Japan

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Sea Shepherd Gives Up on Japan Whaling Fight—for Now

Conservation organization says it's no match for Japan's funding, military-level technology

(Newser) - For more than a decade, a marine conservation group has dogged Japanese ships trolling for whales near Antarctica. But the BBC reports that Sea Shepherd is now being forced to cancel those efforts, noting it's been outplayed by Japan's cutting-edge technology and deep wallet. "Japan is now...

Foo Fighters Pull Off Biggest Rickroll Ever

Astley joins them for music festival mash-up

(Newser) - In scenes that would have almost certainly confounded Kurt Cobain, the Foo Fighters pulled off the most spectacular Rickroll of all time at a music festival in Tokyo on Sunday. After the band performed a few of their own songs, lead singer Dave Grohl told the audience at the Summer...

Zoo's Tortoise Spends 2 Weeks on the Lam, Gets Nowhere

Abuh was found less than 500 feet from the zoo

(Newser) - The top speed of a giant tortoise on dry land, according to Gizmodo , is about 0.17mph. That turned out to be great news for Japan's Shibukawa Animal Park, which had a 121-pound Aldabra giant tortoise named Abuh escape earlier this month. Channel News Asia reports Abuh is allowed...

Original Man in Godzilla Suit Dies
Original Man in 
Godzilla Suit Dies
OBITUARY
Aug 8, 2017 12:01 AM CDT

Original Man in Godzilla Suit Dies

Haruo Nakajima was 88

(Newser) - Haruo Nakajima, the actor who stomped in a rubber suit to portray the original 1954 Godzilla, helping to make the Japanese monster an iconic symbol of the nuclear era, has died. He was 88. Nakajima's daughter Sonoe Nakajima says he was hospitalized last month and died of pneumonia Monday,...

Japan Discovers How to Keep Popsicles From Melting

And it was completely by accident

(Newser) - Eating ice cream on a hot summer's day presents something of a challenge—one must tackle the meltiest spots fast enough, before the treat becomes a mess on the ground. But this summer in Japan, people are enjoying better living through chemistry with a new type of popsicle that...

Woman Accused of Destroying Ex&#39;s $950K Violin Collection
$950K Violin Collection Ruined.
3 Years Later, Ex-Wife Arrested
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jul 30, 2017 5:31 PM CDT

$950K Violin Collection Ruined. 3 Years Later, Ex-Wife Arrested

The destroyed collection included 54 violins and 70 bows

(Newser) - The world's tiniest violin might not be enough to express one man's loss, allegedly at the hands of his ex-wife. The Japan Times reports 34-year-old Midori Kawamiya was arrested Tuesday, accused of destroying her ex-husband's $950,000 violin collection in 2014 as the two were divorcing. Authorities...

Scientists Create World&#39;s First True-Blue Mum
Scientists Just Achieved
'Holy Grail' of Plant Breeding
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jul 30, 2017 6:33 AM CDT

Scientists Just Achieved 'Holy Grail' of Plant Breeding

Japanese team engineers the first blue chrysanthemum

(Newser) - A development of "great impact" has been made in the world of flowers—specifically among chrysanthemums, which researchers have just turned a true-blue hue for the first time, per Science . The magazine explains that vibrant blue flowers are hard to find in nature—only a few species exist, and...

N. Korea Launches Missile That Lands Near Japan

It traveled 45 minutes and 620 miles

(Newser) - North Korea continues to defy warnings to quit messing with missile tests, this time with an apparent launch into the sea near Japan, the AP and Reuters report. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the missile, which was launched Friday night, looks to have landed in the country's exclusive...

A Loaf-Sized Robot Just Took This Important Photo

Locating melted fuel at Fukushima is key, and this is believed to be it

(Newser) - An underwater robot captured images of lava-like lumps Thursday inside a damaged reactor at Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant , spotting for the first time what is believed to be nuclear fuel that melted six years ago. Locating the fuel in each of the three wrecked reactors is crucial for...

'Black Widow' Makes Stunning Claim in Murder Trial

'I killed my husband,' Chisako Kakehi tells court

(Newser) - When Chisako Kakehi took the stand during her murder trial Monday, she vowed to remain silent. But that's not what happened. In what the New York Times calls a "cinematic turn," the so-called black widow of Japan admitted to killing her fourth husband, one of at least...

First Film Clip Emerges of Japan's 'Comfort Women'

South Korean researchers found it in the US National Archives

(Newser) - It's just 18 seconds long, but a new video released by South Korean researchers makes history for the worst of reasons. The clip shows Korean "comfort women" held as sex slaves by the Japanese military, reports the BBC . It's believed to be the first such film clip...

Japanese Company Charged in Worker's Suicide

Matsuri Takahashi, 24, killed herself after several months at Dentsu

(Newser) - The Japanese company that employed a young worker who killed herself from "overwork" will face charges, reports the Jiji Press . Top advertising agency Dentsu faces charges of violating labor standards related to illegal overtime in the case of Matsuri Takahashi, 24, who threw herself from one of the company'...

Earhart Investigators: This Photo Proves She Survived

Documentary suggests National Archives image shows her and Fred Noonan

(Newser) - A new History documentary floats one of the most provocative theories yet about Amelia Earhart: The show focuses on a newly surfaced photo that some think proves she and navigator Fred Noonan survived their 1937 plane crash. Investigators with the documentary say the image shows Earhart sitting on a dock...

Why Japan's Hot Cows Are Wearing Cool Shirts

High-tech shirts fight annual summertime drop in milk production

(Newser) - Cows in Japan are sporting some new duds for the summer: high-tech shirts to keep them cool. The Japan Times reports milk production typically drops 10% during the summer heat, and farmers worry that will only get worse with climate change. That led Japanese apparel company Gunze to create the...

Airline Wouldn't Let Disabled Man Board. He Found a Way

'I just had to ignore them ... or I could not go back to Osaka': Hideto Kijima

(Newser) - A Japanese airline has apologized for making a wheelchair user hoist himself up a staircase from the tarmac to board his flight. Hideto Kijima faced the problem earlier this month while returning to Osaka from the southern island of Amami with friends, the AP reports. Vanilla Air, the budget affiliate...

'No Other Way': Airbag Maker Takata on Bankruptcy Filing

Japanese company was brought down by recall costs, lawsuits

(Newser) - Shattered by recall costs and lawsuits, Japanese airbag maker Takata Corp. filed Monday for bankruptcy protection in Tokyo and the US, saying it was the only option to keep supplying replacements for faulty airbag inflators linked to the deaths of at least 16 people. The company's bankruptcy filings cleared...

Navy Finds Dead Sailors Aboard Rammed Destroyer

Several bodies recovered from flooded compartments aboard USS Fitzgerald

(Newser) - The search for seven US Navy sailors missing after their destroyer collided with a container ship off Japan was called off Sunday after several bodies were found in the ship's flooded compartments, including sleeping quarters. Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin, the commander of the Navy's 7th Fleet, described the...

With Sailors Still Missing, Questions Over Ship Crash

USS Fitzgerald collided with container ship four times its size

(Newser) - US and Japanese vessels and aircraft are searching for seven American sailors who are missing after their Navy destroyer collided before dawn with a container ship four times its size off the coast of Japan. The USS Fitzgerald was back at its home port in Yokosuka Naval Base south of...

Sailors Injured, Missing After Destroyer Hits Merchant Vessel

The collision happened early Saturday off the coast of Japan

(Newser) - A US Navy destroyer collided with a merchant vessel 56 nautical miles off the coast of Japan around 2:30am Saturday local time. The AP , citing Japanese media, reports one sailor on the USS Fitzgerald was injured and another seven were missing. The injured sailor was airlifted off the destroyer...

Japan Passes Law to Let Emperor Quit

Akihito will be first to abdicate in 200 years

(Newser) - Japan's Emperor Akihito is 83 years old and in declining health—and he is finally being allowed to step down. Japan's parliament passed a law Friday that will allow Akihito, who became emperor when father Hirohito died in 1989, to abdicate, reports Reuters . Akihito has had heart surgery...

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