Japanese city launches Edo period virtual town

The endangered Shimagengorou, a fast-swimming beetle known to inhabit still waters such as ponds and rice paddies, has been captured for the first time in 20 years in Ukiha City, Fukuoka Prefecture.

A new highlight for the Osaka-Kansai Expo, which will be held next year, has been revealed: a 'Martian stone,' roughly the size of a rugby ball, black and rugged.

In this year's Ig Nobels, Japanese researchers have won an award for discovering that mammals can breathe through their anuses, opening a new pathway for ventilators.

In 1990, journalist Akiyama Toyohiro became the first Japanese astronaut and journalist in space. Too bad he had such a rough time of it. (Unseen Japan)

The removal of fuel debris, a crucial and highly challenging part of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant decommissioning process, has resumed. This process, regarded as the most difficult aspect of the decommissioning effort, focuses on extracting melted and solidified nuclear fuel, known as fuel debris, from the plant's reactors.

Toing, a startup spun off from Nagoya University, is developing artificial soil by carbonizing rice husks and infusing them with proprietary microorganisms, using high-functioning biochar called "Soratane" to promote decarbonization and plant growth.

Space startup 'ispace,' aiming to achieve the first moon landing by a private Japanese company, has announced the completion of transporting its lunar rover from Luxembourg to Japan.

Japan's Ministry of the Environment announced on the 3rd that the mongoose, an invasive species known for preying on rare native species and disrupting the ecosystem on Amami Oshima, Kagoshima Prefecture, has been officially eradicated.