Toyama, May 20, 2024 (News On Japan) - An illimination event this weekend at the Ainokura Gassho-zukuri Village in Toyama Prefecture, a World Cultural Heritage site, reflects upside down Gassho-style houses, creating a "Sakasa Gassho" effect.
Source: Kyodo
Typhoon No. 15 (Chan-hom) is increasingly likely to make landfall between Fukushima and Ibaraki prefectures on the Pacific coast of eastern Japan from the evening through the night of August 11, after moving northwest over waters east of Japan at about 15 kilometers per hour as of 9 a.m. on August 10.
Raccoons are increasingly invading homes across Japan, damaging roofs and wiring, contaminating buildings with large amounts of urine and feces, and raising concerns over agriculture, native wildlife and the spread of disease as their population continues to expand.
Nagasaki marked the 81st anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing on August 9 with a memorial ceremony near the hypocenter, where Mayor Shiro Suzuki declared nuclear weapons an "absolute evil" and called on the Japanese government to uphold its Three Non-Nuclear Principles.
Transport services were gradually returning to normal on August 9 after Typhoon No. 13 caused widespread cancellations and shutdowns across Okinawa, although air travel remained disrupted as airlines worked to restore schedules and accommodate passengers stranded during the opening days of Japan's busy Obon holiday period.
Typhoon No. 13 was moving slowly west on the night of August 8 and was expected to approach the Chinese mainland by the night of August 9, but Okinawa, Amami and parts of southern Kyushu remained at risk from strong winds, intermittent heavy rain and dangerous seas even as the storm's center moved farther away.
A fireworks festival that had been promoted as a simultaneous display of more than 10,000 fireworks across three cities on Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture was abruptly canceled on August 9, with organizers having failed to submit applications for permits required to hold the event.
Nara Park's famous deer are increasingly spilling into residential areas and farmland as their population reaches a record high, creating new problems for residents even as the animals remain a major attraction for visitors to the ancient capital.
Japan's dating scene has its own vocabulary, its own etiquette, and — for the arrangement style commonly known abroad as sugar dating — its own dedicated clubs.
Maids from Akihabara maid cafes joined shrine maidens from Kanda Myojin and members of the public on August 8 to sprinkle water across the shrine grounds in Tokyo, calling out "Cool down!" as they took part in a summer tradition aimed at easing the midsummer heat.
Disney On Ice opened its Osaka run on August 8, bringing Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters to the rink for a special production celebrating the show's 40th anniversary in Japan.
All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines are expected to lower fuel surcharges on international tickets issued in September and October after a decline in the fuel prices used to calculate the additional fees.
Japan is one of those countries that people visit once and then return to again and again and again, because it is unlike any other place on the planet.
The rainy season appears to have ended in the Hokuriku region and both southern and northern Tohoku, the Japan Meteorological Agency said on August 5, marking the apparent end of the season across the entire country.
