An annual Plum Festival has opened at the Kairaku-en garden north of Tokyo.
Kairaku-en in Mito City, Ibaraki prefecture, is known as one of the 3 most beautiful gardens in Japan.
The 130,000-square-meter garden has some 3,000 plum trees of about 100 varieties.
Garden officials say because of the colder than usual weather this winter, only about 50 trees have come into bloom.
On Saturday, visitors could be seen strolling among the trees, and photographing the ones with blossoms.
Last year's earthquake damaged some of the garden's slopes. It also cracked the clay walls in an old summer house of a feudal lord on the grounds. Restoration work was completed earlier this month.
Park officials say they expect the best time to see the blossoms in full bloom will likely be around mid-March.
The Plum Festival continues until the end of March.
2012年2月19日日曜日
2012年2月16日木曜日
Emperor to be hospitalized on Friday for surgery
Emperor Akihito will enter the hospital on Friday, one day before his scheduled coronary bypass surgery.
The Emperor has been diagnosed with angina. Doctors advised him to undergo a bypass operation on 2 of his 3 coronary arteries to increase the blood supply to his heart.
The surgery will take place at the University of Tokyo hospital.
Doctors say if there are no complications, the Emperor will be able to leave the hospital in about 2 weeks.
The Emperor will continue to take part in official duties until Friday while keeping a watch on his health.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 15:51 +0900 (JST)
The Emperor has been diagnosed with angina. Doctors advised him to undergo a bypass operation on 2 of his 3 coronary arteries to increase the blood supply to his heart.
The surgery will take place at the University of Tokyo hospital.
Doctors say if there are no complications, the Emperor will be able to leave the hospital in about 2 weeks.
The Emperor will continue to take part in official duties until Friday while keeping a watch on his health.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 15:51 +0900 (JST)
2012年1月30日月曜日
More water leaks found at Fukushima nuclear plant
More water leaks have been found at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Tokyo Electric Power Company told reporters on Monday morning that it has discovered 2 additional water leaks at the nuclear plant.
This comes after it was announced on Sunday that nearly 8 tons of water was found to have leaked in 14 locations at the plant.
One of the 2 new findings involves about 30 liters of water that has leaked from a device that is removing salt from contaminated water. The other leak is from a valve of a pipe that is injecting water into a reactor.
TEPCO says leaked water has neither spilled out of the plant, nor flowed into the sea.
The utility firm is trying to determine whether water in some of the pipes froze and cracked the pipes, or loosened the pipes' connections.
It plans to quickly implement preventive measures, including carrying out more patrols early in the morning and wrapping insulation around the pipes and other equipment.
The temperature on Monday morning around the plant dropped to minus 8.7 degrees Celsius.
Tokyo Electric Power Company told reporters on Monday morning that it has discovered 2 additional water leaks at the nuclear plant.
This comes after it was announced on Sunday that nearly 8 tons of water was found to have leaked in 14 locations at the plant.
One of the 2 new findings involves about 30 liters of water that has leaked from a device that is removing salt from contaminated water. The other leak is from a valve of a pipe that is injecting water into a reactor.
TEPCO says leaked water has neither spilled out of the plant, nor flowed into the sea.
The utility firm is trying to determine whether water in some of the pipes froze and cracked the pipes, or loosened the pipes' connections.
It plans to quickly implement preventive measures, including carrying out more patrols early in the morning and wrapping insulation around the pipes and other equipment.
The temperature on Monday morning around the plant dropped to minus 8.7 degrees Celsius.
40% of Japanese to be over 65 years old in 2060
A newly-released report predicts that Japan's population will shrink by about 40 million in the next 50 years while about 40 percent of the people will be aged 65 or older.
The report on Japan's expected demographic trends through 2060 was compiled by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.
It says Japan's population will fall below 100 million in 2048 from the 2010 figure of 128 million. In 2060, it says the population will drop to 86 million.
It also says the average life expectancy is likely to expand further to 84.19 for men and 90.93 for women.
The report says the average number of babies born per woman will be 1.35 in 2060. That's slightly up from the previous estimate 6 yeas ago.
The institute says this is because more women who have held off having children are expected to give birth in their late 30's.
It predicts the number of people between the ages of 15 to 64 years will fall by nearly 50 percent to 44 million in 2060.
The previous estimate showed the proportion of the population aged 65 or older will reach 40 percent in 2052.
The speed of aging is expected to slow a little.
The institute says with the aging population and lower birth rates, the decrease in population will continue.
The report on Japan's expected demographic trends through 2060 was compiled by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.
It says Japan's population will fall below 100 million in 2048 from the 2010 figure of 128 million. In 2060, it says the population will drop to 86 million.
It also says the average life expectancy is likely to expand further to 84.19 for men and 90.93 for women.
The report says the average number of babies born per woman will be 1.35 in 2060. That's slightly up from the previous estimate 6 yeas ago.
The institute says this is because more women who have held off having children are expected to give birth in their late 30's.
It predicts the number of people between the ages of 15 to 64 years will fall by nearly 50 percent to 44 million in 2060.
The previous estimate showed the proportion of the population aged 65 or older will reach 40 percent in 2052.
The speed of aging is expected to slow a little.
The institute says with the aging population and lower birth rates, the decrease in population will continue.
2012年1月16日月曜日
Japan to name 39 uninhabited isles
Japan plans to give official names to 39 uninhabited islands that serve as the basis for the boundary of the country's exclusive economic zone, or EEZ.
The plan emerged after the government found that 7 islands around the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea remain nameless in official documents.
In 2010 a Chinese trawler collided with two Japan Coast Guard patrol ships in Japanese territorial waters near the Senkaku Islands.
The Japanese government says it plans to strengthen control of the key islands by officially naming them. The step is also designed to clearly demonstrate Japan's EEZ border to other nations and at home.
The government is asking local authorities what the islands are called in their areas.
It plans to decide the names and put them on maps and sea charts by the end of March after consulting agencies concerned.
Of Japan's more than 6,000 remote islands, most are uninhabited. Some have no agreed upon names.
The plan emerged after the government found that 7 islands around the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea remain nameless in official documents.
In 2010 a Chinese trawler collided with two Japan Coast Guard patrol ships in Japanese territorial waters near the Senkaku Islands.
The Japanese government says it plans to strengthen control of the key islands by officially naming them. The step is also designed to clearly demonstrate Japan's EEZ border to other nations and at home.
The government is asking local authorities what the islands are called in their areas.
It plans to decide the names and put them on maps and sea charts by the end of March after consulting agencies concerned.
Of Japan's more than 6,000 remote islands, most are uninhabited. Some have no agreed upon names.
2011年12月30日金曜日
Disaster debris still remain in Tohoku
The Japanese government is struggling to remove millions of tons of debris from the country's northeast, more than 9 months after the March earthquake and tsunami.
The goal is to completely transfer 22 million tons of waste from disaster areas to temporary storage sites by the end of next March.
But environment ministry spokespeople say about 7 million tons, or one-third of the total debris, still needs to be hauled away.
They say the main reason for the delay is the time it takes to demolish damaged buildings. The government needs to get the approval of building owners and implement measures to prevent asbestos from scattering when it destroys the structures.
Spokespeople also say the ministry needs to build facilities with incinerators to burn up the debris that has been collected.
That work is progressing slowly because local governments are facing difficulties preparing the land where these facilities would be built.
The goal is to completely transfer 22 million tons of waste from disaster areas to temporary storage sites by the end of next March.
But environment ministry spokespeople say about 7 million tons, or one-third of the total debris, still needs to be hauled away.
They say the main reason for the delay is the time it takes to demolish damaged buildings. The government needs to get the approval of building owners and implement measures to prevent asbestos from scattering when it destroys the structures.
Spokespeople also say the ministry needs to build facilities with incinerators to burn up the debris that has been collected.
That work is progressing slowly because local governments are facing difficulties preparing the land where these facilities would be built.
Preparations for New Year well under way
People in Japan are gearing up for New Year festivities.
A shrine in the rice-growing town of Takanezawa, in Tochigi Prefecture, central Japan, dedicated a 3-layer jumbo rice cake on Friday, in thanks for the passing year's bounty.
The round cake measures 90 centimeters high and weighs 500 kilograms. A forklift carried the lower 2 layers to the hall of worship, while 12 female shrine attendants put the third layer in place.
A citrus fruit measuring 20 centimeters in diameter crowned the traditional New Year decoration.
In Tokorozawa City, Saitama Prefecture, a Japanese restaurant is preparing 160 sets of traditional New Year foods using ingredients from Fukushima Prefecture, which was hard hit by the March disaster and subsequent nuclear accident.
The restaurant's operator, who is from the prefecture, says she wants to encourage people in her hometown because they are still suffering from the effects of the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
At an aquarium in Yokohama, a 9-year-old otaria, a kind of sea lion, is practicing writing a Chinese character meaning dragon -- the zodiac sign for 2012.
Helped by a keeper, the male otaria, named Jay, wrote the character with a brush in his mouth before a cheering crowd on Friday. He will soon display his writing technique in a New Year event.
A shrine in the rice-growing town of Takanezawa, in Tochigi Prefecture, central Japan, dedicated a 3-layer jumbo rice cake on Friday, in thanks for the passing year's bounty.
The round cake measures 90 centimeters high and weighs 500 kilograms. A forklift carried the lower 2 layers to the hall of worship, while 12 female shrine attendants put the third layer in place.
A citrus fruit measuring 20 centimeters in diameter crowned the traditional New Year decoration.
In Tokorozawa City, Saitama Prefecture, a Japanese restaurant is preparing 160 sets of traditional New Year foods using ingredients from Fukushima Prefecture, which was hard hit by the March disaster and subsequent nuclear accident.
The restaurant's operator, who is from the prefecture, says she wants to encourage people in her hometown because they are still suffering from the effects of the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
At an aquarium in Yokohama, a 9-year-old otaria, a kind of sea lion, is practicing writing a Chinese character meaning dragon -- the zodiac sign for 2012.
Helped by a keeper, the male otaria, named Jay, wrote the character with a brush in his mouth before a cheering crowd on Friday. He will soon display his writing technique in a New Year event.
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