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March 08, 2025
 

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WILDFIRES

Firefighters battle a wildfire in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, on Thursday.
JAPAN
Mar 7, 2025
Japan partially lifts wildfire evacuation orders
Wet weather, which began Wednesday following a record dry period, is helping firefighting efforts.
Firefighters battle a wildfire in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, on Thursday.
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2025
Wildfire slows in Iwate as government announces relief support
The city saw 26.5 millimeters of rain on Wednesday, far exceeding the 2.5mm total for the entire month of February.
Members of the media look out across the bay at smoke rising from a mountain in the rain as firefighters continue to battle a wildfire near the city of Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Mar 5, 2025
Iwate wildfire enters second week as rain offers hope of relief
As of Wednesday morning, 4,111 people had been evacuated from Ofunato, or about 13% of the city’s entire population.
Ground Self-Defense Force helicopters return after dropping water as they fight a wildfire around Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, on Sunday. Firefighters were still battling Japan's biggest forest fire in half a century on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2025
Japan's worst wildfire in half a century spreads
White smoke billowed from a forested area around the city of Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, six days after the blaze began amid record low rainfall.
Prince Hisahito attends his first news conference at Akasaka Estate in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2025
At first news conference, Prince Hisahito pledges to fulfill royal duties
The prince, who is second in line to the throne, underlined the importance of thinking of the people as a member of the imperial family.
Firefighters work to extinguish the forest fire in the city of Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, in this screenshot of a video footage from the Fire and Disaster Management Agency on Friday.
JAPAN / Science & Health / EXPLAINER
Mar 3, 2025
Why the latest Iwate wildfire is so difficult to extinguish
The unusually dry weather, strong winds, the prefecture's mountainous terrain — as well as what's known as a fire cycle — have made the situation worse than usual.
Destroyed homes after the Palisades Fire near Los Angeles on Jan. 30
WORLD / Society
Mar 3, 2025
Fire danger in LA is all around, but signals to residents are mixed
There is a disparity between what data on the issue is freely available and the fuller data that private companies can pay to access.
Smoke is seen rising from the mountains of the city of Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, on Friday. Authorities said the wildfire kept spreading, burning 1,800 hectares by Sunday morning.
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2025
Thousands flee after Japan's biggest wildfire in decades
There were about 1,300 wildfires across Japan in 2023, concentrated in the February to April period when the air dries out and winds pick up.
Smoke rises from a forest fire in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, on Feb. 28
JAPAN
Mar 1, 2025
Japan battles biggest wildfire in decades
Flames are estimated to have spread over about 1,200 hectares in the forest of Ofunato in the northern region of Iwate since fire broke out on Wednesday.
A screenshot from a video posted by the Fire and Disaster Management Agency on X on Friday shows firefighters trying to put out the fire in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture.
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2025
Wildfire in Iwate rages on as unusually dry weather continues
The size of the affected area has doubled in less than two days.
A wildfire spreads in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, on Wednesday, prompting authorities to order more than 2,000 people to be evacuated.
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2025
At least one dead, 84 homes destroyed in Iwate Prefecture wildfire
This is the third wildfire in Iwate Prefecture in the past week, as dry weather continues.
Ofunato in Iwate Prefecture. As the flames move dangerously close to residential neighborhoods, officials from the city issued evacuation orders late Thursday.
JAPAN
Feb 21, 2025
Wildfire rages in Iwate as firefighters struggle to contain blaze
No injuries or property damage from the wildfire have been reported so far.
Homes destroyed by wildfire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles earlier this month. Insured losses caused by this and other fires raging in the area in recent weeks have been valued at over $30 billion.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 5, 2025
Fossil fuel insurance is still way too cheap
Despite mounting losses from climate-induced disasters, insurers continue underwriting fossil fuels. Raising the cost of such policies would help cut emissions and benefit many.
Smoke from the Palisades Fire rises over the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California, on Jan. 7.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 29, 2025
Scientists race to gauge Los Angeles fires’ impact on ocean life
The more than 15,000 structures that burned in the Los Angeles fires released carcinogenic clouds of ash that blew far out to sea.
Smoke from the Hughes fire billows outside of Castaic, California, on Jan. 22
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 29, 2025
Climate change made Los Angeles 35% more primed to burn, scientists say
Greenhouse gas pollution raised temperatures, made drought more likely and extended the duration of fire season.
Properties destroyed by the Tubbs Fire in Santa Rosa, California, in 2017
WORLD
Jan 28, 2025
Earlier California fire shows how Los Angeles could rebuild
The experiences of those who rebuilt in Coffey Park and Santa Rosa show the power of collective action, and local government success in streamlining construction.
Bushfires in Little Desert National Park in the Australian state of Victoria. Firefighters were scrambling Tuesday to control the blaze tearing through rural southeastern Australia, as stranded locals were warned it was "too late to leave" if they had not already fled.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 28, 2025
Fast-moving fires torch national parks in southeast Australia
Hotter temperatures are fueling increasingly severe natural disasters across Australia, researchers have found.
Marialyce Pedersen cleans burned leaves and debris that accumulated in the sink of her outdoor kitchen made of cob that survived the Eaton fire when her home burned in Altadena, California, on Jan. 20.
WORLD / Society
Jan 23, 2025
Los Angeles wildfires spark interest in adobe and natural building materials
Former homeowners determined to stay want houses that the next fire will not burn easily and that, if burnt, will not turn the soil, water and air into a toxic hazard.
Emergency vehicles on the side of the road as flames race up a hill in Castaic, a northwestern neighborhood of Los Angeles, on Wednesday.
WORLD
Jan 23, 2025
Fast-growing wildfire breaks out north of Los Angeles, forcing evacuations
The Hughes Fire in the Castaic Lake area of Los Angeles County forced evacuations with warnings of "immediate threat to life."
In this long exposure photo, a helicopter surveys the scene during the Lilac fire in unincorporated San Diego County, California, on Tuesday.
WORLD
Jan 22, 2025
Fire-scarred Los Angeles to face dry winds with promise of weekend rain
This weekend could bring much-needed rain, with up to 1.3 centimeters forecast for the drought-stricken Los Angeles area.
Cherry blossom season set to kick off on March 21 in Tokyo
A Weathernews forecast shows the cherry blossom season will begin on March 21 in Tokyo.
Tokyo responds to Trump remarks on 'interesting' Japan-U.S. security pact
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (left) and U.S. President Donald Trump arrive for a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, on Feb. 7.
Nagoya High Court rules not recognizing same-sex marriage unconstitutional
Following the Nagoya High Court ruling on the same-sex marriage lawsuit, lawyers and others raise banners and boards that read "unconstitutional" and similar statements on Friday in Naka Ward, Nagoya.
Foreign single mothers struggle with language barriers and visas
Forbidden from seeing friends and forced to devote herself to housework, Reina (whose name has been changed), a 37-year-old Filipino national living in the city of Nagoya, became socially isolated.
At 102, world's oldest pharmacist celebrates her calling
Kesa Hatamoto, a 102-year-old Japanese woman who is recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's oldest pharmacist, speaks during an interview on Jan. 28 in Tokyo's Meguro Ward.
Cherry blossom season set to kick off on March 21 in Tokyo
A Weathernews forecast shows the cherry blossom season will begin on March 21 in Tokyo.
‘Granny hobbies’ are the new self-care
Yarn shortages are a sign that hobbies like knitting and crochet are gaining in popularity.
Can Shiori Ito’s documentary open Japan’s black box?
Shiori Ito is the first Japanese director to have been nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary feature film. "Black Box Diaries," which tells the story of her quest for justice following her rape in 2015, hasn't been released in Japan.
Japanese stocks stalled at 1989 levels as investors weigh tariffs and rates
An electronic sign displays the benchmark Nikkei stock average on a street in Tokyo. The stock average has been range-bound between about 38,000 and 40,000 since hitting a new all-time high in July last year.
Redevelopment and resistance in historic Nishiogikubo
Tsuyoshi Mizukoshi, owner of a pub in Nishiogi’s commercial area, is a community organizer who is rallying local residents against the road development plan.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Wealthier women in the prewar era had been the targets of various media-related health campaigns that mistakenly encouraged them to avoid everything from riding bicycles to reading novels when their monthly cycles came around.
Menstruation in Japan: Breaking the silence, slowly
By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Supporting women’s social participation is Cartier’s commitment
Supporting women’s social participation is Cartier’s commitment

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