News On Japan

Fifteen Wartime Films Released Including Kamikaze Attack on US Carrier

TOKYO, May 11 (News On Japan) - A civic group based in Usa City, Oita Prefecture, that collects and analyzes footage from the Pacific War, released 15 pieces of rare video to the press on May 10th. The footage includes scenes of kamikaze aircraft crashing into a U.S. aircraft carrier, as well as aerial shots of Japanese villages attacked by American forces.

The videos were filmed over the eastern waters of the Philippines and across six prefectures in Japan.

One of the clips showing a kamikaze plane crashing into a U.S. carrier is believed to be the oldest known footage of such an event ever recorded. The videos were obtained from the U.S. side.

The group, Toyonokuni Usa City Juku, plans to make the footage available to the public during a peace event in the city on May 17th.

Source: Kyodo

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

Typhoon No. 5 made landfall near Cape Erimo in Hokkaido in the early hours of July 15th, marking the first time in nine years that a typhoon has struck the northernmost of Japan’s main islands.

The ruling coalition is facing an increasingly difficult battle to retain its majority in Japan’s House of Councillors, according to a mid-campaign opinion poll by FNN ahead of the July 20th election. Meanwhile, the minor party Sanseitō is showing strong momentum and could see a significant boost in its number of seats.

A 52-year-old newspaper deliveryman was killed in the early hours of July 12th after being attacked by a bear in a residential area of Fukushima Town, Hokkaido.

A hot spring inn in the popular resort area of Niseko, Hokkaido, has been forced to suspend operations at one of its baths after an unauthorized open-air bath was found to have been built near its hot spring source.

A first-generation Hermes Birkin bag has been sold at a Paris auction for approximately 1.47 billion yen, marking the highest price ever paid for a handbag. The winning bidder was a Japanese collector, and the sale was held by Sotheby’s.

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Society NEWS

In Tokyo’s Shibuya district, the issue of people drinking alcohol outside convenience stores—known as “konbini drinking”—has already erupted into a full-fledged summer spectacle. Foreign visitors have begun gathering in Center Gai, bottles in hand, despite a ban on nighttime street drinking in place since October 2024.

A Tokyo court has sentenced Manabu Wakui to 15 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of a woman on the grounds of a high-rise condominium in Shinjuku Ward in May 2024. The Tokyo District Court ruled that Wakui carried out the attack to satisfy a personal grudge without first exhausting legal channels, stating that his actions could not be justified as revenge.

A Chinese man detained at an Osaka police facility has filed a lawsuit against the Osaka Prefectural Government, claiming that he was forcibly taken to an interrogation room despite refusing to participate and had his right to remain silent violated.

A vending machine equipped with a surveillance camera has been installed inside Aeon Mall Kyoto Katsuragawa as part of a new agreement between the Kyoto Minami Police Station and the mall operator to deter criminal activity and enhance regional security.

A 55-year-old company employee has been arrested for allegedly placing stones on the tracks of the Meitetsu Komaki Line in Komaki, Aichi Prefecture, disrupting train operations.

A one-year-old girl died after being struck by a car driven by her mother in Nagasaki City on Thursday morning.

A sudden swarm of dragonflies blanketed the skies over a residential area in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, stunning local residents and prompting reactions ranging from unease to delight.

Two women have been arrested by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police on suspicion of stealing 130,000 yen in cash by using a drunken man's bank card at an ATM in Tokyo's Taito Ward.