Responsible for Child Conceived After He Left Wife

Judge rules in case of post-separation in vitro fertilization

(Newser) - A Japanese court is holding a man legally responsible for his biological child—despite her being born long after he was in any way involved with her conception. The Japan Times reports the Nara Family Court on Friday dismissed a lawsuit from a 46-year-old foreigner seeking to avoid legal responsibility...

Japan Buying Missiles That Can Strike North Korea Bases

But defense minister says it will still mainly rely on US protection

(Newser) - While North Korea keeps up its taunting missile tests , Japan is making plans of its own, with North Korea seemingly in its sights. The Wall Street Journal reports Japan is set to purchase extended-range missiles that could hit the North's military bases. The country's Defense Ministry says it...

High Priestess of Tokyo Shrine Killed With Samurai Sword

Police say her brother also killed accomplice before taking own life

(Newser) - The former high priest of a famous Tokyo shrine killed his older sister, an accomplice, and finally himself with a samurai sword Thursday in what police believe was a feud over succession. Police say 58-year-old Nagako Tomioka, the high priestess of the Tomioka Hachimangu shrine, was killed by her brother,...

Man Who Doubts Auschwitz's Gas Buys Emperor's WWII Memoir

Dr. Katsuya Takasu paid $275K for Japanese Emperor Hirohito's recollections

(Newser) - Japanese Emperor Hirohito's WWII memoir was expected to fetch as much as $150,000 at auction in New York Wednesday. It instead sold for $275,000, but the sale price is potentially less interesting than the buyer: Dr. Katsuya Takasu, a man the BBC describes as an accused Holocaust...

Emperor's Memoir, Written at MacArthur's Request, to Be Sold

Japanese Emperor Hirohito's recollections could fetch as much as $150K

(Newser) - A memoir by Japanese Emperor Hirohito that offers his recollections of World War II is predicted to fetch between $100,000 and $150,000 at an auction in New York. The 173-page document was dictated to his aides soon after the end of the war. It was created at the...

Japan Emperor Will Be First to Abdicate in 200 Years

Emperor Akihito will step down on April 30, 2019

(Newser) - Japan's much admired Emperor Akihito is set to abdicate on April 30, 2019, at age 85 in the first such departure from the Chrysanthemum Throne in about 200 years, the government said Friday. Akihito's elder son Crown Prince Naruhito will ascend the throne a day later, beginning a...

Japan Spots Drifting Boat Carrying 10 North Koreans

Sighting comes day after 'ghost ship' washed ashore

(Newser) - Japanese authorities were preparing Thursday to inspect a decrepit boat with 10 men identifying themselves as North Koreans drifting in rough seas off the northern island of Hokkaido. Coast guard officials said they were towing the wooden boat to a safer area for inspection. Officials spotted the boat off the...

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