according to government data."If this becomes an example of how to utilise closed schools or attracts attention as a new way to revitalise the local area I would definitely like to expand it to other places," said Undokai founder Takaaki Yoneji.($1 = 143.7600 yen)Reporting by Tom Bateman and Rocky Swift; Editing by Edwina Gibbs Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Reports mainly on pharma, retail and breaking news in Japan. Previously worked at U.S. Department of State and Bloomberg News before that. New College of Florida and University of Hawaii alum. Former Poynter and JAIMS fellow. , opens new tab Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. , opens new tabScreen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks. © 2025 Reuters. All rights reserved Share your travel photos with us by hashtagging your images with #visitjapanjp Translation is mostly solitary, computer-based work, so it’s always nice to get out and go places or experience things that bring you closer to whatever you’re translating. Happily, both location and food play a big part in my most recent translation, Yuta Takahashi’s The Chibineko Kitchen providing plenty of opportunities to engage with the story (or an excuse to skive off work and eat things) The Chibineko Kitchen is set in a seaside restaurant – a rather magical place where visitors have the chance to order food from their fondest memories and meet their lost loved ones for one last time the area in which it’s set is real: the town of Kimitsu in Chiba Prefecture having never been to Chiba before (not counting Narita airport) I thought I’d take a day trip from Tokyo to visit some of the locations that appear in the story We left Tokyo early and took the Sobu line to Kimitsu which is on the Boso peninsula on the other side of Tokyo Bay and in fact the station guard was quite bemused when we asked for tourist information although there is a beach at Futtsu further round – perhaps the inspiration for the one in the story the first thing we did was take a bus to Hitomi Shrine visited by elderly couple Yoshio and Setsu in chapter four It’s a short steep walk up a wooded hill for a good view of Kimitsu and the Koitogawa river and further inland the houses give way to farmland and forested hills At the top we got talking to a local man and asked where we could find namero the fish dish Yuito makes in chapter one – and we ended up not only with a recommendation for a local restaurant The restaurant was Kutta in nearby Kisarazu which is right next to a fish market that opens at around four in the mornings We got to the restaurant at about half eleven which was lucky because by the time we left people were queuing up outside they must have decided it was good enough for customers too Before heading back down to Kimitsu we took a detour to climb the windy Nakanoshima Ohashi bridge for a view of Tokyo Bay. The skyscrapers of Tokyo were just visible in the haze on the far side, and looking back in the direction of Kimitsu we could see the huge steel works, which feature in The Chibineko Kitchen as the place where Kai’s father gets a job after he gives up fishing and where Yoshio finds employment at the behest of his parents instead of taking over the family peanut farm After taking the train one stop back to Kimitsu we headed up Kanozan in a taxi to see the Kujukutani view another of the places visited by Yoshio and Setsu Kanozan is just a tiddler as Japanese mountains go but it affords a wonderful view of the Boso hills you might be able to see the hills poking out of the sea of cloud as the mist rises up from the land a bakery that sells various peanutty snacks (and which gets a brief mention in chapter three) …and then headed back to Kimitsu station via the path that runs alongside the Koitogawa river Kotoko and Kai walk this path on a moonlit winter’s evening but we strolled along it on a beautiful sunny spring afternoon The cherry trees lining the path were about a week past full bloom and starting to show green leaves and there were lots of other lovely flowers around including plenty of bright yellow rapeseed (nanohana) As you’ve probably gathered, especially if you’ve read The Chibineko Kitchen Kimitsu feels like a quiet town – and for the characters coming from Tokyo to visit the restaurant it’s a place where they can find a little space to breathe Having the story as a guide made this laid-back trip an enjoyable one and there are plenty more things I’d like to see: Kujukutani at dawn the huge Kannon statue facing out to Tokyo Bay Where will the staff and customers of the Chibineko Kitchen find themselves next The Chibineko Kitchen by Yuta Takashi is out now, available to order here Browse the JNTO site in one of multiple languages Please log in and check your service registration status.To cancel your subscription 1) === '|') document.write("&#"+unescape(l[i].substring(1))+";");else document.write(unescape(l[i]));} 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 Copyright THE MAINICHI NEWSPAPERS. All rights reserved. David Dolan and John Geddie in Tokyo; Aishwarya Jain in Bangalore; Writing by John Geddie; Editing by Edmund Klamann David Dolan helps lead Reuters coverage of Japan, with a focus on business news. He joined Reuters in Tokyo in 2004 and later worked in South Africa and Turkey, where he was also deputy bureau chief. Reporting by Jeff Mason; writing by Jasper Ward; editing by Rami Ayyub IndustrialJapan’s largest steelmaker claims hydrogen injection has cut its test blast furnace emissions by a thirdNippon Steel plans to deploy H2-based process at Kimitsu works at beginning of 2026 McCall said in a statement that “Nippon’s efforts to circulate unfounded rumors and threats of legal action are regrettable they’re no more than a distraction from the dangers the company’s acquisition of U.S "the Parties would immediately file a petition in the U.S Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit challenging the decision as a violation of due process and the authority of the President," under CFIUS authorities Nippon Steel writes.Reporting by Alexandra Alper; Editing by Anna Driver Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Sonali Paul Yuka Obayashi and Aaron Sheldrick in Tokyo; additional reporting by Min Zhang in Taiyuan; Editing by Mark Potter Japan - Hundreds of thousands of households near Tokyo were still without power and water on Wednesday amid intense heat after powerful Typhoon Faxai ripped through the metropolitan area earlier in the week said power cuts continued to affect some 386,000 households in Chiba Prefecture as of 10 p.m. and services will not be fully restored until Friday at the earliest although it aims to fully restore them within a week It marks the largest power cut caused by a typhoon on record for the company in terms of the number of households affected and length of downtime (Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter shows a large area of the city of Kimitsu (An evacuated family with a 5-month-old baby is seen in a shelter in Kimitsu "With power outages continuing into the third day stress is building among people," said Ichihara city official Shigemitsu Sakuma as hundreds of people arrived at the city office to collect water and charge mobile phones The utility had earlier sought to reduce the number of households in the prefecture without electricity from 500,000 on Tuesday to 120,000 by Wednesday morning but there were delays in restoration work in cities including Kisarazu and Kimitsu due to thunderstorms and the limited visibility at night Power has returned to all affected areas of Ibaraki Some 20,000 households in Chiba Prefecture were also without running water amid sweltering temperatures water is not expected to return until the power cuts are resolved as electricity is necessary to operate the purification system and other facilities The mercury in the Japanese archipelago soared after the typhoon passed with Chiba's Kamogawa seeing 35.5 C -- its highest temperature of the year -- on Tuesday The prefecture again experienced temperatures of over 30 C on Wednesday "My child was sweating so much that he had nothing left to pee," said a 21-year-old woman who was taking shelter at a special evacuation center set up in Kimitsu with her 10-month-old son (Cars line up in front of a gas station in the city of Kimitsu (People eat during blackout at a nursing home for the elderly in the city of Chiba Unable to use the air-conditioner in her home Naoko Kimura took refuge at the evacuation shelter with her 2-year-old daughter "She was dripping with sweat and had severe heat rash She couldn't even pee," the 37-year old mother said Kimura had temporarily let her daughter sleep in the car by turning on the air conditioner and gas stations in the city had a wait time of up to two hours I'll be here (at the shelter) until the power cuts are resolved," she said At least two elderly people in the prefecture have died Wednesday almost 50 others had been taken to hospitals due to suspected heat exhaustion some 14,000 bottles of drinking water provided by the city government in the morning were gone by midday "We're drawing spring water from the mountains to use for the toilet who has to study for his exams inside the car," said 83-year-old Kikuo Kometani The city of Minamiboso lay deserted as convenience stores and restaurants remained closed "If only the electricity would come back," said the manager of a gas stand lamenting that some customers had traveled to a neighboring city and waited hours to get fuel for their cars (Battery charging service for smartphones and cell phones at the city hall of Ichihara Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to devote all efforts to restoring electricity to affected areas we will provide dedicated support to residents," he said at a press conference Faxai made landfall near the city of Chiba early Monday becoming one of the strongest recorded typhoons to hit the Kanto region of eastern Japan It disrupted major transport networks in the metropolitan area and killed at least three people while knocking over two power line towers and a number of utility poles in Chiba Prefecture leaving about 935,000 households without electricity at one point in wide areas including the prefectures of Chiba more than 200 homes were damaged by the typhoon while farmland was also impacted with rice fields and fruit farms ravaged just before harvest Narita airport chaos ending with resumption of train services IN PHOTOS: Typhoon Faxai batters Tokyo Powerful typhoon kills 3 in Tokyo area, strands thousands at Narita 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 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 detected cyanide in waterways near its East Nippon Works in Kimitsu according to a report the steelmaking giant submitted to local governments in the prefecture The company did not disclose the information at the time the company denied the substance had been detected Nippon Steel said it will release data on water quality to the public and take other measures to prevent a recurrence of the problem Nippon Steel submitted the report on Friday to the Chiba prefectural government and the Kimitsu municipal government as well as the local governments of neighboring municipalities “We sincerely apologize for betraying the trust of the local community and public administration We will do our utmost to prevent a recurrence,” East Nippon Works Director Junichi Tani said at a press conference on the day red-colored water was spotted in local waterways and in the Koitogawa river near the plant Nippon Steel conducted daily checks on the water flowing out of its drains and detected cyanide 12 times from June to July The company reported those cases to the prefectural government the standard for “no detection” is less than 0.1 milligram per liter If cyanide is detected in water quality checks conducted once every three months plant operators and others are required under the law to record the results and take preventive measures Nippon Steel revealed cases when the cyanide levels in local waterways were higher than the levels reported to authorities It also revealed that the plant conducted additional checks on subsequent days when cyanide had been detected recording the levels of the day the measurements fell within the standards The company re-examined past records and found that cyanide was detected 59 times between 2017 and this year in statutory and voluntary investigations Cyanide was also detected in a drainage ditch inside the plant but Nippon Steel failed to report it to the prefecture and the three cities even though it is obliged to do so under an agreement between the company and the local governments “We mistakenly thought we were not required to submit reports when [cyanide levels] exceeded the standards as long as [the substance] was detected in voluntary investigations.” Nippon Steel has identified the causes of the problems and has taken measures to prevent further leaks No colored water or hazardous substances have been detected in local waterways since the problems were identified Nippon Steel said it is considering taking disciplinary action against those involved and conducting unannounced environmental inspections at the plant The prefectural government and the three municipalities are also considering handing out administrative punishments Our weekly ePaper presents the most noteworthy recent topics in an exciting © 2025 The Japan News - by The Yomiuri Shimbun Beyond Narita International Airport and Disney Chiba makes a name for itself as a prime autumn destination with its splendid fall foliage Japan’s longest stretch of sandy coastline It proves a worthwhile visit in the autumn when the colorful leaves transform the beautiful landscapes into new scenes Here are some of the best places to see the fall foliage in Chiba As the largest artificial lake in Chiba prefecture this popular sightseeing location gives visitors a chance to hike fish and ride in boats while surrounded by the fall foliage There are even sightseeing boats for visitors who want to experience a fall foliage cruise The brilliant colors of the leaves are reflected on the clear surface of the lake Best time to go: Late November and early December Kameiwa Cave. Photo by Big Ben in Japan. This cave has been featured on National Geographic for the image of a heart that is reflected in the water twice a year in autumn visitors can witness the cave’s opening surrounded by red and yellow autumn leaves Awamata Waterfall. Photo by max max. This 100-meter-wide waterfall located in Yoro Valley is famous for its fall foliage Visitors can stroll along the promenade and admire the breathtaking view of the waterfall with vivid red leaves framing it They can also enjoy a barbeque at the riverside While in Ichihara, check out our guide of things to see and do there This park is known for glorious seasonal landscapes azaleas in late spring and maple and ginkgo trees change colors in autumn visitors can also do a whole host of fun outdoor activities in Shimizu Park which is a complex of three different obstacle courses People can also trout fish in the pond and barbeque Outside of the gates of the park are a water park Visitors can also camp overnight inside the park This temple is famous for its changing scenery every season visitors can observe beautiful cherry blossoms there are 1,500 maple trees of three different types creating a complex color palette that adds to the depth of the scenery Komatsuji Temple. Photo by max max. Best time to go: Late November to early December Prefectural Road No. 182 is known as “Momiji Road,” since there are over 1,000 maple trees, making it one of the best places to view fall colors. It’s possible to drive or get here by taking the Boso Satoyama GO a limited-time bus route that only operates on the weekends and national holidays during the autumn leaves season Visitors can buy local products such as vegetables and roasted sweet potatoes from vendors along the road and relax in free rest areas Izumi Nature Park. Photo by t.kunikuni. gold and orange enveloping the landscape in the fall admire the reflection of the fiery red leaves in the duck pond and hike down trails to observe sunlight shining through the leaves Best time to go: Mid-November to early December This beautiful garden located in Makuhari Seaside Park incorporates natural Japanese elements stone lanterns and bamboo fences alongside seasonal plants that make the garden enjoyable in any season Visitors can relax in the tea room by the pond and enjoy sweets and matcha The garden stands out in the autumn because of the seasonal light-up event Visitors can also enjoy koto and violin performances and partake in a tea ceremony experience was forced to shut down some equipment handling a key process because of damage from the powerful typhoon in September TOKYO -- Japan's Nippon Steel will suspend operations for months at two domestic plants manufacturing alloy steel products used in auto production A recent typhoon and a plant fire had forced the closure The plants make semi-finished steel products for wheels and other moving parts they produced in total over 50% of output of such products Sign up for our daily Newsletter and stay up to date with all the latest news You are receiving this pop-up because this is the first time you are visiting our site You are using software which is blocking our advertisements (adblocker) we are relying on revenues from our banners So please disable your adblocker and reload the page to continue using this site.Thanks you'll probably say soy sauce and not tomato greenhouse - but you are wrong Yesterday the 4.7 hectare Kimitsu Tomato Garden was opened officially in Japan The Kikkoman group participates in the farm The tomatoes will be sold under the brand of Fresh Del Monte Japan of which the marketing rights belong to the Kikkoman group.  CoolingThe greenhouse is located in the Chiba prefecture built by VDH with screening form Luiten Greenhouses is plotted on a 6 hectare site and features various technologies Crop clean-out machines & maintenance equipment was supplied by DanDutch & Hortimat via Tomita Technologies Richel was responsible for the electrical installation took care of the heating and cooling system - and that's quite a remarkable one.  Instead of using several smaller heat pumps two larger heat pumps were shipped from Europe to Japan and installed in the greenhouse to take care of the heating and cooling Installing two larger heat pumps instead of dozens of smaller ones not only saves a lot of space but also provides a higher efficiency.  "Thanks to the climate control systems we will be able to grow tomatoes throughout the year" Summer temperatures in the area rise high and so does the humidity.  "Growing tomatoes in our warm summer season provides challenges but the demand for the tomatoes is non-stop Thanks to these technologies we can answer to the demand."  Rain water The tomatoes will be grown using rain water "Also just like the produce from our other farm Nasu Toyama Garden we want this farm to be JGAP certified" JGAP is short for Japan Good Agricultural Practice.  Kimitsu Tomato Garden was established in 2016 The farm is partly owned by the team with Kazusa Ai Aya who have been growing vegetables for over 40 years Their assortment includes lettuce and herbs strawberries and tomatoes on almost 7 hectares Some years ago almost 50 per cent of the shares were bought by Kikkoman Photos of the opening via Evert-Jan Krajenbrink Luxury TOVsThe tomato that will be grown in the greenhouse is what the Japanese call the 'Luxury tomato' "The completion of this new facility will increase the supply of fresh Del Monte tomatoes" In 1990 Kikkoman gained the exclusive marketing rights to the Del Monte brand in all of Asia excluding the Philippines Kikkoman primarily manufactures and markets tomato-based goods and canned fruits and vegetables This occurs through the subsidiary Nippon Del Monte Agri FreshPublishers © 2005-2025 HortiDaily.com visited the Kimitsu Steel Works of Nippon Steel Corporation (NSC) The delegation was briefed about the plant and given a tour of the facility The state delegation’s visit to NSC’s Kimitsu Steel Works provided an opportunity for the delegation to learn about the latest technologies and processes used by NSC in the production of steel The Plant was established on land reclaimed from sea and used environmentally sustainable green technologies The plant has a large lay out campus and with green tree belts The Plant produces diversified specialised steel products used for various downstream industries like the automobiles the Chief Minister expressed his admiration for the state-of-the-art facility and the commitment of NSC towards excellence in steel production He discussed regarding the use of similar green technologies for the plants coming up in Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur districts The proposed plant will also focus on specialised steel products which will enable downstream industries in Odisha He highlighted the immense potential for collaboration between NSC and Odisha given the state’s rich mineral resources and potential in the steel sector He also assured the NSC officials about the committed support of the Government of Odisha for Arcelor Mittal-Nippon Steel (AM/NS) India’s upcoming integrated steel plants in Kendrapada and Jagatsinghpur in Odisha The projects will use huge volumes of iron ore fines which will help in value addition of the mineral within Odisha in comparison to current trend of exporting the iron ore fines The Chief Minister expressed his appreciation for the warm hospitality extended by NSC towards the delegation and conveyed his hope that the visit would contribute to strengthening the relationship between NSC and Odisha Kalinga TV a 24-hour Odia news channel is part of Kalinga Media & Entertainment Pvt was founded by philanthropist and educationist Dr Himansu Sekhar Khatua the noted film maker at it’s helm as the Managing Director Kalinga TV is a 24-hour news channel and plans to be the premiere news channel in Odisha with special emphasis on social development The company was incorporated on 24.04.2013 under the Companies Act of 1956 The steel industry emits more CO2 than any other industry in Japan's industrial sector manufacturing steel using the blast-furnace method results in high emissions so drastic reductions in CO2 emissions are needed as a global warming countermeasure Japan's steel manufacturing technology is already state-of-the-art and Japan already conserves as much energy as possible by utilizing waste heat and by-product gases to achieve reduced CO2 emissions on a global scale it is necessary to develop innovative steel manufacturing technologies This item involves the development of technologies for reducing iron ore by amplifying the hydrogen included in the high-temperature coke oven gas (COG) generated during coking and using it as a partial substitute for coke This item also involves the development of innovative CO2 separation and recovery technologies that utilize the unused waste heat of steel mills to separate CO2 from blast furnace gas (BFG) a 12-m3 scale test blast furnace and an actual blast furnace will be used for partial verification and then a numerical analysis model will be utilized to perform scaled-up verification of a hydrogen reduction-utilizing blast furnace to reduce the costs of CO2 separation and recovery and utilize unused waste heat verification of its practical application will be performed Technology that makes it possible to ultimately reduce the CO2 emissions of steel mills by approximately 30% compared to the current level will also be developed © New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization Japanese version Today's print edition Home Delivery Japan’s oldest steel mill is venturing into recycling the industrial metal to tackle climate change and survive a race with Chinese mills has been making steel from mined iron and coal in blast furnaces for more than a century President Eiji Hashimoto called on his staff last month to examine an alternative process that recycles steel from scrap in an electric-arc furnace to cut costs and help it expand in emerging Asian economies.googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1499653692894-0'); }); Nippon Steel has so far distanced itself from electric-arc furnaces partly because of technological hurdles in making high-end steel even though its units and affiliates have used the technology Electric-arc furnaces are estimated to release only a fourth of the carbon dioxide compared with traditional furnaces according to Tokyo Steel Manufacturing Co. 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 Japanese version Bhubaneswar/ Tokyo: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik led a high-powered delegation to the Kimitsu Steel Works of Nippon Steel Corporation (NSC) on Thursday The delegation’s visit to NSC’s Kimitsu Steel Works provided an opportunity for the delegation to learn about the latest technologies and processes used by NSC in the production of steel The Kimitsu plant was established on land reclaimed from the sea and used environmentally sustainable green technologies The depth of the sea used to be more than 10 metres and the plant has a large campus with green tree belts Kimitsu Steel Works produces diversified specialised steel products used for various downstream industries like automobiles He discussed the use of similar green technologies for the plants coming up in the Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur districts of Odisha The proposed plants will also focus on specialised steel products which will enable downstream industries in Odisha Patnaik highlighted the immense potential for collaboration between NSC and Odisha He also assured the NSC officials about the committed support of the Government of Odisha for Arcelor Mittal-Nippon Steel (AM/NS) which is developing integrated steel plants at Kendrapada and Jagatsinghpur in Odisha The projects will use huge volumes of iron ore fines which will help in the value addition of the mineral within Odisha in comparison to the current trend of exporting iron ore fines The Chief Minister expressed his appreciation for the warm hospitality extended by NSC to the delegation and conveyed his hope that the visit would contribute to strengthening the relationship between NSC and Odisha Please enter your username or email address to reset your password