| May 24 | Water level in reactor 1 may be only 40 cm deep |
| The level of water inside reactor 1 at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant may be alarmingly lower than Tepco's current estimates, the Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization has calculated. (Japan Times) |
| May 24 | Russia and Japan interested in moon exploration |
| Russia and Japan want to explore the Moon, and in a big way. At the Global Space Exploration Conference, which started on May 22 - the same day SpaceX successfully launched its Dragon capsule towards the ISS, which is why NASA administrator Charles Bolden was absent from the conference - Russia and Japan laid out their plans for space exploration, both focusing on Earth's natural satellite. (mashable.com) |
| May 23 | Japanese scientists make plaster that filters radioactive water |
| Scientists in Japan developed a new type of plaster which they say is capable of filtering more than 99% of caesium of contaminated water. (BBC) |
| May 22 | Eclipse sends Japan lemurs into frenzy |
 The solar eclipse that inspired awe on Monday also sent ring-tailed lemurs at a Japanese zoo into a frenzy, as they were fooled into thinking it was nighttime, an official said. (AFP) |
| May 22 | Volcanic ash envelops Japan's Kagoshima city |
| Ash cloud enveloped vast areas after Japan's active Sakurajima volcano in the south-western city of Kagoshima erupted repeatedly from Sunday to Monday. (rttnews.com) |
| May 20 | Japan readies for 'ring' solar eclipse |
 Special darkened glasses were selling out in Japan on Friday as anticipation built ahead of a "ring" solar eclipse above one of the most densely populated parts of the planet. (AFP  ) |
| May 20 | 2 shallow earthquakes rock Japan's Pacific coast |
| Japan was hit by two shallow earthquakes in the space of just eight minutes on Sunday, one of them measuring a strong 6.2-magnitude, but there were no reports of damage and no tsunami alert. (Straits Times) |
| May 19 | Gonorrhea superbug spreads in Japan |
| Scientists have found a drug-resistant strain of gonorrhea in Japan they say could transform a once easily treatable infection into a global public health threat (sfgate.com) |
| May 18 | Japan launches commercial rocket business |
 Japan launched for the first time early Friday a rocket with a non-Japanese payload, fulfilling a spare-no-expense, two-decade quest to compete in the world's $4.3 billion commercial satellite-launch business. (Wall Street Journal ) |
| May 18 | Japan whale ships leave for the Pacific |
| A pair of Japanese whaling vessels has left for the northwestern Pacific aiming to catch 260 whales for "scientific research", a fisheries ministry official says. (The Australian) |
| May 18 | Parts of Japan see record-high CO2 levels |
| The average monthly concentration of carbon dioxide has topped 400 parts per million in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, the first time this level has been reached in Japan, raising alarm about greenhouse gases that can cause global warming. (Yomiuri) |
| May 17 | Power saving reduced heat island effect |
 Last summer's energy-saving drive alleviated the heat island effect in Tokyo, with the temperature difference between central and suburban areas in the capital shrinking by up to 0.67 C compared with the previous year, researchers have found. (Yomiuri ) |
| May 16 | China, Japan, US to witness 'ring' solar eclipse |
 At sunrise in some parts of China and Japan and by sunset in the western United States, a partial solar eclipse is set to slink across a narrow swath of the Earth on May 20 and 21. (AFP ) |
| May 16 | Aftershocks along Fukushima, Ibaraki borders may take over 100 years to subside |
| It may take at least 100 years before aftershocks from the March 11, 2011 quake along the boundaries of Fukushima and Ibaraki prefectures subside, a recent study reveals. (Mainichi) |
| May 15 | Honda shows robotics for handsfree unicycle |
 Look, no hands. Scooting about in a unicycle is no sweat with Honda's new robotics technology.
Swaying your body from side to side is all you need to do to turn, rotate full circle and zip around on the Uni-Cub, which looks a bit like a floating car seat. (Jakarta Post |
| May 15 | Japan to launch 4 satellites Friday, 1 for SKorea |
| Japan plans to launch four satellites into space this week, including a South Korean one that is its first payload for a foreign customer. () |
| May 14 | Japan's new smart city |
| A display in Kitakyushu shows some of the products made from the materials recovered after a car is broken down bit by bit and everything totally recycled. The concept of the smart community is nothing new to Kitakyushu, but after years of small-scale innovations, the city is ready to test the concept on a large scale, developing 2,600 houses and apartments on government land. (Bangkok Post) |
| May 12 | Wild monkeys to help gauge Fukushima radiation |
| Wild Japanese monkeys wearing special collars fitted with dosimeters and Global Positioning System devices will be used to measure radiation levels in the mountain forests of Fukushima Prefecture in an experiment due to start this month. (Yomiuri) |
| May 11 | Niigata Prefecture, Suntory switch genes to make world's first blue lily |
 The Niigata Prefectural Government and Suntory Holdings Ltd. have jointly developed the world's first lily with blue petals, the prefectural government said.
(Japan Times ) |
| May 11 | Tiger fugu lunker caught off Yamaguchi |
 An unusually big tiger puffer fish, weighing 6.1 kg, was caught Monday in the Seto Inland Sea, Yamaguchi Prefecture's fisheries research center said Wednesday. (Japan Times ) |
| May 11 | Nine sites eyed for Ramsar listing |
 The Environment Ministry selected nine more candidate sites Thursday for the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, an international treaty aimed at conserving globally important wetlands. (Japan Times ) |
| May 11 | 12 asteroids given names from quake-stricken areas |
| Twelve asteroids discovered by the Lowell Observatory in the U.S. state of Arizona have been named after areas in the Tohoku region affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake. (Yomiuri) |
| May 09 | Japan iced bra aims to keep everywhere cool |
 A bra with built-in ice packs, a wind chime and a sprig of mint that was unveiled in Japan on Wednesday is promising to keep women cool this summer.
(ninemsn ) |
| May 09 | Vacuum robot is trilingual, knows witty dialect |
 It looks just like iRobot's Roomba vacuuming machine, except the new circular roaming vacuum cleaner from Sharp Corp. is trilingual, and even knows a hip humorous dialect.
Cocorobo, which can also send photos taken from your home to your cell phone, says 36 phrases including "Long time no see" and "Hello," in Japanese, English and Chinese. (Sun Times ) |
| May 08 | Wild eel caught with high levels of radioactive cesium |
 Above normal radioactive cesium levels were detected in wild eel caught in Ibaraki prefecture, north of Tokyo, resulting in the government suspending shipments from the area for the first time. (NewsOnJapan.com ) |
| May 08 | Temperature differences spawned deadly tornado |
 The deadly tornado that hit a residential area in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Sunday is believed to have been triggered by a temperature difference of more than 40 C between a high-altitude cold air mass and warm moist air near the ground, which developed a cumulonimbus cloud and a rotating ascending air current. (Yomiuri ) |
| May 06 | Crested ibis parents aced hunting tests |
 A pair of crested ibises that successfully hatched three eggs in April proved adept in a hunting and food-gathering test before their release into the wild, it has been learned.
To feed their chicks, the first born in 36 years under natural conditions, the pair need to catch 300 loaches a day. (Yomiuri ) |
| May 05 | Japan goes nuclear free |
 Japan's only remaining nuclear power plant in use, Hokkaido Electric Power's Tomari nuclear power plant reactor number 3, will be shut down for routine inspections on Saturday, leaving the country without an operational nuclear plant for the first time in 42 years.
(NewsOnJapan.com ) |
| May 05 | Groups fight to keep foreign fish at bay |
 Looking at black bass and bluegill caught fresh at Inokashira Park, Toshiaki Tanaka sighed with satisfaction at catching some of the nonnative species plaguing its picturesque pond. But at the same time, he said he was frustrated knowing that alien species remain firmly entrenched there despite the five years he and his friends have spent trying to fish them out. (Japan Times) |
| May 05 | Cesium pushing wild plants off menu |
| Many local governments are calling on producers and harvesters of edible wild plants to refrain from shipping their products after a number of them were found to contain levels of radioactive cesium that exceed state limits. (Yomiuri) |
| May 04 | Tokyo to be treated to rare annular eclipse, Venus transit |
 If you're in the right place, a couple of rare astronomical events in the coming weeks - an annular eclipse and a transit of Venus - may make it worthwhile to buy a pair of eclipse glasses. (Japan Times) |
| May 03 | More Japanese seeking ova in Thailand |
| The number of Japanese who received ova donations as part of fertility treatments in Thailand has increased more than 10-fold in recent years, a recent Yomiuri Shimbun investigation has found. According to the research, the number of Japanese who traveled to Thailand for such treatment had been about 20 a year from 2007 to 2009, but surged to 133 in 2010 and to 231 in 2011. (Yomiuri) |
| May 02 | 3 piranhas caught in Kanagawa river |
 Three piranhas were found and caught in a river in Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture, in late April and city officials combed the area and set a water playground stream for children off limits nearby on Tuesday. (Mainichi ) |
| May 02 | Pee-rless research: Japan scientists discover biological clock regulates bladder capacity |
| A team of Japanese scientists has discovered that our biological clock controls bladder capacity such that we don't have to wake up in the middle of the night for a pee -- a finding that could help treat bedwetting in children and the need for nocturnal trips to the washroom among the elderly. (Mainichi) |
| May 02 | Cesium exceeding new limit detected in 51 food items in nine prefectures |
 Radioactive cesium was detected in 51 food products from nine prefectures in excess of a new government-set limit in the first month since it was introduced April 1, according to data released by the health ministry Tuesday. (Japan Times ) |
| Apr 30 | Ova donated abroad led to 130 births |
| At least 130 children were born in Japan through in vitro fertilization using eggs donated abroad by third parties in the five years from 2007, according to a survey conducted by The Yomiuri Shimbun. (Yomiuri) |
| Apr 29 | M5.8 quake jolts Kanto; no tsunami warning issued |
 An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 jolted the Kanto region on Sunday night, shaking Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Tochigi, Ibaraki and Gunma.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake struck at 7:28 p.m. Its epicenter was 50 kilometers underground in northeastern Chiba.
(Japan Today ) |
| Apr 28 | 3 crested ibis chicks confirmed safe by ministry |
 The Environment Ministry has confirmed that the three newly hatched crested ibis chicks in Niigata Prefecture, are in good condition even after the recent approach of a predatory crow.
(Yomiuri ) |
| Apr 28 | Japan sea sediments tell of past 'Tohoku quakes' |
 Previous earthquakes that rivalled the March 2011 Tohoku tremor in size may be recorded in sediment samples just recovered from the seafloor off Japan.
A German-led scientific cruise obtained the cores from 16 different locations, some of them at a water depth of 7.5km.
(BBC) |
| Apr 26 | Japan astronomers find most distant galaxy cluster |
| ) |
| Apr 26 | Japan fears nuclear plant sits atop active geological fault |
 A nuclear plant in northwestern Japan may be sitting right on top of an active geological fault, the country's nuclear watchdog has said, raising the risk that the facility may never resume power generation for fear of an earthquake.
(chicagotribune.com ) |
| Apr 26 | Dog 'can detect cancer with high accuracy levels' |
| A 10-year-old Labrador retriever has been trained to detect gynecological cancer such as uterine cancer with a high level of accuracy. Marine, a female, was trained in Minami-Boso, Chiba Prefecture, to detect smells specific to cancer, said Masao Miyashita, a professor of Chiba Hokuso Hospital of Nippon Medical School. (Yomiuri) |
| Apr 26 | Facial soap's surprise wheat ingredient triggers allergies |
| A class-action lawsuit over a bar of facial soap in Japan is making some there question the meaning of "all natural." The soap that has gone on trial this month is Cha no Shizuku, roughly translated as "a drop of tea," a green tea-based cleansing bar popular among Japanese women and valued for its so-called natural purity. (Fox News) |
| Apr 24 | Rare crested ibis hatches in Japan |
| ) |
| Apr 23 | 16 Japanese educational satellites to be launched |
| Sixteen educational satellites are under construction in Japan. The first should be launched in May 2012 followed by the others over the next two years. The first to launch is the amateur radio satellite HORYU-2 built by students at the Kyushu Institute of Technology (KIT). The launch is on a Japanese H-IIA rocket planned for May 17 at 1639-1642 UT. (southgatearc.org) |
| Apr 23 | Rice farmers seek to save their crops from salt |
 Toshiharu Ota, a rice farmer in Miyagi Prefecture, in northeastern Japan, survived the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster last year. But his fields were devastated by the salt deposits left behind when the tsunami's floodwaters receded. Now, to help farmers like Mr. Ota, a research team is working to develop a new salt-tolerant variety of rice.
(New York Times) |
| Apr 22 | Big science in small town Japan |
 Hundreds of particle physicists are descending once more on the sleepy village of Tokai-mura in Eastern Japan. Over the next week we will discuss the present and future of an experiment that many have devoted several years of their lives to. An experiment that will forge a path into a new era of understanding the creation of our Universe.
The ND280 detector The ND280 detector, part of T2K.
(guardian.co.uk) |
| Apr 21 | Inactivated polio vaccines to get OK |
 Health minister Yoko Komiyama said Friday the ministry will approve inactivated polio vaccines shortly so they can be prepared in September for immunizations.
A ministry panel Thursday recommended approving the vaccines to make them available this fall. (Japan Times ) |
| Apr 20 | Panasonic team to lug solar-charged batteries up Mt. Fuji, live-stream eclipse |
 Panasonic will broadcast live a solar eclipse next month over Japan from the top of Mount Fuji, using batteries that are charged at the base using solar power and then carried up to the peak.
The company will use the event to create publicity for its solar panels and rechargeable portable power units. (PC World ) |
| Apr 19 | Tokyo mega-quake 'would kill over 9,000' |
 More than 9,600 people would die with nearly 150,000 injured if a mega-quake struck Tokyo, a disaster that would also level large parts of the Japanese capital, a government projection said Wednesday.
(MSN ) |