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August 11, 2026
 

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SHIMANE

Several times a year, workers and paying guests at the Tanabe Tataranosato build up and continuously tend to a traditional "tatara" (furnace) over 24 hours.
LIFE / Travel
Jul 25, 2026
In the hills of Shimane, Â鶹´«Ã½ steelworking tradition forges on
The remote communities of Unnan, Okuizumo and Yasugi were once historical centers of steel production for katana. Today, artisans and experts are keeping that history alive.
Shingo Takatsu (left) and Soichi Tojima check a crop surrounded by a fence in Oda, Shimane Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Apr 27, 2026
Shimane farming districts face onslaught from rising monkey population
Japanese macaques have become used to humans, stealing persimmons and daikons even with people standing nearby.
Seoul has repeatedly ?objected to Japan's territorial claims over the tiny islets known as Takeshima in Japan ?and Dokdo in South Korea, which controls them.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 22, 2026
South Korea protests Japanese event over disputed islands
The tiny islets, known as Takeshima in Japan ?and Dokdo in South Korea, which controls them, have long been ?a source of tension between the neighboring countries.
A set of remote islands called Takeshima in Japanese and Dokdo in Korean are seen in this picture taken from a helicopter in August 2012.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 21, 2026
Japan to send parliamentary vice minister to Takeshima Day ceremony
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi shifted gears on sending a higher-ranked official in light of improving ties between Japan and South Korea.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi enters the Prime Minister¡¯s Office in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 17, 2026
Takaichi won¡¯t send Cabinet ministers to Takeshima Day ceremony
The prime minister has ruled out sending senior-level official to the event, as she looks to keep improving ties with Seoul on an even keel.
Masako (left) and Takeyuki Satokawa sit on a ridge by one of their rice paddies as they recall their years of farming in Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Feb 2, 2026
¡®It would only burden our children¡¯: Aging farmers quit rice production
Training a successor is important, but most farmers have been too busy trying to survive instead, one member of an agricultural cooperative corporation said.
The intensity of Tuesday morning's initial quake is shown on a weather agency map
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2026
Strong earthquake rattles western Japan, followed by several more shakes
The initial jolt was a magnitude 6.2 quake that measured a strong 5 on Â鶹´«Ã½ seismic intensity scale. There was no threat of a tsunami.
Joo Ho-young, head of a suprapartisan league of South Korean lawmakers working to promote friendship with Japan, speaks during an interview on Tuesday in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 12, 2025
South Korean politician urges Tokyo to address Takeshima matter calmly
Joo Ho-young, head of a suprapartisan league of lawmakers working to promote friendship with Japan, said the issue easily infuriates South Korean people.
Lawyers who filed a lawsuit over the July Upper House election hold up a sign saying ¡°state of unconstitutionality¡± Tuesday in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, following a ruling by the Hiroshima High Court¡¯s Matsue branch.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 5, 2025
Another court finds July Upper House poll held in unconstitutional state
The Matsue branch of the Hiroshima High Court ruled that the July election was held in a ¡°state of unconstitutionality¡± due to vote-value disparities of up to 3.13 times.
Shimane University adopted colorful and stylish furniture in classrooms at its new building for the Faculty of Materials for Energy. The university has been improving facilities to be more appealing to female students.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
May 12, 2025
Japanese universities expanding female quotas in science
The initiative is aimed at correcting a gender imbalance in science-related fields, but also raises concerns over discrimination.
Bento boxes and other food items attract visitors at the Sera roadside station in Hiroshima Prefecture.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Apr 21, 2025
10 years on, Hiroshima-Shimane highway boosts logistics and tourism
The Chugoku Yamanami Highway has played a crucial role in regional development since its full opening in 2015.
In Sakaiminato, Tottori Prefecture, an entire street is dedicated to Japanese spirits, monsters and ghouls ¡ª a sign that the overall region is rich in spine-tingling tourist draws.
LIFE / Travel
Feb 22, 2025
Shimane and Tottori to bewitch tourists with supernatural charms
The two prefectures are leaning on spooky folklore to draw more travelers.
Chugoku Electric Power Company's Shimane nuclear power plant
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2024
Chugoku Electric restarts Shimane reactor for first time in 13 years
The long-delayed restart of the reactor, which was shut down in January 2012, boosts the number of Â鶹´«Ã½ operational reactors to 14.
Fuel loading operations at the Shimane nuclear power plant's No. 2 reactor on Nov.1
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2024
Boiling water reactor at Shimane nuclear plant to be restarted in early December
The restart of the boiling water reactor will be the second of such units since reactors of the same type were crippled in the March 2011 nuclear accident.
Katsuko Kurikawa shows the damage done by bears to her chestnut tree.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Chugoku
Nov 4, 2024
Uptick in bear sightings prompts policy shift from conservation to control
Hunting the Asian black bear in the Western Chugoku Mountains has been banned in principle since 1994.
The Meteorological Agency said that, as of 2:10 p.m Saturday, a total of 188 observation points in western and central Japan had recorded their largest-ever 24-hour rainfall for November
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2024
Western and central Japan drenched by record rainfall for November
The heavy rains saw the city of Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, issue the highest-level alert and urge nearly 190,000 residents to evacuate to shelters.
The Shimane nuclear power plant's No. 2 reactor is set to restart in early December.
JAPAN
Oct 15, 2024
Japanese utility to restart Shimane nuclear reactor in December
Shimane No. 2 was set to resume in August, but its operator pushed back the restart due to required safety upgrade work.
Toru Yamasaki, president of San-in Godo Bank, says buying the Japanese government bonds are better for a regional bank like his than foreign debt.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 24, 2024
Japan bank stung by Fed hikes plots return to government bonds
A bank operating in Â鶹´«Ã½ least populated area is doing something that may have global repercussions if its peers do the same.
Residents who sought to stop the restart of the No. 2 reactor of the Shimane nuclear power plant hold up signs saying "The judiciary abandoned residents" and "Our voices did not reach it" on Wednesday in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, after a court dismissed their petition.
JAPAN
May 15, 2024
Court rejects petition to halt Shimane nuclear reactor
The court also dismissed residents¡¯ claim that evacuation plans for the 820,000-kilowatt unit in the prefectural capital of Matsue were inadequate.
The Shimane Nuclear Power Plant in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture
JAPAN / Society
May 1, 2024
Chugoku Electric delays restart of nuclear reactor at Shimane plant
The No. 2 unit will be the first boiling-water reactor to be restarted in Japan since the 2011 accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
America¡¯s cyberforces grapple with cluster of deaths by suicide
The U.S. Cyber Command building (center) stands on the National Security Agency campus at Fort Meade, Maryland.
Many Indonesians named after Japanese anime characters
Some people in Indonesia are named Doraemon, the name of a lead character of the blockbuster anime series with the same title.
Yasukuni Shrine introduces ban on military attire and cosplay
People gather in front of thousands of lanterns on display at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on July 15 during the Mitama Matsuri, one of the capital's largest summer o-Bon festivals.
As countries ban social media for children, Japan mulls a different approach
Data from NTT Docomo¡¯s Mobile Society Research Institute released in June found that 55% of respondents across all age groups said they fiddled with their phones when they had nothing to do, even when another person was in front of them.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
¡®Total whiplash¡¯: Foreign residents react to Â鶹´«Ã½ changing permanent residency rules
The entrance to the Tokyo Immigration Bureau in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in March. For some foreign residents of Japan, tightening measures for permanent residency have become one factor in a broader calculation over whether remaining in the country makes financial sense over the long term.
As Â鶹´«Ã½ concrete jungles sizzle, urban forestry offers an all-natural fix
People and birds find relief from the sun in Tokyo's Nakano Ward earlier this month. While experts agree that urban greening is crucial to mitigating the impact of climate change, trees are becoming even more scarce in Japanese cities.
Â鶹´«Ã½ brewers experiment with a secret ingredient: music
At Smoke Craft, a craft beer brewery in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, music isn't just a background to the brewing process ¡ª it's an ingredient.
As countries ban social media for children, Japan mulls a different approach
Data from NTT Docomo¡¯s Mobile Society Research Institute released in June found that 55% of respondents across all age groups said they fiddled with their phones when they had nothing to do, even when another person was in front of them.
J. League enters new era as league kicks off first fall-spring campaign
Players from each J. League club pose during a kickoff event on Monday ahead of the start of the 2026-27 campaign.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

Disaster relief workers Taichi Kato (left) and Seiji Yoshimura enter the collapsed living quarters at Kyuganji temple in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture.
What Kumamoto revealed about Â鶹´«Ã½ earthquake readiness
By Alex K.T. Martin

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