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205 applicants pass preliminary tests in JAXA astronaut recruitment

Jun 28, 2022 (NHK) - Japan's space agency has announced that 205 applicants have passed preliminary examinations in its latest astronaut recruitment.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, is looking for several new astronauts to take part in an international lunar exploration project.

The agency's first recruitment in 13 years drew the largest-ever number of applicants, at 4,127.

Two-thousand-226 applicants passed paper screening to take online exams on English, science and essay writing.

JAXA said on Tuesday that 188 men and 17 women passed the preliminary exams.

They include 61 people below the age of 30, 107 in their 30s, 31 in their 40s, and six in their 50s.

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Typhoon No. 25 was making its closest approach to the Kanto region on September 21, bringing central Tokyo into the storm-force wind zone while torrential rain caused widespread flooding, landslides and road damage across Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama.

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People aged 65 and older accounted for a record 29.6% of Japan's population in 2026, the highest proportion among major countries worldwide, while the number of elderly people in employment also reached an all-time high as Japan marked Respect for the Aged Day on September 21.

Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako watched Japan defeat Kazakhstan in a women’s basketball preliminary-round game at the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya.

A drone filming the illuminated Nagoya City Hall headquarters crashed into a building across the road shortly before 9 p.m. on September 17, with police investigating whether the flight may have violated Japan's Civil Aeronautics Act.

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A groundbreaking ceremony was held in Kyoto City on September 15 for Ronald McDonald House Kyoto, a residential facility where children undergoing medical treatment will be able to stay together with their families.

Elementary school students in Fukuoka got a hands-on lesson in the importance of taxes on September 11, lifting a 10-kilogram replica of 100 million yen as part of a class designed to show how public money supports society.

Raccoons are increasingly appearing in urban areas of Japan, including residential neighborhoods near Shin-Osaka Station, raising concerns over disease, attacks on people and agricultural damage that reached about 700 million yen nationwide last year.

Japanese 15-year-olds spend an average of 2.3 hours browsing social media during their weekday free time, the shortest amount among 24 countries surveyed, according to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Renovation work has begun at a hospital in Izumisano, Osaka Prefecture, as the city prepares to introduce a baby hatch for parents unable to raise their children and a confidential birth system that allows pregnant women to give birth without publicly disclosing their identities.

A disaster prevention experiment has shown how quickly a rain-soaked slope can collapse once visible cracks appear, highlighting the need for people in landslide-prone areas to evacuate before conditions become critical as the risk of disasters remains elevated through early next week.

Nearly 60% of Japanese high school students consider learning about different cultures "very important," the highest proportion among Japan, the United States, China and South Korea, according to a survey released by the National Institution for Youth Education.

The number of elderly people in Japan with no relatives to rely on is projected to rise to 4.48 million by 2050, or roughly one in nine seniors, prompting the government to create a new system under revised social welfare laws to support people with daily needs, hospitalization and arrangements after death.