TRAVEL

Four female curling teams, including former Olympians and new, younger athletes, are preparing for a September tournament that will determine who will represent Japan at a qualifying tournament for the Sochi Winter Olympics next February. (Yomiuri)

Japan is preparing to start up a massive nuclear-fuel reprocessing plant over the objections of the Obama administration, which fears the move may stoke a broader race for nuclear technologies and even weapons in North Asia and the Middle East. (Wall Street Journal)

Some U.S. government officials and experts have strong concerns about Japan's plan to operate a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in Aomori to retract plutonium while most of the nation's reactors remain shut down, a member of the government's Japan Atomic Energy Commission said Monday. (rdmag.com)

Japan and the United States are considering deploying the Global Hawk unmanned high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft at a U.S. military base in Japan to enhance surveillance over North Korea, bilateral sources said Saturday. (Kyodo)

People come from all over the world to get a short glimpse of Japan's blooming cherry blossoms. Google is taking advantage of this worldwide sakura passion to show off their virtual-tour map feature with Street View Sakura Edition, which shows cherry blossom scenes not only in normal pictures but also as 360-degree panoramas. (Japan Pulse)

Hayabusa bullet trains began running Saturday at a new top speed of 320 kph on the Tohoku Shinkansen Line, equalling France's TGV as the world's fastest train in operation. (Japan Times)

When a massive dock drifted across the Pacific Ocean from Japan to the U.S. West Coast after the Great East Japan Earthquake, it brought along more than the invasive "wakame" kelp and mussels that were attached to it. The city of Newport, Oregon, where the docked beached itself last June, saw the high level of interest the dock was generating and decided to put it to good use. (Kyodo)

Police said Monday that a man died after being run down by a snow plow in Aomori Prefecture. According to police, Ken Sato, 25, was crossing the street at a crosswalk in Kuroishi at around 4 a.m. Sunday morning when he was hit by a snow plow that was reversing. (Japan Today)

For Abe, joining the TPP negotiations is an integral part of his growth strategy, which is 'the third prong' of his economic policy. The first Abe administration of 2006-07 also emphasized the importance of making progress on Economic Partnership Agreements with other countries in East Asia in order to bolster economic growth in Japan by drawing in overseas demand for goods and services. (East Asia Forum)

Local governments in the Tohoku region are struggling to clear away heavy snow on roads and in residential areas as efforts have not been able to keep up with the accumulated snowfall. (Yomiuri)

The average life expectancy for Japanese men and women is highest in the central prefecture of Nagano, a health ministry survey showed Thursday. (Jiji Press)

A cargo of high-level radioactive waste produced through reprocessing of spent Japanese nuclear fuel in Britain arrived at a port in Aomori Prefecture for storage on Wednesday. (Kyodo)

Communities in Hokkaido and five prefectures of the Tohoku region had record levels of accumulated snow as of Feb. 25, although precipitation levels are about the same as an average year. (Asahi)

An amazing 515 cm level snow depth was measured at Sukayu Onsen, Aomori on Honshu Island in Japan on February 21st, the deepest snow measured at an official weather site in Japan records. (wunderground.com)

Significant portions of major geological faults running under Tohoku Electric Power Co.'s one-reactor Higashidori nuclear power plant in Aomori Prefecture are probably active, a Nuclear Regulation Authority panel said in a draft report Monday. (Japan Times)

A team of Japanese scientists said Thursday that faults underneath a nuclear plant in northern Japan are most likely active, a discovery that could further delay the restart of idled reactors. (mtstandard.com)

A 58-year-old man was sentenced on Friday to 26 years in prison for killing his neighbor with a crossbow in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, last year. (Japan Today)

With the arrival of autumn in Japan, tourist spots see a sudden influx of visitors, eager to do spot of sightseeing and wander around outdoors without melting into a big, sweaty mess like in summer. (rocketnews24.com)

On this trip, our reporter Gow visits the izakaya bars of Hachinohe City in Aomori Prefecture, enjoying plenty of good sake wine and fresh seafood. As well as being given a hearty welcome from all the bar owners who are fun and friendly, she also enjoys herself talking to the other customers. Gow also experiences various izakaya customs including ways to drink Japanese sake wine. (JapanDocumentary)

Police said Saturday they have arrested a 35-year-old man on suspicion of murdering his grandmother in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture. (Japan Today)

A 31-year-old woman whose body was found in an apartment here on Oct. 5 had been kept captive with a dog collar around her neck for 40 hours by four arrested suspects, police allege. (Mainichi)

Three more people were arrested on suspicion of imprisoning a woman found dead at an apartment here, following the Oct. 5 arrest of a truck driver on the same charges, police said on Oct. 13. (Mainichi)

A truck driver was arrested on Oct. 5 on suspicion of imprisoning a woman found dead at his apartment here. (Mainichi)

A Japanese power company says it will resume the construction of a nuclear power plant. This is the first such move in the country since last year's nuclear accident at Fukushima. (NHKReloaded)

The government said Saturday it would go ahead with planned work to complete three new nuclear power reactors, despite saying a day earlier it would phase out nuclear power generation by 2040. (Japan Today)