WWII sinking of battleship Yamato a symbol of Japan s mad war
April 25, 2021 (Mainichi Japan)
The forward auxiliary battery on the sunken Imperial Japanese Navy battleship Yamato is seen in this photo provided by the Yamato Museum. TOKYO When the Imperial Japanese Navy battleship Yamato weighed anchor in Tokuyama Bay off Yamaguchi Prefecture on the afternoon of April 6, 1945, bound for the waters around Okinawa, its commanders did not expect to return. The largest and most fearsome vessel of its kind on Earth, the Yamato and its crew were to fight and perish in a final titanic struggle against approaching Allied forces.
Wisteria blossoms delight visitors to flower park in east Japan after virus hiatus
April 24, 2021 (Mainichi Japan)
People view a great wisteria blossoming at Ashikaga Flower Park in Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture, on April 23, 2021. (Mainichi/ Takehiko Onishi) ASHIKAGA, Tochigi Wisteria flowers are delighting visitors to Ashikaga Flower Park here for the first time in two years, after a coronavirus state of emergency resulted in the park s temporary closure last year during the blossoms peak. More than 350 wisteria plants 11 varieties in all are approaching their peak viewing season at the some 100,000-square-meter park north of Tokyo. The 160-year-old great wisteria there blossomed on April 5 this year the earliest timing since the park opened.