News On Japan

Japan’s Largest Shogi Tournament for Children Draws 2,500 in Osaka

OSAKA, Nov 10 (News On Japan) - Japan’s largest shogi tournament for children in elementary school and younger was held in Osaka on November 9th.

The “Tablemark Children’s Tournament,” organized annually by the Japan Shogi Association to foster healthy minds through the traditional board game, marked its 24th edition this year.

Known as the biggest event of its kind in Japan, the Osaka tournament attracted around 2,500 young players.

“It’s fun when I make a check move,” said one participant, while another added, “I enjoyed moving the shogi pieces.”

Notably, the tournament has previously included participants such as Sota Fujii, now a six-title holder. With parents watching closely, the children took to the matches with serious expressions, fully absorbed in each move on the board.

Source: YOMIURI

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a travel advisory on November 14th, urging Chinese citizens to avoid visiting Japan for the time being, citing “serious safety risks” to Chinese nationals following Prime Minister Takaichi’s remarks on a potential Taiwan contingency.

Shogi champion Sota Fujii, who defended his title in the prestigious Ryuo Tournament, expressed his joy on November 11th after becoming the youngest player in history to qualify for the lifetime title of "Eisei Ryuo" (Lifetime Ryuo).

Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) policy committee has drafted a resolution calling on the government to raise the “departure tax” to secure funds for overtourism countermeasures. The proposal seeks to increase the current 1,000 yen per-person levy to 3,000 yen, and to set the rate at 5,000 yen for travelers using business class or higher.

Tokyo Metropolitan Government issued an influenza epidemic warning on November 13th after the number of reported cases reached the alert threshold, marking the first such announcement in November in 16 years.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry announced on November 11th that it has decided to impose an indefinite entry ban on 30 Japanese nationals as a countermeasure against what it called Japan’s “hostile policies” following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Education NEWS

Tokyo Metropolitan Government issued an influenza epidemic warning on November 13th after the number of reported cases reached the alert threshold, marking the first such announcement in November in 16 years.

A recent survey has revealed that many students who do not attend school and their parents are unaware of Japan’s "online attendance" system, which allows remote learning to count as official attendance.

After a painful divorce that nearly tore his family apart, Kenji Kataoka quit his stable job and began a new life as a sweet potato farmer in Kōka, Shiga Prefecture. The single father has spent the past two years working the fields while caring for his teenage son, Sōshi, who stopped attending school in elementary years. As the family faces its second harvest season, small changes begin to appear in their lives.

Japan’s largest shogi tournament for children in elementary school and younger was held in Osaka on November 9th.

A shortage of domestically produced lacquer, essential for restoring Japan’s cultural properties, has reached a critical point. For centuries, lacquer—or urushi—has been integral to traditional crafts and national treasures, but production has fallen sharply.

A mass food poisoning incident has been confirmed at a high school dormitory in Shiraoi, a town in Hokkaido’s Iburi region, where 63 students suffered symptoms such as diarrhea and stomach pain after eating meals prepared at the facility.

The Grand Egyptian Museum, which opened on November 1st near the Giza Pyramids outside Cairo, marks one of Egypt’s most ambitious cultural projects in decades—built with extensive Japanese financial and technical support totaling about 84.2 billion yen in yen loans.

FamilyMart has introduced an online sign language interpreting service ahead of the first-ever Deaflympics to be held in Japan.