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The Mainichi
4 days ago
- Business
- The Mainichi
News in Easy English: First convenience store opens on small island in Fukuoka
FUKUOKA -- A small island called Nokonoshima in Hakata Bay now has its first convenience store. This is the first time any of the 10 islands in Fukuoka Prefecture with people living on them has a store like this. The new store is called NocoMart. Nokonoshima is about 12 kilometers around and has about 600 people living on it. Before, people had to take a ferry to the city or wait for delivery trucks to buy food and drinks. The last shop on the island closed in 2019. NocoMart opened on July 18 near the ferry terminal. The store is part of the Yamazaki Shop chain. It is managed by Kotaro Honda and Yuichi Asaba, who both moved to the island from Fukuoka city. The store is small, but it sells about 700 different products. About 100 people come on weekdays and 200 on weekends. A man in his 50s said, "It's really easy now to buy items that had been difficult to buy on a daily basis, such as food, and it's given me peace of mind." A woman in her 60s said, "When I want to eat something sweet, I can buy it right away." She added that it is helpful that there are so many kinds of products. The store is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Asaba said, "I want to keep this going for as long as possible without running into the red. In the future, I would also like to consider offering delivery services." (Japanese original by Kazuya Inoue, Kyushu News Department) Vocabulary convenience store: a small shop that sells food, drinks, and other daily items ferry: a boat that carries people and things across water selection: the choice of different things you can buy peace of mind: feeling calm and not worried run into the red: to lose money or not make a profit
The Mainichi
30-07-2025
- The Mainichi
Hand grenade found near Fukuoka Pref. apartment sparks temporary evacuation
KITAKYUSHU -- A worker discovered a hand grenade while cutting grass in a thicket behind an apartment building in this southwestern Japan city on July 29, sparking the temporary evacuation of 25 residents, police said. Police received an emergency call from an apartment management company at about 12:25 p.m. on July 29, reporting the discovery of the grenade in Kitakyushu's Moji Ward. Ground Self-Defense Force members secured and retrieved the detonator the same day. According to Moji Police Station, the hand grenade was American-made, measuring about 11 centimeters in length with a diameter of 5.5 cm. At the instruction of the Fukuoka Prefectural Police, 25 residents in 19 households within a 30-meter radius of the grenade were temporarily evacuated. (Japanese original by Emi Izuchi, Kyushu News Department)
The Mainichi
23-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Mainichi
News in Easy English: Hakata Gion Yamakasa festival ends with big race in Fukuoka
FUKUOKA -- The Hakata Gion Yamakasa festival finished after 15 days of fun in Fukuoka. In this famous summer event, men wear traditional "happi" coats and loincloths. They run through the city streets carrying huge floats. Each float weighs about 1 metric ton. The festival's biggest event, called "Oiyama," happened early in the morning on July 15. Many people watched and cheered as the men ran with the floats, shouting "oisa, oisa." At 4:59 a.m., a big drum sounded at Kushida Shrine. The first team, Higashi Nagare, ran into the shrine with their float and shouted "Yaa!" They circled a flag and sang a celebration song. After that, six more teams and a special decorative float entered the shrine, each five minutes apart. Then, each team took their turn running about 5 kilometers to the finish. Ryuji Umezu, 60, who helped lead the first team, said, "There was pressure, but we approached the event as we do every year," and "I want to ... work hard to make next year's Yamakasa even better." A 65-year-old Buddhist priest from Mie Prefecture saw the festival for the first time. He said, "I've never seen such a powerful festival. I could feel the spirit of it." (Japanese original by Jangrae Kim, Kyushu News Department) Vocabulary festival: a special event with music, food, and fun, often every year float: a big, decorated platform carried or pulled in a festival happi coat: a short, traditional Japanese coat climax: the most exciting part
The Mainichi
18-07-2025
- Science
- The Mainichi
News in Easy English: Fukuoka high school girls win AI contest with study app
FUKUOKA -- A group of high school girls in Fukuoka made a special app to help students study. Their AI club at Fukuoka Girls' Commercial High School created an app that can quickly summarize study notes and books. This project won first prize at a national AI contest in March. The club has eight members, from first to third year. They learn about AI with help from a coach at an IT company. At first, they tried to make an AI to predict disasters, but they couldn't finish it. So, they decided to solve a problem many students have: not understanding their own class notes. One student, Nene Takeshita, 17, said, "I write down what's taught in class in my notebook, but I had trouble understanding it when I looked back at it later." Many other students had the same problem. So, the club made a web app called "AI Yoyaku-kun." With this app, students can take photos of their notes or books, or make audio recordings. The app then makes a short, easy summary. It can also help with hard words and make review questions. The girls showed their app at the GEN-AI Koshien contest in Yamagata. They competed with nine other schools and won the "research-theme AI" prize. On June 24, the club visited the Fukuoka governor to share their success. The governor said they had worked hard as a team. He also said, "I want to support your efforts." The app still needs some fixes, but the students want to keep learning about AI and make the app better. (Japanese original by Keisuke Muneoka, Kyushu News Department) Vocabulary summarize: to make a short, simple version of something app: a computer program, often used on phones or tablets coach: a person who teaches or helps a team contest: a competition to see who is best governor: the leader of a prefecture (area) in Japan review questions: questions to help you remember what you learned
The Mainichi
04-07-2025
- General
- The Mainichi
Residents on quake-struck southwest Japan island face tough decisions over evacuation
Residents on southwestern Japan's Akuseki Island are facing difficult decisions over whether to evacuate as earthquakes continue to shake the remote island. "Unlike weather disasters, one never knows when earthquakes will stop. The accumulated psychological fatigue of islanders must be significant," stated Genichiro Kubo, mayor of the Kagoshima Prefecture village of Toshima, with a stern expression during a press conference on the evening of July 3 in the city of Kagoshima, where the village hall is located. This came after a temblor registering lower 6 on Japan's 7-point seismic intensity scale struck on Akuseki Island, part of Toshima. The mayor added, "There are people on the island, like farmers who raise cattle, who cannot evacuate even if they want to. Not knowing how long the quakes will continue must be truly painful." The Toshima Municipal Government has decided to allow residents of Akuseki Island who wish to evacuate to leave the island and is checking the availability of accommodation in Kagoshima as potential evacuation sites. Kazunori Arikawa, a 73-year-old fisherman on the island, was at a gas station to refuel his light truck when the strong quake struck. As he stopped the vehicle, the shaking suddenly began. The truck hit a fuel pump, and Arikawa hit his head on the truck's roof. The utility poles along the road shook so violently that he thought they might fall over. "The complex vertical and horizontal shaking lasted about 20 seconds. It was a fear I had never felt before," he said. Emergency broadcasts called for evacuation to the school grounds. Arikawa returned home, picked up his wife, and headed there. It appeared that most of the islanders had gathered at the school, exchanging words of concern as the residents asked each other if they were OK. Village officials explained that those who wanted to could evacuate from the island. As Arikawa's wife is not in good health, he stated, "Evacuating from the island is difficult." The relentless quakes, occurring day and night, have pushed the residents' fatigue to their limits. "I hope there aren't any more earthquakes and things calm down quickly," he said. The area around the Tokara island chain, where Akuseki Island is located, has repeatedly experienced earthquake swarms in the past. On Dec. 9, 2021, a jolt measuring upper 5 on the intensity scale was observed on Akuseki Island, prompting 40% of the island's 75 residents at the time -- 30 people from 12 households -- to evacuate two days later. They fled to the cities of Amami and Kagoshima to stay in hotels or with relatives. As the number of earthquakes decreased, they started returning to the island after about two weeks. (Japanese original by Go Torichigai, Kagoshima Bureau; and Masanori Hirakawa and Haruna Tasaki, Kyushu News Department)
