4 Giant Pandas Seen Well after Returning to China from Wakayama Prefecture
The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in China's Sichuan Province posted the video on its social media account on Thursday. This is the first time that the research base has posted updates of the four pandas — Rauhin and her daughters, Yuihin, Saihin and Fuhin — since their return to China in June.
The 39-second video, titled 'Quarantine diary of Rauhin's family,' shows how the pandas are spending their quarantine period, such as Fuhin relaxing and Saihin eating bamboo. It appears that the research base will continue to regularly offer such updates.
Fans are eagerly awaiting the public viewing of the four pandas, posting on a Chinese social media platform such comments as 'They are a cute parent and cubs,' and 'I can't wait to see them!'
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Asahi Shimbun
7 days ago
- Asahi Shimbun
Foreign tourists received tsunami warnings but need better alerts
The Sendai Tourism Convention and International Association posts information about tsunami alerts in easy-to-understand Japanese on its Facebook account on July 30. (Chika Yamamoto) When tsunami alerts went out across a wide area of Japan on July 30, many foreign tourists were left in the dark to the threat and the recommended course of action due to the language barrier. Eugénie Decaux, 21, who was visiting Shirahama in Wakayama Prefecture from France, said, 'I had trouble finding information about the tsunami because I could only find it in Japanese at first.' A woman from the Philippines who was visiting Kamakura in Kanagawa Prefecture said she received an emergency message about the tsunami warning. However, she said, 'The English announcement after the siren was very short and there was little information, so it was scary.' At first, she said she did not think it was a big deal, but after researching on the internet and seeing the staff at the temple she was visiting in a panic, she realized the gravity of the situation. The tsunami alerts issued after a powerful earthquake originating near Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula sent foreign tourists scrambling for safety as well. On social media, multiple videos were seen posted by tourists from overseas, showing them heading to higher ground and evacuation centers alongside with residents. From the Japanese side, there were many initiatives to convey information to foreigners in multiple languages and in easy-to-understand Japanese. The Sendai Tourism Convention and International Association, located in the capital of Miyagi Prefecture on the Pacific coast where a tsunami warning was issued, posted evacuation calls on X and Facebook in English, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Nepali. The organization also communicated in easy Japanese with warnings such as 'A big wave is coming' and "Please escape to a high place.' Television stations displayed subtitles in hiragana within their programs, using phrases such as "tsunami" and "run away." There were also examples of displaying English text reading "EVACUATION TSUNAMI." An app called 'Safety tips' provides disaster information for foreign travelers in 15 languages, including English, Chinese and Tagalog. The Japan Tourism Agency supervised the creation of the app. The Japan Meteorological Agency's website also disseminates the latest tsunami information in 15 languages. However, some tourists said such efforts were still not enough. According to the Immigration Services Agency, approximately 36.78 million foreigners entered Japan last year, the highest number on record. As of the end of last year, the number of foreign residents also reached a record high of about 3.77 million. Isao Nakamura, a professor at Toyo University specializing in disaster information studies, points out the importance of "push-type" information provision, such as area emails and emergency radio messages sent by local governments through mobile phone companies, which reach users without them having to search for it. He also said that there is a study indicating that emergency radios are effective as a medium for conveying tsunami information. 'In areas with many foreign residents, it is necessary to make disaster prevention radios multilingual,' he said. He also said that explaining the difference between tsunami advisories and tsunami warnings is difficult. 'It is important to use illustrations and think of expressions that are easy to understand,' he said.
SoraNews24
7 days ago
- SoraNews24
Brand-new theme park in Japan charges foreign tourists 25 percent more than locals for tickets
Welcome, to two-tier pricing park! On July 25, a brand-new theme park opened in the town of Nakijin in Okinawa Prefecture. Called Junglia, the park is obviously looking to highlight its lush greenery and outdoor activities, but it's clear from the preview video that Junglia also wants to present itself as a sort of real-world Jurassic Park, only achieving its dinosaurs through animatronics instead of cloning. Junglia also offers luxurious resort accommodation and spa amenities, boasting the Guinness World Records-certified largest infinity public pool on the planet, dance performances, and dazzling fireworks shows. As you've probably noticed, these are all things with pretty universal appeal, not the sort of thing one needs an intrinsic connection to or studied understanding of Japanese culture to enjoy. And sure enough, Junglia's official website has full English, Chinese, and Korean support, showing that the park is ready to receive visitors from overseas. Oh, and it's also ready to charge foreign tourists significantly higher prices for tickets. If you hop onto the Junglia website's top page, clicking the menu icon in the top right will bring up a spot to click for ticket information. If you're navigating the page's Japanese-language version, it'll inform you that the after-tax prices for tickets to the amusement park area are: ● Adults: 6.930 yen ● Children age 4-11: 4,950 yen However, if you're looking at the English, Chinese, or Korean Junglia site, it'll instead tell you that the prices are: ● Adults: 8.800 yen ● Children age 4-11: 5,940 yen That's because Junglia has an official policy of charging higher admission prices for foreign travelers. The deciding factor isn't ethnicity, but residency, as foreign residents of Japan are eligible for the lower prices. The website indicates though, that they will need to be able to show proof of residence in Japan, with the list of admissible documents and associated stipulations listed as: ● Individual Number Card ● Driver's license, Health Insurance Card, Passport ● Certificate of residence ● Student identification card ● Residence card ● Other official identification cards issued by public organizations Please prepare valid documents that include your name and current address. If your name, current address, etc. are written on the reverse side, that part is also necessary. If these documents alone cannot prove your current address, please also present a utility bill or receipt (issued within the last 3 months) that clearly shows your name and address, such as an electricity, water, gas, or telephone bill. It's unclear if all foreign residents will be required to present such papers before being allowed to enter the park with a lower-priced ticket, or if whether or not to perform checks will be left up to the discretion of employees working the entrance gates. Also worth noting is that in addition to the amusement park area-only tickets discussed above, Junglia also has tickets just for its spa area, as well as combo tickets for both sections of the facility, implying separate ticket gates. These tickets also have tiered pricing for domestic and international travelers, so foreign residents of Japan may need to show their papers twice if they're looking to have the full Junglia experience. ▼ So make sure your resident card doesn't fall out of your pocket if you go ziplining before you hit up that infinity pool. With a 1,870-yen difference between the amusement area adult tickets, Junglia is tacking more than 25 percent extra onto the price for foreign tourists. It's not hard to see why the park's management would be attracted to such a plan. With the yen currently being historically weak against foreign currencies, the difference converts to around US$13, which probably isn't going to seem like all that much when folded into the total cost of an overseas trip. Junglia's managers appear to have designed their pricing plan as a way to maximize revenue by charging foreign tourists a price that locals would balk at, while keeping the prices for domestic guests at a figure they're willing to pay. With overtourism and rising consumer prices being two increasingly common complaints among Japanese people, Junglia's two-tiered pricing hasn't caused much controversy yet. However, unlike other situations that have arisen recently, such as Himeji Castle instilling two-tiered pricing for locals and out-of-towners or Nintendo creating a lower-priced Switch 2 for use inside Japan, Junglia can't claim it's charging overseas tourists more to cope with unexpected maintenance cost increases from a spike in visitor numbers or to prevent international scalping, so this looks like a simple case of trying to boost its bottom line by grabbing some extra cash from foreigners, something that we haven't seen any major theme park in Japan do up until now. Source: Junglia (1, 2), PR Times Images: PR Times ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
Asahi Shimbun
30-07-2025
- Asahi Shimbun
As U.S. grapples with China relations, Taiwan's president scraps stop on American soil
WASHINGTON--The Taiwanese government has called off a plan for its president to transit through the United States on his way to Latin America, The Associated Press has learned — a decision leading to conflicting accounts of the reason for the cancellation. Amid speculation that the Trump administration had opposed a proposed stopover by Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te in New York, Taipei said Lai had no overseas travel plans due to domestic issues, including natural disasters and tariff negotiations with the United States. The other proposed stop on Lai's itinerary was Dallas, Texas. Whatever the reason, the cancellation is certain to hand a major diplomatic victory to Beijing and has drawn concerns from experts that the White House is setting a bad precedent for U.S.-China relations. Details about the administration's decision were scant, but one person with knowledge of the discussions told AP that the U.S. 'had asked Taipei to rearrange the transit — not go through New York.' Another person with knowledge of the discussions said Beijing had sensed that it could ask President Donald Trump not to allow Lai to transit through the U.S. because of the perceived 'desperation' by Trump to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping. Both people spoke on condition of anonymity because they are in current sensitive discussions with administration officials. The White House said it had nothing to say on this matter. Tammy Bruce, spokesperson for the State Department, said it was a 'hypothetical' issue because Taiwan had not announced any travel plans for Lai. 'There are a lot of questions and a lot of suppositions that have happened,' she told reporters on Tuesday. 'But I can say that it is a hypothetical at this point. There have been no plans.' By the end of last week it was clear that the Trump administration was discussing the likely transit by Lai, though it was unclear if the administration had moved to block it, according to one of the people. It was also unclear if the Trump administration would be open to allowing Lai to transit through a city other than New York. The United States is obligated by its own laws to give military support to Taiwan, which split from China in 1949 during a civil war. Beijing claims the island off its southeastern coast as sovereign territory and has vowed to seize it, by force if necessary. Jason Hsu, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and a former legislator in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan, said Taiwan always consults with the United States on transit and called it 'abnormal' for Washington not to agree when such stopovers are permitted under the Taiwan Relations Act. Bruce said transits by high-level Taiwanese officials, including presidents, 'are fully consistent with our longstanding policy and practice.' In Taipei, Karen Kuo, spokesperson for the presidential office, said there was no immediate plan for Lai to travel. 'Considering the recent typhoon disaster recovery efforts in southern Taiwan, the U.S.-Taiwan reciprocal tariff measures and regional developments, the president currently has no plans for overseas visits in the near future,' Kuo said. The Chinese Embassy did not respond to an AP request for comment. Beijing, however, has routinely protested any transit through the U.S. by Taiwanese leaders. Lai was elected president of Taiwan in 2024. On his first overseas trip last November he made stops in Hawaii and Guam, where he was received by U.S. politicians. While such transits had been routine by previous Taiwanese presidents and under previous U.S. administrations, the person familiar with the discussions said Beijing considers Lai an exception because it views him as being more aggressive in seeking Taiwan independence. Zack Cooper, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, said that while recent U.S. administrations have not allowed Taiwan to be used in negotiations with Beijing, 'this decision raises questions about whether the Trump administration is reconsidering that approach.' And Jason Hsu, a senior fellow at Hudson Institute and a former legislator from Taiwan's KMT party, said that in preventing Lai's stopover 'the Trump administration appears to be accommodating China's red lines.' Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said on Tuesday that Trump is folding to Beijing. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, who is the top Democrat on the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, called it 'another example of the Trump Administration caving to China in hopes of reaching a trade deal.' 'Presidents of both parties have allowed Taiwan officials to transit through the U.S. in the past, and now should be no different,' he said in a statement.
