NOTEBOOK — Arts Culture Tourism from Tokyo SPINEAR

North Korea launched what is thought to be a ballistic missile under the guise of a satellite Wednesday, before it crash-landed in the Yellow Sea. As global warming causes a rise in sea temperatures, Japan's fish catch in 2022 fell to a record low. The London-based Japan House has started promoting the Japanese countryside overseas. And finally, the third edition of the Art Collaboration Kyoto art fair in October has announced this year's exhibitors. On a warm afternoon in early June, we walk along Nakano Broadway, west of Shinjuku on the Sobu line. Its famed for its secondhand book stores, rare-to-find toys, photo books or out-of-print copies of very early manga, and is somewhere with a very particular charm.
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Typhoon Mawar is forecast to approach the southwest of Okinawa later this week, with high tides and violent winds near the Sakishima Islands. With the hay-fever season almost upon us, the Japanese government says it will speed up its plan to cut down cedar trees known to exacerbate the allergy. Toyota’s global production in April rose by almost 14 percent. And, the world “yakko-negi” championships took place in Kochi Prefecture, seeing just how far the local vegetable could be thrown. We drop by Hamarikyu Gardens in Chuo ward and listen as the nearby Tokyo Expressway snakes past, deadened by a wall of trees and the surrounding waterways.
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Films by Japan’s Studio Ghibli will be removed from the Russian streaming service Kinopoisk as Russia's war in Ukraine drags on, that’s according to Tass, the Russian state news agency. The Japanese actor Koji Yakusho was named Best Actor at this year's Cannes International Film Festival on Saturday for his leading role in Wim Wenders’ latest film, “Perfect Days.” And finally, in currency news the yen slumped to 140 yen against the dollar, marking the lowest it's been in almost six months. And following on from recent festivals in Kanda and Asakusa, Hanazono Shrine in Shinjuku holds its annual Grand Festival — or reitaisai. Be sure to check NOTEBOOK's SubStack for more detail.
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During a speech in Tokyo this week, South Korea’s Ambassador to Japan Yun Duk-min said his country is eager to join the G7 after joining last weekend’s summit as a guest country. Haruki Murakami won this year's Princess of Asturias Award for Literature in Spain, while 11 year-old Kunzaburo Yuno from Oita won a special prize at the Children's Nonfiction Literature Awards in Kitakyushu. And finally, a painting of victims who suffered the Minamata poisonings more than 6 decades ago has now been restored. With Shunsuke Imai's painting exhibition titled “Skirt and Scene” taking place at the Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery near Hatsudai, we skirt from Shinjuku to Hatsudai and then beyond, taking note of sight and sounds from the local neighbourhood as we ride the local bus towards Shibuya.
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Japan's Fugaku supercomputer developed by the Riken research group and Fujitsu has been ranked the world's most powerful supercomputer for the seventh time in a row since 2020. Meanwhile, a group including several Japanese universities has said it will use Fugaku to develop tools using generative artificial intelligence. In other news, Japan is considering a revamp of its tax-free shopping system following the growing trend of reselling tax-free goods overseas. And finally, the lone yokozuna-level sumo wrestler ‘Terunofuji’ and the former ozeki-level ‘Asanoyama’ both lead the field yesterday at this year’s Summer Grand Sumo Tournament taking place at the Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Arena from May 14th until the 28th. And with the current Netflix drama “Sanctuary” proving a hit, we head to Ryogoku. Tickets have completely sold out so we wait outside as a trickle of sumo wrestlers march in and then saunter out, one by one.
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The G7 summit in Hiroshima concluded yesterday, after discussing Ukraine with its President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who made a highly-publicized visit on Saturday. With all eyes on the summit in Hiroshima, two Chinese coast guard ships slipped into Japanese waters that same day entering waters around the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. And with current affairs dominating every conversation, Japan’s Environment Ministry has quietly revealed the country’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2021 rose for the first time in eight years. Prosperity is being celebrated as part of Sanja Matsuri in Asakusa, one of the three big Shinto festivals in Tokyo and one of the wildest, passing through the streets surrounding Sensō-ji Temple and Asakusa Shrine.
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