Today's print edition Home Delivery Bereaved families and others mourned the victims of an avalanche that occurred during a school mountaineering workshop in Tochigi Prefecture in 2017 in a memorial ceremony held Saturday before the eighth anniversary of the accident held at Tochigi Prefectural Otawara High School also including officials of the education board and the high school athletic federation of the eastern Japan prefecture who offered silent prayers before the cenotaph inscribed with the names of the eight victims — seven students and one teacher of the high school in the city of Otawara in Tochigi.googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1499653692894-0'); }); who read a memorial tribute at the ceremony said he still lives with the emptiness of having lost his son "Our grief remains unchanged after eight years." The avalanche occurred near a ski resort at the foot of Mount Chausu in the town of Nasu in Tochigi who were members of the high school's mountaineering club and the teacher were killed while practicing walking on snow Utsunomiya District Court concluded that the danger of an avalanche was fully predictable and sentenced three teachers to two years in prison for professional negligence 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 Your browser does not support JavaScript, or it is disabled．Please check the site policy for more information National Report Tochigi Prefecture--A four-leaf clover is said to bring good luck That is what Yoshiharu Watanabe accomplished landing him an entry in Guinness World Records for the most leaves on a single clover The 45-year-old works at the prefecture-run Nakagawa Aquatic Park in Otawara and lives in Nasushiobara After graduating from the only senior high school that offers a fisheries course in the landlocked Tochigi Prefecture Watanabe went on to work at an aquarium in a different prefecture He returned to his hometown after the Nakagawa Aquatic Park opened his primary role is providing nature experience activities to children who visit the aquarium He started growing clovers in 2012 after he married and moved into a house with a garden Even though he didn’t lavish them with care Watanabe noticed that some clovers had more leaves than others He started collecting multi-leaf clovers from the dikes of rice paddies and elsewhere to raise in the garden As clovers sprouting more than 10 or even 20 leaves grew “I suddenly got serious about growing clovers with lots of leaves,” Watanabe recalled The previous record for the most leaves on a clover was set in 2009 by another Japanese man He reckons he sort of hit the jackpot by winning a world record associated with a living thing He repeatedly let flowers of multi-leaf clovers to cross pollinate and diligently worked every year to gradually increase the number of leaves he made an attempt on the world record with a clover dense with leaves of about 2 centimeters in diameter To receive certification in Guinness World Records he asked a botanical expert to witness the process of putting a numbered sticker on each leaf while shooting a video It took more than an hour to complete the process His next goal is to grow a clover with 100 leaves Watanabe says his hobby of growing clovers is one thing and his main occupation of conveying the wonder of nature is another “I want people to learn about the mystery and appeal of creating a 63-leaf clover from three-leaf ones and it may be the same as how I feel about my work.” Cabbie gives free four-leaf clovers to passengers to fight virus gloom 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 Our tiny corner of the Universe – the Solar System – is home to one star It also contains untold billions of asteroids and comets – the left-over debris from the cosmic construction site that created the planets and their moons Rosetta's task is to study three of these primitive building blocks at close quarters so that scientists may gain new insights into the events that took place 4.6 billion years ago during the birth of the Earth and its planetary neighbours On the outward leg of its eight-year trek to Comet Wirtanen Rosetta will make two excursions into the main asteroid belt that lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter Rosetta will send back the first detailed pictures of and scientific data on the asteroids 4979 Otawara and 140 Siwa These primordial rocks could hardly be more different Siwa will be the largest asteroid ever encountered by a spacecraft while (apart from a tiny asteroid moon called Dactyl) Otawara will be the smallest Otawara is suspected to be a chunk of once-molten basalt (a type V or SV asteroid) which is blacker than coal (a type C asteroid) Rosetta's flyby of Otawara will take place on 12 July 2006 when the asteroid is 283 million km from the Sun Travelling at a relative velocity of more than 10 km/sec the spacecraft will pass by Otawara's sunlit side at a distance of about 2200 km Otawara rotates faster than any asteroid so far visited by spacecraft (about once every 3 hours) which should allow Rosetta to image most of its surface during the flyby Rosetta will also obtain spectacular images as it flies to within 3500 km of Siwa on 24 July 2008.The spacecraft will fly past at a relative velocity of 17 km/sec approaching on the sunlit side and then looking at a crescent phase as it moves away Siwa will be about 470 million km from the Earth so that signals from the spacecraft will take 26 minutes to reach ground stations The legendary land cycle of Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty have huge potential in all MTG formats Basic lands are the standard by which every other land is measured it will have a drawback to make up for it — it’ll enter the battlefield tapped or it will require another payment of some sort Lands that are strictly better than basic lands are not very common because having extra abilities is more important than having the basic supertype we’ve seen a type of land that is strictly better than basic lands This means that the first of these lands is much better than a basic This creates a scenario in which almost everyone wants to play one of those The new channel lands might be similar in theme to the original Kamigawa lands but that’s about where the similarity ends because they behave very differently once you put them in a deck The original lands were cards that acted as both lands and spells and there was no use for an extra copy; these lands act as either lands or spells and you can get rid of extra copies by simply using their channel ability we cannot draw on the heuristics of past Kamigawa lands to assess whether we want to play these lands and in which numbers we should look more in the direction of the modal double-faced cards (DFCs) we currently have in Standard because their play pattern will be almost the same you definitely want to play at least one copy of these cards in every single deck Here are the potential reasons you might not: you should almost always play at least one of those This means your Orzhov deck wants at least one Eiganjo and one Takenuma your Izzet deck wants at least one Sokenzan and one Otawara your Mono-Green deck wants at least one Boseiju All five of the new lands also have a clause that says “this costs 1 less for each legendary creature you control.” Honestly as it seems like it won’t come up often and you’ll easily forget when it does come up (on both sides) “They can’t have anything here,” and they’ll produce a surprise discount channel effect because you didn’t realize what was going on.  It’s also not like the cards needed more complexity They’re already modal effects on legendary lands which is definitely complex (and interesting) enough The only explanation I can find is that they thought Ragavan needed more help in older formats Most of the time you have some that are clearly worse but here I think they can all see a reasonable amount of play Abandoned Mire because it’s the one where you’re not getting an immediate effect and here you’re getting something overcosted that doesn’t impact the battlefield at all Crucible of Defiance is sort of a creature-land except it’s an instant and has haste so it can catch your opponent off-guard in two different ways I believe this has the weakest effect of all the cards in a vacuum but it’s also the least situational one; every other one demands something which means you could be stranded with them in your hand but this is a card you can always use if you have the mana which means this might see play in higher numbers than the others it’s the most likely to get the discount as you’re most likely to have a legend on the battlefield you could follow up a Turn 2 Thalia with a Turn 3 Sokenzan.  I think this card is a two-of in aggressive red decks and a one-of in control decks I might be interested in channeling this at some point but not enough to risk drawing the second copy in a deck that regularly wants ten lands on the battlefied you’re usually going to stop at four or five lands so at that point you just channel it and call it a day though it is situational — they have to have creatures for it to matter but the aggro decks might be interested in removing a blocker or something that is racing them though they can only remove the blocker after it blocks White aggro decks might have a relatively easier time than most with the discount here I think the right number of Eiganjos is two in aggro and two or three in control depending on what the format looks like and how many instants you have so you can’t be in a spot where you leave mana open they don’t attack and you lose your entire turn Assuming you have some extra instants to play I’d start with three and then move down to two depending on how the format reacted to it I would not count all three as lands; if you’re going to play one or two I think you can just make the swap and keep the same number of lands but the third and fourth you need to treat as spells then that’s also going to be huge for Otawara as I feel this is where the discount matters the most of all the lands because it allows you to double-spell at a time where it matters the most this will probably be the best of them in Standard Who Endures is probably not that broken in Alchemy or Standard but it is enough better than all the others in every other format that it’s easily worth the #1 slot I’m not necessarily interested in blowing up all of their lands with recursive effects because they can get nonbasics with this (as long as they have basic types) but I am very interested in incidentally being able to destroy their random artifacts and enchantments that Boseiju is not Naturalize — you end up giving them a land in the process This means you don’t always want to cast it Obviously if you’re destroying Blood Moon or Leyline of the Void but if someone goes Turn 2 Trail of Crumbs you need to think long and hard about whether you want to destroy it — a lot of the time the answer will be “no,” or at least “not yet.” So even though we’re going to have more targets with enchantment creatures around we don’t actually want to be using Boseiju on them early in the game you can play Boseiju as a land anyway.  unless you have a plan that involves recurring Boseiju over and over the right number of copies in most decks in Standard This way you don’t end up with a card you can’t cast early at the risk of ramping them but you gain some security against troublesome artifacts and enchantments for free and it should come up enough that you want to cast it to be worth the second copy If you’re playing an older format where you’re intending to kill a specific hate piece or combo piece this is my prediction for what the “gold standard” will end up being: I have no doubt that these lands are here to stay and that you should likely play them in higher numbers than players did the original Kamigawa lands It was a huge weekend for Canadian Magic when 322 players gathered in Toronto last weekend to compete in the Face2Face Tour Championship The anticipated event was also one of three Regional Championships over the Nov 24-25 weekend and came with Pro Tour invites and a seat at the World Championship on the line There were four seats available at Pro Tour Murders at Karlov Manor coming at MagicCon: Chicago in early 2024 would determine who would earn those seats – and to do that players had to grapple with the format-warping additions from The Lost Caverns of Ixalan When the dust settled on 13 rounds of Pioneer it was a Pioneer classic that stood out: Arclight Phoenix decks made up five up of the Top 8 slots several with key The Lost Caverns of Ixalan additions The Top 8 that followed was stacked with talent and as players navigated Phoenix mirrors throughout an intense Top 8 it was a new innovation that took down the title: Ha Pham with Grixis Phoenix Congratulations to Regional Champion Ha Pham The Montreal native entered the Regional Championship with some Pro Tour experience to his name and a new twist on a classic archetype that was clearly well-positioned on the weekend; Arclight Phoenix decks were tied for the most popular choice among competitors Things didn't start perfect for Pham – he dropped his second round on Day One – but he rallied to win out from there before returning on Sunday and converting it into a Top 8 appearance who was also running an Arclight Phoenix list Ha Pham faced off against Ryan Primdahl's Izzet Phoenix in a pseudo-mirror for the title of Regional Champion and a spot at the Magic World Championship The win not only will see Pham head back to the Pro Tour with some hardware to his name but the 39-year-old's clutch three-game victory in the finals was an impressive way to earn a spot at next year's World Championship When Pham and Primdahl squared off for the trophy and the qualification in the finals they had both already clinched what was the ultimate goal for many coming into the event: to earn a spot on the Pro Tour A stacked Top 8 field that was headlined by five Arclight Phoenix decks also saw a pair of new Geoform combo decks and one Rakdos Midrange advance to the elimination rounds winning a quarterfinals match meant an invitation to Pro Tour Murders at Karlov Manor and players responded in kind with some high-level Magic And while Geological Appraiser certainly made its mark in this tournament as well as other Regional Championships it was four Arclight Phoenix decks that earned the coveted spots on this day Joining Pham and and Primdahl at the Pro Tour are Max Dore and Simon Carisse You can see the decklists they used to secure their seats at the Pro Tour below: Pioneer saw a fair amount of deviation across the trio of Regional Championships and in Canada it was a two-deck show: Rakdos Midrange and Izzet Phoenix both led the way with 36 players each (11% of the field) It posted a higher winrate and sent five players through to the Top 8 Boros Convoke was the next most-popular archetype but the Venerated Loxodons were closely followed by a pack of Trumpeting Carnosaur The Geological Appraiser combo deck (or "Geoform") was the breakout deck of the weekend It placed Jean-Philippe Goyet and Larry Bouzane into the Top 8 though neither player was able to get through the recurring army of birds in the quarterfinals Find out more about how you can qualify for the Regional Championship and the Pro Tour by visiting here and finding out more from your regional organizer Two high school teachers and a retired colleague were given prison terms of two years each on Thursday over the deaths of seven students and a fellow teacher in an avalanche that struck during a mountaineering lesson north of Tokyo in 2017 Considered an unusually heavy sentence for an educational setting were convicted of professional negligence resulting in the eight deaths and injuries to five others in the town of Nasu in Tochigi Prefecture on March 27 Their defense team had sought an acquittal In handing down the ruling at the Utsunomiya District Court Presiding Judge Toshifumi Takioka said the defendants -- Shuichi Inose and 61-year-old Hironori Watanabe -- should have been more attuned to the risk of an avalanche adding "It was a man-made disaster caused by a serious degree of carelessness." "The danger of an avalanche could easily have been anticipated," the judge said noting that at least 30 centimeters of fresh snow had piled up at the site on the day of the accident The defendants were not vigilant "and carried out the walking exercise in a sloppy and desultory" way He said the prison terms are not suspended as there is no exceptional reason to consider in the defendants' favor the three defendants changed the content of the day's activities from climbing to a walking exercise due to the snowfall the previous night It went on to say that Sugamata and Watanabe did not give clear instructions on how to avoid hazards or share information on the radio Fifty-five students and teachers from Otawara High School and six other high schools in Tochigi Prefecture were taking part in the lesson when the avalanche In the criminal trial that began in October 2022 prosecutors demanded a four-year prison sentence for the three arguing they should have foreseen the possibility of an avalanche following 30 cm of fresh snow the previous day on an area prone to avalanches due to its steep slopes and sparse vegetation Their negligence was "serious," as they went ahead with the lesson without due diligence The defendants' lawyers insisted it was impossible to predict an avalanche and argued the trio had carefully told each group where to conduct the lesson but the support of those around me has kept me going I hope this ruling will lead to measures that prevent such incidents in the future," Akiko Takase said tearfully at a press conference following the ruling The 57-year-old lost her 16-year-old son Atsuki in the accident a professor of sports law at Daito Bunka University said that the heavy prison sentence likely took into account the seriousness of the negligence given the number of lives lost "Club activities and other educational settings have historically been treated as sanctuaries meaning it was rare for teachers to be held criminally accountable cases where negligence has been evident have led to prosecutions and guilty verdicts," said Mori the district court ordered the Tochigi prefectural government and the prefecture's high school athletic federation to pay 290 million yen ($1.8 million) in damages to the families of five of the victims But it dismissed claims against the three defendants which states damages claims against public servants should be shouldered by municipalities School official admits lapse in judgment over avalanche deaths 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 Nikon is considering reinvestment in mainland Japan manufacturing through a new expansion of its facility in Otawara City which currently hosts its only remaining Japan-based optics factory located in Otawara City in the Tochigi Prefecture The goal would be to expand the production capacity for lenses used in microscopes The reports added that the facility would cost upwards of 30 billion yen (about $224 million) and the company would aim to have the facility start operation in 2026 While the reports made it sound like plans were already in motion Nikon tells PetaPixel this is hardly a done deal it is true that we are considering the construction of a new building,” a Nikon Japan spokesperson tells PetaPixel we are at the stage of considering specific details and have not yet decided to invest as a company.” The report that spurred the online conversation appears to have been originally published by the Japanese newspaper Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun before disseminating online Considering the project is not final despite what some publications have written some wires got crossed somewhere along the reporting line Nikon Japan did confirm to PetaPixel if the value of the factory construction was accurate nor if the timeline stated in the report was in line with current expectations should the facility be green-lit — but it did not deny these numbers either consolidating its workforce and operations to the factory in Otawara City Operations at those two other lens facilities ceased in March of 2021 But now, two years later, Nikon appears to be emerging from its struggles and is at least in a position to be considering going back the other way and expanding its Japan-based manufacturing. The company appears to be doing everything right and the fact that it is even considering such a huge facility investment is more hard evidence of this Become a PetaPixel Member and access our content ad-free Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker The Japanese cosmetics industry faces huge competition not only from global and established players such as L’Oréal and Estée Lauder but increasingly also from the "K-beauty" craze coming from South Korea with exports nearly quadrupling since 2013 to 546 billion yen (US$5 billion) last year nearly two-thirds of that going to China and Hong Kong The so-called "J-beauty" is also benefitting from an explosion of inbound tourism in recent years ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics - in particular a relaxing of visa requirements for Chinese tourists who lap up the latest Japanese cosmetic fads Shiseido chief executive Masahiko Uotani told AFP that a focus on the high end of the market and time-honoured attention to detail set them apart from the foreign brands seeking to dominate globally Consumers in those categories see the value of Japanese culture," said Uotani we are telling consumers: those brands are from Japan And that is becoming a very important competitive value." In addition to the new plant in Otawara, Shiseido plans to open two more in Japan before 2022 - a total investment of 120 billion yen - the fastest pace of expansion in the firm’s 150-year history Otawara’s mayor said the plot for the new factory had been barren since the 1990 tech bubble burst "We used to use it to hold exercises to prepare for natural disasters," Tomio Tsukui explained The 1,000 jobs it creates will make Shiseido the biggest private employer in the town putting it down to a drop in value of the yen that has made relocalising production more profitable Norio Tadakawa, Shiseido production manager "There are six sake breweries" around Otawara This is due to the high-quality water around the region - also a fundamental component in making cosmetics The three new Shiseido factories in Japan will feature the latest in Japanese tech - from advanced robotics to artificial intelligence - but will also rely heavily on human intervention "Where it’s possible we are introducing robots employees that have high craftmanship and skills," said Uotani blue or pink overalls fix the tops - there are too many different types of container to automate this process Despite the highest labour costs, Shiseido is not the only company to bring back production to its home base. In 2017, Kose Corporation sold its factory in China to boost its presence in Japan high-quality domestically produced goods appears to be working cosmetics with the ’Made in Japan’ tag are gaining appeal in Asian and Western markets," she told AFP But the flip side of Japanese attention to detail means development times and quality checks take longer “The product timeline of Japanese companies is very long Safety and quality are high but the product checking takes a long time," she told AFP For example, Japanese firm Kao on Wednesday unveiled a "spray-on skin" they claim is the world’s first but that took 10 years to bring to market Even Shiseido’s Uotani admits that the nimble South Koreans have the advantage on this front which allows them to be very reactive to the market," he said Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna concluded on a high note The show has closed its 56th edition with a 4.5% increase in.. foundation has constantly been reinvented to meet consumer demands which will be held in Amsterdam from April 08 to 10 On wasteland once used for earthquake drills in the small town of Otawara north of Tokyo Japanese giant Shiseido Co has built its first domestic factory in 36 years hoping to capitalize on a boom for “Made in Japan” cosmetics The Japanese cosmetics industry faces huge competition not only from established players such as L’Oreal SA and Estee Lauder Companies Inc but increasingly also from the “K-beauty” craze coming from South Korea with exports nearly quadrupling since 2013 to ￥546 billion (US$5 billion) according to Japanese Ministry of Finance figures The domestic industry is also benefitting from an explosion of inbound tourism in recent years ahead of next year’s Tokyo Olympics — in particular a relaxing of visa requirements for Chinese tourists who lap up the latest Japanese cosmetic fads Shiseido chief executive Masahiko Uotani said that a focus on the high end of the market and time-honored attention to detail set them apart from the foreign brands seeking to dominate globally Consumers in those categories see the value of Japanese culture,” Uotani said it’s Japanese R&D [research and development] And that is becoming a very important competitive value,” he said Shiseido plans to open two more in Japan before 2022 — a total investment of ￥120 billion — the fastest pace of expansion in the firm’s 150-year history Otawara Mayor Tomio Tsukui said the plot for the new factory had been barren since the 1990 tech bubble burst “We used to use it to hold exercises to prepare for natural disasters,” Tsukui said The 1,000 jobs it creates will make Shiseido the biggest private employer in the town putting it down to a drop in value of the yen that has made relocalizing production more profitable Shiseido production manager Norio Tadakawa has a different explanation “There are six sake breweries” around Otawara This is due to the high-quality water around the region — also a fundamental component in making cosmetics The three new Shiseido factories in Japan will feature the latest in Japanese tech — from advanced robotics to artificial intelligence — but will also rely heavily on human intervention “Where it’s possible we are introducing robots employees that have high craftsmanship and skills,” Uotani said Shiseido is not the only company to bring back production to its home base Kose Corp sold its factory in China to boost its presence in Japan high-quality locally made goods appears to be working GlobalData senior innovation analyst Mitsue Konishi said cosmetics with the ‘Made in Japan’ tag are gaining appeal in Asian and Western markets,” she said the flip side of Japanese attention to detail means development times and quality checks take longer an analyst at SMBC Nikko Securities in Tokyo Safety and quality are high but the product checking takes a long time,” she said Kao on Wednesday unveiled a “spray-on skin” that it claims is the world’s first Even Uotani admits that the nimble South Koreans have the advantage on this front which allows them to be very reactive to the market,” he said UTSUNOMIYA–Three high school teachers were convicted on May 30 of failing to take proper safety precautions and heed warnings in a deadly avalanche during a mountain climb in 2017 that killed eight people The Utsunomiya District Court sentenced Shuichi Inose Prosecutors had sought a four-year prison term for the trio for professional negligence resulting in death and injury “Even considering the difficulty of accurately predicting an avalanche this was a human-caused disaster due to negligence of a considerable severity.” Seven students from Otawara High School and one teacher were killed and five others were injured in the avalanche on March 27 The judge said that the defendants “could have easily foreseen” the possibility of an avalanche occurring on the sparsely vegetated steep given the 30-centimeter snowfall recorded since the previous night and heavy snow and avalanche warnings issued in the area since the previous day the three teachers proceeded with the mountain climb training carelessly failing to inspect the site or check the map in advance or gather weather data and other safety information two of the defendants who led the group at the site failed to instruct students in avoiding danger The judge rejected the defendants' claim of innocence and their argument that the avalanche could not be foreseen and that they had clearly defined safe areas for the training and communicated those to the students a tendency to underestimate the likelihood of rare events likely contributed to the disaster in the mountaineering workshop which had been held regularly in the prefecture could have led to significantly careless attitudes and lax planning that resulted in a catastrophe of an unprecedented scale among accidents involving high school club activities the Japan Sports Agency reiterated its policy to prohibit winter mountaineering for high school students in a notification to prefectures For exceptional cases where such activities are permitted the agency mandated that prefectures establish a review committee to scrutinize mountaineering plans the Utsunomiya District Court ordered the prefecture and its high school sports authorities to pay 290 million yen ($1.84 million) in compensation to the bereaved families of the victims the court did not hold the three teachers liable for damages citing a law stipulating that the state or local governments are liable for damages caused by public officials in the course of their duties (This article was written by Atsushi Takahashi and Yoichi Tsubura.) Simon Nielsen won Pro Tour Modern Horizons 3 in Amsterdam with Bant Nadu on Sunday is putting on an encore in 2024 with a runner-up finish at Pro Tour Murders at Karlov Manor followed by his win this weekend in the Netherlands His active streak of top finishes moves to five in a row dating back to Pro Tour March of the Machine in May of 2023 Pro Tour Modern Horizons 3 will also go down in history as Pro Tour Nadu after more than a quarter of the field played decks built around the namesake card but the Bant version of the deck (with 49 players) put up a Day 1 win rate of 58 percent (the four-color build with 13 pilots put up a respectable 55 percent win rate) The deck is a creature-combo deck that looks to get Nadu on the battlefield as soon as possible then combo Shuko or Outrider en-Kor with Nadu’s ability to put all the deck’s lands on the battlefield while drawing the rest of the deck to win via recycling channel lands like Boseiju Soaring City with Endurance to remove an opposing battlefield then attack for the win with an overwhelming board Springheart Nantuko lets the deck create an incredible number of fresh creatures to target while also allowing the deck to just win with a ton of creatures if an opponent puts too much effort on stopping the full combo which were already high going into the weekend putting up the best win rate of any highly played deck in the field while making up five of the Top 8 decks on Sunday Mono-Black Necro in the hands of Seth Manfield and Ma Noah and a single copy of Jeskai Control from Javier Dominguez But all of the non-Nadu decks were eliminated in the quarterfinals and Sam Pardee to determine who would hoist the trophy with the legendary bird wizard Nielsen and Pardee both advanced to the finals with 3-2 wins in the semis but the finals only went four games with both players racing to see who could assemble the combo first As Nielsen got the engine running in the fourth game Pardee extended the hand so Nielsen didn’t have to go through the loops and got to start his celebration early The second-most played deck was Mono-Red Storm thanks to both Ruby Medallion and Ral the deck’s Day 1 win rate was only 33 percent Boros Energy and Mono-Black Necro had the strongest results for decks with a double-digit number of pilots Mono-Black Grief only had six players on the deck but it managed to have a 59 percent win rate View the Top 16 decklists from Pro Tour Modern Horizons 3. For all decklists check out the official coverage from WotC Check out the decklists from each major event at SCG CON Richmond Check out the winners from all the events and decklists from the Modern $20K and $5K the reigning Magic: The Gathering world champion won the Modern $20K with Temur Rhinos on Sunday 3 seed with a record of 10-2-1 in the Swiss After a bye in the first round of the Top 12 Steuer defeated Duncan McAdams on Hardened Scales and Pete Ingram on Five-Color Indomitable Creativity to reach the finals The match went the distance with Steuer taking Game 3 to claim the trophy and top prize of $3,000 The Top 4 all earned invites to the Regional Championship at DreamHack in Dallas View the Top 16 decklists from the Modern $20K Julian Korfine won the Modern $5K with Izzet Midrange on Sunday 8 seed with a record of 5-1-1 in the Swiss The Top 8 included two copies of Temur Rhinos and single copies of Five-Color Indomitable Creativity View the Top 16 decklists from the Modern $5K Pat Eshghy won the Classic Constructed Battle Hardened event on Saturday with Oldhim Eshghy made the Top 8 of the 92-person event as the No The elimination rounds featured seven different heroes who picked up some new tools in the latest set taking down Devin Ratteni on Uzuri and Jodey Burney on Dromai Eshghy defeated Trenton McBride in an Oldhim mirror in the finals to walk away with the cold gold foil promo card while both finalists earned $500 and a PTI Decklists are available on the Flesh and Blood decklist page Dave Lin won the Outsiders Sealed Professional Tournament Invitational on Sunday Lin defeated Ross Fontana in the finals of a Top 8 that featured notable players like Michael Feng SCG CON returns with more Magic: The Gathering and Flesh and Blood action next month in Baltimore says his inbox is overflowing with emails ever since the launch of Pokemon Go happened to be walking by the White House back in February he was one of the few people with a beta version of Pokemon Go the augmented reality game that’s become a worldwide phenomenon So he warned a nearby Secret Service agent that he was going to be “doing some funny stuff” with his phone The guard admitted that he didn’t know what Pokemon Go was Register Now Already have an account? 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Sign In peer guidance and a practical playbook to help general counsels succeed in their increasingly high stakes roles as risk managers and corporate strategists The industry-leading media platform offering competitive intelligence to prepare for today and anticipate opportunities for future success See top performers in Magic: The Gathering SCG CON Portland showcased elite action all weekend long A Magic: The Gathering Regional Championship was the main attraction for qualified players come-all events across four games handed out tens of thousands of dollars in prizes and invitations to upcoming events [Editor’s Note: We’ll have more winners and their decks soon We just wanted to get a head start on celebrating our champions.] Peter Husisian won the Modern-format Regional Championship with Amulet Titan topping a field of over 1,000 invited players Husisian’s win earned him the $20,000 first-place prize and a direct qualification for the upcoming Magic: The Gathering World Championship View the Top 8 decklists from the Regional Championship, and read Nick Miller’s recap for more details Kaloyan Petkov won Sunday’s Modern-format $10K Regional Championship Qualifier with Amulet Titan Ryan Hayes won Sunday’s Standard-format $5K Regional Championship Qualifier with Esper Pixie Caleb Van Patten took down the Classic Constructed-format Battle Hardened: Portland with Verdance Flesh and Blood decklists will be available later on the Flesh and Blood decklist page Justin Irby won the Sealed-format ProQuest+ Navarreaux Simmons won Sunday’s Premier Constructed $1K event with Han Solo View the winning deck on SWUDB Dylan Lindner won Friday’s Disney Lorcana Core Constructed $1K with Amethyst and Ruby Shane Downey won Sunday’s Disney Lorcana Core Constructed $1K event with Ruby and Sapphire 4 Maui – Hero to All4 How Far I’ll Go4 Tipo – Growing Son4 Brawl4 Pawpsicle3 Hiram Flaversham – Toymaker4 Sail The Azurite Sea4 Maui – Half-Shark3 Gramma Tala – Keeper of Ancient Stories4 Be Prepared4 A Pirate’s Life4 Develop Your Brain2 Let It Go4 Goofy – Super Goof4 McDuck Manor – Scrooge’s Mansion Join us next month as SCG CON heads to Charlotte NC on March 7-9 for the second Modern Magic: The Gathering Regional Championship of 2025 plus tons of other exciting TCG events Nikon may have moved its camera manufacturing to Thailand but it still makes lenses in Japan it’s adjusting how it manufactures those optics by consolidating its resources into two new factories In a new report from Nikkei Nikon is continuing to make changes to its manufacturing to assure future success While it was at one point considering building a single new lens factory via an expansion of its facility in Otawara City in the Tochigi Prefecture of Japan — which would have been a $224M investment at the time — Nikon will instead add two buildings to its facility that will consolidate the more than a dozen locations that It sounds like a shift from that original plan that will come at a slight discount of $160M (the previous estimated renovation would cost $191M at the current exchange rate Nikkei reports that the volume of camera lenses being produced has shrunk to only one-tenth of what it was at its peak Nikon plans to focus on high-end lenses in a more consolidated location so that it is able to better adjust to fluctuations in demand through changing production more quickly “Nikon Corporation is pleased to announce that Nikon has begun discussion on the demolition of some of existing buildings and construction of two new buildings at its subsidiary Tochigi Nikon Corporation,” Nikon says “Nikon is strengthening its business fundamentals under its current Medium-Term Management Plan and will invest approximately 100 billion yen by 2030 to develop production facilities that support all of Nikon’s businesses The construction of the new buildings is aimed to reinforce the manufacturing system of interchangeable lenses for digital cameras and microscope objectives This construction will begin in fiscal year 2025 and is scheduled to complete in fiscal year 2027 Nikon will build a resilient system that can flexibly respond to customer requests and efficiently produce a variety of lenses.” The move is just the latest step in Nikon’s choice to re-invest in its facilities. In 2022, the company broke ground on a new headquarters facility in Tokyo which should be completed this year The new head office will have six floors above ground and a total floor space of approximately 137,795 square feet and the Nikon Museum will also be relocated to the new head office building Check out the winners and decklists from each major event at SCG CON Richmond Check out all the winners over the weekend and the decklists from the Magic: The Gathering and Jonathan Rosum won the Team Constructed $20K on Sunday The winning squad reached the Top 6 playoff as the No and Luke Deratzou to face the top-seeded team of Pete Ingram and Rosum took home the trophies and $6,000 in prize money The top four teams all earned Regional Championship qualifications View the decklists for the Top 6 teams Michael Crymes won the cEDH $5K on Saturday with Tevesh Szat and Kraum Crymes emerged on top of the final pod consisting of himself on Tevesh Szat and Kraum View the Top 4 decklists from the final pod of the cEDH $5K Megan Geiger won the cEDH $1K on Sunday with Kraum and Tymna Geiger won the final pod of four made up of herself on Rograkh and Silas Renn View the Top 4 decklists from the final pod of the cEDH $1K Harry Hackett won the Legacy $1K on Friday with Abzan Maverick won the Sunday Legacy $1K with Rakdos Reanimator but Star City Games was unable to grab a winner’s photo with him Andrew Epermanis won the Flesh and Blood Classic Constructed Battle Hardened event on Saturday with Kayo, Armed and Dangerous The Top 8 decklists from the Battle Hardened can be found on the Flesh and Blood decklists page Julian Sniffen won the Flesh and Blood ProQuest+ on Sunday with Kano Decklists for the event are unavailable at the moment Phillip Pena won the Disney Lorcana Core Constructed $5K on Saturday with a Sapphire and Ruby deck Michael Fei won the Disney Lorcana Core Constructed $1K on Friday with Amethyst and Ruby David Nunez and George Gebhardt split the finals of the Disney Lorcana $1K on Sunday Nunez played Amethyst and Emerald and Gebhardt played Amethyst and Ruby Jordan Hannings won the Star Wars: Unlimited special May the Fourth Be With You Premier Constructed $4K on Saturday Rodney Hickman won the Star Wars: Unlimited Premier Constructed $1K on Sunday SCG CON returns with more Magic: The Gathering and Star Wars: Unlimited action in Las Vegas on June 7-9 Starting with his feature debut, 2013’s “And the Mud Ship Sails Away,” director Hirobumi Watanabe has made all of his films in and around his hometown of Otawara the music-themed comedy “Techno Brothers,” Watanabe departs from Otawara for the road to Tokyo where a sibling trio hopes to find success in the music business the film is shot in full color.googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1499653692894-0'); }); which leavens minimalist arthouse influences with the director’s own brand of off-kilter humor though the contribution of his brother Yuji who has served as composer on all of his films is large: He wrote the film’s many techno tunes All are played from start to finish with little visual variation which may be designed to put viewers in a techno trance but struck this non-fan as an overload obviously borrowed from the 1980 John Landis comedy classic “The Blues Brothers,” down to Techno Brothers’ dark shades and permanently blank expressions though his closest approximation to the former film’s spectacular car crashes is a minivan breakdown Another inspiration is “Leningrad Cowboys Go America,” Aki Kaurismaki’s 1989 comedy about a rock band from Siberia that “Techno Brothers” begins in a field in Tochigi Prefecture with the tiny but imperious “Boss Riko” (Watanabe film regular Riko Hisatsugu) speaking through a thuggish assistant (Watanabe) to the Brothers’ manager Himuro (Asuna Yanagi) she tells them to hit the road for Tokyo anyway Boss Riko brushes her off: “Make your own money!” she says Himuro channels the look and attitude of famed Vogue editor and “The Devil Wears Prada” inspiration Anna Wintour from her bobbed hair and oversized sunglasses to her take-charge With a gnomish old driver at the wheel of their rented minivan the Techno Brothers journey to various gigs and contests Played by the trio (the brothers Watanabe and Takanori Kurosaki) in identical black-and-red outfits (much like Kraftwerk) and with robotic precision their electronic sounds are catchy but retro Think the Yellow Magic Orchestra minus the charisma The reactions of their non-actor audiences generally range from the blank to the confused — and are a good source of laughs As is the film’s running gag of Himuro punishing her ever-silent charges for their lack of success by only allowing them to have water at restaurants she orders dish after mouth-watering dish for herself as they hungrily look on Also amusing are Watanabe’s chameleon-like turns as a variety of characters from a shambling local fan who offers Himuro unwanted advice to a loud-mouthed concert hall manager who has zero awareness of both the band and techno Despite the Techno Brothers serving as mute recipients of all the indignities the music business offers Himuro retains an unwavering faith in their talent that becomes oddly infectious and I was tapping my foot — and cheering them on Japanese giant Shiseido has built its first domestic factory in 36 years hoping to capitalise on a boom for "Made in Japan" cosmetics The Japanese cosmetics industry faces huge competition not only from established players such as L'Oreal and Estee Lauder but increasingly also from the "K-beauty" craze coming from South Korea with exports nearly quadrupling since 2013 to 546 billion yen ($5 billion) The domestic industry is also benefitting from an explosion of inbound tourism in recent years ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics -- in particular a relaxing of visa requirements for Chinese tourists who lap up the latest Japanese cosmetic fads Shiseido chief executive Masahiko Uotani told AFP that a focus on the high end of the market and time-honoured attention to detail set them apart from the foreign brands seeking to dominate globally Shiseido plans to open two more in Japan before 2022 -- a total investment of 120 billion yen -- the fastest pace of expansion in the firm's 150-year history The three new Shiseido factories in Japan will feature the latest in Japanese tech -- from advanced robotics to artificial intelligence -- but will also rely heavily on human intervention blue or pink overalls fix the tops -- there are too many different types of container to automate this process Kose Corporation sold its factory in China to boost its presence in Japan In Japan’s glittering cities, all hustle and light, they can be easy to miss. With all that sensory assault, who thinks to look down and take notice of something as mundane as a manhole cover? But these are no ordinary bits of civic infrastructure. In Japan, many manhole covers are works of urban art—elaborate They have become a tourist destination unto themselves and attract a legion of dedicated manhole enthusiasts who travel the country to visit some of the thousands of unique designs manhole covers have become a cultural phenomenon home of the Sanrio Puroland amusement park one can find covers featuring the ever-popular Hello Kitty Local sports franchises are also represented near the teams’ home arenas and stadiums—such as the well-known colorful depiction of the logo of the Hiroshima Carp baseball team While there is some logic to the placement of the covers particularly those graced with color—usually near a landmark or stadium—others appear to have been placed without rhyme or reason it is not unusual to walk down an otherwise unremarkable side street and spot a special one underfoot The ornate manhole covers are initially carved from aluminum, which is used to make sand molds for casting The majority of the designs are selected by local municipalities but in some cases the covers get another touch—colored resins flooded into voids like enamel on jewelry Today an estimated 95 percent of Japan’s 1,718 municipalities, across all 47 prefectures, now host their own unique covers. In Osaka, approximately 10 percent of the city’s 180,000 manhole covers feature ornate designs of which roughly 1,900 get the color treatment costs approximately $585—a five percent premium over the cost of a plain cover and nearly doubles the price of a manhole to more than $900 Such is the popularity of these little urban treasures that they have a devout, organized following. There is the industry-led Japan Ground Manhole Association, and the fan-based Japanese Society of Manhole Covers, whose website features thousands of photographs submitted by users across Japan who have snapped everything from large sewer covers to tiny local utility access panels One prominent fan is Kei Takebuchi, a popular Tokyo-based singer-songwriter. Takebuchi traces her fascination with them to the covers of Nagoya, which feature a charming cartoon water strider insect, while she was on tour in 2015. Since then, she has regularly tweeted photos of manhole covers to her nearly 200,000 followers on social media “Every manhole cover design has [a meaning] … it tells me that we can create art with almost anything,” she says with a range of manhole cover–related goods for sale The affinity for manhole covers also seems to tap in to Japan’s fondness for hobbies that involve lots of domestic travel. Stamp rallies—featuring rubber stamps at train stations and other landmarks—encourage hobbyists to travel to overlooked or lesser-visited locales to add one more stamp to their collections “Rail-fans” similarly scour the country to document or experience a rare train carriage Japan’s unique manhole covers are a charming reminder that the mundane can be exciting and that you should never forget to look down We depend on ad revenue to craft and curate stories about the world’s hidden wonders Consider supporting our work by becoming a member for as little as $5 a month Follow us on Twitter to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders Like us on Facebook to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders Fujinuma Noboru creates works of art by skillfully making use of the simplicity of bamboo and his works are highly esteemed both within Japan and internationally No article or any part there of may be reproduced without the express permission of the Cabinet Office. Copyright inquiries should be made through this form Yoichi-kun was created after the samurai Nasu no Yoichi who during the Yashima sea battle of the Genpei war managed to reach the center of a fan with only one arrow a rumor started to spread according to which shaking his hand would grant wishes As the mascot of Otawara, Tochigi prefecture, Yoichi-kun shows his city on his blog and his Facebook page Though he is mostly known for his archery performances Yoichi-kun can’t wait to come to Japan Expo to show you his feats and dance with you on the Azuki stage that's spelled with a "t" — is one of those places few people know and most confuse with somewhere else (in this case with Odawara travel about 165 km north of Tokyo and you'll find it tucked away in the northeast corner of Tochigi Prefecture.googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1499653692894-0'); }); There's little to offer visitors in the way of sightseeing and the region's only real claim to fame is that it's located next to the onsen-rich area of Nasushiobara which also features numerous quirky theme parks and museums 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 Japanese version A worker assembles CT scanners at Toshiba Medical Systems' main plant in Otawara, Tochigi Prefecture. (Photo by Koji Uema) OTAWARA, Japan   Toshiba has given Canon the inside track to buy its medical device business, as the cash-strapped Japanese electronics group puts its coveted asset up for sale in the wake of an accounting scandal last year.      Bidding for Toshiba Medical Systems, which ended on March 9, drew interest from a string of foreign and domestic suitors, including General Electric and private equity funds Permira and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. The deal with Canon -- if it goes through -- is estimated to be worth around 700 billion yen ($6.16 billion), or about 25 years of Toshiba Medical's cash earnings. the camera maker is set to shut down two of its lens manufacturing factories in the country and will also shift staff and operations to its remaining plant in Otawara The Japanese news agency added that Nikon is further consolidating its domestic manufacturing of lenses as part of its efforts to reduce costs This is a result of the decline of the camera market caused by the ever rising popularity of smartphones “We will ask 108 employees working at the Nagai factory and 54 employees at the Aizu factory to move to the factory in Otawara City we will support reemployment,” a company spokesperson told Nikkei “The site of the Nagai factory will be sold and the site of the Aizu factory will be returned to the local government.” It was previously reported that the company had also planned to cease operations in its Sendai plant and move all of its camera production to its factory in Thailand Nikon is said to continue manufacturing high-end lenses in Otawara while most of its lens production is handled by its Thailand factory as well (Source: Nikkei via Petapixel) Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or Telegram for more updates and breaking news.  ©2024 VIJANDREN RAMADASS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ©2024 LOWYAT, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ©2024 LOWYAT You know how the petrichor soothes the mind and soul after a dry and hot summer day this is how the new Netflix anthology series The Grimm Variations introduces itself in the first episode Based on the classic folktales of the Brothers Grimm this series takes the innocence out of the folktales and replaces it with dark The brothers Wilhelm and Jacob narrate the tales to their little sister Charlotte as she eagerly waits for the twists and turns that are about to come Cinderella’s abusive stepsisters are a pivotal part of the folktale and Cinderella is the daughter of a viscount Viscount Otawara proposes marriage to Miss Tsuruko who has two daughters from her last marriage Makiko and Sawako come to their stepfather’s lavish house with dreams and hopes of a happy life greet their new sisters with great excitement Both the sisters take notice of Kiyoko’s gorgeous hairpin and fight against each other to see who is worthy of it and the next day the hairpin is nowhere to be found and Makiko accuses Yoshi of stealing the hairpin despite Yoshi claiming she found it in the garden and didn’t mean to steal it telling her how fun it was going to be to be with her new sisters Makiko and Sawako figure out how Yoshi was framed for the theft They see through Kiyoko’s kind behavior and then catch her eavesdropping on them Kiyoko runs away when she’s confronted by the sisters Viscount Otawara holds the sisters responsible for it The servants have their own prejudice against the sisters and they think the daughters of a geisha are not worthy of staying in the family But Kiyoko saves the sisters by vouching for them and asking her father to forgive them Her charade of innocence blinds everybody in the family and she offers to be the handmaid for both of them Otawara grows tired of the sisters treating his own daughter horribly and arranges to send them abroad to study But he’s soon found dead in an accident and Kiyoko dresses up in a pretty gown to celebrate his death She has no grief over her father’s passing and the grieving family can’t make sense of her behavior.  Five years have passed since the viscount’s death and Kiyoko has grown up to be a beautiful woman Both of them are sick and tired of Kiyoko’s schemes and her daughters are always told that they might catch a cold if they go visit her Kiyoko has Miss Tsuruko wrapped around her fingers and she takes care of her alone and doesn’t let anyone else in An invitation arrives from a certain Count Ichijo for a dance ball and Tsuruko tells Kiyoko to make sure her daughters behave well and don’t embarrass themselves Kiyoko is over the moon to be dressing her sisters up in the prettiest gowns The sisters know this is their only chance to escape the madhouse and they plan to get the attention of Count Ichijo’s son Freshly graduated from the Imperial University Masataka’s handsome features and kind heart are well-known across the country If Masataka picks one of the sisters to be his bride Kiyoko still listens in on everything from outside and God save the sisters from this crazy Cinderella!  As soon as Makiko and Sawako enter the hall and Sawako gets the young count’s attention right away Her charm over him doesn’t last for long as she starts to drink more than she can handle but Sawako is already buzzed enough to ignore her elder sister’s words which grabs everybody’s attention right away The count is instantly smitten by her beauty and approaches her and she ignores the count and falls to her knees Sawako understands her facade once again and tries to slap her He throws both the sisters out of the party and asks Kiyoko for a dance Kiyoko bids goodbye to the count earlier than expected leaving her hairpin behind on the staircase.  Kiyoko confessed her hatred for the sisters to Miss Tsuruko when her daughters left for the ball She’s been feeding her doses of poison all along The family is nothing but a bunch of dolls for Kiyoko to play with Kiyoko forces the last of the poison down Tsuruko’s throat and the sisters return home to discover their mother dead Makiko claims her spot as the eldest of the family and she refuses Count Masataka’s wish to see Kiyoko But the count resists the sisters and reminds them that Kiyoko is the only person with blood relation to her father and the inheritance has been passed down to her Makiko reminds her that they’re finally free.  Kiyoko is a deranged psychopath who just had fun tormenting the sisters and their mother She understands that the sisters willingly united her with the count From framing the servant for stealing the hairpin and finally killing her father and his wife Kiyoko eliminated anyone who stopped her from having her “fun.” One would assume the count is nothing more than another plaything for our diabolical Cinderella This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that 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