News On Japan

Summer Sonic returns to international-heavy lineups with Kendrick Lamar, Blur, The Strokes, Lizzo and Foo Fighters

Marquee international festivals Summer Sonic and Fuji Rock have unveiled their first heavyweight international line ups since the pandemic

Mar 21, 2023 (iq-mag.net) - Japan’s marquee international festivals are heralding a return to form with lineups featuring some of the world’s biggest stars.

Summer Sonic, set to be held concurrently in Tokyo and Osaka on 19 and 20 August, recently unveiled a bill headlined by Kendrick Lamar, Blur, The Strokes, Lizzo and Foo Fighters.

Other non-domestic acts on the bill include Fall Out Boy, Blur, Niall Horan, Thundercat, Two Door Cinema Club, Wet Leg, Honne, Pale Waves, Liam Gallagher and Evanescence.

Last year, international acts accounted for just 40% of Summer Sonic’s offering due to stringent pandemic travel restrictions.

In addition, the Creativeman-promoted festivals were reduced in capacity (Tokyo to 55,000 and Osaka to 30,000) and fans were subject to a number of restrictions. ...continue reading

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[updated 8:00 a.m.] Transport services across eastern Japan were largely returning to normal on June 4th after Typhoon Jangmi (Typhoon No. 6) moved into the Pacific Ocean, with most railway lines resuming operations, airports functioning normally and airlines working to clear residual delays following a day of widespread disruption that saw nearly 900 flights canceled and major rail services suspended.

Typhoon Jangmi (Typhoon No. 6) swept across Japan on June 3rd, bringing record-breaking rainfall, widespread flooding, landslides, transport disruptions, and powerful winds, while prompting Tokyo's first-ever issuance of a Level 4 danger alert under the country's new weather warning system. The storm also exposed challenges surrounding evacuation behavior, as many residents chose not to leave their homes despite official warnings affecting more than 1.6 million people across the Tokyo metropolitan area.

A body discovered in a river in Tatsuno, Hyogo Prefecture, has been identified as 42-year-old Kenji Oyama, the suspect wanted nationwide in connection with the murder of a mother and daughter last month, police announced on June 4th.

As Typhoon Jangmi (Typhoon No. 6) struck Wakayama Prefecture on June 3rd, the storm became the first major test of Japan's newly introduced disaster weather warning system, revealing both the benefits of earlier evacuation calls and the challenges local authorities faced in helping residents understand and respond to the new alerts.

Flooding was reported around the popular tourist district of Oharai-machi in Ise City following the passage of Typhoon No. 6, with some businesses forced to clean up after floodwaters overflowed from a nearby river during the early hours of June 3rd.

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