Society

Icebreaker Shirase leaves for another voyage to Antarctic continent

Nov 13 (Japan Times) - The icebreaker Shirase, operated by the Maritime Self-Defense Force, left Tokyoâ€™s Harumi pier for Antarctica on Sunday.

Most members of the 59th Antarctic expedition team will board the ship in Australia on Nov. 28. The Shirase will carry a total of about 180 crew members.

In 2007, a Japanese mission sampled 720,000-year-old ice at the nation's Dome Fuji Station in inland Antarctica by drilling through the ice sheet to a depth of 3,035 meters. The team heading there at the end of the month will select a new drilling point, with the aim of collecting even older ice.

A European expedition team in 2004 collected Antarctic ice dating back some 800,000 years. The coming Japanese mission will try to extract even older ice to set a new world record.

Scientists expect that an analysis of Antarctic ice will allow them to better understand climate change in the past and predict future global warming.

The 59th team will also carry on atmospheric and marine observation, and research on penguins and other creatures on Antarctica.

Do Bears Prefer Acorns or Berries?

Bear sightings across Japan have already climbed to nearly twice the level recorded during the same period last year, prompting entry bans in mountain areas behind Kyoto’s Ninna-ji Temple and the cancellation of hiking events in Kansai, while new research suggests that the key to reducing encounters may lie in understanding what bears eat in each region.

Copper Thieves Target Japanese Shrines

Copper roofing panels were stolen from several shrines in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, including a city-designated cultural property, in the latest case amid a nationwide surge in copper thefts targeting shrines and temples across Japan, where soaring metal prices have fueled crimes that leave historic religious buildings damaged, exposed to the elements, and facing repair costs of millions of yen.

1200-Year-Old Temple on Miyajima Reduced to Ashes

Flames broke out on the morning of May 20th on Miyajima Island in Hiroshima Prefecture, home to one of Japan's World Heritage sites, destroying Reikado Hall near the summit of Mount Misen.

From Bento Boxes to Garbage Bags, Rising Costs Hitting Daily Life Across Japan

Uncertainty surrounding the situation in the Middle East is beginning to affect daily life in Japan, as concerns over crude oil supplies spread to restaurants, cleaning services and even household garbage disposal systems across the Kansai region.

Tochigi Robbery-Murder Suspect’s Wife Posted Dance Videos on Social Media

A 25-year-old woman arrested as a suspected ringleader in a robbery-murder case in Tochigi Prefecture once posted cheerful dance videos on social media and was remembered by those who knew her as an energetic and outgoing young woman.

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