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The page may not be displayed properly if the JavaScript is deactivated on your browser Japanese version The number of cyberattacks against companies and government offices has been increasing in Japan since March ahead of a Group of Seven summit the country is set to host in May sources familiar with the matter said Saturday which attempt to disrupt the online traffic of a server or network by overwhelming it with data "There is a possibility that (Japan) is being targeted as the host of the G-7 summit and we have warned relevant organizations to stay alert," an official at the National center of Incident readiness and Strategy for Cybersecurity said a professor of information engineering at Chukyo University said the attacks may have come as part of preparations for launching a full-scale attack The series of attacks began around March 14 and are still ongoing The summit will be held in Hiroshima between May 19 and 21 while Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc with their websites briefly becoming inaccessible prefectural and municipal officials suffered a delay in email servers and could not access the internet following an attack on Wednesday Some websites of central government offices including one for the Cabinet Office's public relations It is believed that the same hacker group carried out the attacks due to the similarity of methods employed in the incidents G-7 ministers meet with AI risks, digital infrastructure in focus 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 Your browser does not support JavaScript, or it is disabled．Please check the site policy for more information National Report NARA--Some residents in Nara Prefecture have developed a practical solution to prevent deer from injuring themselves by gorging on plastic waste found in Nara Park: shopping bags deer can eat Local companies are teaming up to create and promote a special eco-friendly paper called “shika gami” (deer paper) that will not harm the deer The park’s deer are beloved by locals and are known internationally for their polite The government has even designated them as a national natural treasure But the deer have been swallowing plastic bags and other garbage amassing in the park which has grown into a serious issue for the majestic creatures leading to a number of deer deaths in recent years He described the deer as “an important resource” for the prefecture that must be preserved and treated with respect “Protecting deer means protecting the economy of Nara Prefecture,” he said Matsukawa came up with the idea for deer-friendly paper while visiting a local souvenir shop near Todaiji temple for business talks in spring 2019 He heard from a temple official there that “deer have died after swallowing trash by mistake.” He also learned through media reports that a mass of plastic was found lodged in a deer’s stomach “I should develop a kind of paper resembling ‘shika senbei’ (crackers fed to deer) to be used for packages,” Matsukawa recalled thinking Matsukawa reached out to two of his acquaintances who work in the prefecture: Takashi Nakamura the head of the print and design firm Bunyodo They spent an entire year crafting the deer-friendly material which is made from the pulp recycled from old milk cartons and the same rice bran used for shika senbei crackers Japan Food Research Laboratories examined the special paper for safety and determined that consuming the product poses no health hazard at least to human beings The Nara City Tourism Association and a souvenir store around Todaiji have already adopted the edible bags for use on a trial basis But one major hurdle to widespread adoption is the hefty price tag While an ordinary plastic bag only costs a handful of yen (a few cents) its shika-gami counterpart is priced at about 100 yen “The costs can be lowered if the material’s production increases,” said Matsukawa “We will aim to cut the price for a wider use of the material.” But the price point is not the only factor at play for locals concerned about the deer which is based in Tawaramoto and has 15 branches across the prefecture introduced a total of 3,000 shika-gami bags at its outlets in August to support the effort documents and other forms will be handed to customers in the special bags--even though they are located far from the deer but we sympathized with the developers’ determination to preserve deer at Nara Park,” said Teruo Nakata Matsukawa said part of the sales from the shika-gami bags will be donated to the Nara Deer Preservation Foundation Nara deer poop back to normal now that tourists are gone Video goes viral of deer chilling out under cherry blossoms in Nara JW Marriott may turn Nara into more than a day-trip destination Horyuji temple murals before 1949 fire to be shown online Proteges of last geisha in Nara district let loose as YouTubers 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 are being prepared in the Tawaramoto district of Goshogawara 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 have long been popular as a preserved food and are made by drying mochi during the cold winter months ties pieces of mochi cake that are 8 centimeters square with string and hangs them in his hut from a height of about 4 meters He has been making the cakes from late November to February every year for more than 40 years besides also growing rice and tending to apple trees he plans to make the cakes out of about 4,800 kilograms of glutinous rice harvested last fall He had about 65,000 of the cakes hanging in his hut on Monday I hope people will enjoy them either baked or deep-fried,” Kanenari said Our weekly ePaper presents the most noteworthy recent topics in an exciting © 2025 The Japan News - by The Yomiuri Shimbun have often suffered from eating plastic bags discarded by visitors but local companies have now succeeded in developing paper bags that the animals can digest The deer-friendly bags use paper made with rice bran and hence poses fewer health risks if they are eaten "We made the paper with the deer in mind," said Hidetoshi Matsukawa president of one of the developers called Naraism "Tourism in Nara is supported by deer and we will protect them and also promote the bags as a brand for the Nara economy." Plastic bags discarded by visitors are a threat to the deer dwelling in and around the vast park masses of tangled up plastic litter and packets were retrieved from the stomachs of several dead deer More than 1,000 deer roam in the park and visitors are allowed to feed them with digestive and sugar-free deer crackers The crackers are sold in nearby shops and do not use plastic wrapping But some tourists are apparently giving them other snacks taken from plastic bags The digestible bags are made of rice bran -- an ingredient in the deer crackers -- and pulp recycled from milk packages They are more easily dissolved in water while being less durable than normal paper As the new paper is designed to be as safe as possible for the deer developing the product involved some problems such as dealing with the powdery uncoated surface of the paper which had caused printing machines to clog up a cooperative financial institution based also in the town about a 30-minute drive from the park in the city of Nara purchased 3,000 of the deer-friendly bags to support the local companies' efforts The bank has been giving the bags to its clients to help them carry documents and they have become a much-talked-about item in the area Cleanup of plastic bag litter in Nara aims to protect deer Deer in Japan's Nara died with numerous plastic bags in stomach Japanese version