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Tag: Tokyo

  • Tokyo Earthquake Shakes Things Up

    Earthquakes are common in Tokyo, but most of them are not too strong. A level 5 earthquake struck Tokyo early Monday morning, and woke many people from their sleep.

    The earthquake is the strongest one recorded since the magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami that occurred in March 2011 off the northeastern coast that left more than 18,500 people dead or missing.

    Monday’s earthquake measured 6.2 magnitude on the Richter scale and had an epicenter 160 km below the ocean. There was no damage or injuries reported, but almost everyone in Tokyo felt the trimmer.

    A lot of people tweeted about the earthquake and how it scared and shocked them.

    Others joked about it.

    Although this quake was not a strong one, it was much stronger than the last recoded Tokyo earthquake which occurred in Decemeber 2013 and measured 5.5 on the Richter scale.

    It seems like the earthquakes may be growing stronger and many fear they could be leading up to a mega earthquake like the one that struck in 2011.

    Tokyo is still trying to rebuild and recover after the 2011 earthquake, so even smaller quakes can make people nervous.

    Did you feel the Monday morning earthquake in Tokyo?

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Tokyo Earthquake Doesn’t Cause Much Trouble, Rattles John Mayer

    Tokyo earthquakes aren’t all that uncommon. In fact, the entire region is somewhat unstable thanks to the geological makeup of the islands. It’s still unsettling to feel the earth rumble, especially since the wounds from the 2011 Tohoku earthquake still haven’t healed.

    Reuters is reporting that Tokyo and surrounding regions was hit by an earthquake early Monday morning. The quake was said to have hit 6.2 magnitude on the Richter scale and had an epicenter 160 km below the ocean. Thankfully, no damage has been reported and everything, including nuclear power plants, are operating smoothly.

    Even if it caused no damage, a 6.2 magnitude earthquake is nothing to scoff at. It’s still easily felt and those living in and visiting Tokyo certainly felt it. It’s not uncommon to see celebrities in Japan and singer John Mayer was tweeting about it today. He said it was the biggest he’s ever felt while staying in the country.

    A more somber note came from Nintendo of America’s Bill Trinen who says today’s earthquake shared an epicenter with the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923.

    For those unaware, the Great Kanto Earthquake was the worst earthquake in Japanese history up until 2011. A total of 105,385 people died with many perishing in the fires that erupted in the aftermath. While Monday’s earthquake was nowhere even close to the one that struck the Kanto region in 1923, it still rattles the nerves to think that something like that could happen again so soon after the events of 2011. After all, Japan is still hurting after an earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands and crippled the nuclear reactor in Fukushima.

    While some were worried or reflecting on the past, others found humor:

    The last time Tokyo was hit by an earthquake was in December of last year. The earthquake was recorded at 5.5 magnitude so one could surmise that they’re only getting stronger. We can only hope that Tokyo and Japan as a whole gets a break. After what happened in 2011 and the years since, they’ve earned it.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Anne Frank Literature: 265 Books Destroyed in Tokyo

    Since January, a vandal has been making the rounds, ripping pages out of Anne Frank books in libraries across Tokyo, Japan.

    Police investigators have counted a total of 265 damaged books.

    One of the most renowned, historical books of the Holocaust victim includes The Diary of a Young Girl, which details a firsthand account of Anne Frank’s experience.

    Evidence has shown that dozen of pages were ripped out of the book. Investigators believe that the books may have been searched in the librarian database.

    One library has now relocated their copies in a safe area behind the counter of the checkout area.

    There is reportedly no motive behind the vandalism, or is there?(image)

    The Associated Press implied that the former relationship between Germany and Japan could be the reason why the “paper-reaper” is targeting Anne Frank literature.

    Japan and Nazi Germany were allies in World War II, and though Holocaust denial has occurred in Japan at times, the motive for damaging the Anne Frank books is unclear. 

    According to BBC News, Japan has no history of anti-Semitism. Associate Dean Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, which is a Jewish rights organization, believes otherwise.

    “The geographic scope of these incidents strongly suggest an organized effort to denigrate the memory of the most famous of the 1.5 million Jewish children murdered by the Nazis in the World War Two Holocaust,” he told BBC.

    Literature about Anne Frank has been popular among the Japanese community for years. Historians from Israel have confirmed that young adults in Japan are more receptive towards the Anne Frank story than any other age group.

    The The Diary of a Young Girl was first translated in 1952 and became a bestseller in Japan a year later. The country reportedly ranks second to the United States the number of copies sold.

    Images via YouTube

  • Tokyo 5.5 Earthquake Shakes Up Saturday Morning

    Yahoo News tells us that eastern Japan has felt a strong rumble registering at a 5.5 magnitude early this morning, but thankfully no tsunami threats, serious damage or nuclear damage have been reported. This has been the ninth earthquake this month.

    Although always frightening, the citizens of Japan are likely breathing a sigh of relief– this earthquake did not cause the following nightmares of past tremors, namely the 9 magnitude earthquake that left 20,000 people dead or missing due to the following tsunami of colossal proportions and destroyed nuclear plant.

    In the matter of nuclear damage, Japan can’t take much more right now. The country is still working to clean up the destroyed nuclear plant by the name of Fukushima. According to an earlier report from the BBC, the high amounts of radioactive water stored on the site are reaching storage capacity, and there are numerous leaks throughout the entire plant. These leaks are extremely detrimental; radioactive water seeping into the groundwater, rivers and oceans not only severely impacts our seafood dishes– but the balance of the Earth’s ecosystem. There is some distrust on plant radiation figure reports by some officials, so let us hope that there was actually no plant damage done by the quake today.

    More information on this earthquake is sure to follow as the hours progress. As of right now, eastern Tokyo is a little shaken up, but they have seen much worse in very recent history.

    [image: twitter]

  • Joe Biden Visits China Amid Air Zone Tensions

    US Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Asia as tensions are escalating between China and Japan over a newly established Chinese air defense identification zone in the East China Sea.

    The tensions center around the tiny Senkaku Islands (known as the Diaoyu in China) which are within the new air defense zone. Although Japan has controlled the islands for many years, China and Taiwan both claim ownership of them.

    The islands lie near key shipping routes and are surrounded by waters that serve as rich fishing grounds. In addition they’re located close to potential oil and gas reserves.

    Add to that their strategic military position – the US routinely flies surveillance over the airspace that China is attempting to restrict – and the Senkaku Islands, though minuscule and uninhabited, are a significant source of contention.

    Not surprisingly, Beijing’s unilaterally-declared air defense identification zone didn’t go over well with the US, Japan, or South Korea.

    The air defense identification zone requires all planes entering the airspace to file flight plans with Beijing.

    Japan has made it clear that their planes will do no such thing. In what is seen as an act of protest, the US flew two B-52 bombers over the zone after the announcement without giving notice, but has urged its commercial airlines to notify China before flying over.

    Biden’s 6-day tour of Asia started in Tokyo, where he addressed the air defense identification zone and attempted to assure Japan that the US stands with them in protest of it.

    Biden said he was “deeply concerned about China’s attempt to unilaterally change the status quo in the East China Sea.”

    From Tokyo, Biden traveled to Beijing.

    Addressing a group of mostly young people who were waiting for visitor visas at the US Embassy, Biden praised the spirit of democracy, liberalism, and intellectualism: “Children in America are rewarded — not punished — for challenging the status quo. The only way you make something totally new is to break the mold of what was old.”

    He went on to say that “there is one thing that’s stamped in the DNA of every American, whether they are naturalized citizens or natural-born. It’s an inherent rejection of orthodoxy.”

    Not once in his public comments in China did Biden directly address the conflict over the air defense identification zone. Instead, he emphasized the need for candor, cooperation, and trust – clearly attempting to dial back the tension between China and Japan and prevent it from escalating further.

    Still, Chinese state media criticized the US stance on the conflict. An editorial in the English language China Daily accused the US of “turning a blind eye to Tokyo’s provocations.”

    From Beijing, Biden will travel on to Seoul, South Korea before returning to the US.

    Image via YouTube

  • New Japanese Island Appears After Volcanic Eruption

    Fortunately for residents of Japan and the rest of the world, the smoke and ashes rising from the floor of the Pacific Ocean approximately 620 miles south of Tokyo on Wednesday were not the signs of Godzilla or any other kaiju rising from the depths of the ocean. Instead of having to face down a terrifying amphibious monster, Japan is welcoming its first potential new island to develop since the 1970’s.

    Wednesday morning the Japanese Coast Guard alerted the Japanese mainland of smoke rising from the ocean near the Ogasawara Islands chain, an archipelago also known as the Bonin Islands, a group which also includes the famous island of Iwo Jima.

    As it currently stands (or floats…), the island is approximately 650 feet wide and 980 feet long. Despite its present small-size, scientists believe this island has the potential to be a grower and not a shower: “Smoke is still rising from the volcanic island, and we issued a navigation warning to say that this island has emerged with ash falling in the area,” stated the Coast Guard.

    However, Japan is not ready to name the island just yet. “This has happened before and in some cases the islands disappeared,” reported Yoshihide Suga, the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications for Japan.

    Darcy Ogden, volcanologist and professor at University of California San Diego (UCSD) also cautioned against claiming this land-mass as an island just yet: “It’s a matter of if it’s going to break apart. It’s made of a big pile of rocks. If they aren’t stuck together very well they will erode and break down.”

    Despite his concerns as to whether or not the island will be permanent, Suga and other members of the Japanese government have voiced their desire to annex the island: “If it becomes a full-fledged island, we would be happy to have more territory.”

    There is more at play than what just rests on the surface with this island. For years, China and Japan have contested territorial claims to waters residing in the East China Sea. If this island becomes a permanent fixture in the archipelago, Japan’s territorial claims will grow and thus it will be able to expand its influence into the East China Sea, a water-source full of access to important energy resources.

    And if it is Godzilla or another kaiju, at least we have the Jaegers (mech-warriors from the movie Pacific Rim) to protect us.

    [Image via YouTube]

  • Typhoon Wipha Hits Tokyo, At Least 17 Killed

    Typhoon Wipha reached the Tokyo area Wednesday, and at least 17 people have died, with another 50 missing.

    An official from Oshima, a small island 75 miles south of Tokyo, reported that the majority of the casualties came from flooding and landslides due to heavy rain. Rescuers were unable to reach people in some of the areas hit by torrential downpours. Oshima reported 32.44 inches of rain from the storm, in less than 24 hours.

    Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) reported that blackouts have affected more than 56,000 households. TEPCO, the main electricity supplier in Tokyo and central Japan, which has been struggling to deal with a series of leaks at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, said that staff at the plant were “on vigil,” and that accumulated rainwater had been purged from storage tanks.

    The Fukushima plant recently leaked roughly 430 liters of radioactive water into the ocean, due to an overflow in a container from a previous tropical depression. The added Wipha rainwater has been keeping technicians on edge.

    In related news, after the 2011 Fukushima meltdown, Namie-machi, a small city in the Fukushima Prefecture in the radiation exclusion zone, remains uninhabited. Google was still able to get in there to photograph the place for its Google Maps Street View. The place is still a ghost town:

    (image)

    Typhoon Wipha is moving north along the Pacific coast of Japan, and is expected to reach the northernmost island of Hokkaido by late Wednesday. Over 500 international and domestic flights were cancelled at the Narita and Haneda airports, and the national railroad operator stopped train services in central and northern Japan.

    Wipha is the eighth typhoon of 2013, and the 26th named tropical cyclone of the year, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons.

  • Japan Typhoon Man-Yi Surfaces, Endangering Fukushima

    Typhoon Man-Yi has hit southern Japan causing fears that the Fukushima nuclear plant may be impacted. Man-Yi is the 18th typhoon this season, bringing heavy rains and officials are warning citizens in different parts of the country of flooding and very strong winds. Central Japan Railway Co. temporarily suspended their bullet-train services near Tokyo as the vicious typhoon quickly approached the nation’s capital. Around 200 domestic flights have been cancelled as well, mostly those that were planning to depart from Tokyo.

    The tropical storm that is a high threat to Japan’s citizens originated in Pacific waters close to the southern island of Shikoku. It has been increasing in size and at times obtaining wind speeds of up to 144 kilometers per hour. According to the New Zealand Herald, it was on a direct course to hit southern of the main island Honshu on Monday morning. Next on its course, it was predicted that it would head northeast toward the capital, crossing the northeast and the area near Fukushima.

    Fukushima continues to deal with an immense struggle attempting to control the radioactive materials that leaked into the Pacific Ocean during the earthquake and tsumani that hit in 2011. It is a story that has been resurfacing in the mainstream media lately and scaring a lot of people, as it continues to contaminate the water. This has caused the fish in multiple areas to be too dangerous to eat.

    A flood warning was issued to residents near the Kokai river in Tochigi Prefecture, north of Tokyo. There was also an earlier flood warning for the Meguro river, which has since been lifted, states Bloomberg.com. Before hitting Japan, the storm had already delivered strong winds and heavy rain in the south and east, although no major damage was reported. Warnings for flooding, heavy rain, mudslides and high ocean waves have all been issued by the weather agency to areas along the Pacific coast.

    As the storm continues to damage parts of Japan, more contaminated water is expected to seep into the groundwater as well and problem of the radioactive waste from the Fukushima plant is scaring people around the world. If the water continues to be polluted at this rate, it could be unsafe to swim in a matter of a few years.

    Image via Youtube

  • Olympic Wrestling In, Base-/Softball and Squash Out

    During this week’s International Olympic Committee meetings in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Olympic wrestling won the privilege to return to the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games as an event. The reprieve comes seven months after the sport was recommended to be dropped from the Games.

    In the voting round, wrestling assembled 49 votes, baseball-softball claimed 24 and squash garnered 22. Had wrestling had two less votes, a second round of voting would have been initiated. Wrestling benefits partly by its history, being an event held in every modern Olympics except in 1900 and being an original event of the ancient Games.

    Nenad Lalovic, president of the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA), thanked the IOC for the ability to present a plea for the sport. “Today is the most important day in the 3,000-year history of our sport. And believe me, we feel the weight of that history… Remaining in the Olympic program is crucial to our survival,” Lalovic stated. But the sport is not a permanent element of the Games just yet, only safe through the 2024 running.

    IOC president Jacques Rogge explained the reasoning for shifting events in and out of the program, saying it, “must remain dynamic… That is essential for the success of the Olympic Games.” Rugby and golf join the roster for the 2016 Olympics. In 2005, baseball and softball were dropped as of last year’s Games. The sports were relatively new additions to the Olympics, joining in the 1990’s. Squash was out for its first attempt at inclusion, claiming to be, “a sport that represents the future, not the past.”

    Voting is conducted through secret ballots, as is the selection of host city for the Games. Tokyo triumphed on Saturday, winning its bid to host the 2020 Summer Games. The last major decision of the IOC session in Argentina is the replacement of 12-year veteran president Rogge. That vote will happen Tuesday.

    IOC members recommended wrestling be eliminated over issues it lacked, namely gender equality, administrative athlete representation, simple rules and a large following. Sport participants and enthusiasts put on a broad campaign to save the sport, making major changes to the wrestling federation including the resignation of FILA president Raphael Martinetti who was replaced by Lalovic. Two women’s weight classes replaced two men’s weight classes. Rules were simplified and were altered to benefit more aggressive match strategies.

    In their social media accounts, FILA encouraged supporters to #SaveOlympicWrestling and #TakeAStance which prompted photos of fans in a wrestling stance from all over the globe (as seen above from supporters in France).

    [Image via FILA Facebook.]

  • Host City 2020 Olympics Will Be Tokyo, Japan

    Tokyo will be sports fans’ destination for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympics Games. The International Olympic Committee selected Japan’s capital city today, home to over 36,000 people.

    Tokyo last hosted the games in 1964. This round they used the slogan, “the Olympics will be safe in our hands.” This pitch and Tokyo’s pledge to spend a fraction of what the London Olympics cost likely weighed heavily in their favor against the backdrop of cities that have struggled to pull off the massive event, specifically Athens in 2004 and the Rio de Janeiro anticipating 2016, added to next year’s winter host Sochi coming in as the most expensive Games in history.

    Competing cities Istanbul and Madrid are feeling the sting of multiple disappointments in their Olympic hosting dreams. Both have congratulated Tokyo on the win.

    I was in Madrid during their attempt at winning last year’s Summer Games, when beat out by London, and the excitement (before) and disappointment (after) were palpable. This is Madrid’s third consecutive pitch, having been knocked out of contention for the 2016 Games as well by Rio. Barcelona was the site of the 1992 Summer Games.

    (image)

    NBA basketball star and Olympic silver medalist Pau Gasol, a prominent figure in Madrid’s presentation, said, “It’s a shame because we were confident and had a good feeling… I don’t think our work has been duly recognized in this instance.” Madrid actually presented the least expensive option to the IOC.

    Istanbul is suffering its fifth rejection by the IOC—it beat Madrid but a silver second can sometimes be most painful. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had optimistically flown to Buenos Aires, where the vote was being held, to make the country’s bid after attending the Group of 20 Summit in Russia. But Istanbul suffered problems in June when protesters and government officials clashed violently. Probably not working in the country’s favor either are a series of doping scandals involving Turkish athletes and uncertainty about violence in neighboring Syria.

    (image)

    Erdogan said after the vote, “It wasn’t our fate.”

    London mayor Boris Johnson sent Tokyo his congratulations, one host to another, “Huge congratulations to Tokyo for winning the honor of hosting the greatest sporting spectacular on the planet… I am sure that, like London, your great city will put on an extraordinary event.” He promised to share experiences from last year’s Games.

    [Images from Olympics and Istanbul Facebook pages and the author.]

  • This Baseball-Playing Robot Is Leading The Charge In Artificial Brain Reearch

    Super Baseball 2020 predicted a future where robots and cybernetically enhanced humans competed on the diamond for our enjoyment. Now some research at the University of Electro-Communications in Tokyo is starting to fulfill part of that prophecy.

    Wired reports that researchers have built a baseball-playing robot learns more about the game as it plays. In other words, it will miss the first few pitches, but it will slowly learn where the ball is most likely to come from. After a while, it will start to hit more pitches and become more proficient in baseball.

    The robot is able to quickly learn baseball thanks to its new brain that emulates a brain with about 100,000 neurons. According to Wikipedia, the fruit fly and lobster both have about 100,000 neurons in their brains. In comparison, the human brain has about 85 billion.

    It may not have as many neurons as a human, but the researchers hope this latest robot can help them produce more complicated brains in the future. The end goal is to have robots perform complicated tasks that only humans and advanced animals, like apes, dolphins and elephants, can perform.

    [Image: Wired]

  • Sony Mobile Announces 1,000 Layoffs

    The late summer layoffs just keep coming. Sure, it was expected that RIM would be laying off many employees, but who saw the gutting of Motorola Mobility coming? Game companies have had it even worse than device manufacturers, though. PopCap apologetically announced layoffs earlier this week, and OnLive’s recent debacle is something to behold.

    Sony Mobile, Sony’s mobile phone division, today announced that it will lay off 1000 employees, including consultants. This rounds to about 15% of Sony Mobile’s global workforce. The layoffs will happen over the course of the next two fiscal years, so it won’t happen all at once.

    The layoffs are part of a plan to alter the global operational structure of Sony Mobile, including its sties in Tokyo, Lund, and Beijing. Starting in October, the Sony Mobile headquarters in Lund, Sweden will be moved to Tokyo, Japan. The company stated that it is streamlining its supply chain management and trying to integrate better with Sony as a whole.

    “Sony has identified the mobile business as one of its core businesses and the Xperia smartphone portfolio continues to gain momentum with customers and consumers worldwide,” said Kunimasa Suzuki, president and CEO of Sony Mobile. “We are accelerating the integration and convergence with the wider Sony group to continue enhancing our offerings, and a more focused and efficient operational structure will help to reduce Sony Mobile’s costs, enhance time to market efficiency and bring the business back to a place of strength.”

  • Sega Introduces Toylet: The Urinal Video Game

    Nintendo gave us the Wii and now Sega has brought us the Pii.

    Yes, that means about what you think it means: there is a video game that uses your pee. Urine. Number one. And if you’re a male in Tokyo anytime soon, you may get to take a shake at the bathroom game if you happen by the right urinal.

    News of Sega’s urinal video game, Toylet, has been creeping westward for a little while now, but Game On Gaming has put together one of the better demo videos .

    Sigh. Dear Japan: Please don’t change for anybody.

  • Japan’s Earthquake Shows The Strength of Social Networking

    In the US, we can only imagine the devastation which occurred in Japan, and continues to occur as reports roll in concerning higher death tolls and more people missing. One of the scariest factors many don’t consider when an event like this occurs is how the avenues of communication shut down.

    Telephone lines are reported to be down for most of Japan, and getting a hold of loved ones is a difficult task to undertake. As reports surface, messages from Facebook and Twitter provide the latest news. Doing a bit of research shows how the human spirit can be found within the social media platforms.

    Kotaku, a video game related site, posted an interesting article concerning how many japanese video game developers are tweeting their experiences. One developer went so far as to open their studio doors to strangers, relying on Twitter to accept invitations.

    Masahiro Sakurai, a famous video game developer posted a startling image on Twitter of an almost always crowded Tokyo road being completely deserted.

    Deserted Tokyo road

    George Takei, a famous japanese-american actor, has been tweeting non-stop trying to inspire people to donate to the Red Cross.

    @GeorgeTakei
    George Takei    RT @BBC_WNA Kyoto news reports about 88,000 people missing: http://bbc.in/h2nC0S Text REDCROSS to 90999 to give $10. 23 minutes ago via HootSuite · powered by @socialditto

    Obtaining information about where to find shelters has moved to Twitter as well, with locations being posted on Google Maps. And lists of locations becoming available as well.

    @TimeOutTokyo
    TimeOutTokyo    Shelters have been open to people stranded in Tokyo tonight. The full list here. http://bit.ly/idHCRT #Tokyoearthquake 6 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    @TimeOutTokyo
    TimeOutTokyo    A Google map of all the public shelters open tonight in Tokyo. It’s in Japanese, but it may help. http://bit.ly/hM50Jd 4 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    As WebProNews reported earlier, earthquake related tweets have been trending all morning. People have been expressing concern, and sympathy as the death and missing tolls rise.

    Tsunami warnings have been issued to various locations around the Pacific Ocean, and millions of social media accounts will be staying tuned for the latest updates. Let’s hope we don’t have to receive any.