Spots (Photo courtesy of Esashi Town Hall Oiwake Tourism Division) Team Buchi Neko has many connections to Hokkaido's tourist spots and facilities There are many wonderful resources in Hokkaido that we take for granted when we live there We will spread the charm of such a wonderful Hokkaido [7 minutes walk from Sapporo Station] Enjoy hot springs A comfortable stay at the 605-room "Sapporo Hotel by Granbell" [Updated for 2025] A complete guide to accessing Daiwa House Premist Dome (Sapporo Dome) and nearby hotels "So cute it's unfair" - Feel the healing power of a sleeping miniature horse [Information on the early opening on April 25th] Sapporo Odori's newest attraction Floor details and highlights of "4PLA" opening in summer 2025 A hotel in the center of Sapporo with a superb sauna and large public bath Experience the warmth that is unique to Hokkaido at "Danyuki Sapporo" [2025 Edition] 7 recommended cherry blossom spots in the Kitami and eastern Hokkaido areas Enjoy cherry blossom viewing in the great outdoors Seasonal “news” of Hokkaido can be checked by category You can check the information of your “town” in one place Events” held throughout the province are easy to find and can be saved This page has been automatically translated by Google Translate service Metrics details I have been developing MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) technology and supporting the industry through collaboration A facility was built in house on a 20 mm square wafer for use in prototyping MEMS and ICs (integrated circuits) The constructed MEMS devices include commercialized integrated capacitive pressure sensors electrostatically levitated rotational gyroscopes which is a MEMS on an LSI (large-scale integration) was developed for sophisticated systems using LSI made in a foundry This technology was applied for tactile sensor networks for safe robots active-matrix multielectron emitter arrays The facility used to produce MEMS on 4- and 6-inch wafers was developed based on an old semiconductor factory and has been used as an open hands-on access facility by many companies Future directions of MEMS research are discussed MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) technology enables the fabrication of many small and value-adding devices such as sensors on wafers Cheap devices can be produced in large volumes but expensive semiconductor facilities and versatile knowledge are required ISFET (ion-sensitive field-effect transistor)1 I made the MEMS prototyping facility that could process a 20 mm square wafer for an ISFET when I was a postgraduate student. I learned how to make the facility in the laboratory of Prof. Jun-ichi Nishizawa, who was a pioneer of semiconductor technology in Japan. The facility shown in Fig. 2 has been in use for initial stage prototyping, as will be described later. Prototyping facility for MEMS and ICs on 20 mm square wafers When I was a research assistant from 1976 to 1980 We developed biomedical sensors such as catheter pressure sensors used in blood vessels I became an associate professor and started to fabricate custom CMOS IC using a facility made in-house I wrote a graphic editor program for layout which was a good opportunity for me to learn to program I made an LSI tester by connecting a circuit to the parallel I/O of a minicomputer made in DEC which was also a good opportunity for me to learn about digital circuits I wrote a textbook named “Fundamentals of integrated circuit design” (1986) (Baifukan) (in Japanese) I have worked as a professor since 1990 and developed basic MEMS technologies as described below MEMS devices were commercialized in collaboration with engineers dispatched from the industry We developed heterogeneous integration by stacking MEMS on LSI I have been working as a CTO of MEMS CORE Co and as a senior research fellow at the Micro System Integration Center (μSIC) at Tohoku University Fabrication process of the integrated capacitive pressure sensor3 Approximately 130 companies have dispatched their employees to our laboratory an average of 2 years each Some examples of commercialization based on our collaboration are described below Electrostatically levitated rotational gyroscope10 Electromagnetic two-axis MEMS scanner and a ranging image from the scanner11 Heterogeneous integration of MEMS on LSI was enabled by stacking the MEMS on the LSI12 This technology can be used to develop sophisticated MEMS systems MEMS are fabricated on a carrier wafer to avoid damaging the LSI during MEMS fabrication The MEMS wafer is bonded to the LSI wafer with adhesive resin or by bumps Tactile sensor network14 Fabrication process of multi FBAR on LSI by selective transfer20. BST (barium strontium titanate) variable capacitors are bonded selectively to the SAW filter chip Layout of the clean room for the hands-on-access fabrication facility and photographs of other facilities available for open collaboration for MEMS development. Monthly users of the hands-on-access fabrication facility In addition to the hands-on-access fabrication facility, there are other facilities, as shown in Fig. 11 which is based on the made-in–house process equipment for a 20 mm square wafer is located in the Graduate School of Engineering at Tohoku University This is mainly operated by students and has flexibility for MEMS prototyping MEMS Core Co. Ltd. (President Mr. K. Honma) (http://www.mems-core.com/en/index.html) is a contract development company for MEMS devices and processes The process equipment is mainly second-hand It is hard for such a contract development company to survive; however this company has been in business since 2001 owing to minimized investment by using the hands-on-access fabrication facility at Tohoku University There are exhibition rooms for viewing MEMS devices (http://www.mu-sic.tohoku.ac.jp/nishizawa_E/index.html) such as the “Sendai MEMS showroom” and the “Historical museum of technology” in the Nishizawa Memorial Research Center My MEMS research at Tohoku University for approximately half a century is reviewed in this article especially between universities and industry because development is in many cases the bottleneck for MEMS commercialization Facilities for MEMS prototyping should be flexible and accessible to allow engineers to gain experience Made-in-house process equipment for initial prototyping and hands-on-access fabrication facilities for commercialization have been effective for use as common facilities and I think we should try to find additional approaches to lower the barriers and expand the MEMS business to diverse fields Biomedical cation sensor using field effect of semiconductor An integrated capacitive absolute pressure sensor Digital compensated capacitive pressure sensor using CMOS technology for low-pressure measurements High-rate directional deep dry etching for bulk silicon micromachining Application of deep reactive ion etching for silicon angular rate sensor Electrostatically levitated ring-shaped rotational-gyro/accelerometer Silicon micromachined two-dimensional Galvano optical scanner Heterogeneous integration by adhesive bonding In Digest of Technical Papers Transducers 91 Integration and packaging technology of MEMS-on-CMOS capacitive tactile sensor for robot application using thick BCB isolation layer and backside-grooved electrical connection Development of massively parallel electron beam direct write lithography using active-matrix nanocrystalline-silicon electron emitter arrays Development of Massive Parallel Electron Beam Wright System: Aiming at Digital Fabrication of Integrated Circuit (Tohoku University Press Low-voltage PZT-actuated MEMS switch monolithically integrated with CMOS circuit on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS 2012) Integration of boron-doped diamond microelectrode on CMOS-based amperometric sensor array by film transfer technology Monolithic fabrication of film bulk acoustic resonators above integrated circuit by adhesive-bonding-based film transfer In 2012 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium 295−298 (2012) Wafer-level selective transfer method for FBAR-LSI integration In 2014 IEEE International Frequency Control Symposium (IOP Publishing) 246−249 (2014) Integration of BST varactors with surface acoustic wave device by film transfer technology for tunable RF filters Accelerating MEMS development by open collaboration at hands-on-access fab Esashi, M. Diversity is important for MEMS business. SEMI Blog (2020/6/9) https://blog.semi.org/jp/mems-business (2020) MEMS Product Development: From Concept to Commercialization (Springer Download references Micro System Integration Center (μSIC) (senior research fellow) The author declares no conflict of interest Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41378-021-00290-x Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article The dates displayed for an article provide information on when various publication milestones were reached at the journal that has published the article activities on preceding journals at which the article was previously under consideration are not shown (for instance submission All content on this site: Copyright © 2025 Elsevier B.V. has required residents with intellectual disabilities to undergo sterilization treatment if they want to get married or live together with a partner at the facility The government will likely look into the case as Japan has been under international scrutiny over its past policy that ran counter to efforts to improve the lives and societal participation of people with disabilities The facility operated by Asunaro Social Welfare Service Corporation in Esashi has made sterilization a condition for mentally disabled couples for more than 20 years It said eight such couples had agreed to the treatment in which men had to undergo a vasectomy and women had to wear a contraceptive ring Those who refused the treatment were asked to leave the facility which could constitute a violation of reproductive rights or the right to decide whether to bear and raise children "Who will take responsibility when they become unable to raise children We cannot guarantee the life of newborns," Hidetoshi Higuchi "Human dignity should be protected regardless of whether or not they have a disability," adding that the facility's treatment "is inappropriate if it is true." committee that deals with the rights of people with disabilities at a time when issues such as past forced sterilization under the now-defunct eugenics protection law were being highlighted It was Japan's first review since it ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2014 Japan to undergo 1st U.N. disabilities committee review in Aug. Japan court awards damages over forced sterilization in 2nd case To have the latest news and stories delivered to your inbox Simply enter your email address below and an email will be sent through which to complete your subscription Please check your inbox for a confirmation email Thank you for reaching out to us.We will get back to you as soon as possible Please upgrade to a more modern version to fully experience JapanToday site and for security reasons While the cancellation and scaling down of many of Tohoku’s iconic summer events—such as the Nebuta Matsuri in Aomori and Tanabata Matsuri in Miyagi—was a blow to this festival-loving region the Tohoku Destination Campaign team is doing their best to make sure that people can still enjoy Tohoku’s famously colorful summers while keeping safe Head up north to beat the heat and check out some special spots of the northern region this summer Esashi Fujiwara Heritage Park in Oshu originally built in 1993 as a film set for a beloved TV series set in the Heian period (794-1185) The park now has around 120 perfectly detailed buildings for visitors to explore and take a trip back in time Sometimes known as “Tohoku’s Hollywood,” the 20-hectare park is also home to many floral highlights The Kyaranogosho Pond (complete with a charming rounded bridge) is filled with water lilies from June through August and in September purple bush clover perfumes the Mikaeri-zaka Trail One of Esashi Fujiwara Heritage Park’s lesser known highlights is a real gourmet trip back in time the chefs can recreate a Heian period feast festive red rice and other favorites of the courts which are made to look like picture books recreated on a grand scale July and August are the best times to see the art which is created by planting nine varieties of rice to make different shades of color in November the same design is recreated using colorful lights Visitors with children should stop by nearby Iwase Bokujo a historic 140-year old farm where a huge corn maze Stuck at home for the summer? Don’t worry, you can travel to Tohoku virtually thanks to livestreams by John Daub on the Only in JAPAN * GO You Tube channel Be sure to keep an eye out for his adventures across Akita and Aomori Prefecture If you need help planning your Tohoku adventure, be sure to check out Tabi Tohoku Marking 10 years since the Great East Japan Earthquake the Tohoku Destination Campaign is bringing together each of the Tohoku prefectures to promote the wonders of the region both inside and outside Japan The campaign is aimed at encouraging as many people as possible to travel to Tohoku and showcasing the region's recovery from the 2011 disaster Find out more at: https://www.tohokukanko.jp/en/dc/ Every prefectures in Japan is unique and beautiful Aren’t Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures — two of Tohoku’s six prefectures — under a quasi state of emergency I've made three tenative plans to hit Fukushima in the past month but all have been scuppered due to bad weather: typhoon Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts Join the leading Asian tourist attraction to assist our diverse range of customers A mix of what's trending on our other sites This work, Japan’s Kizuna Project expresses appreciation of US support from 2011 Tsunami relief assistance, by CSM Anthony L Taylor, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright Metrics details The RAD51 recombinase plays critical roles in safeguarding genome integrity which is fundamentally important for all living cells While interphase functions of RAD51 in maintaining genome stability are well-characterised we show that RAD51 protects under-replicated DNA in mitotic human cells and promotes mitotic DNA synthesis (MiDAS) and successful chromosome segregation In cells experiencing mild replication stress MiDAS was detected irrespective of mitotically generated DNA damage MiDAS broadly required de novo RAD51 recruitment to single-stranded DNA which was supported by the phosphorylation of RAD51 by the key mitotic regulator Polo-like kinase 1 acute inhibition of MiDAS delayed anaphase onset and induced centromere fragility suggesting a mechanism that prevents the satisfaction of the spindle assembly checkpoint while chromosomal replication remains incomplete This study hence identifies an unexpected function of RAD51 in promoting genomic stability in mitosis RAD51 acts on mitotic chromatin at sites of DNA damage or extended ssDNA regions a complete picture of the mechanisms orchestrating MiDAS is currently lacking how DNA synthesis in mitosis impacts on the integrity of centromere DNA repeats SAC maintenance and subsequent events of chromosome segregation we investigated the potential involvement of RAD51 in MiDAS and its impact on mitotic progression We show that RAD51 promotes MiDAS irrespective of the induction of DNA damage upon mitotic entry and that this involves RAD51-mediated protection of ssDNA Analysis of RAD51 missense mutants at S14 further indicates that RAD51 phosphorylation by PLK1 mediates this mitotic RAD51 function we describe a relationship between the timely completion of DNA replication and SAC signalling Cells that exhibit inherently high levels of replication stress displayed increased cellular death upon SAC inhibition MiDAS inhibition delays the onset of anaphase and induces increased fragility at the centromeres providing a mechanistic insight into the maintenance of SAC signalling in under-replicated cells we propose that RAD51 promotes MiDAS to ensure completion of replication at under-replicated DNA including centromeres and furthers mitotic progression and accurate chromosome inheritance we addressed the possibility that EdU incorporation in late G2 (prior to m-R) contributes to the resultant EdU foci detected in mitotically collected cells by administrating the EdU pulse 30 min prior to m-R with or without a subsequent chasing with unlabelled thymidine While a substantial amount of EdU signal was observed in G2 pulse-labelled cells (G2) this signal was drastically reduced when the G2-pulse was followed by a thymidine chase upon m-R (G2 + Thy) Given that the thymidine chase outcompetes the incorporation of trace EdU amounts remaining inside of cells after m-R this observation demonstrates that the EdU signal observed in G2 pulse-labelled cells mostly represents EdU incorporation after m-R and that negligible EdU incorporation occurs during the G2-pulse itself strong EdU signals were detectable when cells were immediately exposed to EdU at m-R (M 0’) when EdU addition was delayed for 5 min or longer after m-R (M 5’ these observations validate mitotic EdU foci as a read-out for MiDAS which predominantly occurs in the very early stages of mitosis Mitotic EdU foci that colocalise with γ-H2AX therefore mark MiDAS events either at broken replication forks or at otherwise stressed replication forks whereas those that do not colocalise with γ-H2AX indicate previously unrecognised MiDAS events at chromatin loci that are undamaged or escaped from canonical DDR these observations suggest that the nature of MiDAS varies significantly between different cell lines; MiDAS is largely associated with non-DDR loci in U2OS but predominantly occurs at DDR-associated loci in HEK293 cells a Schematic diagram of U2OS cell synchronisation by double thymidine block and release (dT-B/R) with siRNA treatment against RAD51 (siR51) or control (siCntl) followed by exposure to low-dose aphidicolin (0.4 µM APH) and G2/M arrest by CDK1 inhibitor (9 µM Cells were released into mitosis (m-R) in medium containing 10 µM EdU with or without 100 nM WEE1 inhibitor (100 nM mitotic marker pS10-H3 and Histone H3 (b) or FACS analysis for mitotic index (MI) (pS10-H3) and DNA content (PI) (c) of the total cell population 30 min after m-R d Representative images of cells collected by mitotic shake-off (m-SO) at 30 min after m-R stained for EdU incorporation and γ-H2AX and RPA f Quantification of the number of EdU foci (e) and γ-H2AX foci (f) per mitotic cell Data were obtained from three independent experiments (100 cells analysed per repeat); n = 300 per condition Data distribution is represented by Tukey box-and-whisker plots centre shows the median and ‘+’ marks the mean data outside this range are drawn as individual dots p-values were calculated by a Kruskal–Wallis test followed by Dunn’s multiple comparison test Asterisks indicate **p-value ≤ 0.01; ****p-value ≤ 0.0001 Source data are provided as a Source Data file i Quantification of the number of EdU foci that colocalise with γ-H2AX (γ-H2AX + ) and the number of EdU foci that do not colocalise with γ-H2AX (γ-H2AX-) per mitotic cell in doxycycline treated cells Data were obtained from four independent experiments; n = 400 per condition suggesting that enhanced RAD51 chromatin association protects against mitotic DNA damage and directs under-replicated foci towards non-DDR-associated MiDAS these observations suggest that mitotic RAD51 recruitment promotes MiDAS and that this involves RAD51-mediated ssDNA protection at non-DDR-associated loci a Schematic diagram of experimental procedure in which U2OS cells were synchronised in the presence of low-dose APH and exposed to vehicle (-) or small molecule inhibitors of RAD51 (B02) B-family polymerases (2 µM APH (M)) or RAD52 (20 µM AICAR) upon mitotic release (m-R) b Representative images of mitotic cells collected by mitotic shake-off (m-SO) following 10 µM EdU exposure with or without indicated small molecule inhibitors Quantification of the number of EdU foci (c) and γ-H2AX foci (d) per mitotic cell e Pulsed-field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) of mitotic cells after synchronisation and the indicated drug treatments upon m-R DNA fragments of 1–100 kb size were separated by electrophoresis Lambda (λ) DNA ladder was used as DNA size standard Total band intensity was normalised to untreated (-) control (Quantification) f Quantification of the number of EdU foci that colocalise with γ-H2AX (γ-H2AX + EdU foci) and the number of EdU foci that do not colocalise with γ-H2AX (γ-H2AX- EdU foci) per mitotic cell g Quantification of the number of RPA foci per mitotic cell indicating that RAD51 associates with ssDNA while RAD52 plays a specific role in DDR-associated MiDAS by promoting MiDAS downstream of mitotic DNA breaks RAD51 promotes MiDAS at both DDR-associated and non-DDR-associated loci by binding to ssDNA Given that the S14/T13 phosphorylation peaks in mitosis we hypothesised that the phosphorylation-mediated recruitment of RAD51 supports its mitotic function c–e EdU incorporation and γ-H2AX IF signal were analysed in the parental U2OS cell line and the U2OS RAD51S14D/S14D mutant cell line (S14D) following cell synchronisation as depicted in b Quantification of the number of EdU foci (c) and the number of γ-H2AX foci per mitotic cell (d) Quantification of the average γ-H2AX focus intensity per mitotic cell (e) Data were obtained from four independent experiments (100 cells analysed per repeat); n = 400 per condition Data distribution in c and d is represented by Tukey box-and-whisker plots Data distribution in e is represented by a box-and-whisker plot where the bounds of the box are 25–75th percentile Significant differences between samples were determined by a two-sided Mann–Whitney test Asterisks indicate *p-value ≤ 0.05; **p-value ≤ 0.01; ****p-value ≤ 0.0001 f Representative images of the data analysed in i–e are shown g–i EdU incorporation and γ-H2AX IF signal were analysed in U2OS cells stably carrying pcDNA5 vector (-); or cDNA encoding wild-type RAD51 (WT) Representative images of the data analysed (g) Quantification of the number of γ-H2AX foci (h) and the number of EdU foci per mitotic cell (i) Data distribution are represented by Tukey box-and-whisker plots Asterisks indicate ***p-value ≤ 0.001; ****p-value ≤ 0.0001 these observations suggest that RAD51 S14/T13 phosphorylation supports cellular proliferation in both HEK293 and U2OS cell lines We thus concluded that the severe impact of endogenous RAD51 S14 mutation on S phase replication precludes the direct analysis of MiDAS competency in the CRISPR-edited cell lines we regarded the reduction of mitotic EdU incorporation in RAD51 S14A-expressing cell lines as a direct reflection of MiDAS deficiency at under-replicated loci in mitotic cells these results suggest that RAD51 S14/T13 phosphorylation facilitates RAD51 recruitment to under-replicated DNA in mitosis to promote non-DDR-associated MiDAS these observations suggest that SAC inhibition is more toxic in cells with a high level of replicative stress a Schematic diagram of experimental procedure for synchronising HEK293 cells exogenously expressing mCherry-tagged Histone H2B and GFP-tagged Lamin B1 Following double thymidine block and release (dT-B/R) and 5 h RO3306 arrest cells were released into mitosis (m-R) and mitotic progression was monitored by live microscopy b Mitotic duration of the parental HEK293 cell line the RAD51S14A/- mutant cell line (S14A) and the wild-type RAD51 complemented cell line (S14A + WT) following cell synchronisation as depicted in a Cells that do not enter into anaphase within 4 h from nuclear envelope breakdown (NEBD) are excluded from analysis Mitotic duration is measured from NEBD to anaphase onset (AO) Data were obtained from three independent experiments (50 cells analysed per repeat); n = 150 per condition p-values were calculated by a Kruskal–Wallis test followed by uncorrected Dunn’s test c Schematic diagram of experimental procedure for synchronising U2OS cells exogenously expressing mCherry-tagged Histone H2B and GFP-tagged Lamin B1 cells were released into S phase in the absence or presence of 0.4 µM APH ( ±APH-S) followed by 12-h RO3306 arrest mitotic progression was monitored in the presence of 20 µM RAD51 inhibitor (B02); 2 mM APH (APH-M) 50 nM neocarzinostatin (NCS) or vehicle (-) All drug treatments were added to cell culture directly after mitotic release (m-R) d Mitotic duration of U2OS cells as measured from NEBD to AO Cells that do not enter into anaphase within 4 h from NEBD are excluded from analysis Data was obtained from at least three independent experiments; n indicates the total number of cells monitored per condition Asterisks indicate *p-value ≤ 0.05; ***p-value ≤ 0.001; ****p-value ≤ 0.0001 these observations suggest that the persistence of under-replicated DNA and/or the generation of mitotic DNA damage prevent SAC satisfaction except cells were exposed to BrdU as cells were released from thymidine block to allow digestion of newly synthesised DNA during the CO-FISH procedure Cells were then released into mitosis with or without 20 µM RAD51 inhibitor (B02); 2 µM aphidicolin (APH (M)) or vehicle (-) Arrows indicate examples of normal centromere signal (1) and aberrant centromere signal (2–4) Similar images were obtained for three independent experiments e Percentage of aberrant centromere signal per metaphase spread obtained in U2OS cells (d) The same data was quantified for the average focus intensity of the reverse centromere probe (CEN-rev) per metaphase spread (e) Data were obtained from three independent experiments (10 metaphase spreads analysed per repeat); n = 30 per condition Asterisks indicate *p-value ≤ 0.05; **p-value ≤ 0.01 0.4 µM aphidicolin) and the suppression of late origin firing (i.e. RO3306) may result in substantial under-replication which is undetected by the G2/M checkpoint RAD51 is recruited to ssDNA at replication forks in a manner dependent on PLK1 and protects them from the attack of mitotic nucleases hence allowing the completion of DNA replication This is distinctive from the RAD52-mediated MiDAS which occurs downstream of mitotic DNA breaks Centromeric under-replication prevents SAC inactivation until resolved by MiDAS RAD51-mediated protection of centromeric DNA hence ensures appropriate chromosome segregation we were unable to introduce knock-in mutation for the RAD51 S14A in U2OS cells potentially indicating the essentiality of PLK1-dependent RAD51 recruitment in this cell line The importance of RAD51 phosphorylation in different cell lines warrants further investigation conceivably indicating that enhanced CDK1 activity per se promotes break-independent MiDAS The detailed mechanism by which RAD51 protects mitotic chromatin merits further investigations in future The APH-induced delay in mitotic progression was further increased upon MiDAS inhibition by either mitotic RAD51 inhibition or mitotic APH treatment these findings suggest that the inability to complete replication in mitosis and/or the persistence of mitotic DNA breaks prevents SAC inactivation Considering the role of RAD51 in protecting under-replicated mitotic chromatin and the fact that centromeres are among the most difficult-to-replicate regions we envision that centromeres are deprotected upon mitotic RAD51 inhibition and thereby become particularly prone to form non-B DNA structures It is tempting to speculate that the inherent vulnerability of the centromere to under-replication enables it to act as a gauge for overall genome replication and hence maintains SAC activation to maximise genome replication prior to anaphase This might be particularly advantageous for organisms that must replicate large genomes and may explain the complexity of centromeric DNA sequence in eukaryotes The identification of players in the MiDAS pathway may reveal promising targets for cancer therapy This study reveals a role for RAD51 in promoting both break-induced and break-independent MiDAS mechanisms RAD51 phosphorylation appears to mediate RAD51 recruitment in mitosis A better understanding into how PLK1-dependent RAD51 phosphorylation is regulated upon DNA damage or replication stress may reveal druggable targets to abrogate RAD51 recruitment in mitosis inhibition of SAC activity was shown to severely decrease cell survival in cells that exhibit high levels of replication stress This suggests that therapies aimed at increasing cellular replication stress may be particularly effective when combined with chemotherapeutic treatments targeting the spindle checkpoint MISSION siRNA Universal Negative Control #1 (Sigma-Aldrich) was used as a negative control All siRNA treatments were performed with 20 nM siRNA using JetPrime (Polyplus transfection) cells were treated with aphidicolin (Santa Cruz); RO3306 (Cayman Chemical); B02 (Cayman Chemical); AICAR (Sigma-Aldrich); AZD1775 (Selleckchem); AZ3146 (Santa Cruz); Neocarzinostatin (Sigma-Aldrich) at the indicated concentrations and for the indicated lengths of time U2OS cells were plated at a density of 40 or 100 cells per well in a 6-well plate the corresponding drug was added to the cell culture at the indicated dose and cells were incubated for 8 days Cells were then fixed and stained in 50% methanol 7% acetic acid and 0.1% Coomassie Brilliant blue and percentage survival was calculated relative to the plating efficiency of the vehicle-treated control cells were seeded at a density of 5000 cells (U2OS) or 10 000 cells (HEK293) per well in a 96-well plate the corresponding drug was added to the cell culture at the indicated dose and cells were incubate for 5 days Cell survival relative to vehicle-treated cells was assessed using the WST-1 kit (Roche) according to the manufacturer’s instructions washed with ice-cold in PBS and incubated on ice in extraction buffer (50 mM Tris-HCl pH 8.0 125 U/ml Benzonase nuclease (Novagen) and 1x Protease inhibitor cocktail (Sigma-Aldrich) for at least 30 min Supernatant was collected as whole cell extract the obtained cell extracts were pre-cleared with uncrosslinked Affiprep Protein-A beads (Bio-Rad) for at least 1 h at 4 oC The pre-cleared lysate was subsequently incubated with antibody-crosslinked Affiprep Protein-A beads overnight at 4 oC After extensive washing in extraction buffer immune complexes were eluted from the beads in NuPAGE LDS sample buffer (ThermoFisher Scientific) supplemented with 12 mM DTT by heating the sample at 85 °C for 5 min Western blotting was performed following standard protocol Primary and secondary antibodies were applied at the dilutions described in the Supplemental Methods the membrane was treated with Re-Blot Plus Mild Solution (Millipore) before incubating with another antibody cells were cultured in the presence of 2 mM thymidine (Sigma-Aldrich) for 18 h and released in fresh medium for 9 h before being incubated in 2 mM thymidine for an additional 17–18 h Cells were released into fresh medium to allow for progression through S phase 0.4 µM aphidicolin was added 1 h upon release from the thymidine block Cells were subsequently arrested in G2 upon the addition of 9 µM RO3306 at the indicated time points and incubated for 5 or 12 h Cells were released into fresh medium to allow for mitotic entry and collected by mitotic shake-off after 30 min EdU pulse-labelling was performed at the indicated time points by 30 min incubation in the presence of 10 µM 5-ethynyl-2-deoxyuridine (Life Technologies) When detecting IF upon irradiation-induced DNA damage cells were seeded on coverslips one day prior a Gravitron RX 30/55 (Gravatom) was used to irradiate cell cultures at the stated dose Cells were returned to cell culture for 3 h post-irradiation and subsequently fixed and permeabilised for 20 min in PTEMF buffer (20 mM PIPES pH 6.8 Primary and secondary antibodies were applied at the dilutions listed in the supplementary methods and incubated at room temperature for at least 1 h mitotic cells were seeded onto poly-l-lysine coated coverslips and allowed to adhere for 5–10 min before being fixed and permeabilised for 20 min in PTEMF buffer fixed and permeabilized cells were incubated for 1 h in PBS containing 2 mM CuSO4 10 mM sodium ascorbate and 10 µM Alexa Fluor azide (ThermoFisher Scientific) to fluorescently label incorporated EdU Coverslips were washed in PBS with 0.5% Triton X-100 in between incubations and mounted in DAPI-containing ProLong Gold antifade reagent (Life Technologies) Cells were synchronised and released into the relevant drug for 30 min Mitotic cells were then collected by mitotic shake-off and 250,000 cells were used per agarose plug prepared according to manufacturer’s instructions (Bio-Rad) Plugs were suspended in proteinase K reaction buffer (100 mM EDTA and washed four times in wash buffer (20 mM Tris pH 8 where 1 mM PMSF was added to the third wash Electrophoresis was carried out in 0.5X TBE at 14 °C for 15 h using the CHEF Mapper XA system to separate 1–100 kb size DNA bands according to the following settings: two-state The gel was stained with ethidium bromide and visualised with a UV transilluminator (UVP) Band intensity was measured in ImageJ and normalised to untreated control All statistical analysis was performed using GraphPad PRISM 9 For Mac OS X (Version 9.1.2) with the test indicated in figure legend analyses of multiple groups were conducted primarily by Kurskal–Wallis test Two-way ANOVA was used for dose curve survival analyses Analysis of two groups was conducted primarily by Mann–Whitney test For p-values that were above 0.05 but <0.1 Further information on research design is available in the Nature Research Reporting Summary linked to this article DNA double-strand break repair-pathway choice in somatic mammalian cells Role of the human RAD51 protein in homologous recombination and double-stranded-break repair WAPL-dependent repair of damaged DNA replication forks underlies oncogene-induced loss of sister chromatid cohesion RAD51- and MRE11-dependent reassembly of uncoupled CMG helicase complex at collapsed replication forks Acute inactivation of the replicative helicase in human cells triggers MCM8-9-dependent DNA synthesis Non-enzymatic roles of human RAD51 at stalled replication forks The essential functions of human Rad51 are independent of ATP hydrolysis Hydroxyurea-stalled replication forks become progressively inactivated and require two different RAD51-mediated pathways for restart and repair Double-strand break repair-independent role for BRCA2 in blocking stalled replication fork degradation by MRE11 A distinct replication fork protection pathway connects Fanconi anemia tumor suppressors to RAD51-BRCA1/2 A dominant mutation in human RAD51 reveals its function in dna interstrand crosslink repair independent of homologous recombination Interaction with the BRCA2 C terminus protects RAD51-DNA filaments from disassembly by BRC repeats Stabilization of RAD51 nucleoprotein filaments by the C-terminal region of BRCA2 Purified human BRCA2 stimulates RAD51-mediated recombination BRCA2 coordinates the activities of cell-cycle kinases to promote genome stability Plk1 and CK2 act in concert to regulate Rad51 during DNA double strand break repair Meiotic knockdown and complementation reveals essential role of RAD51 in mouse spermatogenesis DNA synthesis by Pol eta promotes fragile site stability by preventing under-replicated DNA in mitosis is required for maintaining fragile site stability in human cells ERCC1 and MUS81-EME1 promote sister chromatid separation by processing late replication intermediates at common fragile sites during mitosis 53BP1 nuclear bodies form around DNA lesions generated by mitotic transmission of chromosomes under replication stress Replication stress activates DNA repair synthesis in mitosis The FANC pathway and BLM collaborate during mitosis to prevent micro-nucleation and chromosome abnormalities Replication stress induces sister-chromatid bridging at fragile site loci in mitosis TopBP1 is required at mitosis to reduce transmission of DNA damage to G1 daughter cells MUS81 promotes common fragile site expression Break-induced telomere synthesis underlies alternative telomere maintenance Alternative lengthening of telomeres mediated by mitotic dna synthesis engages break-induced replication processes RAD52 Facilitates mitotic DNA synthesis following replication stress Break-induced replication repair of damaged forks induces genomic duplications in human cells The spindle-assembly checkpoint in space and time Centromere mitotic recombination in mammalian cells Integrity of the human centromere DNA repeats is protected by CENP-A Inducing and detecting mitotic dna synthesis at difficult-to-replicate loci A minority of foci or pan-nuclear apoptotic staining of gammaH2AX in the S phase after UV damage contain DNA double-strand breaks The shape of the radiation dose response for DNA double-strand break induction and repair Rad51-deficient vertebrate cells accumulate chromosomal breaks prior to cell death Targeted disruption of the Rad51 gene leads to lethality in embryonic mice Identification of specific inhibitors of human RAD51 recombinase using high-throughput screening Inhibition of homologous recombination in human cells by targeting RAD51 recombinase The human Rad51 K133A mutant is functional for DNA double-strand break repair in human cells Cell-cycle variation in DNA migration in pulsed-field gel electrophoresis Human cancer cells commonly acquire DNA damage during mitotic arrest Mitosis inhibits DNA double-strand break repair to guard against telomere fusions DNA damage signaling in response to double-strand breaks during mitosis DNA damage during mitosis in human cells delays the metaphase/anaphase transition via the spindle-assembly checkpoint Chromosome damage and progression into and through mitosis in vertebrates RECQ5 helicase cooperates with MUS81 endonuclease in processing stalled replication forks at common fragile sites during mitosis GFP tagging reveals human Polo-like kinase 1 at the kinetochore/centromere region of mitotic chromosomes TOPBP1 regulates RAD51 phosphorylation and chromatin loading and determines PARP inhibitor sensitivity Fork cleavage-religation cycle and active transcription mediate replication restart after fork stalling at co-transcriptional R-loops Folate stress induces SLX1- And RAD51-dependent mitotic DNA synthesis at the fragile X locus in human cells A mechanism for controlled breakage of under-replicated chromosomes during mitosis Regulatory control of the resolution of DNA recombination intermediates during meiosis and mitosis Mus81 and converging forks limit the mutagenicity of replication fork breakage Coordinated actions of SLX1-SLX4 and MUS81-EME1 for Holliday junction resolution in human cells Rad51 protects nascent DNA from Mre11-dependent degradation and promotes continuous DNA synthesis FindFoci: a focus detection algorithm with automated parameter training that closely matches human assignments reduces human inconsistencies and increases speed of analysis Wassing, I. & Esashi, F. The RAD51 recombinase protects mitotic chromatin in human cells / source data files. Open Science Framework https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/68X3K (2021) Download references and members of the Esashi laboratory for helpful discussions; Drs Nigel Rust and Michal Maj for assistance with FACS; and Dr Alan Wainman for assistance with microscopy was supported by the Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellowships in Basic Biomedical Science (101009/Z/13/Z) and is thankful for supports from the Edward Penley Abraham Research Fund IEW was a recipient of the Medical Sciences Graduate School studentship funded by the Medical Research Council (14/15_MSD_439771) is a recipient of the Medical Sciences Graduate School studentship funded by the Medical Research Council (18/19_MSD_2111222) receives the Oxford Cancer Centre Cancer Research UK D.Phil studentship (CRUK-OC-DPhil17-XS) was a recipient of the Oxford Interdisciplinary Bioscience Doctoral Training Partnership sponsored by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/M011224/1 is thankful for the support from the departments of Pathology Anatomy and Genetics and from the John Fell Fund and Wellcome ISSF These authors contributed equally: Xanita Saayman generated CRISPR gene-edited mutants with the help of C.R contributed to the optimisation of the cen-CO-FISH methodology and the interpretation of the related results wrote the manuscript with input from all contributing authors The authors declare no competing interests Peer review information Nature Communications thanks the anonymous reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-25643-y Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science Your browser does not support JavaScript, or it is disabled．Please check the site policy for more information Hokkaido--Although complete with a lighthouse Kamomejima island here is off the beaten path for tourists The Esashi Tourism Convention Association is trying to change all that Capitalizing on its natural and cultural resources the association will offer unique camping experiences on the island from Aug “We want to provide sightseeing experiences with something extra,” Esashi Mayor Yonosuke Terui said “We hope it helps reinvigorate the local economy hit by the novel coronavirus pandemic.” once flourishing as a herring fishing town and as a port of call for Kitamaebune merchant ships during the Edo Period (1603-1867) remains rich with merchant houses and other historical legacies The Kamomejima Marineping enterprise offers a rare chance of camping in a seaside location the Marineping package allows visitors to stay in a dome-shaped tent with a diameter of 6 meters Campers can choose either a barbecue set or a seafood treat for dinner The Tebura Camp package offers a complete set of camping equipment for rental and assistance to set up the tent at the camping site on the top of the island Guests are encouraged to join a guided tour around the island or try their hand at crab fishing while they are treated to a barbecue dinner Day-trippers can also enjoy maritime activities such as a guided tour and fishing experience guests are invited to observe the salvaged warship Kaiyomaru and walk around Inishie Kaido Street For detailed information, visit the official website at (https://marineping.esashi.town/) Pandemic forces geisha to resort to doing discount shows in the day sand tiger shark born at Ibaraki aquarium Hotel Okura to open 2nd luxury hotel in Kyoto in January 2022 Kumamoto Castle tower opens for 1st time since quakes Fuji to be outfitted with 5G capabilities this summer Information on the latest cherry blossom conditions Please right click to use your browser’s translation function.) A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II In-house News and Messages No reproduction or republication without written permission please disable the ad blocking feature and reload the page This website uses cookies to collect information about your visit for purposes such as showing you personalized ads and content By clicking “Accept all,” you will allow the use of these cookies Users accessing this site from EEA countries and UK are unable to view this site without your consent This is the fifth and last installment in a series monitoring ongoing international developments and identifying necessary tasks if Japan were to become embroiled in a contingency an announcement from a fire department’s loudspeaker echoed over the town of Esashi “A missile is believed to have been launched Please evacuate to a building or underground.” nearly 20 residents evacuated to the building that houses the Esashi Fire Department and sat down in a central first-floor corridor where there were no windows facing outside to protect themselves from a possible blast “The Esashi Fire Department is reporting that they have received a 119 call.” “The Hokkaido government is making emergency contact.” Officials responsible for disaster response at the town’s general affairs department were busy communicating with organizations concerned the Esashi town office conducted an evacuation drill on the premise of a ballistic missile flying over Hokkaido and Aomori Prefecture a ballistic missile launched by North Korea really had flown over Aomori Prefecture One participant in the drill was an 89-year-old woodworker who said that he had experienced the end of World War II in Karafuto (now Sakhalin in Russia) when he was a child and had run away from the incoming Soviet military forces “It’s crucial to know where to evacuate in an emergency,” he emphasized The fire department building is designated as a temporary emergency evacuation facility for residents to protect themselves from a blast which is considered a more protective place to take shelter “For small municipalities with few underground spaces it is difficult to secure evacuation facilities.” Of 94,125 evacuation facilities designated under the Civil Protection Law across the country the government is accelerating efforts to develop and improve evacuation shelters changing the awareness of residents and municipalities is also essential the government has been conducting resident evacuation drills premised on a ballistic missile launch since September The government has been seeking municipalities willing to conduct such drills but only nine municipalities have actually implemented them so far a drill was held on Okinawa Prefecture’s Yonaguni Island where residents are increasingly concerned about a possible emergency in Taiwan It was the first drill of this kind held by a municipality in the prefecture “We would like to properly explain the need for such drills so they will be held in municipalities across the country,” a Cabinet Secretariat official in charge said The J-Alert national instantaneous warning system meant to alert the public to missile launches and other emergencies When a missile launched by North Korea flew over Aomori Prefecture on Oct the disaster radio system used to communicate the J-Alert information to residents did not work and other troubles occurred in Eniwa as well as Aomori City and Hirakawa in Aomori Prefecture the fire department sounded a siren to warn residents to evacuate but some residents later said that they had not heard it because they were indoors the town is considering distributing receivers to individual houses Regular drills are vital for civil protection including the evacuation of civilians in the event of an emergency the Ground Self-Defense Force Northern Army conducted a civil protection exercise premised on an armed attack at Camp Sapporo in Sapporo The GSDF confirmed its ability to work with the Hokkaido prefectural government the prefectural police and relevant municipalities to evacuate residents in the event of three different types of attacks — invasion by air or sea and attack by guerrilla groups or special forces The Self-Defense Forces hold such drills about five times a year The SDF is widely expected to lead the evacuation of residents but they also have to concentrate on dealing with armed attacks so they might not be able to help with evacuations if the time comes even if private airlines or shipping companies agree to help out with such tasks as evacuating residents from remote islands many people presume that private aircraft and ships would have difficulty reaching such islands once an armed attack begins the implementation of civil protection measures requires the declaration of an armed attack situation and other procedures prompting concern that urgent action could be delayed While the prime minister and Cabinet members participate in drills for natural disasters every year civil protection drills involving Cabinet members or other high-ranking government officials have not been conducted so far the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner Komeito held a meeting of their working group on the revision of three key national documents including the government’s National Security Strategy Many participants said civil protection plans should be reviewed with such comments as: “We have the Civil Protection Law but I wonder if we can actually implement it” and “We need a system to evacuate citizens before declaring an armed attack situation.” former chief of staff of the Joint Staff of the SDF who was the top SDF officer in the response to the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011 said: “The timing of civil protection measures is a major issue some people will fail to evacuate and be left behind Russian forces continue to attack urban areas harshly illuminating the importance of a civil protection system The urgent task for the government is to enhance defense capabilities to increase Japan’s deterrence to avoid a war while assuming worst-case scenarios and promoting measures to protect the lives of the people Our weekly ePaper presents the most noteworthy recent topics in an exciting © 2025 The Japan News - by The Yomiuri Shimbun Event The season of fireworks festivals that brighten up Hokkaido's summer is coming Here we will introduce you to all the information about the fireworks festivals that will create summer memories This sea festival is held on Kamome Island a beautiful small island beloved by many people as a symbol of Esashi In addition to the usual stage events such as singing shows and traditional performing arts there are also booths where you can enjoy the flavors of Esashi Source: T×TGARAGE 12th Makomanai Fireworks Festival Official Website This year marks the 12th anniversary of the event and 22,000 fireworks will be launched into the sky along with a mix of fireworks The fireworks launched by the nationally famous "Nihonbashi Marutamaya" and "Beniya Aoki Fireworks" are a wonderful light art that will brighten up the summer To commemorate the Fighters' 50th anniversary over 6,000 fireworks will be set off to accompany the entrance music and footage of legendary players The fireworks can be viewed from inside the ESCON Field after the game ends and the atmosphere will be livened up by the special 50th anniversary production This is a major event held in Hamatonbetsu Town with the aim of connecting people with nature at Lake Kutcharo the northernmost wetland registered under the Ramsar Convention in Japan where many migratory birds come to rest their wings It is a water log crossing race and various other events The beautiful fireworks that light up the lake are also popular You can enjoy fireworks and food in the natural surroundings of the National Takino Suzuran Hillside Park on the outskirts of Sapporo there are also many stage events and raffles so you can camp while enjoying the fireworks The third annual Memurocho Fireworks Festival "Kanon" was launched by volunteers who wanted to revive the local fireworks festival that had disappeared and to create memories for children Food and drink booths will be set up at the venue The eve of the festival will also feature a beer garden and karaoke competition which began in commemoration of the establishment of Marine Day is now one of the three major fireworks festivals in Hakodate and is a popular fireworks festival that heralds the arrival of summer in Hakodate This year's theme is "Cinema under the Stars." Hakodate Port will be transformed into a giant movie theater and various performances will liven up the venue there will be a junior concert and the traditional "Sennin Odori" dance that parades through the city there will be a "boat rowing race" that you can enjoy The nighttime fireworks display will color the finale of Nemuro's short summer and the festival The Ebetsu Fireworks are characterized by a competition between Japanese fireworks makers You can watch the fireworks from up close from the venue seats There are also plans for stage events and food trucks to open at the venue This is one of the fireworks festivals representing the Furano area with around 7,000 fireworks launched into the sky The fireworks seen in the setting of the lavender fields in full bloom have a beauty unlike any other fireworks festival and the impact is even more intense when viewed from the slopes of the surrounding hills "Kuki" refers to the large schools of herring that come to spawn and this festival is held to commemorate the past when the area prospered from herring fishing There is also a taste corner where you can enjoy local seafood and events you can participate in such as "All-you-can-eat sea urchins and scallops," and the fireworks you can watch while looking out over Benten Island on the coast are very impressive and the fireworks reflecting off the black mirror-like surface of the sea brightly light up the summer night sky This fireworks festival held in a seaside town is also recommended as a combination with swimming and camping In addition to the usual all-you-can-eat shijimi clams the Teshio River will be lit up with fireworks This event is held as the finale of the historic "Hidaka Tree Spirit Festival," which gives thanks to the trees of the forest and the legendary dragon as its guardian Approximately 2,500 fireworks will be launched into the sky beautifully lighting up the summer night as the festival continues This fireworks festival is popular among Sapporo residents as a seasonal event that heralds the arrival of summer in Sapporo The fireworks launched from Toyohira River are divided into three parts including star mines and elaborate creative fireworks You can also watch the fireworks up close from the fishing port and experience the powerful sound and light of over 700 fireworks a seasonal event that colors the summer in Chitose will be renovated this year and the venue will be changed to the Ground Self-Defense Force Kita-Chitose Garrison which are larger and more expansive than usual are scheduled to be launched in four parts was started as an opportunity to pass on Otaru's history and culture to the next generation and to pray for the development of Otaru The city center is lively with the "Ushio Furekomi" (dance parade) and stalls and the main fireworks display attracts many local residents and tourists This is the biggest event in Shintotsukawa where the whole town enjoys the short summer The popular event is the Mud Bridge Championship where participants slide along a roller conveyor used for sorting agricultural produce and compete to see who can get closest to a pool of mud The fireworks display is held on the eve of the festival began as a memorial service for those who drowned in the lake It is bustling with events and outdoor stalls and the "Memorial Lantern Floating" event The fireworks are reflected on the lake's surface like large flowers and the beauty of the event is captivating located about two hours by ferry from Wakkanai but the fireworks display is held in conjunction with the Oniwaki area and the surface of the sea is vividly colored A large-scale festival held in Tomakomai every summer a citizen dance parade through the city center and a marching festival liven up the city of Tomakomai The "Tomamin Tomakomai Centennial Fireworks" and the fireworks launched against the backdrop of the pitch-black sea are a spectacular sight Fresh seafood that can only be found in a port town is lined up and there are also character shows and various stage events It is a summer festival that can be enjoyed by both adults and children which is like a "wave," and the fireworks display will heat up the summer in Iwanai Town Nakatonbetsu Town is popular for its "45th Degree Latitude Shibare Festival" held in the winter but this festival is what gets the whole town excited in the summer Events include the All-Japan Water Balloon Catching Championship and the excitement reaches a climax with a fireworks display This festival started with hand-held fireworks by volunteers from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and is now a summer event in Niseko Town where about 1,500 fireworks are set off There is time for children to enjoy hand-held fireworks as well making it a fireworks festival that can be enjoyed by both adults and children while retaining the flavor of a small hometown the "village where stars fall," where you can enjoy events and gourmet food and the venue is enveloped in a fantastical space This is a major event that colors the short summer in the northernmost city The first icebreaker used in the Antarctic observation in the homeland of the Sakhalin Huskies Taro and Jiro was the "Sōya" and the festival has continued since its name was associated with the Antarctic the festival is livened up by two dances that represent Wakkanai: the "Hokkai Teppen Odori" and the "Antarctic Odori" is a vast park where you can also enjoy camping It also has hot spring accommodation and an observatory The fireworks you can enjoy at this scenic spot This festival is held in Higashikagura Town and is unique to the "town of flowers." There are many flower-related events such as a giveaway of flower seedlings on a first-come and a flower parade in which townspeople march to the tune of the "Hana no Machi Ondo." There are also outdoor stalls a "townspeople musical performance," a face-in sign competition fireworks and laser shows light up the night sky with flowers This is the largest fireworks festival in the northern Hokkaido area In addition to events such as stage attractions the fireworks can be seen up close in the water and the beautiful fireworks reflected on the sea surface are dynamic After enjoying the sunset over the Sea of Japan which has been selected as one of the "100 Best Sunsets in Japan," you can enjoy the fireworks festival It is also popular as Hokkaido's largest fireworks festival the traditional Nishiki Kamuro fireworks fill the night sky bringing the festival to a fantastic close This is the largest festival in Shikabe Town and everyone from children to adults can enjoy games and stage shows The fireworks display that marks the climax of the festival is the largest in southern Hokkaido and the fireworks launched near the fishing port are spectacular Approximately 3,400 star mines and special fireworks will paint the night sky in a spectacular display This fireworks display will be held during the "Fighters Super Summer Festival" event over 6,000 fireworks will light up the night sky with the roof open The dynamic production and music synchronized with the fireworks will turn the field into a dance floor-like space The night view from Otaru's Tenguyama is popular as one of the "Three Great Night Views of Hokkaido," and the fireworks that unfold along with the night view from the mountaintop are spectacular so access is good and you can easily enjoy the luxurious scenery of the night view and fireworks previously known as the "Hokkaido Moerenuma Artistic Fireworks" will be renamed the "Hokkaido Artistic Fireworks" set off by the country's best fireworks artists elevating traditional fireworks festivals to the level of art You can enjoy world-class fireworks entertainment This will be the first fireworks display to be held at the Sapporo Dome a fireworks manufacturer that won the top prize at the 2022 National Fireworks Competition is scheduled to display star mines and other fireworks Approximately 18,000 fireworks will be launched in time with music from the outdoor seating area that can accommodate 16,000 people This is the biggest event in Kushiro city and it brings the end of summer to a spectacular start "Donpaku" was named after the "don" sound of the fireworks and the act of eating delicious food The highlight of the event is not only the delicious food stalls and events but also the largest fireworks display in Hokkaido This year marks the 43rd anniversary of the fireworks festival The fireworks are set off on boats moving around the lake so you can see the whole of Toyako Onsen town Enjoying the fireworks while soaking in the hot springs is a unique experience at Toyako Onsen This fireworks display is held in Jigokudani The highlight is the spectacular sight of the "Yukijin" hot spring gods living in Jigokudani unleashing powerful demon fireworks into the night sky like an eruption which are meant to pray for the happiness of all people and protection from disaster drawing roars of excitement from the crowd A fireworks festival is held during the summer vacation period at Rusutsu Resort a popular amusement park and a variety of activities to enjoy 1,200 fireworks are set off in time with music creating a fantastical and dynamic collaboration of sound and light that is very popular *Each event may be subject to change or cancellation so please check the official website before participating Expanding the circle of exchange in Minami-ku a community market created by students together with the local community Enjoy seasonal spring gourmet food and Golden Week 10 recommended events in Hokkaido [May 2025] 5 recommended events in Sapporo [May 2nd - 6th 5 easy-to-participate social good events in Hokkaido [May 2025] [2025 Edition] 16 Flower Events in Hokkaido: Cherry blossoms National Report Hokkaido--Prefectural officials are investigating a local facility for people with intellectual disabilities after learning that eight couples underwent sterilization procedures at the organization’s urging has admitted to recommending powerful fertility control measures such as vasectomies for men and birth control rings for women to couples with disabilities for the past two and a half decades This practice continued even after Japan scrapped its eugenics law that permitted involuntary sterilization Critics charge that this shows the concept of eugenics is still deeply rooted in Japan even though it was ruled unconstitutional long ago the director of Asunaro Social Welfare Service 19 news conference that his organization explained to the couples what difficulties they would encounter raising a child should they think about getting married or living together in the group home Those difficulties include the prospect their child could be sent away to another welfare facility Higuchi said his organization suggests the birth control measures to the couples that decided not to have children and that 16 people followed their fertility advice Higuchi said he believes it is his organization’s responsibility to candidly discuss with people who have disabilities what hurdles they will likely encounter in real life although they respect their freedom to date whomever they choose “Recommending procedures to become sterile was made in that context and we have never forced these steps on them against their wishes,” he said Higuchi said undergoing a procedure to become sterile is not a condition for using their facilities “Parents can continue to live in the facility But our services do not cover the child,” he said “We cannot just keep lining up nice words.” Children under 18 are not eligible to live in a group home for people with intellectual disabilities then that child would be sent to another social welfare facility if the parents cannot raise the offspring on their own Most group homes are operated on the assumption that their occupants will not have children while living there an ethics professor at Ritsumeikan University said this case shows that the concept of eugenics remains deeply entrenched in today’s society “What has been done at the Hokkaido facility reflects a thinking that one can ask people with disabilities to ‘transform’ their bodies,” she said “Officials at the facility say that they ‘did not force but recommended sterilization.’ But couples would have no choice but to accept the procedure if they find it extremely difficult to make a living after leaving their facility and few other group homes are available in the neighborhood.” thousands of people with disabilities were sterilized without their consent until 1996 when the law was revised to remove the forced-sterilization provisions and renamed the Maternal Health Law surgery to make a woman sterile is allowed to be performed if pregnancy or childbirth might endanger her life But surgery to make a woman sterile is not legally sanctioned--even if she gives her consent--if pregnancy and childbirth pose no threat to her life health minister Katsunobu Kato said at a news conference on Dec 20 the ministry will gather more information on the circumstances of these cases before it chooses how to respond "It would be inappropriate if the organization made sterilization a condition for allowing them to live in the group home," he said was founded in 1989 and operates more than 50 welfare facilities for people with disabilities and those with senile dementia in southern Hokkaido High court orders Japan to pay damages for sterilizations 6 more victims sue over ‘agonies’ from forced sterilizations Court rejects coerced abortion claim under old eugenics law with weather authorities warning of more blizzards for the region and also some eastern parts of the country Some 180 flights to and from New Chitose Airport the main air gateway to the northern main island of Hokkaido suspended all train runs to and from JR Sapporo Station Monday and the Hokkaido shinkansen bullet train services were delayed as well Almost 1,100 train runs were canceled in Sapporo and other areas of Hokkaido as of 9:10 p.m. or around 90 percent of the daily train services in the region With up to 50 centimeters of snow expected in areas near the Hokkaido capital Sapporo by Tuesday evening the railway operator said it will suspend train services at Sapporo Station on Tuesday morning The capital had seen snowfall of over 30 cm in 24 hours through 3 p.m according to the Japan Meteorological Agency A traffic accident involving several vehicles occurred on the Hakodate-Esashi Expressway in Hokuto Heavy snow and wind are believed to have created extremely poor visibility conditions Many vehicles have been stranded on the expressway About a dozen vehicles were also involved in two other accidents each in Hokuto and multiple-vehicle accidents also occurred in other parts of Hokkaido Heavy snow is forecast to continue to fall in the north and east with 70 cm of snow expected in part of the Hokuriku region on the Sea of Japan coast 50 cm in part of Hokkaido and the northeastern Tohoku region and 40 cm in some areas in the Kanto-Koshin region in eastern and central Japan in 24 hours through 6 p.m Metrics details Nanoscale lithographic technologies have been intensively studied for the development of the next generation of semiconductor manufacturing practices While mask-less/direct-write electron beam (EB) lithography methods serve as a candidate for the upcoming 10-nm node approaches and beyond it remains difficult to achieve an appropriate level of throughput Several innovative features of the multiple EB system that involve the use of a thermionic source have been proposed a blanking array mechanism is required for the individual control of multiple beamlets whereby each beamlet is deflected onto a blanking object or passed through an array This paper reviews the recent developments of our application studies on the development of a high-speed massively parallel electron beam direct write (MPEBDW) lithography The emitter array used in our study includes nanocrystalline-Si (nc-Si) ballistic electron emitters Electrons are drifted via multiple tunnelling cascade transport and are emitted as hot electrons The transport mechanism allows one to quickly turn electron beamlets on or off The emitter array is a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) that is hetero-integrated with a separately fabricated active-matrix-driving complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) large-scale integration (LSI) system that controls each emitter individually The basic function of the LSI was confirmed to receive external writing bitmap data and generate driving signals for turning beamlets on or off Each emitted beamlet (10 × 10 μm2) is converged to 10 × 10 nm2 on a target via the reduction electron optic system under development This paper presents an overview of the system and characteristic evaluations of the nc-Si emitter array We examine beamlets and their electron emission characteristics via a 1:1 exposure test High-throughput nanoscale lithographic technologies have been intensively studied and developed in relation to the upcoming 10-nm node and beyond for the improvement of semiconductor manufacturing practices Electron beam (EB) direct-write lithography immersion lithography combined with multiple patterning extreme ultra-violet lithography and nano-imprinting methods serve as candidates of the next generation of lithography practices Only the EB direct-write approach serves as a mask-less lithography method Electrons generated from a thermionic source are accelerated via an electron gun module and are decelerated to illuminate a DPG chip The DPG modulates the illuminated electrons and either reflects them back or not by switching them on or off via pixel-by-pixel CMOS voltage levels The reflected beamlets are then reaccelerated at 50 keV–100 keV and demagnified (1/80 to 1/100) onto a wafer An array of microminiaturized nc-Si electron emitters is integrated with an active-matrix-driving large-scale integration (LSI) mechanism electrons are drifted via multiple tunneling cascade transport and are emitted as hot electrons The transport mechanism allows for the high-speed direct switching of electron beamlets on or off by CMOS-compatible voltage levels without the use of a blanking mechanism aberrations generated in the electron optics are compensated for by the emitter array itself The mean kinetic energy of the emitted electrons reaches 5 eV–7 eV through the application of a driving voltage level of roughly 15 V This paper reviews recent progress in our development of MPEBDW lithography methods that use the active-matrix nc-Si emitter array An overview of the system is provided in the “Configuration of the MPEBDW” section performance evaluations of a prototyped nc-Si electron emitter array and a prototyped active-matrix-driving LSI are described in the section “PROTOTYPE NC-SI EMITTER ARRAY AND EMISSION CHARACTERISTICS” and the section “AN ACTIVE-MATRIX-DRIVING LSI FOR THE MPEBDW” We aim to develop a commercial massive parallel EB lithography system that can write with high resolution and high throughput Target specifications for the EB writing system include the followings: 10 nm or less in resolution and a throughput level of more than 100 12-inch wafers per hour (>100 wph) we specified (1) a multi-beam column: a single electron optic column that generates 1000 × 1000 electron beamlets of 2.5 × 2.5 nm2 in beam size and 38 pA in beam current and (2) a multi-column system: a system that projects multiple 1000 × 1000 electron beamlets onto a target wafer Specifications of the target commercial system are presented in this section We use an electron emitter array as an electron source and each emitter is turned on or off by an active-matrix-driving LSI The system can adjust to various electron doses by dynamically controlling electron emitter-driving periods The emitter array includes 1000 × 1000 electron emitters with a 2.5 × 2.5 μm2 emission area and 10 μm pitch A condenser lens array is installed 100 μm above the surface of the electron emitter array The condenser lens array consists of 1000 × 1000 electron condenser lenses with electrostatic lenses of 8 μm in diameter with a 10 μm pitch Each electron beamlet size generated by the emitter is converged to 1/10 (0.25 × 0.25 μm2) by the condenser lens The 1000 × 1000 electron beamlets that pass through the 1000 × 1000 condenser lens array are accelerated to 5 keV towards an anode The accelerating voltage is kept relatively low to increase exposure sensitivity levels and downsize the electron optic column 1000 × 1000 electron beamlets of 0.25 × 0.25 μm2 with a 10 μm pitch are simultaneously reduced by 1/100 using the objective lens (electrostatic Einzel lens) 1000 × 1000 electron beamlets of 2.5 × 2.5 nm2 with a 100 nm pitch are projected onto the target wafer The electron beamlet positioned far away from the optical axis of the objective lens is defocused on the target wafer due to an aberration of field curvature (FC) This aberration is corrected using a method discussed in the section “Aberration correction function” The system throughput level is estimated using the following equations Equation (1) calculates the exposure time for a beamlet Equation (2) calculates the exposure time for each wafer Tarray: Exposure time required to fill array area (s) We developed a prototype system to establish basic technologies for the target 12-inch-wafer commercial system as shown in Table 1 Main differences found in these specifications pertain to the current emission density and to the number of electron optic columns we focus on improving electron emitter characteristics Each component of the prototype system under development is described in the following section (c1) Electron beamlet trajectories without aberration corrections (c2) Aberration correction through the control of electron beamlet accelerations in conjunction with the emitter array (c3) Aberration correction by adjusting electron beamlet focal lengths in conjunction with the condenser lens array (c4) Aberration correction through a combination of Figure 1c2 and c3 The prototype system consists of a 100 × 100 emitter array that is hetero-integrated with an active matrix LSI as a unit a three-stage deflector (two-stage for beamlet alignment and another for beamlet scanning) The size of each beamlet generated by the emitter array is reduced by 1/1000 from the original size As shown in Figure 1b the cross points are dispersive in this area resulting in a relaxation of Coulomb repulsion effects This dispersive crossover electron optic system allows for low acceleration voltage and higher exposure sensitivity leading to the generation of higher throughput levels In an ideal electron lens without aberrations all incident electron beamlets are converged to a focal point refraction angles of incident beamlets positioned far from the optical axis grow larger than those of an optimized electron lens Such excessive refraction angles result in the generation of geometric aberrations a retarding electric field produced by an electrostatic lens and magnetic objective lens corrects the refraction angle by repelling beamlets with a negative electric field the electromagnetic field of a pseudo-concave lens produced by combined multi-poles corrects aberrations of the objective lens These complex lens systems increase column sizes and thus cannot be used in our system the objective lens was set to 70 mm (diameter) to install 12 electron optic columns in the target commercial system The diameter of the electron optic column is 70 mm which is same as that of the objective lens times larger than the diagonal length of the electron emitter array As the size of the objective lens is relatively small compared to that of the electron emitter array the aberration increases considerably (mainly as a result of the objective lens) when a conventional electron optic column is applied the largest refraction angle of the 5-keV electron beamlet positioned far from the optical axis was measured by projecting the beamlet onto a fluorescent screen placed in the target wafer position The resulting angle was 7% larger than the refraction angle of an ideal aberration-free lens The aberration was eliminated by applying 140 eV of electrostatic energy onto the emitted electron The largest refraction angle of the beamlet was also simulated using the finite element method The circuit covers experimentally derived 140 eV electrostatic potential energy to correct the aberration Because aberration magnitude increases with cubed distance from the optical axis the ring widths grow narrower with increasing their radius Figure 1c1 shows the FC and a pincushion-type distortion (Dp) without any aberration correction We recommend employing two methods to correct these aberrations: (1) compensate for objective lens refraction angles by controlling electron acceleration levels and (2) compensate for beamlet focal lengths by adjusting the effective thickness of condenser lenses Reducing the FC by adjusting electron acceleration levels (method (1)) results in barrel-type distortion (Db) as shown in Figure 1c2 In contrast, adjusting the effective thickness of condenser lenses (method (2)) retains the Dp as shown in Figurer 1c3 When methods (1) and (2) are applied together, the FC and Dp are corrected as shown in Figure 1c4 The TSV array is generated by via-first-process A 100 × 100 array of holes is created on a Si substrate via deep-reactive-ion-etching (deep-RIE) and this substrate is oxidized to form a SiO2 layer for electric isolation Two phases of low pressure chemical vapour deposition (LPCVD) are realized for poly-Si deposition for the generation of a TSV conducting plug the poly-Si is deposited on a wall in holes and is then doped by diffusion to form n++-poly-Si for reducing plug resistivity levels A second LPCVD phase is realized for hole filling and depositing top and base of the plug Then doping is conducted again to reduce resistivity levels at the top and base of the plug Columnar poly-Si is deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition and columnar poly-Si and n++-poly-Si are then etched to form tapered emitters via selective RIE and a Cr/Au layer is sputtered for interconnection with the surface electrode formed at a following stage (9) The Si3N4 layer isolates the TSV from the Cr/Au interconnection layer Cr/Pt/Au electrodes are sputtered onto the back of the TSV The electron emission portion of the Cr/Au and Si3N4layers are removed by wet etching and RIE with CHF3/CF4 mixture gas Nc-Si dots are created in the columnar poly-Si via photo-anodization in an ethanolic hydrogen fluoride solution by galvanostatically applying an anodic pulse current on the Cr/Pt/Au rear electrode as an anode A thin Ti (1 nm)/Au (9 nm) layer is sputtered as a surface electrode to connect it to the Cr/Au interconnection layer for the application of surface voltage to the emitter Electron emission characteristics discussed in the following section are most sensitive to processes (6) and (7) which involve the development of a roughly 1-nm-thick homogeneous tunnel oxide layer that surrounds the nc-Si dots The uniformity of tunnel oxide is affected by the previous process (6) focused on nc-Si dot development and this results in increased oxide thickness variation levels we aim to optimize process (7) and subsequent thermal treatment processes to obtain a uniform tunnel oxide This process-induced fluctuation in emission currents is also corrected for by the control LSI as discussed in the section “Electron emitter driver cell” The sample structure was a 200 × 200 emitter array with a pitch size of 50 μm representing the largest array size we have ever prototyped The experiment was performed via a 1:1 exposure test bench Emitter shapes were directly transferred onto a 50-nm-thick ZEP520 EB resist on a target wafer The emitted electrons were accelerated at 5 keV and were then directed onto a target wafer placed 3 mm away The nc-Si electron emitter was driven by 14 V pulses and had a 25% duty ratio relation to the grounded surface electrode The target wafer was exposed to the emitted electrons until it reached a total electron dose 30 μC cm−2 To suppress angle dispersion in the emitted electrons a magnetic field of 0.56 T in parallel with the electric field was applied using two permanent magnets causing the emitted electrons to spiral around the magnetic field lines and to focus on the target The profile shape of the emitter was precisely transferred without any distortion or fluctuation denoting that energy dispersion levels were minor (a) Photograph of the active-matrix-driving LSI (c) Cross section of the LSI after ring isolation and rewiring The LSI inputs 128 bit-wide writing bitmap data from outside into 128 shift registers of approximately 80 bit long After all 100 × 100 bitmap data are shifted inward they are transferred to temporal memory in each electron emitter driver cell They then guide electron emitter activity according to the bitmap data While driving emitters based on existing data bitmap data are inputted in a pipe-line manner for speed operation The LSI can compensate for electron emission variations between emitters for accurate electron dose control over the array by adjusting each driver's exposure time The LSI shifts in the bitmap data by 100 MHz and can update 100 × 100 bitmap data within 1 μs to meet the 2-μs exposure-time/shot (Tshot) level required for the prototype system shown in Table 1 The core region (10 × 10 mm2) consists of 10 000 electron emitter driver cells that are laid out with a 100-μm pitch as a 100 × 100 array to match the electron emitters as shown in Figure 2a The driver cells are separated into five concentric rings so that different offset voltages can be applied onto each ring for aberration correction as discussed above Approximately 80 driver cells are connected as a shift register to shift the bitmap data serially into the driver cells and 128 shift registers are positioned on the LSI the number of input pins required to transfer bitmap data onto the LSI was greatly reduced for assembly into a smaller package The periphery region consists of 430 pins for input/output signals and power supplies level shifters for converting 5 V input signals into 1.8 V and 15 V signals required for the core region and a sensor for measuring LSI temperatures The LSI of the prototype system has following functions: Drive the electron emitter while inputting writing bitmap data in a pipeline manner for higher throughput Operate the electron emitter at up to 17 V with each driver capable of selecting one of the four electron emission periods to compensate for electron emitter variation emitter electron emission current variations can be equalized and appropriate dose exposure to the target wafer is realized Output electron emitter-driving signals to monitor and test LSI functioning Provide vacant spaces for isolation between rings for the application of different offset voltages for aberration correction on each ring Driver cells are grouped into five aberration correction rings with dedicated signals and powers and (3) are described in the section “Electron emitter driver cell” aberration schemes are described in the section “Ring isolation for aberration correction” and the actual operation of the LSI is described in the section “LSI operation” This section presents structure of the LSI and the system initialization and electron emitter-driving circuit operation approach The driver cell is shown in Figure 3b Approximately 80 driver cells are cascaded to form a shift register SR and data from SRdin are shifted over the cells as a shift register SR Each cell has a bonding pad XEBdrv for bonding with each electron emitter on the emitter chip and the surface electrode of the electron emitter is connected to the VH The electron emitter is turned on for emission by XEBdrv = VL or is turned off by XEBdrv = VH As the XEBdrv is driven by a high voltage level shifter (HVLS) using 32 V transistors Transistor sizes for electron emitter operation were determined by measuring I/V characteristics and stray capacities of the electron emitters ΔV/ΔI and stray capacitance levels were set to 150 MΩ and 0.2 pF The electron emitter driver cell was set up based on values that fit the transistors within a 100 × 100 μm2 driver cell area emission currents of each electron emitter are measured by activating only one driver cell in the array An external controller then determines a 2-bit code for each emitter based on measured emission variation levels The code is shifted into the shift register SR and is transferred to LT1 and LT2 in each cell by setting mode signals Md[1:0] as “10” and “11” The two-bit code in the LT1 and LT2 selects one of the four rising edge timings of Ena[3:0] to compensate for emitter emission current variations Writing bitmap data are shifted into the shift register SR and are transferred to LT0 electron emissions are triggered by a rising edge Ena[3:0] selected via LT1/LT2 and shutoff by XHVpchg = VL The electron emitter-driving signal at XEBdrv is level shifted by level shifters (LS3 and LS4) is wired-OR with other cells following a transistor An electron emitter-driving signal can be monitored by activating only one cell in the LSI This section presents a way to isolate electron emitters between aberration correction rings on the LSI To electrically connect R0 (and R1) circuits between the core and periphery TSV1 and TSV2 are placed in the periphery and core regions and electrical interconnections are created on a back of the LSI This section presents the experiment results of an actual LSI operation Figure 3d shows a case of LSI operation LSI operations were successfully confirmed by observing XEBdrv outputs with an oscilloscope Such observations were carried out by introducing required input signals and power supplies to the LSI and VL and VH were connected to ground and DC 15 V power supplies As the input capacitance of the oscilloscope probe (10 pF) was larger than the actual electron emitter capacitance (0.2 pF) a test was performed at a low rate: 200 μs pulse width (actual target exposure time of 2 μs) and 15 kHz SRckin frequency (actual target of 100 MHz) Only the first four driver cells (Drv0 through Drv3) on the shift register were driven series of data for LT1/LT2 were shifted serially at ①/② and LT1/LT2 were initialized on the Drv0 through Drv3 at ②/③ Writing bitmap data were then introduced serially during ③ through ⑥ and 15 V amplitude pulses with different pulse widths based on the selected Ena[3:0] were observed on XEVdrv bond pads in Drv0 through Drv3 at ④ 15 V amplitude pulses that were switched on/off according to the writing bitmap data were observed at ⑤ ⑥ ⑦ Active matrix operations and high-voltage amplitudes with variable pulse widths for the delivery of appropriate electron doses to compensate for emission current variations were confirmed for the LSI This paper reviews the current status of MPEBDW lithography system development The system is unique in its utilization of an electron emitter array that is controlled by a CMOS LSI as an active matrix operation Specifications of the MPEBDW as a target commercial system for the next generation of lithography were proposed and compared with a prototype system under development The nc-Si electron emitter array employed as an electron source serves as a key feature for the realization of such specifications Current emission density level increases via the optimization of tunnel oxide fabrication processes and issues of electron emitter array densification are critical to the realization of higher throughput levels The current development status of each component of the prototype system was described Electron optics were examined for aberration corrections conducted by adjusting acceleration levels and focal lengths of the electron beamlet An nc-Si electron emitter array with TSV was fabricated and is planned to be hetero integrated with the LSI a uniform 1:1 exposure level for the emitter array was confirmed we extend our work on the prototype system using an emitter array that is hetero-integrated with the LSI The system can compensate for electron emission variations and can correct aberrations electronically Core MPEBDW system technologies were created We will create the system by synergistically combining the core technologies developed Multi-column MPEBDW system development through the miniaturization of an electron optic column is also being planned This system supports mask-less lithography that achieves a practical level of throughput for future mass production and commercial semiconductor manufacturing This approach reduces recently increasing photomask costs associated with cutting-edge LSI use while enabling high-mix low-volume production and reducing development turnaround periods Arrayed miniature electron beam columns for high throughput sub-100 nm lithography Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B 1992; 10: 2743–2748 REBL: Design progress toward 16 nm half-pitch maskless projection electron beam lithography Proceedings of the SPIE 2012; 8323: doi: 10.1117/12.919744 Reflective electron-beam lithography: Progress toward high-throughput production capability Proceedings of the SPIE 2012; 8323: doi: 10.1117/12.916090 50 keV electron multibeam mask writer for the 11 nm HP node: First results of the proof of concept tool (eMET POC) Proceedings of the SPIE 2012; 8323: doi: 10.1117/12.916613 Demonstration of real-time pattern correction for high-throughput maskless lithography Proceedings of the SPIE 2011; 7970: doi: 10.1117/12.881482 Optimization of MSB for future technology nodes Proceedings of the SPIE 2012; 8323: doi: 10.1117/12.916394 Multiple columns for high-throughput complementary e-beam lithography (CEBL) Proceedings of the SPIE 2012; 8323: doi: 10.1117/12.916118 Study of device mass production capability of the character projection based electron beam direct writing process technology toward 14 nm node and beyond and MOEMS 2012; 11: doi: 10.1117/1.JMM.11.3.031403 Active-matrix nanocrystalline Si electron emitter array with a function of electronic aberration correction for massively parallel electron beam direct-write lithography: Electron emission and pattern transfer characteristics Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B 2013; 31: 06F703 Development of maskless electron-beam lithography using nc-Si electron-emitter array Proceedings of the SPIE 2013; 8680: doi: 10.1117/12.2011553 Massively parallel electron beam direct writing (MPEBDW) system based on micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS)/nanocrystaline Si emitter array Proceedings of the SPIE 2014; 9049: doi: 10.1117/12.2046584 Active-matrix nanocrystalline Si electron emitter array for massively parallel direct-write electron-beam system: First results of the performance evaluation and MOEMS 2012; 11: doi: 10.1117/1.JMM.11.3.031406 Cold electron emission from electroluminescent porous silicon diodes Japanese Journal of Applied Physics 1995; 34: L705–707 Quasiballistic electron emission from Porous Silicon diodes Applied Surface Science 1999; 146: 371–376 Mechanism of efficient and stable surface-emitting cold cathode based on porous polycrystalline silicon films Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B 1999; 17: 1076–1079 Generation of ballistic electrons in nanocrystalline porous silicon layers and its application to a solid-state planar luminescent device Applied Physics Letters 2002; 81: 2472–2474 Theoretical investigation of electron-phonon interaction in one-dimensional silicon quantum dot array interconnected with silicon oxide layers Reduction of acoustic-phonon deformation potential in one-dimensional array of Si quantum dot interconnected with tunnel oxides Journal of Applied Physics 2005; 97: 113506–113511 Theory of quasiballistic transport through nanocrystalline silicon dots An electron imaging system for the fabrication of integrated circuits A 1:1 MIM cathode electron-projection stepper Microelectronic Engineering 1990; 11: 359–362 Applied Physics Letters 1998; 73: 2835–2837 Resolution of 1:1 electron stepper with patterned cold cathode Japanese Journal of Applied Physics 2002; 41: 4132–4135 Surface electron emission lithography system based on a planar type Si nanowire array ballistic electron source Proceedings of the SPIE 2010; 7637: doi: 10.1117/12.846343 Fast and large-field electron-beam exposure by CSEL Proceedings of the SPIE 2011; 7970: doi: 10.1117/12.879279 Sub-50 nm resolution surface electron emission lithography using nano-Si ballistic electron emitter Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B 2008; 26: 2064–2068 Sub-30-nm resolution parallel EB lithography based on a planar type Si nanowire array ballistic electron source Proceedings of the SPIE 2009; 7271: doi: 10.1117/12.812933 Generation and applications of finely focused beams of low-energy electrons Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology 1981; 19: 1048–1052 Compound magnetic and electrostatic lenses for low-voltage applications Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology 1989; B7: 1874–1877 The electron optical performance of the Gemini lens design for low voltage scanning electron microscope Outline of a spherically corrected semi-aplanatic medium-voltage transmission electron microscope Aberration correction in a low voltage SEM by a multipole corrector Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research 1995; A363: 316–325 An LSI for massive parallel electron beam lithography: Its design and evaluation Proceedings of the 31th Sensor Symposium on Sensors Micromachines and Applied Systems 2014; Oct 20–22; Matsue Development of LSI isolating and rewiring process for providing different offset voltage to each isolated region IEEJ Technical Meeting on Sensor and Micromachines 2014; May 27–28; Tokyo Development of MEMS pierce-type nanocrystalline Si electron-emitter array for massively parallel electron beam direct writing Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) 2014; Jan 26–30; San Fransisco Fabrication of pierce-type nanocrystalline Si electron-emitter array for massively parallel electron beam lithography IEEJ Transactions on Sensors and Micromachines 2014; 134: 146–153 Highly efficient and stable luminescence of nanocrystalline porous silicon treated by high-pressure water vapor annealing Low temperature bonding technique using sub-micron Au particles Journal of the Japan Institute of Electronics Packaging 2007; 10: 560–566 Low-temperature wafer bonding for MEMS hermetic packaging using submicron Au particles Transactions of the Japan Institute of Electronics Packaging 2010; 3: 62–67 Electrical interconnection in anodic bonding of silicon wafer to LTCC wafer using highly compliant porous bumps made from submicron gold particles Sensors and Actuators A 2012; 188: 198–203 Download references This work was supported by the “Formation of Innovation Centers for Fusion of Advanced Technologies” program which is supported by special coordination funds for the promotion of science and technology and by “Nanotechnology Platform Japan” through the Ministry of Education Part of this work was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) through the “Funding Program for World-Leading Innovative R&D on Science and Technology” (FIRST Program) of the Council for Science and Technology Policy (CSTP) World Premier International Research Center Advanced Institute for Materials Research (WPI-AIMR) Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Tokyo University of Agriculture & Technology The authors declare no conflict of interest Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/micronano.2015.29 Electron-beam lithography is becoming a crucial tool for semiconductor manufacturers that produce circuit patterns smaller than 10 nanometers and colleagues chart their efforts to improve the low throughput level of this technique using arrays of nanocrystalline silicon electron emitters that emit thousands of ‘hot’ electron beams simultaneously By integrating the electron-emitter array with an LSI the team's Massively Parallel Electron Beam Direct Writing (MPEBDW) system can switch the beams on or off at high speed The prototype uses a 100 × 100 emitter array and a reduction electron-optical system to converge the 100 × 100 pixels of 10 × 10 nanometers beams onto targets This maskless method of nanoscale patterning makes MPEBDW less expensive and more flexible than conventional lithographic procedures Metrics details Inherited mutations in BRCA2 are associated with a predisposition to early-onset breast cancers The underlying basis of tumorigenesis is thought to be linked to defects in DNA double-strand break repair by homologous recombination Here we show that the carboxy-terminal region of BRCA2 which interacts directly with the essential recombination protein RAD51 contains a site (serine 3291; S3291) that is phosphorylated by cyclin-dependent kinases Phosphorylation of S3291 is low in S phase when recombination is active but increases as cells progress towards mitosis This modification blocks C-terminal interactions between BRCA2 and RAD51 DNA damage overcomes cell cycle regulation by decreasing S3291 phosphorylation and stimulating interactions with RAD51 These results indicate that S3291 phosphorylation might provide a molecular switch to regulate RAD51 recombination activity providing new insight into why BRCA2 C-terminal deletions lead to radiation sensitivity and cancer predisposition Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout BRCA1 and BRCA2 and the genetics of breast and ovarian cancer Cancer susceptibility and the functions of BRCA1 and BRCA2 Breast and ovarian cancer risks due to inherited mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 Absence of BRCA2 causes genome instability by chromosome breakage and loss associated with centrosome amplification Gross chromosomal rearrangements and genetic exchange between non-homologous chromosomes following BRCA2 inactivation Identification of the breast cancer susceptibility gene BRCA2 The complete BRCA2 gene and mutations in chromosome 13q-linked kindreds Embryonic lethality and radiation hypersensitivity mediated by RAD51 in mice lacking BRCA2 Stabilization of stalled DNA replication forks by the BRCA2 breast cancer susceptibility protein Tumorigenesis and a DNA-repair defect in mice with a truncating BRCA2 mutation BRCA2 is required for homology-directed repair of chromosomal breaks Molecular views of recombination proteins and their control Internal repeats in the BRCA2 protein sequence The BRC repeats are conserved in mammalian BRCA2 proteins RAD51 interacts with the evolutionarily conserved BRC motifs in the human breast cancer susceptibility gene BRCA2 The BRC repeats in BRCA2 are critical for RAD51 binding and resistance to methyl methanesulfonate treatment Rab22 and Rab163/mouse BRCA2: proteins that specifically interact with the RAD51 protein Role of BRCA2 in control of the RAD51 recombination and DNA repair protein Insights into DNA recombination from the structure of a RAD51-BRCA2 complex Emerging functions of BRCA2 in DNA recombination ATP hydrolysis by mammalian RAD51 has a key role during homology-directed DNA repair Expression of BRC repeats in breast cancer cells disrupts the BRCA2–RAD51 complex and leads to radiation hypersensitivity and loss of G2/M checkpoint control The BRCA2 gene product functionally interacts with p53 and RAD51 Stable interaction between the products of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 tumor suppressor genes in mitotic and meiotic cells RAD51 localization and activation following DNA damage BRCA2 is required for ionizing radiation-induced assembly of RAD51 complex in vivo Impaired DNA damage-induced nuclear RAD51 foci formation uniquely characterizes Fanconi anemia group D1 BRCA2-dependent and independent formation of RAD51 nuclear foci Phosphorylation of BRCA2 by the Polo-like kinase Plk1 is regulated by DNA damage and mitotic progression Phosphorylation of mammalian CDC6 by cyclin A/CDK2 regulates its subcellular localization Mutational analysis of the Cy motif from p21 reveals sequence degeneracy and specificity for different cyclin-dependent kinases Nuclear location and cell cycle regulation of the BRCA2 protein Radiation-induced cell cycle arrest compromised by p21 deficiency The ATM-Chk2-Cdc25A checkpoint pathway guards against radioresistant DNA synthesis Cdc25 is a novel phosphatase functioning early in the cell cycle BRCA2 function in DNA binding and recombination from a BRCA2–DSS1-ssDNA structure homologous recombination and DNA damage checkpoint activation require CDK1 The CDK regulates repair of double-strand breaks by homologous recombination during the cell cycle Mutation in BRCA2 stimulates error-prone homology-directed repair of DNA double-strand breaks occurring between repeated sequences Cell cycle and genetic background dependence of the effect of loss of BRCA2 on ionizing radiation sensitivity Deletion of BRCA2 exon 27 causes hypersensitivity to DNA crosslinks Purification of human RAD51 protein by selective spermidine precipitation Unmasking the S-phase-promoting potential of cyclin B1 Ku DNA end-binding protein modulates homologous repair of double-strand breaks in mammalian cells XRCC3 promotes homology-directed repair of DNA damage in mammalian cells Double-strand break repair by interchromosomal recombination: suppression of chromosomal translocations Download references Venkitaraman for providing GST–B2-1 to B2-9 and N.C are recipients of postdoctoral fellowships from the Human Frontier Scientific Program is a fellow of the American Cancer Society This work was supported by Cancer Research UK the Swiss Bridge Fund and the Breast Cancer Campaign (S.C.W.) and by the Emerald Foundation and an NIH grant (M.J.) The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests Download citation Individuals with BRCA2 mutations are predisposed to breast cancers thought to develop due to defective repair of DNA double-strand breaks BRCA2 protein is known to interact with the recombination protein RAD51 and a key step regulating this interaction has now been identified Cdk1 alters the phosphorylation state of a single serine in BRCA2 and this acts a molecular switch controlling interactions between BRCA2's C-terminus and RAD51 Individuals carrying defects in the C-terminus of BRCA2 develop breast cancer through an inability to promote efficient DNA repair We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings. Search Logo for Cambridge Core from Cambridge University Press. Click to return to homepage. BrowseServicesOpen researchInstitution LoginSearchMenu links We drilled an 81.2-m-long ice core in the accumulation area (5860 m a.s.l.) of Trambau Glacier in the Rolwaling region during October–November 2019 The drilling operation was conducted with a lightweight electro-mechanical drill system after two reconnaissance fieldworks in 2017 and 2018 during which two shallow firn cores were drilled with a hand auger The drill system and ice core samples were transported by helicopters at a high elevation of 6000 m a.s.l A further challenging issue was the ice core transportation between Nepal and Japan as no regular commercial flight was available for the frozen samples The addition of dry ice imported from India immediately prior to leaving Nepal allowed the ice core samples to be successfully transported to a cold room in Japan Stratigraphic observations during the drilling operation suggest the drill site has been affected by melting and refreezing little data are available to examine how climate change varies with elevation we describe our reconnaissance ice core drilling with a hand auger in 2017 and 2018 during which we drilled an 81.2-m-long ice core with an electro-mechanical drill We also present preliminary stratigraphic results for the ice cores and water stable isotopes for an 8-m-long ice core drilled in 2018 The background image is a Sentinel-2 image taken on 24 November 2017 The expedition team consisted of eight scientists we conducted glaciological observations such as GPS surveys aerial photogrammetry with an unmanned aerial vehicle measurement and re-installation of mass-balance stakes data recovery from automatic weather stations (AWSs) and installation of new AWSs at different elevations List of equipment transported by the helicopter operation one piece was prepared to be <40 kg for carried by porters the outbound flight operations were conducted Three helicopters flew from Kathmandu to Na village with a total instrument load of 330 kg Each helicopter then made two shuttle flights to the drill site During the return flight operations on 9 November 2019 two helicopters conducted seven shuttle flights between the drill site and Na village which transported a total load of 550 kg of instruments and ice core samples The ice core samples were taken to Tribhuvan Airport in Kathmandu in cold storage (−13°C) by a refrigerated vehicle (−18°C) and then stored until they were shipped to Japan Given that no flight with freezing storage is available between Nepal and Japan we rearranged each ice core box to be 15 kg in gross weight and added 10 kg of dry ice to each box The cargo was transported by regular commercial flights and experienced room temperature conditions for ~20 h The ice core samples were finally placed in cold storage (−20°C) at the Institute of Low Temperature Science Photographs of the drill system (a) and in situ ice core processing (b; run no 82) on the Trambau Glacier during the 2019 drilling expedition (a) Air temperature (left axis) and drilling progress (right axis) on the Trambau Glacier in the Rolwaling region Light blue and blue lines denote air temperatures (left axis) at Stake C6 (1 h intervals) and at the drill site (10 min intervals) The red lines in both panels denote the drilling depth (right axes) The air temperature was recorded with a thermistor data logger (TR-52i; T&D Co.) at Stake C6 (1 h intervals) and the drill site (10 min intervals; Fig. 1b) The sensor was shielded by a PVC pipe at Stake C6 we measured the borehole temperature by attaching the thermistor sensor to the anti-torque between 14:00 and 16:00 on 8 November 2019 The temperature was logged at 10 s intervals The average of the latter 5 min at each depth was taken as the borehole temperatures The ice core samples were sealed in long plastic bags and then packed into insulated boxes (0.39 m × 0.65 m × 0.45 m) the ice core boxes were stored in a snow pit under a sunshade made from a plastic sheet The internal temperature of one ice core box was recorded with a temperature logger Figure S2 shows that the interior temperature of the ice core box was positive during the helicopter return operation on 9 November 2019 the ice core temperature has been below the melting point and is currently stored in the cold room of the Institute of Low Temperature Science Despite the positive temperature recorded in the ice core box melting of the ice core samples is not evident We conducted two reconnaissance drilling expeditions in 2017 (2.5 m) and 2018 (8.39 m) on the same snowfield as the main expedition in 2019 The ice core samples were cut horizontally in situ with a ceramic knife into ~0.1-m-long sections we shaved off the outer 3 mm of each sub-sample with the ceramic knife The decontaminated samples were packed into clean polyethylene bags (WHIRL-PAK) melted at ambient temperatures at the camp site we also took samples of fresh snow and snow layers near the drill site and Stake C6 We collected the snow samples in clean polyethylene bags (WHIRL-PAK) which were then melted at ambient temperatures at the campsite and stored in glass bottles (e) dust density and (f) borehole temperature in the ice core from Trambau Glacier Dust density is defined as the percentage of dust layers counted at 0.01 m intervals in every 0.1 m of core This would affect not only the ice temperature and stratigraphy but also the palaeoclimatic record in the ice such ice cores first need to be examined for the effects of melting (e) d-excess and (f) 17O-excess in the ice core from Trambau Glacier Light blue and blue shaded areas in (b) denote firn and refrozen ice pollen and algae as well as water stable isotopes and chemical components Sunako and others (Reference Sunako, Fujita, Sakai and Kayastha2019) estimated the annual accumulation rate on Trambau Glacier was 0.73 ± 0.11 m w.e using a mass-balance model validated with observational data Assuming that the similar accumulation rates and a continuous record (this is questionable although) the 80-m long ice core is expected to preserve an environmental record for 100–130 years We conducted an ice core drilling expedition from 12 October to 14 November 2019 on the Trambau Glacier An 81.2-m-long ice core was extracted from an accumulation area at 5860 m a.s.l Although our helicopter operations were finally successful it should be noted that the Rolwaling region is a flight restricted area and thus the flight operations were challenging Because the drilling site could have been affected by melting and refreezing we will estimate ice core age by analysing dust To reconstruct the annual accumulation rate at the site we have to carefully evaluate missing layers by melting Through comparison with oxygen isotopic data for tree rings which have been sampled from a lower elevation in the Rolwaling region we will evaluate spatial variations in precipitation in this region We are also planning to analyse anthropogenic tracers in the ice core such as lead and sulphur isotopes and black carbon These anthropogenic aerosols will allow us to better understand the atmospheric circulation and history of the monsoon over the Himalayas as well as socioeconomic growth in south Asia The supplementary material for this article can be found at https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2021.15 We deeply thank Sherpa guides and porters for their dedicated logistic support during the 2019 ice core drilling Inoue for their support during the field observations Ltd.) for the transportation of ice core between Nepal and Japan Higuchi for their valuable suggestions for planning the drilling operation and transportation Measurement of water stable isotopes was supported by K This study was supported financially by JSPS-KAKENHI grant number 17H01621 and JSPS and SNSF under the Joint Research Projects (JRPs grant number 20191503) conducted the ice core drilling with the support of R analysed the data and wrote the manuscript Current address: Graduate School of Sciences Current address: Graduate School of Environmental Studies (a) Overview of the Trakarding–Trambau glaciers in the Rolwaling region The inset in (a) shows the Rolwaling region (red circle) Na Village (yellow circle in (a)) is the highest (4600 m a.s.l.) and final village before the field site Open white box in (a) denotes the area of (b) Glacier boundaries were modified from the GAMDAM Glacier Inventory (Nuimura and others - No HTML tags allowed- Web page URLs will display as text only- Lines and paragraphs break automatically- Attachments Your email address will be used in order to notify you when your comment has been reviewed by the moderator and in case the author(s) of the article or the moderator need to contact you directly shared ownership in or any close relationship with any organisation whose interests may be affected by the publication of the response Please also list any non-financial associations or interests (personal religious or other) that a reasonable reader would want to know about in relation to the submitted work This pertains to all the authors of the piece Chipmaking equipment vendor Tokyo Electron (TEL) has announced plans to invest JPY 22 billion (US$168 million) to set up a new plant in northeast Japan in anticipation of renewed demand from the semiconductor industry Some subscribers prefer to save their log-in information so they do not have to enter their User ID and Password each time they visit the site check the 'Save my User ID and Password' box in the log-in section This will save the password on the computer you're using to access the site Today's print edition Home Delivery is a researcher with Kirin Brewery and creator of the Murakami Seven hop variety He has published peer-reviewed studies on the molecular phylogeny and genetics of wild hops a community-building social initiative in Tono a jazz vinyl bar located in a reformed storehouse It’s about an hour’s drive from my jazz bar (Brew Note Tono).googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1499653692894-0'); }); You’re known as the inventor of Murakami Seven Is it true that Kirin once asked you to destroy it The funding for our (Esashi) hops research and development program dried up and tending the fields is very expensive they let me keep improving my creations on my own I saved 20 of the 800 strains of Esashi hops I was developing The best of them was the seventh iteration In a time of both misinformation and too much information quality journalism is more crucial than ever.By subscribing Your subscription plan doesn't allow commenting. To learn more see our FAQ Sponsored contents planned and edited by JT Media Enterprise Division By Kotaro Hirose / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer Iwate — An underwater drone school has opened in Oshu to train future pilots of the small unmanned diving machines The drones are equipped with a waterproof camera and a power unit called a thruster that can be operated by remote control Some are equipped with arms to use during diving operations while others are capable of reaching a depth of up to 100 meters the use of underwater drones has been expanding to include data collection on fishing grounds and deep-sea exploration The prefecture’s first school of this kind is expected to be used for disaster relief and smart fisheries a hands-on underwater drone trial session was held at the Esashi Clean Park in a heated swimming pool in Esashiiwayado in the city Participants used a 4.5-kilogram drone measuring 38 centimeters in length 26 centimeters in width and 16 centimeters in height Operators were able to move the drone intuitively by tipping the lever on the remote to the left to rotate the drone left and tip the lever forward to move the drone forward The images captured by the drone camera are simultaneously displayed on the screen of a smartphone in the operator’s hands When the instructor asked me to “turn a little more to the right” or “turn [the drone’s] head up,” I could not help but want to turn my own body getting used to operating the drones takes time because of the currents the school teaches its students that no special skills are required “I was able to go faster than I thought I could I want to look into the bottom of the pond in the garden at my house,” said Seiyu Kadowaki a third-year student at Iwate Prefectural Maesawa High School Classroom lectures and practical training are provided at the underwater drone school where participants can be certified as a safe underwater drone pilot by the Japan Underwater Drone Association A total of seven-session course is being held through November “If underwater drones can be used at disaster sites We hope that people will take an interest through the course.” Please view the main text area of the page by skipping the main menu. The page may not be displayed properly if the JavaScript is deactivated on your browser Japanese version A crippling snowstorm buried many parts of the Hokkaido and Tohoku regions on Feb paralyzing the local transportation system and causing a multiple vehicle pile-up on a major expressway (JR Hokkaido) announced that it would suspend train services the entire day in the Sapporo area Tohoku Shinkansen suspended services after a wind meter set up at Shin-Aomori Station reached the maximum level for safe operations soon after 8:30 a.m The Hokkaido Shinkansen and Yamagata Shinkansen have been delayed for more than 30 minutes many of them departing and arriving at Shin-Chitose Airport callers reported an accident involving more than 20 vehicles on an inbound lane of the Hakodate-Esashi Expressway in Hokkaido Five people suffered either severe or mild injuries and were transported to hospitals Firefighting officials said the visibility was low in the area at the time due to the heavy snow and strong winds The accident has clogged traffic on the expressway with more than 100 vehicles stuck on the road According to the Japan Meteorological Agency a low pressure area will continue to develop and move to the east of Hokkaido Gusts of up to 126 kph are expected in Hokkaido and Tohoku while up to 70 cm of snowfall is expected in the Hokuriku region during the 24-hour period until 6 a.m On the Sea of Japan side of Hokkaido and in the Kanto-Koshin region At least 102 hurt in ‘aftershock’ of 2011 Tohoku quake disaster Tohoku bullet trains resume operation with fewer trains Tokyo logged 500 fresh cases of the novel coronavirus on Dec and Hokkaido reported five deaths from COVID-19 which boasts the nation's second largest city up by two from the day before and setting a record for two consecutive days The previous record for a Wednesday in Tokyo was marked Nov according to the metropolitan health officials 2 dropped by three from the previous day to 59 the lowest daily figure since officials declared Nov 7 that a concentrated effort was needed to contain the virus where an infection cluster has occurred at multiple hospitals In Okushiri town on remote Okushiri Island which has no hospital to treat infectious diseases 20 new cases of novel coronavirus infection were confirmed on Dec They were followed by 81 patients in their 30s The number of patients 65 or older came to 88 Tokyo to ask seniors to refrain from using Go To Travel program Osaka cancer ward to close as nurses moved to COVID-19 units Tokyo eateries accused of trying to scam subsidy program Brain invasions by coronavirus causing memory loss COVID-19 cluster cases spark backlash against foreign residents A cowshed in Esashi Town located at the northern part of the Hokkaido main island burned down on April 17 The owner of the ranch reported the fire to the fire department around 3AM The fire was extinguished after four and a half hours but the cowshed had completely burned down The police and fire department are investigating damages and the cause of the fire About Nippon Television By Nobuyuki Koshi / Special to Ryoko Yomiuri Publication South Hokkaido Railway is the northernmost railway company that issues a commemorative ink stamp called a tetsuin and the firm is the only one in Hokkaido that issues such a stamp The company’s logo seen on the tetsuin incorporates the waters of Hakodate Bay and the Tsugaru Strait When the Hokkaido Shinkansen Line started services in 2016 South Hokkaido Railway took over the 37.8-kilometer stretch between Kikonai and Goryokaku stations on the JR Esashi Line Services between Kikonai and Esashi stations were discontinued in 2014 Then I headed to Hakodate Station to get the company’s tetsuin at its office I received a sheet of paper with the pre-printed tetsuin featuring the company logo and the railway’s name written in Japanese calligraphy by the priest of Samegawa Shrine which is famous for the Kanchu Misogi Festival The tetsuin paper is printed in such a way that there is space for the date next to the shrine’s name “We hope passengers will enjoy the seasonal scenery from the train windows get off at various stations along the line and really feel what makes this place so special,” said Michihiro Harui who works for the company’s corporate planning department “We also hope people will collect tetsuin as a way to remember the trip.” I took the train from Hakodate Station to Kikonai Station A few minutes after seeing a conveyor belt jutting out over the water near Kamiiso Station Hakodate and the Shimokita and Tsugaru peninsulas across the Tsugaru Strait After getting off at Kikonai Station — the last stop — I went to Samegawa Shrine which is where the Shinto ritual Kanchu Misogi Festival takes place every January sacred icons from the shrine are brought to the beach to be purified in the icy waters of the Tsugaru Strait so I stopped at Misogi-no-Sato Kikonai — a Michi-no-Eki rest area — and ate at the restaurant Dounan de’s where I ordered salted bread and pasta with Kikonai hijiki seaweed and spinach in yuzu pepper cream I got off at Oshima-Tobestu Station and walked to the Tobetsu Trappist Monastery on the so-called “Road to Rome.” It was a beautiful area as I could see the blue ocean shining beyond the row of trees Japan Tourism is presented in collaboration with The Japan News and Ryoko Yomiuri Publication, which publishes Ryoko Yomiuri, a monthly travel magazine. If you are interested in the original Japanese version of this story, click here.   By Toshihiro Nakao / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer Large schools of Pacific herrings are making comeback on Hokkaido’s Sea of Japan coast thanks to efforts by local organizations and fishermen Pacific herrings are observed spawning near shore in such large schools that they turn the ocean milk-white — a phenomenon known as “kuki.” the phenomenon was no longer seen due to a drastic decline in the Pacific herring population But it has begun to be widely witnessed again in recent years thanks to efforts such as a project to release herring fry in the area Kuki is showing signs of making a comeback as a special feature of the spring in Hokkaido People were seen catching Pacific herrings as much as 30 centimeters long one after another According to the city government and others which came to be barely witnessed soon after the end of World War II has been observed again every year since 2020 Kuki is a phenomenon in which a school of Pacific herrings swarms to the shallows along the coastline for spawning As a result of the male herrings releasing their milt the phenomenon has been witnessed in at least 11 cities and towns along the Sea of Japan in Hokkaido through April It was observed multiple times in some of these municipalities “As it has come to be more frequently observed not all cases are reported recently,” said an official of the Hokkaido Research Organization’s Central Fisheries Research Institute Pacific herring fishing reached its peak in the early 20th century from the end of Meiji period (1868-1912) to the Taisho period (1912-1926) 1 million tons of Pacific herring was reportedly caught in Hokkaido each year dubbed “herring palaces,” were built across Hokkaido with revenues from fishing But the fish had reportedly all but disappeared by the mid-1950s due to overfishing and changes in the marine environment The backdrop of kuki’s return is an increase in the number of Pacific herring The haul of Pacific herring in areas along the Sea of Japan in Hokkaido was around 200 tons to 300 tons a year in the first half of the 2000s but the number has since been on the increase 4,592 tons of the fish had already been caught through the end of April The Central Fisheries Research Institute believes that various changes in the marine environment such as water temperatures and the amount of plankton have helped increase the herring population The institute believes that fishermen’s efforts also paid off They used fishing nets with bigger mesh so as not to catch fish that were too young and they also shortened the fishing season Commissioned by the Hokkaido prefectural government the Hokkaido Aquaculture Promotion Corporation started a project in fiscal 1996 to release Pacific herring fry in areas along the Sea of Japan it has been releasing 3.4 million fry a year and the kuki phenomenon can now be observed,” said an official of the corporation’s aquaculture promotion department “We hope this will also lead to increasing fishermen’s revenues.” Japanese version I've traveled 500 kilometers north of Tokyo to shake a metallic replica of Shohei Ohtani's pitching hand It's next to the information desk at Oshu's City Hall flanked by panels covered in newspaper clippings of his recent success in Major League Baseball (MLB) looping a video celebrating the process of creating the statue There's no footage of Ohtani's on-field endeavours but plenty of him sitting in a chair as his fingers are scanned meticulously by a laser.googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1499653692894-0'); }); This shiny re-creation is one of the city's most prominent tributes to Oshu's biggest star and you'll notice smaller tributes to Ohtani the best two-way player in professional baseball in about a century As Japan marked the coldest day on the calendar Monday the mercury fell to its lowest point this winter in many places across the archipelago The frigid weather is likely to remain later this week and the agency predicts temperatures to hover around average or sink until the end of February.googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1499653692894-0'); }); Monday coincided with "daikan" (major cold) — one of the 24 solar terms on the traditional Asian calendar Hokkaido in particular saw the mercury hit record lows for the season at 28 observation points minus 27.3 in Furano and minus 23.2 in Memanbetsu Parts of western Japan also experienced their coldest morning this winter with Nagoya hitting minus 2.1 and Oita minus 1.1 The freezing weather is expected to continue until around Thursday The agency forecast that warm air from the south will arrive later this week to offer three to five days of respite from the bitter cold It's the seasonal northwesterly winds that are bringing on the bitter chill This year's strong winter pressure pattern is making it easier for cold air masses to flow over the archipelago The meteorological agency official said it is uncertain what relationship there is between global warming and the freezing weather Average temperatures in western Japan between Dec the mercury was 0.7 degree lower than average while in northern Japan it was 0.3 degree higher Spots Ski/Snowboard Snow accumulates early in the Asahikawa area and northern Hokkaido and many ski resorts open early in Hokkaido skiers and snowboarders can enjoy a variety of snow conditions and the courses that take advantage of the area's geographical location are also one of the attractions we will introduce ski resorts where you can enjoy a wide variety of snow conditions and courses outdoor camping Camping is a classic outdoor activity to enjoy the magnificent nature of Hokkaido you can enjoy the extraordinary scenery of the four seasons from spring to fall we will introduce 21 campgrounds in the Soya area near Rumoi where you can enjoy the ocean spreading out all around you and spectacular sunrise and sunset views Misakidai Park Auto Camp Ground is located in Misakidai Park where you can watch the sunset over the Sea of Japan and Rishiri Fuji an observatory where you can see the stars in the sky and hot spring accommodations where you can hear the sound of the sea Rishiri Hokuroku Camping Ground is located at the entrance to the mountain trailhead and has a hiking course so that visitors can enjoy camping for the purpose of forest bathing The area where the campground is located has been selected as one of the "100 Best Forests for Forest Bathing in Japan," and nearby is the "Ganro-sensui" spring water which has been selected as one of the "100 Best Waters in Japan The water at the campground's cooking facilities is drawn from Ganro Spring Water This is an auto campground rich in nature located at the foot of Mount Pinneshiri where the northernmost mountain trail is maintained There are free sites where you can enjoy tent camping cottages for 4 to 6 people where you can relax with your family and trailer houses where you can enjoy a compact private space This campground is located behind a roadside station where you can stay while feeling the sound of the Okhotsk waves and the scent of the sea Vivid "hamanasu" flowers spread out around you You can shop at the nearby roadside station and enjoy swimming in the sea at this convenient campground This campground is located in Rishiri Town's Cape Kutsugata Park which protrudes from the west side of Rishiri Island and kelp drying up close during the summer season The Kutsugata Ferry Terminal is located near the Kutsugata city center making it convenient for shopping and other activities The campground offers a great view of Mount Rishiri and a sense of openness Moyodai Campground is located on a hill overlooking the magnificent Sea of Japan with Kodaira City below Located at the top of the Utanobori Health Recovery Village in Edasai Town this campground is surrounded by the songs of birds and the sound of fresh leaves Enjoy the great outdoors with walking trails and a pond surrounded by flowers and full of stars The center house is equipped with a kitchen allowing families with children to enjoy themselves in peace "Y~ni," means "a place with hot water (because there is a hot spring right next to it)" in Ainu language The name was chosen because there are historical traces in the surrounding area and the history of the region is closely related to the Ainu The cottages and bungalows in the facility are built with universal design in mind with rocks that look like tatami mats spread out all over the place is famous as the site of the "Edasai Crab Festival" The morning sun rising over the horizon with the Sea of Okhotsk close by is a must-see you can enjoy the outdoors in comfort at this well-equipped campground This is a spot where visitors can enjoy a landscape characterized by interesting mountain surfaces and a magnificent panorama of the surrounding area Hokkaido Ritsuryo Soya Fureai Park is a large park formed by six zones that can be enjoyed throughout the four seasons is a popular hidden spot where nature is kept intact The adjacent auto campground offers spacious grassy sites where you can relax in comfort Adjacent to the vast Sarufutsu Village Ranch where the sea breeze from the Sea of Okhotsk is pleasant on the skin The campground has a total area of 24,600 m2 and is well equipped with cooking facilities and restrooms There are also three bungalows that can accommodate up to four people each Riverside Park is an all-natural grass park adjacent to downtown Zumo Town The park also has a well-equipped auto campground a multi-purpose court where you can also play soccer and a park golf course where you can play through the trees Enjoy delicious barbecue in the lush greenery with large facilities for groups Fujimigaoka Park is a paradise of wildflowers and birds in the four seasons Visitors can spend a quiet night in a cabin nestled in a grove You can also enjoy playing park golf while gazing at Rishiri Fuji floating across the Sea of Japan This campground is located on the shores of Lake Kutcharo there are facilities such as a waterfowl observation center The grassy sites are nicely maintained and the campground offers a good view of Rishiri Fuji You can walk to "Otatomari-numa" and "Shiroi Koibito no Oka" (White Lover's Hill) It is also known as a place where stars can be seen beautifully This campground has a natural environment blessed with three bodies of water: the Teshio River The free sites are full of open space with sea breezes blowing you can see the beautiful sunset reflected in Kagami-numa Swamp Bungalows with high ceilings and auto sites are also available Furusato no Mori Forest Park Campground is so quiet that it is hard to believe it is in an urban area and there is a private parking space for cars to park next to it making it convenient for loading and unloading luggage and going out and you can set up your tent anywhere within the lawn This campground is located near the west coast of Rishiri Island The campground is well maintained and the facilities are clean and easy to use The log cabin-style bungalows are equipped with beds and bedding The Oyufuyu area is the southern gateway to Masuge This is a secluded campground located on the cliffs of the Otsuyu Coast There are public restrooms and a cold-water station next to the campground The location offers beautiful views of Amauri Island and the sunset over the Sea of Japan is spectacular All information is current as of April 2024 Please check the official website for details The 21 recommended campgrounds in the Goshi area near Lake Toya Family-oriented camps with a variety of fun activities and Kamikawa Area: 22 Campgrounds Recommended for the Year 2024 Camping in contact with nature and animals Recommended 13 campsites near Hidaka and Erimo Kushiro Campgrounds: 23 recommended campgrounds in the Kushiro and Nemuro areas for 2024 The 20 best campgrounds in the Tokachi area near Obihiro Camping to see the star-filled sky from the vast land