Bright gold sweet potatoes soak up Ibaraki sunlight
The Japan News
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Sweet potatoes dry in the sun at Kawamata Nosan, an agricultural company in Hitachinaka, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Friday.Japan News-Yomiuri photo.
HITACHINAKA, Ibaraki - Golden sweet potato slices glistened in the sun as shipping season for the delicacy entered full swing in Ibaraki Prefecture, the nation s largest dried sweet potato producer.
Once harvested, the potatoes are aged for over a month then steamed, sliced and mechanically dried before being sun-dried for two days at Kawamata Nosan, an agricultural company in the city of Hitachinaka that specializes in the snack s production. Preparations are scheduled to continue through early March.
Diet makes itself safer from novel coronavirus infections
The Japan News
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Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga speaks behind an acrylic panel during a House of Representatives Budget Committee session in the Diet building on Jan. 25.Japan News-Yomiuri photo.
TOKYO - A year into the pandemic, the Diet has taken serious action to make Japan s seat of power a safer workplace. Acrylic panels have been set up in the committee rooms of the House of Representatives as one measure taken to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The House of Councillors no longer has water pitchers to provide refreshment for lawmakers during deliberations.
Stand-alone photo: Spring in Japan
The Japan News
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Blossoming plum trees marked the arrival of spring at Sumida Park in Tokyo on Wednesday, the first day of the season according to the traditional Japanese calendar. The ward office said the white and pink flowers started to appear on the park s about 150 plum trees in early January, about the same as an average year. The best period to view the blossom is from mid to late February when most of the trees will be in full bloom.Japan News-Yomiuri
Stand-alone photo: Blossoming plum trees marked the arrival of spring at Sumida Park in Tokyo on Wednesday, the first day of the season according to the traditional Japanese calendar. The ward office said the white and pink flowers started to appear on the park s about 150 plum trees in early January, about the same as an average year. The best period to view the blossom is from mid to late February when most of the trees will be in full bloom.
Sake brewery returns to disaster-hit Fukushima town
The Japan News
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Suzuki Shuzoten President Daisuke Suzuki is seen on Monday preparing for the opening of his brewery next month at Michi-no-Eki Namie in Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.Japan News-Yomiuri
NAMIE, Fukushima, Japan - Sake brewing in the disaster-hit town of Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, resumed Monday for the first time in 10 years since residents were forced to evacuate because of the 2011 nuclear accident.
Namie brewery Suzuki Shuzoten found shelter in the city of Nagai, Yamagata Prefecture, and has been brewing sake there ever since. But it has also been preparing to once again produce sake entirely in Namie using the town s rice and water.
In Japan, local officials struggle to plan an Olympic torch relay
The Japan News
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Actress Satomi Ishihara runs during a rehearsal of the torch relay in Tokyo, in February 2020, as crowds line the roadside to watch.Japan News-Yomiuri
With the torch relay for the Tokyo Olympics set to start next month for its tour across the nation, local governments are puzzling over how to bring a festive mood to the event while preventing the spread of coronavirus infections.
Depending on the infection situation, the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games may consider canceling the running of the relay on public roads.