TRAVEL

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency will launch the country's new solid-fuel rocket Epsilon on Aug. 22, carrying a satellite whose mission is to observe Venus and Mars while orbiting Earth, the science ministry said Tuesday. (Kyodo)

Ekan Ikeguchi, the chief priest of Saifukuji temple who placed the winning bid at an auction for the headquarters building of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon), apologized at a press conference Friday for giving up the purchase after failing to procure enough funds. (Yomiuri)

A decommissioned Japan Coast Guard patrol vessel was sold to a demolition company run by a senior regional member of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon), a pro-Pyongyang organization, without a JCG regional headquarters confirmation as to whether the vessel's navigation data was deleted, it has been learned. (Yomiuri)

The religious group that bought the building used by the Chongryon organisation that represents North Korean residents of Japan allegedly has links to far-right groups and crime syndicates. (South China Morning Post)

An adult woman in Kagoshima Prefecture in southwestern Japan early this month died of severe fever thrombocytopenia syndrome, or SFTS, the prefectural government said Monday. (Jiji Press)

An increasing number of stranded young sea turtles have been found along the Sea of Japan coast in recent months, with 119 confirmed since November, according to the Sea Turtle Association of Japan. (Yomiuri)

Kunio Sekiya had to wait 15 years before his discovery of a new species of frog won international recognition. (Yomiuri)

The government will apply for the inclusion of the Amami and Ryukyu islands on UNESCO's provisional list of candidates for World Heritage sites. (Japan Times)

Jetstar Japan will be more than a third of the way towards its target fleet of 24 aircraft next month when it adds two Airbus A320 aircraft so it can begin flying to three new destinations later in the year. (The Australian)

China's state news agency said Japan has released a Chinese fishing crew detained on Saturday for poaching in Japanese waters. (VOA News)

The municipal government of Makurazaki, Kagoshima Prefecture, said Tuesday it will build a huge solar power plant after demolishing a local airport in March. (Japan Times)

Japanese researchers have found substances in central Japan that they believe are from a meteorite that crashed into Canada more than 200 million years ago. (NHKReloaded)

The victory of a Liberal Democratic Party candidate over one from the Democratic Party of Japan's junior coalition partner in a by-election Sunday is likely to reinforce the view within the ruling party that any dissolution of the lower house for a general election should be delayed as long as possible. (Yomiuri)

Nippon Ishin no Kai (the Japan Restoration Party), led by Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, kicked off a nationwide campaign in Kagoshima on Saturday in preparation for the next general election. (Yomiuri)

Islands of southern Japan suffered strong winds which caused blackouts after Typhoon Prapiroon, the 21st of the season, passed near the area early Thursday, China's Xinhua news agency said quoting local news agency's reports. (Bernama)

A volcanic eruption spewed flames into the southern Japanese sky and blanketed a nearby city with ash. Debris filled the air in Kagoshima City, wreaking havoc with transportation, forcing residents to wear facemasks and prompting extensive cleanup efforts. (New York Daily News)

The transit of Venus across the sun was observed over a wide area of Japan on Wednesday morning. The planet started its transit at around 7:10 a.m. Japan time from the upper left side of the sun and slowly moved to the right. It will take about six and half hours for Venus to move across the sun. (Mainichi)

Ash cloud enveloped vast areas after Japan's active Sakurajima volcano in the south-western city of Kagoshima erupted repeatedly from Sunday to Monday. (rttnews.com)

Many Okinawa and mainland Japan residents pondered the significance of the return of Okinawa to Japanese sovereignty on May 15, the 40th anniversary of the reversion. (Mainichi)

A fishing boat that was swept away by the deadly tsunami in March last year from Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, has been found on a rocky stretch of Kikai Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, some 1,600 kilometers away from the disaster-hit city, the coast guard service said Friday. (Mainichi)

Three Chinese Navy warships sailed through the Osumi Strait off Kagoshima Prefecture and into the Pacific, the Defense Ministry said Monday. The warships--two frigates and an intelligence-gathering ship--were spotted at around noon Sunday by a Maritime Self-Defense Force patrol plane about 430 kilometers west of Yakushima island, Kagoshima Prefecture, according to the ministry. (Yomiuri)

Japanese police say that they've nabbed a new master vandal who may be responsible for a world record for writing on bathroom walls. Police say they picked up Friday a 35-year old man who allegedly carved graffiti into 2,600 bathroom stalls with a cutting knife in over 36 of Japan's 47 prefectures. (Wall Street Journal)

Five people were slightly injured Sunday morning after a high-speed boat they were on crashed into what appeared to be a whale off Kagoshima Prefecture, according to a local coast guard office. Two passengers and three crew members suffered blows to their shoulders or hips when the 140-ton vessel collided with what appeared to be a whale shortly before 9 a.m. on its way from Kagoshima to Yakushima island, Kagoshima Prefecture, the Kagoshima Coast Guard Office said. (Yomiuri)

Japan's first low-cost carrier, Peach Aviation Ltd., topped its projected occupancy rate in its first month of operations, according to CEO Shinichi Inoue. The number of passengers in March came to about 67,000, with 83 percent of the seats filled on average, exceeding the anticipated range of between 75 and 80 percent, Inoue said Tuesday. (Japan Times)

A Swiss man who walked from Hokkaido to Kagoshima Prefecture on foot in five months to dispel fears of radiation in the country among people overseas is receiving worldwide attention. Thomas Kohler, 44, worked at a travel agency in Zurich before the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. He was in charge of arranging trips to Japan, but was forced to quit after many customers canceled trips to Japan because they believed the entire nation had become contaminated. (Yomiuri)