TRAVEL

More than 500 vehicles were stranded on a section of National Highway Route 279 in Yokohama, Aomori Prefecture, on Wednesday night after a large truck and a bus skidded and became stuck on the road due to a blizzard, according to police. Early Thursday, Aomori Gov. Shingo Mimura asked the head of the Marine Self-Defense Force's Ominato District Headquarters to send a disaster relief team to the town. According to the Aomori prefectural government, 250 drivers caught in the gridlock abandoned their vehicles and spent the night at eight public facilities nearby, including an assembly hall and a primary school, opened as temporary shelters by the Yokohama town government and the neighboring city of Mutsu. (Yomiuri)

A two-day antinuclear conference kicked off Saturday in Yokohama with the aim of sharing lessons from the Fukushima crisis and fostering global momentum against atomic power. The conference drew thousands of participants to the Pacifico Yokohama convention center, including about 100 experts and activists from 30 countries and nearly 200 domestic groups. Holding an event of this scale in Japan just 10 months after the Fukushima No. 1 plant meltdowns represents a significant meaning for the antinuclear movement, said Yoshioka, chairman of the event. The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency is set to approve reports submitted by Kansai Electric on stress tests carried out on two idled reactors at the Oi power plant in Fukui Prefecture, government sources said Saturday. (Japan Times)

A 20-year-old Kanagawa Prefectural police officer has been arrested on suspicion of molesting a 16-year-old high school girl. According to investigators, the suspect, identified as Yuki Kobayashi, came up behind the girl who was walking along a street in Yokohama's Asahi Ward at about 11:30 a.m. The girl said he lifted up her skirt and touched her buttocks, TBS reported. Kobayashi has admitted to the charge and said he did it on impulse, TBS reported. He said has has done the same thing many times before, police said. (Japan Today)

"I finally started working," said "Daisuke" (not his real name), 31, to his friends and former classmates at last year's high school class reunion. Listening to other people talk about their work, when he was asked about his own recent affairs, he couldn't help but lie. Daisuke lives in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, on his own. Since he was fired from his last company, where he worked as a temporary employee, he has spent the last two years unable to secure a stable job. Currently, he lives off welfare assistance. Daisuke graduated from a private high school in Saitama Prefecture in 1999. Coming from a financially stricken family, he could not afford to attend college. Instead, he began working part time at a restaurant and a convenience store five days a week. At times, he worked for some 14 hours a day. Yet, all he could make was no more than about 130,000 yen a month. (Mainichi)

Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola has urged his players to fight through jet lag and become world champions for a second time at the Club World Cup in Japan this week. The Spanish glamour side arrived in Yokohama late Sunday night having boarded a flight immediately after beating archrival Real Madrid 3-1 in the Spanish League on Saturday, with little time to acclimatize before Thursday's semifinal against Al Sadd of Qatar at Nissan Stadium. (Japan Times)

Expatriates in Japan have the highest living expenses compared to their counterparts working elsewhere in Asia, due largely to the Japanese currency's recent sharp rise, a global survey said Tuesday. Human resource firm ECA International's latest survey of expatriate living costs showed Japanese cities occupied the top four most expensive locations in Asia, with Tokyo ranked first followed by Nagoya, Yokohama and Kobe. The Japanese capital also topped the global list of most expensive locations for expatriates, according to the survey carried out in September. The yen has risen by about 20 percent against the US dollar in the past 12 months and expatriates who are paid in currencies such as the greenback are feeling the impact, said Lee Quane, ECA International's regional director. (AFP)

A 96-year-old Auckland woman has flown to Japan to receive a face-to-face apology from the Japanese Government for the way she and other nurses were treated during World War II. Lorna Johnston, of Kohimarama, was held as a prisoner of war for three years from 1942. Taken from the island of Rabaul (now part of Papua New Guinea) to Yokohama, she is the only survivor of a group of 76 Australian POW nurses in the region at the time. For the first time, Mrs Johnston, who was born in Australia but has lived in New Zealand for more than 60 years, has told her story of the Japanese invasion of an Australian army hospital and her capture with 12 other women. (New Zealand Herald)

Tokyo retained the title of the world's gourmet capital on Tuesday, when the Michelin guide awarded it more stars than any other city for the fifth year in a row. Tokyo restaurants also won more top awards than last year with 16 given the three-star rating, which Michelin defines as "exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey". That is two more than last year and compares with 10 for Paris. Fourteen of Tokyo's top spots serve Japanese cuisine and two French. In the 2012 edition of the Michelin restaurant guide for Japan's capital, Yokohama and the adjacent coastal area of Shonan launched on Tuesday, Tokyo sushi restaurant "Yoshitake" shot to the top ranking in its first listing. (Reuters)

The Yokohama District Court on Thursday ordered a former U.S. Navy civilian employee to pay ¥13.7 million in damages to relatives of a Japanese man who died after being pushed over by the defendant outside a bar near the U.S. Navy base in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in 2006. Presiding Judge Toshihiko Tsuruoka, meanwhile, exempted the Japanese government from paying compensation on the grounds that the acts committed by Robert Burns Nolan, 59, were not related to his official duty. (Japan Times)

Imagine a town where playing rock music is under a curfew and police crack down on unlicensed late-night dancing. Are you thinking of the town from the film "Footloose"? Or are you thinking of Fukuoka? Kumamoto? Yokohama? This unbelievable scenario is the result of a 1984 addition to the 1948 Fūzoku Eigyō Torishimari Hō (Entertainment Business Control Law), which was originally designed to regulate hostess bars, cabaret clubs and gambling establishments. Over the past year, however, police have been increasingly enforcing sections of the law and creating a climate of worry and fear among operators of live-music venue and nightclubs across the country. (Japan Times)

Police said Thursday they have identified the suspect who fatally stabbed a man in Yokohama, and then himself, as his wife's boss at the Kanagawa shipping company where all three worked, according to media reports. TBS reported that the victim, identified as Yuji Kurosaki, 42, and his wife Satoko, 39, returned to their apartment in Sakae Ward at about 8 p.m. on Tuesday. Satoko told police that the doorbell rang and her husband answered it while she was in another room. She said she heard an argument and came to the entrance to see her husband struggling with a man wearing a helmet bearing Japan Post Office's "JP" logo, TBS reported. (Japan Today)

The bodies of four children and two adults were found in the wreckage of a burned-out car in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Thursday night, police said Friday. Police said they received a call just after 11 p.m. from a witness who said that a car was burning, Fuji TV reported. Emergency services battled the blaze for around 30 minutes before putting it out. Police confirmed that four of the six bodies recovered from the charred remains of the car were children, but emergency workers were unable to ascertain the gender, Fuji TV reported. A gasoline canister was found in the wreck, leading police to suspect that the six died as part of a forced suicide. (Japan Today)

The Yokohama Marine Tower was lit up Wednesday night courtesy of electricity from the batteries in a Nissan Leaf. Nissan is lending some battery power to the local 106-meter-tall Japanese landmark in Yokohama, the capital city of the Kanagawa Prefecture of Japan, which is located about 27 miles south of Tokyo. In fact, the tower's night twinkle will be powered by a Nissan Leaf channeling electricity to the tower from its batteries via a connected power control system until November 6. (CNET)

A potential new world record has been set in Japan as J2-League club Fagiano Okayama defeated hosts Yokohama FC 1-0 at the Mitsuzawa Stadium. The only goal of the match came in the 69th minute in a sequence that began with an average goal-kick from Yokohama goalkeeper Kentaro Seki. Fagiano defender Ryujiro Ueda ran up the left side just beyond the centre-line to clear with a header. The ball flew back toward the Yokohama goal, bouncing once several metres outside of the penalty box and flying above Seki, who had clearly misjudged his placement and how fast the ball would travel on the slick grass. (goal.com)

Nissan Motor Co. is aiming to be the world's No. 1 in green cars, targeting cumulative sales of 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles by 2017 with alliance partner Renault SA of France. The Japanese maker of the Leaf electric car announced Monday its six-year strategy, planning a plug-in hybrid by the fiscal year ending March 2017 and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent per vehicle compared with 2005 levels. Nissan, based in Yokohama, also aims to improve fuel efficiency of its vehicles by 35 percent compared with 2005. Nissan President and Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said being ecological can deliver a competitive edge by allowing the automaker to stand out as good corporate citizen. (AP)

After what seemed like an eternity, the Chunichi Dragons finally got rid of their magic number. They'll gladly be replacing it with another championship banner. Tony Blanco hit a game-tying three-run home run in the sixth inning, and Takuya Asao struck out Yoshitomo Tsutsugo to end the game in the 10th and preserve a 3-3 tie with the Yokohama BayStars that clinched the Dragons' second-consecutive Central League pennant on Tuesday night at Yokohama Stadium. "It symbolized our whole season," Dragons manager Hiromitsu Ochiai said of the clincher. The Dragons have won back-to-back pennants for the first time in their history. (Japan Times)

No matter how warm and sunny the day, there's always a chill in Mandarado Yagura, a samurai graveyard in Kotsubo, right at the boundary between Kamakura and Zushi in Kanagawa Prefecture just south of Yokohama. In this secreted locale little more than an hour by road or rail from the concrete and steel of Tokyo, lush vegetation obscures the many caves housing tombs, though their stone markers stubbornly materialize through the greenery. Here, history, nature and the unknown ripple through the wild flowers, stirring the grass and causing the heart to skip a beat or three. (Japan Times)

Officials in Yokohama City confirmed that radiocative strontium-90 has been found at three locations in Yokohama, including sediment on the roof of an apartment in the city, which was reported on Oct. 12. The level of radioactive strontium-90 at the two new locations were 59 becquerels and 129 becquerels per kilogram (2.2 pounds). The apartment rooftop in Yokohama, where tests were conducted by a private research institute found more than 60,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram of sediments. Strontium-90 is a radioactive isotope of strontium, with a half-life of about 30 years. Its presence in bones can cause bone cancer, cancer of nearby tissues and leukemia. (majirox news)

"Pole dancer! Pole dancer!! Pole dancer!!!" From the bellowing announcement thumping through the speakers, you might think we're in a glitzy night club. We're not. But, without doubt, the location is just as fabled as many nocturnal haunts, and the atmosphere is just as electric. Welcome to what has become known in more than 150 countries around the world as "sacred" Mount Midoriyama, an outdoor set in Yokohama operated by Tokyo Broadcasting System Television (TBS), where one of the biggest franchises in Japanese TV history is filmed up to twice a year. Welcome to "Sasuke" or, as it is known on U.S.-based cable and terrestrial channels: "Ninja Warrior." (Japan Times)

Japan's Nissin Foods opened a cup noodle museum on Saturday charting the history of the speedy snack where visitors even get the chance to create their own tasty version. About 500 adults and children queued up before the museum opened in the port city of Yokohama near Tokyo with celebrity guests ranging from a former prime minister to a retail business tycoon. "We opened this place... as a factory that gives children experience and a museum for corporate activities," Nissin Foods Holdings president Koki Ando said. Ando, whose late father Momofuku Ando invented instant noodles more than half a century ago, said visitors could knead flour, roll out noodles, steam and fry them to make chicken ramen which is then put into bags. (AFP)

More than 9,000 people slurped and swilled at last year's 200-beer extravaganza in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, but this time there's added incentive to sip up. The Japan Craft Beer Association invites you to raise a glass toward those in their industry suffering in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake; and they will give your cash to local governments in need of help. Association President Ryouji Oda believes a rich beer culture is integral to healthy communities, and the decision to donate money started with a desire to repay "counterparts in Japan and overseas who have sent thoughtful inquiries about the safety of breweries, beer pubs, distributors and tasters." (Japan Times)

Across from a noodle shop in a Yokohama suburb, Hisayoshi Teramura's inn looks much like any other small lodging that dots the port city. Occasionally, it's even mistaken for a love hotel by couples hankering for some time beneath the sheets. But Teramura's place is neither a love nest nor a pit stop for tired travelers. The white and grey tiled building is a corpse hotel, its 18 deceased guests tucked up in refrigerated coffins. "We tell them we only have cold rooms," Teramura quips when asked how his staff respond to unwary lovers looking for a room. The daily rate at Lastel, as it is known, is 12,000 yen ($157). For that fee, bereaved families can check in their dead while they wait their turn in the queue for one of the city's overworked crematoriums. (Reuters)

The Cup Noodles Museum in Yokohama, southwest of Tokyo, will open next week offering lovers of the instant snack a trip through noodle history. The iconic food creation, consisting of a precooked block of noodles requiring only hot water, a packet of flavouring and three minutes preparation time, has been a popular Japanese snack for decades. (Telegraph)

A reptile dealer allegedly responsible for letting a snake escape on a Shinkansen train in July said he realized after waking from a nap the snake was on the loose, but did not report it for fear of causing a fuss, police said. Police on Wednesday sent papers on the Yokohama-based dealer to prosecutors on suspicion of negligent management of the animal, in violation of the Minor Offenses Law. According to Yodogawa Police Station of the Osaka prefectural police, the 29-year-old man let a Honduran milk snake, measuring about one meter, escape from a plastic case on a Tokaido Shinkansen that was heading from Osaka to Tokyo on the night of July 2. The snake is considered a possible danger to humans. (Yomiuri)

The Yokohama District Court on Wednesday dismissed a damages suit filed by schoolteachers against the prefectural board of education for collecting the names of those who refused to stand during the national anthem at school ceremonies. A total of 27 plaintiffs, including teachers at public high schools in Kanagawa Prefecture, demanded ¥1 million each in damages for mental suffering, arguing that the information collection ran counter to a prefectural personal information protection regulation that principally bans authorities' handling of information on personal thoughts and beliefs. (Japan Times)