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☆ Asteroid discovery suggests ingredients for life on Earth came from space
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] The carbonaceous asteroid Ryugu is seen from a distance of about 12 miles (20 km) during the Japanese Space Agency's Hayabusa2 mission on June 30, 2018. Scientists said on Tuesday they detected uracil and niacin in rocks obtained by the Japanese Space Agency's Hayabusa2 spacecraft from two sites on Ryugu in 2019. Scientists long have pondered about the conditions necessary for life to arise after Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago. "It was directly sampled on the asteroid Ryugu and returned to Earth, and finally to laboratories without any contact with terrestrial contaminants." The U.S. space agency NASA during its OSIRIS-REx mission collected samples in 2020 from the asteroid Bennu.

☆ For toothed whales, sound production is all in the nose
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Researchers on Thursday offered a comprehensive explanation for sound production by toothed whales - loud clicks for echolocation, and softer burst pulses and whistles for communication. The researchers used sound-recording tags on sperm whales, false killer whales and bottlenosed dolphins to study sound production in the wild. The sounds made by toothed whales differ from the haunting "singing" by filter-feeding baleen whales. "Toothed whales don't sing like baleen whales," Madsen said. During the course of evolution, toothed whales have lost their vocal folds, but evolved an entirely new set of sound sources in the nose."

☆ Rapidus picks northern Japan's Chitose as semiconductor plant location
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Japan's state-backed Rapidus said on Tuesday it would build its semiconductor plant in Chitose, a manufacturing hub on the nation's northern island of Hokkaido. The factory and a Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (2330.TW) plant under construction on the southern island of Kyushu are the key pillars of Japan's strategy to boost its capability to make more advanced chips and shield itself from supply chain snarls. Rapidus Chairman Tetsuro Higashi told Reuters this month that the company would need about 7 trillion yen ($51.4 billion) of mostly taxpayer money to begin mass producing advanced logic chips around 2027. Chitose, a city of about 100,000 people, already hosts a wide range of factories run by major manufacturers including silicon wafer maker SUMCO Corp (3436.T) and auto components maker Denso Corp (6902.T). ($1 = 136.1500 yen)Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka and Mayu Sakoda; Editing by Edwina GibbsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Rapidus to build chip factory in Chitose, northern Japan -media
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Japan's state-backed chip venture Rapidus plans to build its first factory in Chitose city on Japan's northernmost major island of Hokkaido and is likely to make an announcement as early as next week, TV Tokyo reported on Tuesday. Chitose, a city of approximately 100,000 people in southwestern Hokkaido, already hosts manufacturing facilities of silicon wafer maker SUMCO Corp (3436.T), among others. A Rapidus spokesperson said nothing has been decided yet on the location. Rapidus told Reuters earlier this month that it would need about 7 trillion yen ($52 billion) of mostly taxpayer money to begin mass-producing advanced logic chips in around 2027.read more($1 = 134.8100 yen)Reporting by Kaneko Kaori, Mayu Sakoda and Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Alex Richardson and Tomasz JanowskiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ North Korea Launches ICBM, Raising Tensions in Region
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Jiyoung Sohn | Dasl Yoon | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

SEOUL—North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile, escalating tensions in the region as the U.S. and South Korea prepare for joint military exercises. The missile was fired eastward Saturday shortly before 5:30 p.m. local time from the Sunan area in the outskirts of North Korea’s capital city of Pyongyang. It was in the air for a little more than an hour, reaching an altitude of more than 3,500 miles. It traveled a distance of about 560 miles before landing in the sea about 155 miles west of Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido, in the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone, according to South Korean and Japanese defense officials.

☆ Rapidus considering building chip factory in Hokkaido, northern Japan-TV Tokyo
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Japan's state-backed chip venture Rapidus is considering building a chip factory in Hokkaido, northern Japan, TV Tokyo reported on Wednesday. Rapidus will likely make a formal decision on new factory site by as early as end-February, according to the report. A spokesperson of the chip venture confirmed that Hokkaido governor will visit its headquarters in Tokyo on Thursday to discuss plant building. Japan has said it will invest an initial 70 billion yen ($525 million) in Rapidus, a venture led by tech firms including Sony Group Corp (6758.T) and NEC CorpRapidus told Reuters earlier this month that it would need about 7 trillion yen ($54 billion) of mostly taxpayer money to begin mass producing advanced logic chips in around 2027. ($1 = 133.2700 yen)Reporting by Kantaro Komiya and Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Toby ChopraOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Lovers From Around The World, Caught on Film
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Pia Peterson Haggarty | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

When pandemic lockdowns hit in 2020, photographers and artists Ance Priedniece and Jack Gunn felt like life had been put on pause. “I suppose it was this loneliness and the separation of loved ones that sparked thoughts on love around the world." Eric and Sonosan. Photograph by Chiharu and Wataru Yaginuma in Hokkaido, Japan.

TOKYO, Feb 7 (Reuters) - The popularity of Japan's crisp powder snow among foreign skiers, surging back into the country, is luring more to seek the thrill of pristine backcountry slopes - sometimes with deadly impact. Japan's snow, prized among skiers for dryness caused by local atmospheric conditions, is a big draw. The head of Japan's National Governors Association last week said a national system of safety measures is now essential. BACKCOUNTRY CULTUREThe reputation of Japanese snow took off after the Nagano Olympics. Japan wants to welcome foreign skiers, but they need to know the reality of the risks involved, said Kenji Kubota, a researcher with the Japan Rescue Organization.

☆ Russia rules out talks with Japan on fishing near disputed islands
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 29 (Reuters) - Russia said on Sunday it will not hold annual talks with Japan on renewing a pact that allows Japanese fishermen to operate near disputed islands, saying Japan has taken anti-Russian measures. The islands, off the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, are known in Russia as the Kurils and in Japan as the Northern Territories and have been at the core of decades of tension between the neighbours. Japan, a major U.S. ally, imposed sanctions on dozens of Russian individuals and organisations soon after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 last year. On Friday, it tightened sanctions on Russia in response to Russian air attacks on Ukrainian cities. Russia and Japan have not formally ended World War Two hostilities because of their standoff over the islands, seized by the Soviet Union at the end of the war.

☆ Russia backs banning of maps disputing official 'territorial integrity'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] A woman walks past a building with Russian flags placed on its wall in Saint Petersburg, Russia April 24, 2022. REUTERS/Anton VaganovJan 8 (Reuters) - Russia's government extended support to a legislative amendment that would classify maps that dispute the country's official "territorial integrity" as punishable extremist materials, the state-owned TASS news agency reported on Sunday. The amendment to Russia's anti-extremism legislation stipulates that "cartographic and other documents and images that dispute the territorial integrity of Russia" will be classified as extremist materials, the agency reported. The new amendment, TASS reports without citing sources, emerged after its authors pointed out that some maps distributed in Russia dispute the "territorial affiliation" of the Crimean Peninsula and the Kuril Islands. Ukrainians and their government have since often objected to world maps showing Crimea as part of Russia's territory.

☆ Japan's 'anti-Russian course' makes treaty talks impossible - TASS
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 3 (Reuters) - Japan's "anti-Russian course" makes peace treaty talks impossible, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko said in comments published by the state TASS news agency on Tuesday. "It is absolutely obvious that it is impossible to discuss the signing of such a document (a peace treaty) with a state that takes openly unfriendly positions and allows itself direct threats against our country," Rudenko told TASS in an interview. "We are not seeing signs of Tokyo moving away from the anti-Russian course and any attempt to rectify the situation." Russia withdrew from its talks with Japan in March last year, following Japanese sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Japan reacted angrily to the talks, calling Moscow's move "unfair" and "completely unacceptable".

☆ Wealthy Chinese, Fed Up at Home, Find a Haven in Japan
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Miho Inada | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

OTARU, Japan—A growing number of affluent Chinese are coming to Japan to live, according to real-estate brokers and people in the Chinese community here, in an indication of social and political tensions back home. Hideyuki Ishii, a real-estate broker on the northern island of Hokkaido, says he has been inundated recently with requests from Chinese nationals who want to buy property that they can use as a foothold to move to Japan.

☆ Those traveling to Japan right now are 'mostly rich people,' says Japan Association of Travel Agents
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailThose traveling to Japan right now are 'mostly rich people,' says Japan Association of Travel AgentsTadashi Shimura of Japan Association of Travel Agents says Hokkaido and Okinawa are popular destinations for foreign tourists.

☆ Japan awaits same-sex marriage ruling crucial to future LGBTQ rights
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Elaine Lies | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Plaintiffs hold hands each other after a district court ruled on the legality of same-sex marriages outside Sapporo district court in Sapporo, Hokkaido, northern Japan March 17, 2021, in this photo taken by Kyodo. Of two cases on the issue decided in Japan, one ruled banning same-sex marriage was "unconstitutional" and the other held the opposite. That adds weight to the expected decision by the Tokyo district court - already influential because of the capital's outsized influence on the rest of Japan - as it will establish a trend, lawyers and activists say. Eight people are involved in the case to be decided on Wednesday, saying the ban on same-sex marriage contravenes Japan's constitution and demanding damages of 1 million yen ($7,200) each. Though partnership certificates from municipalities now cover about 60% of the population in Japan, including Tokyo, they do not give same-sex couples the same rights enjoyed by heterosexual couples.

☆ Hoping to beat the tourist crowd on your trip to Japan? That ship has sailed
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Abigail Ng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

I thought I managed to beat the tourist crowds on my recent trip to Japan. Visitors gather on a terrace near the Kiyomizu-dera to watch the sunset and autumn leaves in Kyoto, Japan. In the months before those rules were lifted on Oct. 11, there were fewer traffic jams and queues, said Aw. Tokudaw's Aw said bookings with her company remain strong for the year-end period, at around 85% of pre-Covid levels. Travel, however, told CNBC Travel that its customers from Singapore have made bookings all the way through to April.

[1/4] A passerby looks at a television screen showing a news report about North Korea firing a ballistic missile in Tokyo, Japan November 18, 2022. South Korea's military projected that the missile reached an altitude of 6,100 km and flew 1,000 km at a maximum speed of Mach 22. Friday's launch is the eighth ICBM test this year by North Korea, based on a tally from the U.S. State Department. Concern has also mounted over the possibility of North Korea conducting a nuclear test for the first time since 2017. North Korea on March 24 launched its biggest ICBM ever, which flew 67.5 minutes and reached an altitude of 6,248.5 km (3,905 miles), according to state media.

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea fired a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile Friday, the South Korean and Japanese governments said, a day after it resumed weapons tests as it vowed “fiercer” military responses to the U.S.’s strengthening its alliances with South Korea and Japan. It would be the second ICBM North Korea has fired this month and the third this year, after it refrained from conducting such tests since 2017. Japan’s Defense Ministry also said it appeared to be an ICBM-class ballistic missile. In a statement Thursday, North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said the summit would lead to a “more unpredictable phase” in the situation on the Korean Peninsula. U.S. and South Korean officials say North Korea is also preparing to conduct its seventh nuclear test, which would be its first since 2017.

SEOUL/TOKYO, Nov 18 (Reuters) - North Korea fired a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile on Friday that landed just 200 kilometres (130 miles) off Japan and had sufficient range to reach the mainland of the United States, Japanese officials told reporters. Friday's launch would be the eighth ICBM test this year by North Korea, based on a tally from the U.S. State Department. A South Korean official said the Nov. 3 test may have failed at high altitude. South Korean and U.S. officials have reported that a number of North Korean ICBM tests appeared to have failed this year. The North has also fired hundreds of artillery shells into the sea recently as South Korea and the United States staged exercises, some of which involved Japan.

☆ North Korea missile had the range to reach U.S. mainland, Japan says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

TOKYO, Nov 18 (Reuters) - A missile fired on Friday by North Korea had sufficient range to reach the United States mainland, and was capable of flying as far as 15,000 km (9,320 miles), Japan's defence minister, Yasukazu Hamada, said. The projectile, in the class of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), reached an altitude of 6,000 km (3,730 miles), covering a range of 1,000 km (622 miles) on a lofted trajectory, Hirokazu Matsuno, the chief cabinet secretary, had said earlier. It landed about 200 km (124 miles) west of Oshima-Oshima island in the northern prefecture of Hokkaido. Reporting by Tokyo newsroom; Editing by Clarence FernandezOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ A Guide to Skiing in Japan: 5 Getaways for Powderheads of Every Stripe
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Janet O Grady | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

CHERRY-BLOSSOM season in Japan has its devotees, but, as countless ski snobs are bound to tell you, the country’s other prime time is the dead of winter. According to the website SnowJapan, the tiny, mountainous archipelago is packed with some 450 ski areas—almost the same number you’ll find throughout the U.S. The northern island of Hokkaido and the central Nagano prefecture—both former hosts of the Winter Olympics—harbor the majority of ski destinations, which range from small family-owned hills to splashy multi-mountain resorts. What many of these spots have in common is “Japow,” the nickname (abbreviated from “Japan Powder”) for the abundant, feather-light snow that rolls in from Siberia via storms over the Sea of Japan. But their off-slope offerings are also a big draw: soaking in a hot spring, downing a flight of sake, slurping up ramen or a shabu-shabu hot pot.

☆ Japanese Ski Getaways for Powderheads of Every Stripe
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Janet O Grady | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Fact Check-Study on Greenland warming does not contradict human-driven climate change
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Rather, the study focused on a natural Pacific Ocean weather anomaly and its role in a recent slowdown of Greenland warming. The study’s finding that the slowdown in Greenland warming was driven largely by CP ENSO events doesn’t dispute anthropogenic climate change, Matsumura said. In fact, CP ENSO events have been projected to increase under global warming, Matsumura added, and a frequent occurrence of La Niña would likely accelerate Greenland warming (here), (here). Reuters Fact Check has previously addressed claims that short-term trends in Arctic ice cover undermine the idea that human-driven climate warming is a threat (here). A study by researchers in Japan that explains cooler Greenland summers with less ice melt over the past decade does not undermine the notion of human-driven climate change.

From Tuesday, Japan will reinstate visa-free travel to dozens of countries, ending some of world's strictest border controls to slow the spread of COVID-19. Just over half a million visitors have come to Japan so far in 2022, compared with a record 31.8 million in 2019. GHOST TOWNNarita Airport, Japan's biggest international airport some 70 kilometres from Tokyo, remains eerily quiet, with about half of its 260 shops and restaurants shuttered. Whether overseas visitors wear face masks and abide by other common infection controls in Japan is another concern. "From the start of the pandemic until now, we've had just a few foreign guests," said Tokyo innkeeper Sawa.

☆ North Korean missile launch raises alarm in Washington
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-04 | by ( Christina Wilkie | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

This latest North Korean missile test — the 23rd year to date — was different because it marked the first time in five years that a North Korean missile had been fired directly over Japan. The missile was fired late Monday, flying over Japan early on Tuesday morning before landing in the Pacific Ocean. WASHINGTON — The Biden administration responded on multiple levels Tuesday to North Korea's latest long-range ballistic missile launch, reaching out to allies in the region on diplomatic and military fronts, and at the leader level by U.S. President Joe Biden . In airspace over the Yellow Sea off the Korean peninsula, the U.S. and South Korea conducted joint aerial flight and precision targeting exercises on Tuesday in response to the missile launch. While the exercises Tuesday were held specifically in response to the latest missile launch, they also served to strengthen trilateral coordination in the face of a threat that keeps growing, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.

☆ The world's fastest trains -- from China to France
▼ + stars: | 2021-12-10 | by ( Ben Jones | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +16 min

Chogo/Xinhua/Getty ImagesAs well as boasting the longest network of high-speed lines in the world, China now has the fastest scheduled trains on the planet. A statement of intent by China’s booming railway technology industry, the Fuxing trains have been developed from previous generations of high-speed trains, which were based on technology imported from Europe and Japan. The design also forms the basis of the Siemens “Velaro” family of high-speed trains, which has been sold to Spain, Russia, Turkey, China and to Eurostar for its second generation international trains. Europe’s first dedicated high-speed network is still its best known and most successful, reaching out well beyond France’s borders. Frecciarossa services operate across Italy’s T-shaped high-speed network, linking Turin, Milan and Venice in the north with Bologna, Florence, Rome and Naples.

Persons: Germany's, Philipp von Ditfurth, Thomas Coex, Europe’s, Kiyoshi Ota, Al Boraq, Morocco's Al Boraq, ‘ Al, Boraq, Oriol, Iryo, Frecciarossa, Ed Jones, Alessandro Rota, sandstorms don’t, HHR Organizations: CNN, Japan’s, Vitesse, Getty, Germany's Inter, City Express, Express, Siemens, Eurostar, Bloomberg, JR, Japan Railways, Tohoku, TGV Euroduplex, Alstom, Flickr, Images Spain, Alta Velocidad, Ouigo Espana, Italian State Railways, Alitalia, Arrows, Spanish National Railways, Railway, Haramain, Speed Railway Locations: Scandinavia, Europe, Asia, France, China, Spain, Germany, Italy, Belgium, England, Africa, Morocco, Egypt, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, India, Thailand, Russia, United States, Shanghai, Shanghai’s Pudong, Hangzhou, Chogo, Xinhua, Japan, Beijing, Hong Kong, Harbin, Cologne, Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Turkey, AFP, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Nantes, Strasbourg, Lille, London, Switzerland, Tokyo, Shin, Aomori, Hokkaido, Honshu, Tsugaru Strait, Tangier, Casablanca, Kenitra, Rabat, Oriol Paris, Madrid, Seville, Malaga, Valencia, Galicia, Barcelona, Alta Velocidad Espana, Korea, South, Seoul, Busan, Gwangju, Mokpo, Pyeongchang, Turin, Milan, Venice, Bologna, Florence, Rome, Naples, Saudi, Bandar Aldandani, Mecca, Medina

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