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Brazil: Floods and Landslides Devastate Minas Gerais 6

Heavy rain has hit Juiz de Fora in southeastern Brazil, causing floods, building collapses, and river overflows. In the state of Minas Gerais, where Juiz de Fora is located, heavy rain has persisted since Monday, February 23, triggering floods and landslides. So far, at least 40 people have died, 27 are missing, and about 3,600 have been forced to evacuate. This video shows a flooded parking garage in the São Mateus neighborhood of Juiz de Fora.

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Art event in quake-hit Ishikawa town

People gather around a bonfire as a junior high school building (back) is illuminated with colorful geometric patterns in Noto, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Dec. 15, 2024, ahead of the first anniversary on Jan. 1 of a powerful earthquake that devastated the region. Japanese digital artist Akira Hasegawa, hailing from the central Japan prefecture, produced the event at the school, which accommodated displaced people after the disaster and will be closed in March.

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Art event in quake-hit Ishikawa town

A junior high school building is illuminated with colorful geometric patterns in Noto, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Dec. 15, 2024, ahead of the first anniversary next Jan. 1 of a powerful earthquake that devastated the region. Japanese digital artist Akira Hasegawa, hailing from the central Japan prefecture, produced the event at the school, which accommodated displaced people after the disaster and will be closed in March.

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Art event in quake-hit Ishikawa town

A junior high school building is illuminated with colorful geometric patterns in Noto, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Dec. 15, 2024, ahead of the first anniversary next Jan. 1 of a powerful earthquake that devastated the region. Japanese digital artist Akira Hasegawa, hailing from the central Japan prefecture, produced the event at the school, which accommodated displaced people after the disaster and will be closed in March.

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Art event in quake-hit Ishikawa town

A junior high school building is illuminated with colorful geometric patterns in Noto, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Dec. 15, 2024, ahead of the first anniversary next Jan. 1 of a powerful earthquake that devastated the region. Japanese digital artist Akira Hasegawa, hailing from the central Japan prefecture, produced the event at the school, which accommodated displaced people after the disaster and will be closed in March.

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Art event in quake-hit Ishikawa town

A junior high school building is illuminated with colorful geometric patterns in Noto, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Dec. 15, 2024, ahead of the first anniversary next Jan. 1 of a powerful earthquake that devastated the region. Japanese digital artist Akira Hasegawa, hailing from the central Japan prefecture, produced the event at the school, which accommodated displaced people after the disaster and will be closed in March.

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Art event in quake-hit Ishikawa town

A junior high school building is illuminated with colorful geometric patterns in Noto, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Dec. 15, 2024, ahead of the first anniversary next Jan. 1 of a powerful earthquake that devastated the region. Japanese digital artist Akira Hasegawa, hailing from the central Japan prefecture, produced the event at the school, which accommodated displaced people after the disaster and will be closed in March.

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Southwestern Japan students attend papal audience

Junior high school students from Minamishimabara, Nagasaki Prefecture, pose for a photo after attending a general audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Oct. 23, 2024, clad in costumes simulating four Japanese teenagers sent to Rome as emissaries of a Catholic landlord in the 1580s. The southwestern Japan city, where the 16th-century emissaries studied at a Jesuit school, has sent delegations of local students since 2012, with the 2024 cohort being the first after the coronavirus pandemic.

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Chinese rural film projectionist's 48-year passion for his career

STORY: Chinese rural film projectionist's 48-year passion for his career SHOOTING TIME: Feb. 6, 2024 DATELINE: Feb. 19, 2024 LENGTH: 00:02:43 LOCATION: CONGHUA, China CATEGORY: SOCIETY SHOTLIST: 1. various of Huang Shuhui 2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): HUANG SHUHUI, Movie projectionist 3. various of Huang's movie projection team 4. various of Huang and his son 5. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): HUANG JIAHONG, Son of Huang Shuhui 6. various of Huang's film museum STORYLINE: Huang Shuhui, who has been dedicated to the film projection industry since graduating from junior high school, is one of the first rural film projectionists in the Conghua District of south China's Guangzhou City. Over the past 48 years, he has worked diligently in his post, often traveling between different places in the province, to show the film to people in rural areas. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): HUANG SHUHUI, Movie projectionist "There could be ten to twenty thousand, or even tens of thousands of people in a town. It was a great honor for me to bec

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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

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CHINA-GANSU-POEM-ENTHUSIAST (CN)

(230422) -- LANZHOU, April 22, 2023 (Xinhua) -- Zhu Yanjun (L) gives an interview for the upcoming World Book Day in a studio of China Education Television in Beijing, capital of China, April 12, 2023. Zhu Yanjun, 50, is the runner-up of the 2023 Chinese Poetry Competition. After graduating from junior high school in 1992, he stopped his schooling and left his hometown, a village in Jingning County of northwest China's Gansu Province, and began to work as a migrant worker. Over the past 30 years, although he was always busy working during the day, he kept on spending his spare time to pursue his passion for poetry. This year, he finally appeared in the Chinese Poetry Competition and won the second place, stunning the audience with his talent. Zhu's obsession with poetry runs through every aspect of his life. Whenever he goes to a city for work, he first visits bookstores. On rainy days when the construction site where he works halts work temporarily, he usually rushes to the bookstore early in the mor

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CHINA-GANSU-POEM-ENTHUSIAST (CN)

(230422) -- LANZHOU, April 22, 2023 (Xinhua) -- Zhu Yanjun buys pastries, as gifts for the colleagues in his hometown, at a store of a traditional Chinese bakery brand in Beijing, capital of China, April 12, 2023. Zhu Yanjun, 50, is the runner-up of the 2023 Chinese Poetry Competition. After graduating from junior high school in 1992, he stopped his schooling and left his hometown, a village in Jingning County of northwest China's Gansu Province, and began to work as a migrant worker. Over the past 30 years, although he was always busy working during the day, he kept on spending his spare time to pursue his passion for poetry. This year, he finally appeared in the Chinese Poetry Competition and won the second place, stunning the audience with his talent. Zhu's obsession with poetry runs through every aspect of his life. Whenever he goes to a city for work, he first visits bookstores. On rainy days when the construction site where he works halts work temporarily, he usually rushes to the bookstore earl

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CHINA-GANSU-POEM-ENTHUSIAST (CN)

(230422) -- LANZHOU, April 22, 2023 (Xinhua) -- Zhu Yanjun looks through a book in the library of Jingning County, northwest China's Gansu Province, on April 10, 2023. Zhu Yanjun, 50, is the runner-up of the 2023 Chinese Poetry Competition. After graduating from junior high school in 1992, he stopped his schooling and left his hometown, a village in Jingning County of northwest China's Gansu Province, and began to work as a migrant worker. Over the past 30 years, although he was always busy working during the day, he kept on spending his spare time to pursue his passion for poetry. This year, he finally appeared in the Chinese Poetry Competition and won the second place, stunning the audience with his talent. Zhu's obsession with poetry runs through every aspect of his life. Whenever he goes to a city for work, he first visits bookstores. On rainy days when the construction site where he works halts work temporarily, he usually rushes to the bookstore early in the morning and spends the whole day read

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CHINA-GANSU-POEM-ENTHUSIAST (CN)

(230422) -- LANZHOU, April 22, 2023 (Xinhua) -- Zhu Yanjun (L) gives an interview for the upcoming World Book Day in a studio of China Education Television in Beijing, capital of China, April 12, 2023. Zhu Yanjun, 50, is the runner-up of the 2023 Chinese Poetry Competition. After graduating from junior high school in 1992, he stopped his schooling and left his hometown, a village in Jingning County of northwest China's Gansu Province, and began to work as a migrant worker. Over the past 30 years, although he was always busy working during the day, he kept on spending his spare time to pursue his passion for poetry. This year, he finally appeared in the Chinese Poetry Competition and won the second place, stunning the audience with his talent. Zhu's obsession with poetry runs through every aspect of his life. Whenever he goes to a city for work, he first visits bookstores. On rainy days when the construction site where he works halts work temporarily, he usually rushes to the bookstore early in the mor

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CHINA-GANSU-POEM-ENTHUSIAST (CN)

(230422) -- LANZHOU, April 22, 2023 (Xinhua) -- Zhu Yanjun shares poetry reading experience with students at Chengguan Primary School in Jingning County, northwest China's Gansu Province, on April 10, 2023. Zhu Yanjun, 50, is the runner-up of the 2023 Chinese Poetry Competition. After graduating from junior high school in 1992, he stopped his schooling and left his hometown, a village in Jingning County of northwest China's Gansu Province, and began to work as a migrant worker. Over the past 30 years, although he was always busy working during the day, he kept on spending his spare time to pursue his passion for poetry. This year, he finally appeared in the Chinese Poetry Competition and won the second place, stunning the audience with his talent. Zhu's obsession with poetry runs through every aspect of his life. Whenever he goes to a city for work, he first visits bookstores. On rainy days when the construction site where he works halts work temporarily, he usually rushes to the bookstore early in th

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CHINA-GANSU-POEM-ENTHUSIAST (CN)

(230422) -- LANZHOU, April 22, 2023 (Xinhua) -- Zhu Yanjun reads books at Beijing Books Building after taking part in a TV program interview in Beijing, capital of China, April 12, 2023. Zhu Yanjun, 50, is the runner-up of the 2023 Chinese Poetry Competition. After graduating from junior high school in 1992, he stopped his schooling and left his hometown, a village in Jingning County of northwest China's Gansu Province, and began to work as a migrant worker. Over the past 30 years, although he was always busy working during the day, he kept on spending his spare time to pursue his passion for poetry. This year, he finally appeared in the Chinese Poetry Competition and won the second place, stunning the audience with his talent. Zhu's obsession with poetry runs through every aspect of his life. Whenever he goes to a city for work, he first visits bookstores. On rainy days when the construction site where he works halts work temporarily, he usually rushes to the bookstore early in the morning and spends

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CHINA-GANSU-POEM-ENTHUSIAST (CN)

(230422) -- LANZHOU, April 22, 2023 (Xinhua) -- Zhu Yanjun shows the runner-up medal he won at the 2023 Chinese Poetry Competition at home in Jingning County, northwest China's Gansu Province, on April 10, 2023. Zhu Yanjun, 50, is the runner-up of the 2023 Chinese Poetry Competition. After graduating from junior high school in 1992, he stopped his schooling and left his hometown, a village in Jingning County of northwest China's Gansu Province, and began to work as a migrant worker. Over the past 30 years, although he was always busy working during the day, he kept on spending his spare time to pursue his passion for poetry. This year, he finally appeared in the Chinese Poetry Competition and won the second place, stunning the audience with his talent. Zhu's obsession with poetry runs through every aspect of his life. Whenever he goes to a city for work, he first visits bookstores. On rainy days when the construction site where he works halts work temporarily, he usually rushes to the bookstore early

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CHINA-GANSU-POEM-ENTHUSIAST (CN)

(230422) -- LANZHOU, April 22, 2023 (Xinhua) -- Zhu Yanjun and his colleague set up equipment for a World Book Day activity in Jingning County, northwest China's Gansu Province, on April 10, 2023. Zhu Yanjun, 50, is the runner-up of the 2023 Chinese Poetry Competition. After graduating from junior high school in 1992, he stopped his schooling and left his hometown, a village in Jingning County of northwest China's Gansu Province, and began to work as a migrant worker. Over the past 30 years, although he was always busy working during the day, he kept on spending his spare time to pursue his passion for poetry. This year, he finally appeared in the Chinese Poetry Competition and won the second place, stunning the audience with his talent. Zhu's obsession with poetry runs through every aspect of his life. Whenever he goes to a city for work, he first visits bookstores. On rainy days when the construction site where he works halts work temporarily, he usually rushes to the bookstore early in the morning

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CHINA-GANSU-POEM-ENTHUSIAST (CN)

(230422) -- LANZHOU, April 22, 2023 (Xinhua) -- Zhu Yanjun (L) gives an interview for the upcoming World Book Day in a studio of China Education Television in Beijing, capital of China, April 12, 2023. Zhu Yanjun, 50, is the runner-up of the 2023 Chinese Poetry Competition. After graduating from junior high school in 1992, he stopped his schooling and left his hometown, a village in Jingning County of northwest China's Gansu Province, and began to work as a migrant worker. Over the past 30 years, although he was always busy working during the day, he kept on spending his spare time to pursue his passion for poetry. This year, he finally appeared in the Chinese Poetry Competition and won the second place, stunning the audience with his talent. Zhu's obsession with poetry runs through every aspect of his life. Whenever he goes to a city for work, he first visits bookstores. On rainy days when the construction site where he works halts work temporarily, he usually rushes to the bookstore early in the mor

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CHINA-GANSU-POEM-ENTHUSIAST (CN)

(230422) -- LANZHOU, April 22, 2023 (Xinhua) -- Zhu Yanjun shares poetry reading experience with students at Chengguan Primary School in Jingning County, northwest China's Gansu Province, on April 10, 2023. Zhu Yanjun, 50, is the runner-up of the 2023 Chinese Poetry Competition. After graduating from junior high school in 1992, he stopped his schooling and left his hometown, a village in Jingning County of northwest China's Gansu Province, and began to work as a migrant worker. Over the past 30 years, although he was always busy working during the day, he kept on spending his spare time to pursue his passion for poetry. This year, he finally appeared in the Chinese Poetry Competition and won the second place, stunning the audience with his talent. Zhu's obsession with poetry runs through every aspect of his life. Whenever he goes to a city for work, he first visits bookstores. On rainy days when the construction site where he works halts work temporarily, he usually rushes to the bookstore early in th

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CHINA-GANSU-POEM-ENTHUSIAST (CN)

(230422) -- LANZHOU, April 22, 2023 (Xinhua) -- Zhu Yanjun shares poetry reading experience with students at Chengguan Primary School in Jingning County, northwest China's Gansu Province, on April 10, 2023. Zhu Yanjun, 50, is the runner-up of the 2023 Chinese Poetry Competition. After graduating from junior high school in 1992, he stopped his schooling and left his hometown, a village in Jingning County of northwest China's Gansu Province, and began to work as a migrant worker. Over the past 30 years, although he was always busy working during the day, he kept on spending his spare time to pursue his passion for poetry. This year, he finally appeared in the Chinese Poetry Competition and won the second place, stunning the audience with his talent. Zhu's obsession with poetry runs through every aspect of his life. Whenever he goes to a city for work, he first visits bookstores. On rainy days when the construction site where he works halts work temporarily, he usually rushes to the bookstore early in th

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CHINA-GANSU-POEM-ENTHUSIAST (CN)

(230422) -- LANZHOU, April 22, 2023 (Xinhua) -- Zhu Yanjun sorts out his notes of poems at home in Jingning County, northwest China's Gansu Province, on April 10, 2023. Zhu Yanjun, 50, is the runner-up of the 2023 Chinese Poetry Competition. After graduating from junior high school in 1992, he stopped his schooling and left his hometown, a village in Jingning County of northwest China's Gansu Province, and began to work as a migrant worker. Over the past 30 years, although he was always busy working during the day, he kept on spending his spare time to pursue his passion for poetry. This year, he finally appeared in the Chinese Poetry Competition and won the second place, stunning the audience with his talent. Zhu's obsession with poetry runs through every aspect of his life. Whenever he goes to a city for work, he first visits bookstores. On rainy days when the construction site where he works halts work temporarily, he usually rushes to the bookstore early in the morning and spends the whole day rea

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CHINA-GANSU-POEM-ENTHUSIAST (CN)

(230422) -- LANZHOU, April 22, 2023 (Xinhua) -- Zhu Yanjun transcribes poems in a hotel in Beijing, capital of China, on April 11, 2023. Zhu Yanjun, 50, is the runner-up of the 2023 Chinese Poetry Competition. After graduating from junior high school in 1992, he stopped his schooling and left his hometown, a village in Jingning County of northwest China's Gansu Province, and began to work as a migrant worker. Over the past 30 years, although he was always busy working during the day, he kept on spending his spare time to pursue his passion for poetry. This year, he finally appeared in the Chinese Poetry Competition and won the second place, stunning the audience with his talent. Zhu's obsession with poetry runs through every aspect of his life. Whenever he goes to a city for work, he first visits bookstores. On rainy days when the construction site where he works halts work temporarily, he usually rushes to the bookstore early in the morning and spends the whole day reading books. In order to make use

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CHINA-GANSU-POEM-ENTHUSIAST (CN)

(230422) -- LANZHOU, April 22, 2023 (Xinhua) -- Zhu Yanjun shows his notes for reciting poems in Beijing, capital of China, on April 12, 2023. Zhu Yanjun, 50, is the runner-up of the 2023 Chinese Poetry Competition. After graduating from junior high school in 1992, he stopped his schooling and left his hometown, a village in Jingning County of northwest China's Gansu Province, and began to work as a migrant worker. Over the past 30 years, although he was always busy working during the day, he kept on spending his spare time to pursue his passion for poetry. This year, he finally appeared in the Chinese Poetry Competition and won the second place, stunning the audience with his talent. Zhu's obsession with poetry runs through every aspect of his life. Whenever he goes to a city for work, he first visits bookstores. On rainy days when the construction site where he works halts work temporarily, he usually rushes to the bookstore early in the morning and spends the whole day reading books. In order to ma

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CHINA-BEIJING-SCHOOL-NEW SEMESTER (CN)

(230213) -- BEIJING, Feb. 13, 2023 (Xinhua) -- Students have class on their first day of the new semester at a junior high school in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 13, 2023. Primary and middle school students in Beijing returned to school for the spring semester on Monday. (Xinhua/Ren Chao)

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Princess Aiko's artwork shown at imperial cultural festa

TOKYO, Japan - Art and craftwork by Princess Aiko, the only child of Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako, are shown to the press on Dec. 10, 2014, on the eve of their display at the Imperial Household Agency staff union's in-house cultural festival. The 13-year-old princess produced the pencil sketch (top L), water color painting (top R) and tote bag as classwork at Gakushuin Girls' Junior High School where she is a first-year student. (Pool photo)

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Princess Aiko turns 13

TOKYO, Japan - Princess Aiko, the only child of Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako, arrives at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Dec. 1, 2014, to meet with her grandparents, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, on the occasion of her 13th birthday. It marked the first visit to the palace by the princess, a first-year student at Gakushuin Girls' Junior High School, without being accompanied by her parents. (Pool photo)

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Female junior high school student finds asteroid

TOKYO, Japan - Photo taken Aug. 26, 2013 in Kanagawa Prefecture shows Akiko Takahashi, one of the first female junior high school students in Japan to have discovered an asteroid. In July 2013, the International Astronomical Union listed as a new astral body the asteroid discovered in 2009 by Takahashi and two other girls.

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Students tour prime minister's office

TOKYO, Japan - Junior high school students sit in a press conference room at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on March 30, 2013. A total of about 80 local elementary and junior high school students toured the premier's office and adjacent residence, becoming the first members of the general public who were invited to tour the facilities.

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Students tour prime minister's office

TOKYO, Japan - Elementary school students take part in a special tour of the prime minister's office in Tokyo on March 30, 2013. A total of about 80 local elementary and junior high school students toured the premier's office and adjacent residence, becoming the first members of the general public who were invited to tour the facilities.

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Students tour prime minister's office

TOKYO, Japan - Elementary school students sit in a press conference room at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on March 30, 2013. A total of about 80 local elementary and junior high school students toured the premier's office and adjacent residence, becoming the first members of the general public who were invited to tour the facilities.

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Students tour prime minister's office

TOKYO, Japan - Elementary school students take part in a special tour of the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo on March 30, 2013. A total of about 80 local elementary and junior high school students toured the premier's office and adjacent residence, becoming the first members of the general public who were invited to tour the facilities.

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Students tour prime minister's office

TOKYO, Japan - Junior high school students sit in a press conference room at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on March 30, 2013. A total of about 80 local elementary and junior high school students toured the premier's office and adjacent residence, becoming the first members of the general public who were invited to tour the facilities.

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Students tour prime minister's office

TOKYO, Japan - Junior high school students take part in a special tour of the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo on March 30, 2013. A total of about 80 local elementary and junior high school students toured the premier's office and adjacent residence, becoming the first members of the general public who were invited to tour the facilities.

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Otsu bullying case

OTSU, Japan - Naomi Koshi, mayor of Otsu in Shiga Prefecture, speaks with reporters at the city hall on Feb. 5, 2013. The Otsu city government admitted for the first time that there was a causal relationship between bullying and a junior high school boy's suicide in 2011, during a hearing earlier the same day at the Otsu District Court for a 77 million yen damages suit filed by the bereaved family of the schoolboy.

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Japan Olympic speed skaters leave for Canada

NARITA, Japan - Japanese speed skater Miho Takagi waves as she leaves Narita airport, east of Tokyo, for Canada along with other skaters on Jan. 20, 2010. Takagi will be the country's first junior high school student to compete in speed skating at the Olympics.

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Japan Olympic speed skaters leave for Canada

NARITA, Japan - Japanese speed skater Miho Takagi leaves Narita airport, east of Tokyo, for Canada along with other skaters on Jan. 20, 2010. Takagi will be the country's first junior high school student to compete in speed skating at the Olympics.

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Takagi gets send-off at school before Vancouver

KUSHIRO, Japan - Miho Takagi, slated to compete in February's Vancouver Olympic Games, walks to the front stage of her school's gymnasium as her schoolmates cheer during a send-off event for her at Satsunai Middle School in the town of Makubetsu, Hokkaido, on Jan 15, 2010. The 15-year old will be the first junior high school student in Japanese speed skating history to compete in the Winter Games. (Pool Photo)

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Takagi send-off at school before Vancouver

KUSHIRO, Japan - Miho Takagi, slated to compete in February's Vancouver Olympic Games, speaks to students at her school during her send-off event on Jan. 15, 2010, at Hokkaido's Satsunai Middle School in the town of Makubetsu, Hokkaido. The 15-year-old, who will be the first junior high school student in Japanese speed skating history to compete in the Winter Games, said she wants to enjoy the Olympics. (Pool Photo)

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Fifteen-year-old Takagi wins in women's 1,000-M in Asian races

OBIHIRO, Japan - Fifteen-year-old Miho Takagi, who has won a ticket for February's Vancouver Olympic Games, smiles after winning the women's 1,000 meters in 1 minute, 17.87 seconds at the Asian Single Distances Speed Skating Competitions 2010 in Obihiro, Hokkaido, on Jan. 10, 2010. Takagi is the first junior high school student in Japanese speed skating history to win a ticket to a Winter Games.

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Fifteen-year-old Takagi wins in women's 1,000-M in Asian races

OBIHIRO, Japan - Fifteen-year-old Miho Takagi, who has won a ticket for February's Vancouver Olympic Games, skates to victory in women's 1,000 meters in 1 minute, 17.87 seconds at the Asian Single Distances Speed Skating Competitions 2010 in Obihiro, Hokkaido, on Jan. 10, 2010. Takagi is the first junior high school student in Japanese speed skating history to win a ticket to a Winter Games.

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Fifteen-year-old Takagi wins in women's 1,000-M in Asian races

OBIHIRO, Japan - Fifteen-year-old Miho Takagi, who has won a ticket for February's Vancouver Olympic Games, shows off her gold medal after winning the women's 1,000 meters in 1 minute, 17.87 seconds at the Asian Single Distances Speed Skating Competitions 2010 in Obihiro, Hokkaido, on Jan. 10, 2010. Takagi is the first junior high school student in Japanese speed skating history to win a ticket to a Winter Games.

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Japan braces for 1st total eclipse in 46 yrs

TOSHIMA, Japan - A group of tents are seen under a starry sky in a field of an elementary and junior high school in Akuseki Island south of the southwestern Japan prefecture of Kagoshima on July 18, four days before the first total solar eclipse in 46 years that can be seen from Japanese territory.

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Japan braces for 1st total eclipse in 46 yrs

TOSHIMA, Japan - A woman checks a telescope in a field of an elementary and junior high school in Akuseki Island south of the southwestern Japan prefecture of Kagoshima on July 19, three days before the first total solar eclipse in 46 years that can be seen from Japanese territory.

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China marks anniversary of Sichuan earthquake

YINGXIU, China - Chinese President Hu Jintao addresses a ceremony to mark the first anniversary of the devastating May 12, 2008 Sichuan Province earthquake before a quake-damaged junior high school in Wenchuan on May 12. The hands of the clock monument behind Hu point to 2:28, the moment the quake struck. (Pool photo by Kyodo News)

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Education Council panel proposes increasing classroom hours

TOKYO, Japan - Members of the Central Education Council's school curriculum panel meet in Tokyo on Oct. 30. The panel proposed increasing classroom hours for major subjects at elementary and junior high schools, the first time in 30 years. The measure is likely to be introduced around 2011, according to the panelists.

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Naoki Yasu 1st Japanese in European pro wheelchair basketball

TOKYO, Japan - Naoki Yasu will become the first Japanese person to play professional wheelchair basketball in Europe. Yasu, who turned 30 on Oct. 6, signed a contract with second-division Italian team Treviso in September and plans to join the team in time for the start of the basketball season in November. Born in Hitachinaka, Ibaraki Prefecture, Yasu became wheelchair-bound when he was a second-year junior high school student and began basketball training in senior high school.

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Princess Mako, Princess Kako begin new school year

TOKYO, Japan - Princess Mako, 15, (L) and Princess Kako, 12, accompanied by their mother Princess Kiko, walk to Gakushuin School on April 6 on the first day of their new school year. Princess Mako is in her first year at the senior high school division and Princee Kako in the first year of the junior high school division (Pool photo)

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Miyake islanders mark 1st anniversary since return

MIYAKE ISLAND, Japan - Miyake Island residents celebrate the first anniversary of their return to the island after full evacuation in September 2000 due to volcanic activity on Feb. 1. They pledged to rebuild their lives on the island during a ceremony held at a junior high school.

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Crown Princess Masako engages in public duty solo

TOKYO, Japan - Crown Princess Masako attends a cultural festival for children at Tokyo's Meiji Shrine Hall on Nov. 6, making it her first public duty she engages in without Crown Prince Naruhito since she was diagnosed as suffering from stress-related mental illness in 2004. The princess watched elementary and junior high school students play wind instruments and perform classical Japanese dance at the festival participated in by welfare services operators. (Pool photo)