Japan: Cherry Blossoms Begin To Douse Tokyo In Pink 3

The cherry blossoms, or sakura, are blooming and starting to bathe the capital city Tokyo in pink. The trees' blooming was officially announced on March 29 for central Tokyo and is expected to reach full bloom around April 4. Dependent on the weather, locals and tourists alike are expected to visit famous parks and viewing locations to do "hanami", literally "viewing of flowers" in Japanese.

Japan: Cherry Blossoms Begin To Douse Tokyo In Pink

The cherry blossoms, or sakura, are blooming and starting to bathe the capital city Tokyo in pink. The trees' blooming was officially announced on March 29 for central Tokyo and is expected to reach full bloom around April 4. Dependent on the weather, locals and tourists alike are expected to visit famous parks and location to do "hanami", literally "viewing the flowers" in Japanese.

Central part of the city reduced to ashes as seen from Kyobashi Bridge

Central part of the city reduced to ashes as seen from Kyobashi Bridge

The central part of the city reduced to ashes as seen from Kyobashi Bridge (1.4 kilometers northeast of the hypocenter) on the southwest side of the Hiroshima Station. The building with a tower on the far left is the head office of the Chugoku Shimbun, on its right is Fukuya Department Store, and the structure behind the tree in the center right is Hiroshima Central Broadcasting. Three photographs taken from the railings of Kyobashi Bridge over the Kyobashi River were stitched together for this picture. (Distance from hypocenter 1400 meters.) Photo taken in November 1945, by Yoshito Matsushige, Chugoku Shimbun. **Editorial use only, Commercial use not possible**, Credit: Chugoku Shimbun/Kyodo News Images

Devastation at the west end of Miyuki Bridge (Close-up)

Devastation at the west end of Miyuki Bridge (Close-up)

People suffering burns received dabs of transformer oil brought from the nearby Hiroshima Electric Railway. The girl in the foreground, wearing a sailorstyle uniform with a triangular collar, and the girl to her left were second-year students at Hiroshima Girls' Commercial School (then 13 years old) who experienced the atomic bombing at the Hiroshima Postal Savings Bureau in Senda-machi 1-chome, where they were mobilized to work, but survived. The boy second to the right of the police officer from the Ujina Police Station was a first-year student at Hiroshima Municipal Junior High School (then 12 years old) who experienced the atomic bombing in Koami-cho (now part of Naka Ward), where he was helping to demolish buildings to create fire lanes. It is believed he was on his way to his home in Danbarasuehiro-cho (now Danbara in Minami Ward), where he lived with his parents. He went missing and his remains were never found. (Distance from hypocenter 2200 meters.) Photo: Yoshito Matsushige, Collection: Photo Archives of Japan, Ownership: Chugoku Shimbun, **Editorial use only, commercial use not possible**,Credit: Chugoku Shimbun/Kyodo News Images

MFW- Fendi Arrivals

MFW- Fendi Arrivals

Riisa Naka arrives to Fendi fashion show during Milan Fashion Week Womenswear Spring/Summer 2024 , on September 20, 2023 in Milan, Italy. Photo by Marco Piovanotto/ABACAPRESS:COM

MFW- Fendi Arrivals

MFW- Fendi Arrivals

Riisa Naka arrives to Fendi fashion show during Milan Fashion Week Womenswear Spring/Summer 2024 , on September 20, 2023 in Milan, Italy. Photo by Marco Piovanotto/ABACAPRESS:COM

MFW- Fendi Arrivals

MFW- Fendi Arrivals

Riisa Naka arrives to Fendi fashion show during Milan Fashion Week Womenswear Spring/Summer 2024 , on September 20, 2023 in Milan, Italy. Photo by Marco Piovanotto/ABACAPRESS:COM

MFW- Fendi Arrivals

MFW- Fendi Arrivals

Riisa Naka arrives to Fendi fashion show during Milan Fashion Week Womenswear Spring/Summer 2024 , on September 20, 2023 in Milan, Italy. Photo by Marco Piovanotto/ABACAPRESS:COM

MFW- Fendi Arrivals

MFW- Fendi Arrivals

Riisa Naka arrives to Fendi fashion show during Milan Fashion Week Womenswear Spring/Summer 2024 , on September 20, 2023 in Milan, Italy. Photo by Marco Piovanotto/ABACAPRESS:COM

Man arrested in Yokohama church fire

Man arrested in Yokohama church fire

YOKOHAMA, Japan - Smoke billows from Yokohama Christ Church in Yokohama's Naka Ward Jan. 4. The church, across the street from the Foreign Cemetery, was burnt to the ground. Police arrested a 23-year-old U.S. citizen who grew up in Japan on suspicion of setting the fire.

Urban Animal Album

Urban Animal Album

OSAKA, Japan - A badger appears from a hole in a wall in a shopping area of Hiroshima's Naka Ward on May 30, 2014.

Man behind debut of Seven Stars in Kyushu

Man behind debut of Seven Stars in Kyushu

FUKUOKA, Japan - Yoshio Naka, deputy director of the cruise train headquarters at Kyushu Railway Co., speaks about the company's project to launch "Seven Stars in Kyushu" cruise and sleeper train, during an interview on Sept. 30, 2013 in Fukuoka's Hakata Ward. Kyushu Railway, better known as JR Kyushu, began running in mid-October the same year the Seven Stars luxury train that can accommodate a total of 30 guests in 14 compartments on seven cars.

Abolished schools find new role as renovated residences

Abolished schools find new role as renovated residences

TOKUSHIMA, Japan - Photo taken June 13, 2013, shows Taiko Ishimoto standing in the lobby of a town-run housing complex that was created by renovating a closed junior high school building in Naka, Tokushima Prefecture. Ishimoto recalls the monthlong evacuation at her alma mater where town residents took refuge when a strong typhoon hit in 2004.

Abolished schools find new role as renovated residences

Abolished schools find new role as renovated residences

TOKUSHIMA, Japan - Photo taken June 13, 2013, shows a town-run housing complex that was created by renovating a closed junior high school building in Naka, Tokushima Prefecture.

'Barefoot Gen' marks 40th anniversary of publication

'Barefoot Gen' marks 40th anniversary of publication

HIROSHIMA, Japan - Misayo Nakazawa, widow of Keiji Nakazawa, is seen in Hiroshima's Naka Ward on June 11, 2013, sitting in front of magazines and other publications that carried her late husband's manga series "Hadashi no Gen (Barefoot Gen)." The series describes the life of a 6-year-old boy called Gen before and after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945.

Experimental nuclear fusion device

Experimental nuclear fusion device

MITO, Japan - Photo taken Jan. 28, 2013, shows the JT60SA, an experimental nuclear fusion device which the Japan Atomic Energy Agency and the European Union started assembling the same day, aiming at starting operation in 2019, at the agency's research facility in Naka, Ibaraki Prefecture.

Student helping asylum seekers in Nagoya

Student helping asylum seekers in Nagoya

NAGOYA, Japan - Maho Hadano, a graduate student at Nagoya University and the only full-time coordinator at the Nagoya-based support office for refugees, speaks during an interview with Kyodo News on Dec. 12, 2012 at the office in the city's Naka Ward. The Tokyo-based nonprofit organization Japan Association for Refugees and the Japan Lawyers Network for Refugees set up the Nagoya office in July 2012 to cope with a sharp increase in applications for asylum with the Nagoya Regional Immigration Bureau.

Murder acquittal

Murder acquittal

OSAKA, Japan - A May 2008 file photo shows the site (upper R) where the abandoned body of Miho Kosugi, 15, was found in Maizuru, Kyoto Prefecture. The Osaka High Court on Dec. 12, 2012, acquitted the defendant, Katsumi Naka, of murder, reversing a lower court's life sentence.

Preservation of Schmoe's House for A-bomb survivors

Preservation of Schmoe's House for A-bomb survivors

HIROSHIMA, Japan - Preservation works on the only remaining house for atomic bomb survivors built under the project ''Houses for Hiroshima'' by the late U.S. peace activist Floyd Schmoe start on Jan. 27, 2012, in Hiroshima's Naka Ward. The city of Hiroshima plans to move the house, more than 60 years old, about 40 meters, without disassembling it, for restoration and preservation.

Preservation of Schmoe's House for A-bomb survivors

Preservation of Schmoe's House for A-bomb survivors

HIROSHIMA, Japan - Preservation works on the only remaining house for atomic bomb survivors built under the project ''Houses for Hiroshima'' by the late U.S. peace activist Floyd Schmoe start on Jan. 27, 2012, in Hiroshima's Naka Ward. The city of Hiroshima plans to move the house, more than 60 years old, about 40 meters, without disassembling it, for restoration and preservation.

American GE man remembered by Fukushima citizens

American GE man remembered by Fukushima citizens

TOKYO, Japan - Yukiteru Naka, a former employee of General Electric Co. of the United States, visits the tomb of Edward Cook, an American who was a GE official, at a cemetery of Hosenji Buddhist temple in Tomioka, Fukushima Prefecture, on Aug. 9, 2011. Cook, who worked as GE official when the project to build the No. 1 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi complex was under way, had his ashes interred at the cemetery about 8 kilometers from the plant at his own request. Naka, now president of a subcontractor for the Fukushima Plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., is working to tackle the crisis at the nuclear complex.

Yokohama Stadium

Yokohama Stadium

TOKYO, Japan - File photo shows Yokohama Stadium in Yokohama's Naka Ward on Oct. 14, 2010, the home ballpark of the professional baseball club Yokohama BayStars.

Yokohama Stadium

Yokohama Stadium

TOKYO, Japan - File photo shows Yokohama Stadium in Yokohama's Naka Ward on Oct. 14, 2010, the home ballpark of the professional baseball club Yokohama BayStars.

A-bomb piano played in New York

A-bomb piano played in New York

NEW YORK, United States - Dana Hanchard (R) plays a piano that survived the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima during a concert at a church in New York on Sept. 10, 2010, ahead of the 9th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks on the United States. The piano was in Naka Ward in Hiroshima City, about 1.8 kilometers from the epicenter, at the time of the bombing and Mitsunori Yagawa, 58, a piano tuner, became its owner about five years ago and restored it.

Int'l 'cosplayers' take to Nagoya streets

Int'l 'cosplayers' take to Nagoya streets

NAGOYA, Japan - Costume role players from abroad pose during a photo opportunity at Osu Kannon temple in Nagoya's Naka Ward on July 31, 2010, as the World Cosplay Summit 2010 commenced the same day.

Int'l 'cosplayers' take to Nagoya streets

Int'l 'cosplayers' take to Nagoya streets

NAGOYA, Japan - Costume role players from abroad pose for photos in the busy streets of Nagoya's Naka Ward on July 31, 2010, as the World Cosplay Summit 2010 commenced the same day.

'Ecozzeria' center aims to lead Marunouchi into eco-friendly era

'Ecozzeria' center aims to lead Marunouchi into eco-friendly era

TOKYO, Japan - Naka Inoue talks about a variety of eco-projects at the ''Ecozzeria'' center in the Shin-Marunouchi Building in Tokyo in an interview with Kyodo News on Dec. 2, 2009.

Int'l 'cosplayers' take to Nagoya streets for summit parade

Int'l 'cosplayers' take to Nagoya streets for summit parade

NAGOYA, Japan - ''Cosplay'' costume role players from abroad pose during a photo opportunity at Osu Kannon temple in Nagoya's Naka Ward following a parade on Aug. 1. The ''cosplayers'' are taking part in the three-day World Cosplay Summit, which started the same day in the city.

Int'l 'cosplayers' take to Nagoya streets for summit parade

Int'l 'cosplayers' take to Nagoya streets for summit parade

NAGOYA, Japan - ''Cosplay'' costume role players from abroad pose during a photo opportunity at Osu Kannon temple in Nagoya's Naka Ward following a parade on Aug. 1. The ''cosplayers'' are taking part in the three-day World Cosplay Summit, which started the same day in the city.

Int'l 'cosplayers' take to Nagoya streets for summit parade

Int'l 'cosplayers' take to Nagoya streets for summit parade

NAGOYA, Japan - ''Cosplay'' costume role players from abroad pose during a photo opportunity at Osu Kannon temple in Nagoya's Naka Ward following a parade on Aug. 1. The ''cosplayers'' are taking part in the three-day World Cosplay Summit, which started the same day in the city.

Supermarkets rising sales with unique ideas to beat recession

Supermarkets rising sales with unique ideas to beat recession

NAGOYA, Japan - Seisen Shokuhinkan Sanoya in Nagoya's Naka Ward, in this phone taken March 2, sells more than 800 boxes of its 250 yen special lunch each day.

Toyoko Inn hotels removed facilities for disabled

Toyoko Inn hotels removed facilities for disabled

YOKOHAMA, Japan - Officials of the Yokohama municipality enter Toyoko Inn, a 10-story, 133-room hotel in Naka Ward in Yokohama, for checking on Jan. 27. Business hotel chain Toyoko Inn Co. admitted the same day to allegations that two of its hotels in Yokohama removed mandatory parking facilities for the disabled after the hotels had passed inspection.

(1)Japan urged to take measures to tackle human trafficking

(1)Japan urged to take measures to tackle human trafficking

TOKYO, Japan - Non-Japanese women are seen waiting for customers on a busy street in Yokohama's Naka Ward in June. About 600 women from Thailand, China, Russia, Argentina, and other countries are working at small ''snack'' bars or restaurants, equipped with rooms on upper floors used for prostitution.

Next U.N. assembly head visits Hiroshima peace museum

Next U.N. assembly head visits Hiroshima peace museum

HIROSHIMA, Japan - U.N. General Assembly President-designate Jean Ping of Gabon (2nd from L) listens to an explanation by Minoru Hataguchi (R), head of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, at the museum in Hiroshima's Naka Ward on May 21.

Naka no match for champion Bredahl in WBA title fight

Naka no match for champion Bredahl in WBA title fight

COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Japan's Nobuaki Naka hangs his head after losing a unanimous decision to world champion Johnny Bredahl of Denmark in a World Boxing Association bantamweight title match on March 13. Naka, currently ranked eighth in the world, saw his record fall to 17 wins, including 11 knockouts, one loss, and two draws after failing in his first crack at winning a world title fight.

Naka gets title shot against WBA bantamweight champ

Naka gets title shot against WBA bantamweight champ

OSAKA, Japan - Japan's Nobuaki Naka, currently eighth in the World Boxing Association bantamweight rankings at 53.42 kilograms, poses at his gym in Amagasaki, west of Osaka, on Feb. 12. Boxing officials said Naka will take on world champion Johnny Bredahl of Denmark in Copenhagen in March.

Toyota on course for 1 tril. yen group net profit in FY 2003

Toyota on course for 1 tril. yen group net profit in FY 2003

NAGOYA, Japan - Toyota Motor Corp. Vice President Ryuji Araki speaks to reporters at the Nagoya Stock Exchange in Nagoya's Naka Ward on Feb. 5 about the company's group earnings report for the October-December quarter.

Chinese entertainment facility to open in Yokohama Chinatown

Chinese entertainment facility to open in Yokohama Chinatown

YOKOHAMA, Japan - A large Chinese entertainment facility will open in Yokohama's Chinatown in Naka Ward on Nov. 30. The eight-story facility features stages for classical Chinese opera and Shanghai jazz and restaurants.

Seal believed to be 'Tama-chan' seen in Saitama Pref.

Seal believed to be 'Tama-chan' seen in Saitama Pref.

KOSHIGAYA, Japan - A seal believed to be ''Tama-chan'' -- the seal that has gained nationwide fame since first being sighted last August in the Tama River, which borders Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture -- is spotted in the Naka River in Koshigaya, Saitama Prefecture, April 21. The elusive seal had been seen recently in the Katabira River in Yokohama but its whereabouts have not been known since mid-March.

Ex-Carp manager Takeshi Koba to run in Hiroshima mayor race

Ex-Carp manager Takeshi Koba to run in Hiroshima mayor race

HIROSHIMA, Japan - Takeshi Koba, a baseball commentator and former Hiroshima Carp manager, tells a press conference at a hotel in Hiroshima's Naka Ward on Dec. 16 that he will run in the Hiroshima mayoral election scheduled for Feb. 2, 2003.

Chunichi slugger Taiho retires

Chunichi slugger Taiho retires

NAGOYA, Japan - Yasuaki Taiho, a Taiwanese-born slugger of the Chunichi Dragons, announces his retirement at a press conference at the team's office in Nagoya's Naka Ward on Oct. 16. Taiho, 38, came to Japan to play for a university team in Nagoya before joining Chunichi in 1989.

Binoculars used in Enola Gay after A-bombing given to museum

Binoculars used in Enola Gay after A-bombing given to museum

HIROSHIMA, Japan - A woman shows a pair of binoculars believed to have been used by an Enola Gay crew member to evaluate the devastation of the 1945 first atomic bombing of Hiroshima at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima's Naka Ward on Aug. 2. Yae Araki, who had bought the binoculars for $13,200 at Christie's auction in New York in December 1990, donated them to the museum.

Toyota's new Prius to be 'most fuel-efficient,' Cho says

Toyota's new Prius to be 'most fuel-efficient,' Cho says

NAGOYA, Japan - Toyota Motor Corp. President Fujio Cho speaks at a press conference at a hotel in Nagoya's Naka Ward on July 31. Cho said Toyota is preparing for the introduction in early August of the remodeled Prius hybrid car, which the company expects to become known as the most fuel-efficient car.

Hiroshima court rejects forced labor suit

Hiroshima court rejects forced labor suit

HIROSHIMA, Japan - Lu Xuewen from China's Shandong Province, a former forced laborer who sued Nishimatsu Construction Co. to seek compensation, speaks at a rally in Hiroshima's Naka Ward on July 9 after the Hiroshima District Court rejected the lawsuit. Lu and four other Chinese demanded a total of 27.5 million yen in compensation from Nishimatsu, claiming they were forcibly brought to Japan during World War II and made to work in Hiroshima Prefecture.

Lavender season in Hokkaido

Lavender season in Hokkaido

ASAHIKAWA, Japan - A young couple enjoy smelling at lavender in the central Hokkaido town of Naka-Furano on July 6. Tourist officials of the town, known for lavender, said the flower came into bloom much earlier than normal years due to a warmer weather.

Maestro Ozawa rehearses for charity concert in Yokohama

Maestro Ozawa rehearses for charity concert in Yokohama

YOKOHAMA, Japan - Maestro Seiji Ozawa (standing) conducts a rehearsal July 5 prior to a charity concert in Yokohama later in the day to raise funds for the maintenance of an international cemetery in the city's Naka Ward. The parents of his wife were buried in the cemetery.

Costa Rica plays against Mito Hollyhock

Costa Rica plays against Mito Hollyhock

NAKA, Japan - Costa Rica striker Rolando Fonseca shoots at goal during a friendly match with J-League division two club Mito Hollyhock in the town of Naka, Ibaraki Prefecture, on May 24. Costa Rica won 1-0.

32 teams compete in futsal to commemorate World Cup finals

32 teams compete in futsal to commemorate World Cup finals

YOKOHAMA, Japan - Embassy staff and local residents participate in an international futsal tournament at a soccer park May 11 in Naka Ward, Yokohama, to commemorate the upcoming World Cup soccer finals. Yokohama is the venue for the June 30 final match of the month-long 2002 FIFA World Cup due to start May 31.

New Yokohama Mayor Nakada starts work

New Yokohama Mayor Nakada starts work

YOKOHAMA, Japan - Hiroshi Nakada, the city of Yokohama's new mayor, poses for photographers at his city hall office April 8 in Yokohama's Naka Ward. Nakada, 37, a former independent member of the House of Representatives, beat incumbent three-term Mayor Hidenobu Takahide and two other candidates in the March 31 mayoral election.

High court upholds ruling linking overwork, employee's death

High court upholds ruling linking overwork, employee's death

NAGOYA, Japan - Miho Suzuki speaks to reporters in Nagoya's Naka Ward on March 15 after the Nagoya High Court upheld a lower court ruling on her claim that overwork led to the death of her husband Tatsuo in November 1989. The high court concluded overwork at Sumitomo Densetsu Co. aggravated Tatsuo's asthma and led to his death.