News On Japan

Oita Group Releases 18 Rare Wartime Films

OITA, Dec 08 (News On Japan) - A civic group in Usa City, Oita Prefecture that collects and analyzes wartime film archives released 18 pieces of footage to the media on December 7th, with the materials depicting kamikaze aircraft engaging U.S. forces and the devastation from air raids across Japan, much of it being shown publicly for the first time after the group obtained and examined the reels from the U.S. National Archives.

The footage, which U.S. forces and others shot as records of combat in locations including Hokkaido, Aichi, Nagasaki, Oita, Kagoshima, Okinawa, and Australia, was acquired between 2012 and 2022.

Source: Kyodo

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

Prime Minister Sanae Takaiichi formally informed senior ruling-party officials on the evening of January 15th of her intention to dissolve the lower house, pushing Japan decisively into full election mode, only for political dynamics to shift again the following day when the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Komeito announced they had agreed to form a new political party.

Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui returned safely to Earth on January 15th, smiling and waving after completing more than five months aboard the International Space Station.

The long-delayed extension of the Hokkaido Shinkansen to Sapporo is facing further setbacks, with the opening now pushed back by more than a decade and total project costs projected to more than double, even as construction steadily advances on the ground.

Water erupted from near the ceiling of an underground passage inside Tokyo Metro’s Kasumigaseki Station in Chiyoda Ward at around 6:00 p.m. on January 14th, in what the operator believes was caused by a burst water supply pipe.

Hokkaido is set to relax the criteria for issuing its so-called “brown bear alert,” making it possible to release warnings even before human injuries occur, as the prefecture seeks to respond more flexibly to the early appearance of dangerous animals.

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Education NEWS

In this video we rank the top 5 greatest samurai warriors of Japan's Genpei War! Which warrior will come out on top in this brief list of the most significant combatants from one of Japan's most storied conflicts. (The Shogunate)

Blue Dream follows the people working on the front lines to protect Japan’s rapidly deteriorating marine and forest environments, where once-abundant fishing grounds and seaweed beds have been giving way to what is increasingly described as an underwater desert.

Japan’s longest-named school, Kochi Prefecture Sukumo City Ehime Prefecture Minamiuwa District Ainan Town Shinozan Elementary and Junior High School Union–operated Shinozan Elementary and Junior High School, located in Ainan Town at the southernmost tip of Ehime Prefecture, has decided to suspend classes in the 2026 school year and close permanently in the 2027 school year.

Japan has long held a reputation for maintaining traditional relationship structures where men tend to be older than their female partners.

A joint project with the Nikkei takes a closer look at Generation Alpha, the cohort expected to shape the next era. Born from 2010 onward, this generation is said to account for roughly a quarter of the world’s population.

doctors and schools across Japan are drawing attention to a condition known as “New Year syndrome,” a form of physical and mental malaise that can emerge when daily routines are disrupted by an extended year-end break.

Japan’s scientific community was energized in 2025 by major news when Sakaguchi Shimon of Osaka University and Kitagawa Susumu of Kyoto University jointly won Nobel Prizes, marking a rare double win by Japanese researchers.

The year 2026 is seen as a turning point when a decline in the number of university-bound students will begin to affect university management across Japan.