TRAVEL

Hungry sea otters are inflicting catastrophic damage on sea urchins bred by a local fishery union here, causing losses of at least 5 million yen. The Habomai Fishery Cooperative released about three tons of cultured short-spined sea urchins along the coast of Cape Nosappu in May last year. On March 4 this year, however, fishermen reportedly found an enormous number of sea urchins with broken shells scattered at the bottom of the sea, most of them dead. A similar phenomenon was also seen at other spots near the cape. (Mainichi)

Japan's Yuri Kano won the Nagoya International Women's Marathon Sunday and then set her sights on the world's top races including the 2012 London Olympics. Kano crossed the line in 2hrs 27min 11sec ahead of Derartu Tulu of Ethiopia, who clocked 2:28:13, and compatriot Hiromi Ominami in 2:28:35. Japan's Mai Ito was fourth in 2:29:19. The 31-year-old Kano, winner of the 2007 Hokkaido marathon, said she focused on winning the race, not on her time. (AFP)

Seven people died in a fire at a nursing home for the elderly in Hokkaido Prefecture early Saturday morning, police said. The seven are believed to be residents of the facility in Kita Ward, Sapporo in the northernmost Japan prefecture. One other resident and an employee of the home were injured in the 2:25 a.m. fire, which completely burned down the two-story building in a residential area about 7 kilometers north of JR Sapporo Station, the police said. (AP)

Hundreds of foreign and Japanese people staged a rally Sunday in Tokyo demanding better working conditions and employment benefits for foreign residents. At the annual "March in March" event at Hibiya Park in Chiyoda Ward, Louis Carlet, deputy general secretary of the National Union of General Workers Tokyo Nambu, said foreign workers have a great need for job security and health care. The event also featured a live music by musicians from various countries, including Senegalese drum sessions and Ainu dancing from Hokkaido. (Japan Times)

Tokachidake (dake means volcanic peak), an active volcano that last spewed in 1989, is 40 kilometres from the small farming town of Furano and offers the purest easily accessed backcountry terrain in the park. We are the first to forge through the forest to break trail for an ascent of Furanodake. We slog higher on the steep slope, cut a path amid wild arms of frozen dancers - the snow-covered silver birch. Ryounkaku has an excellent onsen, its water coloured rust by iron. But nearby there is a particularly wonderful onsen, the unadorned Fukiage, a short amble down a snowy path from the road. Spirits surely swirl in the steam as water percolates out of the earth amid a forest and falling snow. (Globe & Mail)

Japanese ruling party lawmaker Chiyomi Kobayashi, under fire for four arrests in connection with illegal donations for her election campaign, said Saturday she has moral responsibility for the alleged cases but denied her intention to step down any time soon. Kobayashi, a Democratic Party of Japan lower house member, said in her constituency in Hokkaido that she feels responsible for the misconduct "as a politician and from a moral standpoint" but added she will "await a decision by prosecutors before deciding" on her future as a Diet member. (AP)

Forget Scotch whisky, for the alcoholic beverage making to the top is Japanese whisky. Yoichi 20 years old, distilled on the shores of the Sea of Japan, has become the first variety produced outside Scotland to win the coveted single malt award in an international competition run by Whisky Magazine, the main industry publication. The whisky, distilled near the city of Sapporo on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, beat dozens of other varieties, including last year's winner, Talisker 18 years old, produced on the Isle of Skye. (oneindia.in)

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Monday that the arrest earlier in the day of three members of a teaching union over alleged illegal donations to a Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker was "regrettable," underlining the need to review relations between politicians and organizations. Hatoyama, who heads the DPJ, made the comments after prosecutors arrested four people, including the three members of the Hokkaido Teachers Union, which is part of the Japan Teachers Union, on suspicion of illegally providing 16 million yen to Chiyomi Kobayashi, a DPJ House of Representatives member, before last year's general election. (AP)

Japan has evacuated more than 320,000 people as a tsunami triggered by Chile's massive earthquake sent waves up to 1.2 metres high barrelling into its long Pacific coastline. Floodwaters inundated buildings and left cars stranded in eastern harbours on the main island of Honshu and on far-northern Hokkaido, while white-crested waves raced from the ocean up coastal rivers. By nightfall last night, police had reported no casualties and authorities downgraded the threat a notch from a "major tsunami alert", a warning of possible three-metre waves they had issued for the first time in over 15 years. (Herald Sun)

Farm clothes are not known for their sartorial elegance, but a group of Hokkaido women are staging their own catwalk shows with a new line of outdoor farmwear they are calling "Agri-Fashion." The women behind "Agri-Fashion," which sounds similar to "ugly fashion" when pronounced in Japanese, are even touting it as a movement with the potential to attract younger people to careers in farming. (Japan Times)

The Japanese government is moving ahead with plans to improve relations with the Ainu people, the country's indigenous inhabitants. Mostly living in the northern island of Hokkaido, Ainu are believed to descend from people who lived in Japan as early as 13,000 years ago. Their culture is distinct from mainstream Japanese society. In the 19th century, Japan banned the Ainu language, seized their land, and outlawed their hunting and religious practices. Today the Ainu language is almost completely extinct. Just under 24,000 people identified themselves as Ainu, in a 2006 study by the Hokkaido prefectural government. However, many of those included were of mixed blood. Also, it is not known how many Ainu live outside Hokkaido. (worldfocus.org)

Nestle has given one of the most popular and long-established chocolate bars in the world a uniquely Japanese make-over. Kit Kat bars are now available in 19 new flavours that reflect specialities from regions across Japan, ranging from sweet potatoes from Okinawa to melons from Hokkaido, strawberries from Tochigi, green tea from Kyoto and soy sauce from Tokyo. (independent.co.uk)

Inmates at Abashiri Prison in Hokkaido are producing garbage cages that are winning strong popularity from resident associations and other groups because they save space and deter crows. At Abashiri Prison, 50 trash cages are made every month. They are priced in the ¥30,000 range, one-fifth to one-sixth cheaper than conventional trash bins. (Japan Times)

Tomohiro Ishikawa, a Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker and former aide to DPJ Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa, said Tuesday he will not resign as a lawmaker or leave the party in the wake of his indictment over funding irregularities in connection with a land purchase in Tokyo. In announcing his intention to stay on, Ishikawa said at a press conference held in the city of Obihiro, Hokkaido, where his constituency is located, that his supporters have "strongly encouraged me to go back to the Diet as soon as possible and start my activity as a representative of this region." (AP)

An annual snow festival began Friday in Sapporo in Hokkaido, featuring some 240 snow sculptures at three sites in the northern city. Organizers expect more than 2 million people will visit those sites during the festival through next Thursday. Among the sculptures are those of polar bears and penguins from popular Hokkaido zoos and that of the Church of Our Lady in Dresden, Germany, which is the highest on record in the annual events at some 26 meters high. (AP)

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has decided to start waiving tolls on regional expressways in June as part of its pilot project to promote free highways, it has emerged. The project will cover about 35 sections -- mainly two-lane sections -- on regional expressways, with the total road length to be around 1,500 kilometers, or one-fifth of the nation's entire expressway length. Highways designated to become toll free are parts of the Hokkaido Odan Expressway, the Nihonkai-Tohoku Expressway, the Sanin Expressway, the Higashi-Kyushu Expressway and the Okinawa Expressway, among other routes. (Mainichi)

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano on Monday condemned the firing by a Russian border patrol helicopter on two Japanese fishing boats in waters off one of four disputed northern islands. "Firing is an improper act that could lead to the loss of people's lives," the top government spokesman said at a news conference. "We must lodge a protest under any circumstances." (AP)

A total of 20 bullet marks have been found on the hulls of two fishing boats that returned to a Hokkaido port after apparently being fired on by a Russian coast guard helicopter in waters off one of four disputed northern islands, the Japan Coast Guard said Saturday. Meanwhile, Russia's Itar-Tass news agency said Russian border guards had admitted that they opened fire on the vessels off the coast of Kunashiri Island, confirming Japanese reports of the incident the previous day. (AP)

Twenty-four people were taken to hospitals after a limited express train collided with a dump truck at a crossing in Hokkaido on Friday, local fire department officials said. The accident occurred on the Hakodate Line in the city of Fukagawa shortly past noon. No life-threatening injuries have been reported for the people who received treatment, including the truck driver and passengers of the Super Kamui train. (AP)

Forty-one people sustained slight injuries after a five-car limited express train collided with a dump truck stranded at a crossing in Fukagawa, Hokkaido, on Friday, local fire department officials said. The accident involving the Super Kamui train with 102 people aboard occurred on the JR Hakodate Line shortly after noon. The driver of the truck was quoted as telling local police, "I didn't see the crossing bar due to the snowstorm." (AP)

A driver suspected of hitting an 80-year-old man and dragging him for about 23 kilometers, resulting in his death, has been arrested, law enforcers said. Hideki Matsumoto, 47, of Tsukigata, Hokkaido, was arrested on suspicion of violating the Road Traffic Law and of negligent driving resulting in death. Killed in the accident was 80-year-old Kiyoshi Asakura, a resident of Bibai, Hokkaido. Matsumoto is accused of running over Asakura in Bibai at about 6:15 p.m. on Jan. 2, when Asakura lay collapsed on the road, and dragging him to the town of Naie about 23 kilometers away, resulting in his death. (Mainichi)

It is unconstitutional for a municipal government to offer city-owned land without charge for the site of a Shinto shrine, the Supreme Court said Wednesday. The ruling by the top court's Grand Bench upheld the contention of the plaintiffs, reportedly two local residents, that the municipal government of Sunagawa, Hokkaido, violated the Constitution's principle of separation of state and religion by granting the shrine city land free of charge. (Japan Times)

The Australian love affair with the Hokkaido ski resort of Niseko heats up a little this season, as one of the nation's premier orchestras, the Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO), visits to hold a series of concerts from Jan. 15-17. For several years the orchestra's artistic director, Richard Tognetti, has been one of an increasing number of Australians who make the annual northerly pilgrimage to Niseko to enjoy the resort's abundant powder snow. (Japan Times)

Record-breaking depths of snow for the month of January were measured in Hokkaido on Wednesday as inclement weather continues on the northern main island as well as a wide area of Honshu along the Sea of Japan, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. In the town of Erimo, Hokkaido, the snow cover reached more than 115 centimeters to make it one of Hokkaido's four observation points that set a new record for January. (AP)

Snow storms could hit a wide range of regions from western Japan to northern Japan on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, issuing a caution for stormy winds, heavy snow, high tides and avalanches. In mountainous areas, the Tohoku region could see 50 centimeters of snow in the 24 hours till 6 a.m. Wednesday, while the Hokkaido, Kanto, Hokuriku and Chugoku regions could have 50 cm. (AP)