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Focus on Japan

The latest news, trends and photo galleries from Japan by Japan News and Yomiuri Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper founded in 1874.

 
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Japan to deploy fire-fighting robots in emergencies

Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency plans to deploy unmanned firefighting robots and other specialized vehicles as part of its efforts to enhance the equipment and machinery used by Emergency Fire Response Teams, which are dispatched to areas stricken by earthquakes, flooding and other disasters. Read more

PHOTO: Climbing high for a cause

Members of a group demonstrating a centuries-old firefighting tradition display banners atop bamboo ladders during the dezomeshiki New Year’s Fire Review festival at Tokyo Big Sight exhibition center in Koto ward, Tokyo, on Jan. 6. Read more

Gotsu hot springs area is heating up again

A hot spring area in western Shimane prefecture has been undergoing a renaissance of sorts, thanks to a unique strategy of turning the entire town into what is effectively an all-inclusive resort. Read more

New rules aimed at averting abuse of medications

Amid concerns that some over-the-counter drugs are being abused, Japan’s Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has compiled a draft plan to revise the rules on how the medications are displayed on store shelves. Read more

Researchers capture electricity generated by orchard microbes

Shikoku Electric Power Co., researchers from Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, and other organizations have begun tests to explore the possibility of “microbial power generation” in mikan (mandarin orange) orchards in Yawatahama and Ikata in Ehime prefecture. Read more

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