News On Japan

Emperor's Family Enjoys Bonsai Exhibition in Tokyo

TOKYO - Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako, and their daughter, Princess Aiko, attended the "Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition" at an art museum in Ueno Park on Friday evening, viewing the top prize-winning "Shinpaku" juniper.

The Shinpaku, originating from Itoigawa in Niigata Prefecture, is estimated to be 400 years old. The Emperor inquired about the judging criteria for the "Kokufu Prize."

Emperor Naruhito is known to have been interested in bonsai since his junior high school days.

It has been 18 years since Empress Masako last attended the "Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition," and it was Princess Aiko's first visit. Both were seen eagerly bending down to examine the bonsai closely, asking questions as they went.

Source: ANN

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

Large and powerful Typhoon No. 9 (Bavi) has made landfall in central China and is moving northwest, bringing an end to the worst of the rain across Okinawa while leaving dangerous seas and strong winds in its wake. Forecasters are also warning that the system could trigger heavy rain in Hokkaido later this week after transitioning into an extratropical cyclone.

Transport disruption from Typhoon No. 9 (Bavi) continued on July 12, with airlines warning that some flights serving Okinawa’s outlying islands could still face delays, cancellations or conditional operations even after the storm moved away from the prefecture.

JAXA successfully landed a small experimental vehicle for a reusable rocket on July 11, marking a step toward technology that could increase the frequency of space launches while helping reduce costs.

A wave of bear sightings across Japan has forced the cancellation of traditional summer events, while one animal entered a home and came within inches of a sleeping resident's face.

Japan is expected to remain under intense summer heat through next week as the Pacific high-pressure system continues to dominate the country, bringing widespread temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius and increasing the risk of heatstroke.

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Society NEWS

An unauthorized Islamic prayer hall has been built on land in Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture, where new construction is generally prohibited, prompting the city to order the landowner to remove the structure.

Three men have been arrested on suspicion of preparing to rob a home in Saitama City after police found new face masks and crowbars hidden in shrubbery at a coin-operated parking lot.

Empress Masako harvested wild silk cocoons at the Imperial Palace on July 9, continuing the long-standing sericulture tradition passed down through generations of empresses since the Meiji era.

A firefighter with the Toyonaka City Fire Department has been arrested on suspicion of confining his live-in partner's 6-year-old daughter at their home and causing her injury.

A 30-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after allegedly stabbing his father, a temple priest in his 70s, to death at their home in Nanao, Ishikawa Prefecture, on July 8, before going to a convenience store and telling a clerk, "I stabbed my father."

A 49-year-old woman in Koga, Ibaraki Prefecture, has been arrested on suspicion of injuring a 42-year-old woman she lived with by sewing her upper and lower lips together multiple times with a threaded needle, police said.

A landslide that occurred directly in front of homes in Koka, Shiga Prefecture, on July 7 caused part of a garden to collapse and cut off a road, bringing down an area about 25 meters wide and 80 meters long, including residential property.

Silk thread production for strings used in shamisen and other traditional Japanese instruments has reached its peak in Nagahama, Shiga Prefecture.