Random Japan

NPO lobbies to rebuild Edo Castle

Naotake Odake, former managing director of the Japan Tourist Bureau (JTB) and once director of the Tokyo Convention and Visitors Bureau, spent years of his professional life traveling to cities across the globe in order to promote Tokyo as a worthwhile tourist destination. In his travels, he noticed a trait shared by all the major cities: they each had a unique and well-recognized landmark embodying the history and culture of the land. According to Odake, a structure of this sort is vital to bolstering a spirit of pride in any given population. Unfortunately for Tokyo, he believes that this sort of historical landmark is something that Japan’s capital city severely lacks. What he has against Asakusa Temple, Tokyo Tower, or Tokyo Skytree, I’m really not sure. But, it is for this reason that Odake has taken the lead as the chairman of a non-profit organization which hopes to rebuild the Edo Castle’s innermost tower. “In order to present Tokyo as a proud tourist city, we need something like Edo Castle,” he says. But will the payoff really outweigh the costs?

stats

• 2,100Tons of unexploded World War II-era munitions that remain uncollected in Okinawa, according to a Naha-based NPO
• 370,000Vehicles recalled worldwide by Toyota earlier this month because of defective powertrains
• ¥640 millionFunds intended for local governments to measure hotspots near the Fukushima Daiichi plant that remain unspent

MILESTONES

• A Kawasaki-based inventor has developed a bicycle that can filter water while it’s being pedaled.
• In the first procedure of its kind, doctors at Osaka University have treated a pancreatitis patient by removing the offending organ, separating its insulin-producing islets, and transplanting them back into the patient.
• Researchers at the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization have discovered that “warmer temperatures sweeten the taste of apples.”
• A research group headed by a professor at Waseda University has developed a six-wheeled robot that can be operated by smartphone to conduct environmental surveys.

He Was Found
Circling The Drain

He Was Busy
Spying For The Yakuza

The Osaka I See You Too
TV Is Watching You

Scientific balloon hits record altitude above Hokkaido

September 21, 2013

By AKIRA HATANO/ Staff Writer

Japan's space agency set a new world record for an unmanned observation balloon by sending it to an altitude of 53,700 meters from its test site in Taiki, Hokkaido.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said Sept. 20 the experiment paves the way for more exact measurements of atmospheric conditions.

The balloon, made of ultra-thin material measuring 60 meters across, was developed by JAXA's Institute of Space and Astronautical Science. The use of a polyethylene film as thin as 0.0028 millimeter in the balloon's skin reduced its total weight to only 35 kilograms.