Random Japan

Check out this absolutely stunning drone video of Nagasaki’s Battleship Island in Ultra HD

Audrey Akcasu

Nagasaki is known for having a lot of history, being the only port open to foreign trade during Japan’s long isolation in the Edo Period. But one of Nagasaki’s most captivating tourist attractions really isn’t that old – Hashima Island, better known as Gunkanjima, or Battleship Island. It’s eerie existence brings haikyo (urban ruins) fans from all over the world. If you can’t make it to the island yourself, or are unsatisfied with the limited visibility from the tour, wait no longer. Thanks to “Gunkanjima Archives,” an organization run by Nishi Nihon Newspaper, which is dedicated to bringing you photos and videos of the desolate island, you can now take an Ultra HD drone tour of the island in a spellbinding video.

But first, let’s get to know the island a little better. Gunkanjima came into the spotlight when it hosted Raoul Silva, the villain in the most recent 007 movie, Skyfall and then subsequently getting coverage on Google Street View. It was once the home to thousands, with cement apartment blocks, schools and even a movie theater, while functioning as a coalmine for over a hundred years. It was abandoned in the 1970s and sits in decay, as the harsh weather breaks down the structures bit by bit. While this may sound like a great place for the secret lair for villains, it’s not exactly exploration friendly, with many huge buildings in imminent danger of collapsing. Regardless of the danger (or maybe tempted by it) people still want an up-close view.

118,805 Cases of bullying at elementary schools reported in fiscal 2013—a record high, according to the education ministry

457.73 million Assets held by Reconstruction Minister Wataru Takeshita, who is the wealthiest of the 12 members of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Cabinet

3,900 People in Shizuoka, Yamanashi and Kanagawa prefectures who took part in a drill to prepare for a possible eruption of Mt. Fuji

SAY IT AIN’T SO

• For ¥300,000, a Kyoto company is offering single women the chance to have a“solo wedding.” The package includes a bridal gown, flower arrangements, professional photography and a hotel stay.
• Another company has begun operating a ¥210,000 “paparazzi taxi,” which offloads passengers in front of a red carpet while five photographers crowd around to take their picture.
• The owner of an izakaya in central Japan has created a blue cocktail in honor of Hiroshi Amano, the Nagoya University professor who won the Nobel Prize in Physics for inventing blue LEDs.
• Justices on the Tokyo District Court ordered Google to delete some of its search results at the request of a man who objects to “articles hinting he may have been involved in a crime.”

No Fever 
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The Police Come Calling



I-Robot Busted
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Americans consider Japan most important Asian country, survey suggests

BY MASAAKI KAMEDA

STAFF WRITER

Japan is regarded among the U.S. public and American opinion leaders as the most import country in Asia, according to the results of an annual survey released by the Foreign Ministry on Friday.

It was the first time in four years that the survey found that both the U.S. public and opinion leaders viewed Japan in such a positive light.

The ministry commissioned Nielsen Consumer Insights Inc. to conduct the poll, which found that 46 percent of the 1,003 Americans aged 18 and over who were polled consider Japan the country’s most important Asian partner, up 11 points from last year. Twenty-six percent of them chose China, which marked a decrease of 13 points.