Japan

Nuclear Fuel Rod Removed From Stricken Fukushima Reactor for the First Time

Engineers in Japan reached an important milestone today, as they began removing fuel rods from one of three reactors that experienced meltdowns in 2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. Hard to believe, but it’s been eight years since the catastrophic Tōhoku earthquake struck Japan on March 11, 2011. The resulting 15-meter-high (49-foot) tsunami…

Tech News George Dvorsky

Japanese Teen Suspected of Making Yellowcake Uranium Maybe Just Really Into Chemistry, Police Say

Tokyo law enforcement suspect a 16-year-old boy traded online uranium and processed it into uranium ore, also known as yellowcake. But rather than trying to facilitate the creation of nuclear weapons, he may have just been really into chemistry. Japan Times reported that the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) said it is investigating the high…

Crime Jennings Brown

Misogyny at Microsoft, Farscape, and the New Airpods: Best Gizmodo Stories of the Week

It’s April 2019—and perhaps the month that will later be known as the dawn of the Age of Fungus. A concerning report in the New York Times this weekend detailed how multiple strains of Candida auris, a drug-resistant species of pathogenic fungus, have quietly spread across the globe. The Centers for Disease Control reports a…

Tech News Tom McKay

Hayabusa2 Spacecraft Blasts Artificial Crater in Asteroid Ryugu’s Surface

Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft has completed yet another intense mission: It used an explosive to blast a crater in the surface of the asteroid Ryugu. This success comes after the probe briefly touched down on the asteroid in February, firing a tantalum bullet into the surface in hopes of kicking up debris. On Thursday, the Japan…

Space & Spaceflight Catie Keck

All of the Coolest Nerdy Things I Spotted in Tokyo, the Greatest City on Earth

I recently got back from a two-week vacation to Japan, spending most of my time in Tokyo with stops at Tokyo Disney and Osaka. It was seriously one of the best experiences of my life—mostly because my inner otaku was surrounded by some of the coolest, and cutest, things imaginable. Here are some of the…

io9 Beth Elderkin

How Filmmakers Created Fake Newsreels in the 1920s

A horrifying magnitude 7.9 earthquake hit Japan on September 1, 1923, killing over 140,000 people. And while news of the devastation reached newspapers around the world by the next day, there was no way to get film footage from Japan to the United States that quickly. But that didn’t stop filmmakers from making fake films…

Tech News Matt Novak

Japanese Cops Investigate 13-Year-Old Prankster for Sharing Link to ‘Uncloseable’ Pop-Up Window

A 13-year-old girl living in Kariya, Japan has been investigated and chastised by police for sharing a prank link online. The link reportedly initiates a pop-up window designed to be impossible to close online. According to Japanese outlet NHK, the junior high school student was “guided” (a form of youth offender intervention in Japan) for…

Tech News Rhett Jones

Sanrio Just Gave New Line the License to Make a Hello Kitty Movie

Say hello (kitty) to the Sanrio cinematic universe? Deadline reports that Japanese cute-thing giant Sanrio—the merchandise behemoth that encapsulates not just the iconic kawaii cat Hello Kitty but also beloved mascot characters like the lazy egg yolk Gudetama, or the metal-loving office worker Retsuko, better known as the star of Aggretsuko—has inked a deal with…

Movies James Whitbrook

Tokusatsu GaGaGa Is a Heartwarming Meditation on Trying Not to Hide Your Geeky Self

If you’re reading io9, I’m going to make a bit of an assumption: You’re probably a big fan of some nerdy stuff, be it sci-fi, superheroes, comic books (if you aren’t, well…I’m not sure why you’re here, but not my place to tell you how to spend your time!), or whatever. And you’re probably pretty…

io9 James Whitbrook

Tokyo Is Testing a New System to Detect ‘Guerilla’ Rain and Tornadoes Up to 30 Minutes in Advance

Officials in Tokyo are testing a new technology that utilizes weather radar and terrestrial digital radio waves to “quickly and precisely predict torrential rain and tornadoes” up to 20 to 30 minutes in advance, the Mainichi reported on Sunday. The new technology is being developed by “industry, government and academic bodies including the National Institute…

Earth Science Tom McKay

Owner of Stolen 400-Year-Old Bonsai Worth $90,000 Pleads on Facebook: ‘Are They Giving You Enough Water?’

A couple who was robbed of at least $118,000 worth of precious horticultural rarities has one plea for the thief: water the trees. Bonsai master Seiji Iimura—who kept a garden in the Saitama prefecture outside of Tokyo—was robbed of seven small bonsai trees valued around 13 million yen, reports CNN. The thefts reportedly happened over…

Crime Jennings Brown

How TV Pirates Accidentally Pushed a 25-Year-Old Indie Song to the Top of the Charts in Japan

Last week, an alt-rock mystery puzzled the music press. Almost 25 years after its release, the Dinosaur Jr. song “Over Your Shoulder” appeared at number 18 on Japan’s Hot 100 chart, beating out major new releases like Ariana Grande’s “7 Rings.” The fuzzy, mournful closer to Dinosaur Jr.’s 1994 album Without a Sound, “Over Your…

Tech News Hudson Hongo

Amateur Astronomy Equipment May Have Spotted Tiny Object Beyond Neptune

Japanese astronomers spotted evidence of tiny Kuiper Belt object at the outer edge of the Solar System using a pair of telescopes you could buy online, according to a new paper. Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) are coalesced remnants from the Solar System’s earliest days, and include smaller rocks like the recently visited MU69 and dwarf…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Japanese Sushi Magnate Kicks Off 2019 by Ridiculously Overpaying for Bluefin, Regretting It

A Japanese restaurateur set a record on Saturday by paying nearly $3.1 million (333.6 million yen) for a massive, 613-pound Pacific bluefin tuna at the first auction of the year of Tokyo’s Toyosu fish market, and almost immediately conceded that perhaps he should not have paid that much, Reuters reported. Sushizanmai chain owner Kiyoshi Kimura—who…

Biology Tom McKay

Ice Cores Could Solve Thousand-Year-Old Cosmic Ray Mystery

New evidence confirms that an influx of cosmic rays struck the entire planet around 994 CE—and it might solve the mystery of the event’s origin. Ice cores and tree rings around the world show mysterious increases in the concentrations of certain elements around 994 CE. The newest evidence originates in Antarctic ice, validating the prior…

Physics & Chemistry Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Japan Says It Will Withdraw From IWC and Resume Commercial Whaling

Japan announced this week it will be splitting from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in order to renew its commercial whaling practices. The announcement comes after years of Japan exploiting a loophole in IWC’s international moratorium on whale killings, and after the IWC declined to approve its bid for commercial whaling, the Wall Street Journal…

Tech News Catie Keck

This Japanese Robot is as Cute as it is Soulless

This year was dismal for home robots, but that’s not deterring Japanese startup Groove X from announcing the Lovot, an adorable and cuddly robot designed to manipulate your emotions. I mean, look at this guy. It looks like it came straight from a Hayao Miyazaki film, a cross between a Minion and a seal, or…

Tech News Victoria Song

Everything That Happened With Huawei While You Were Sleeping

Huawei’s chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada on behalf of the U.S. last weekend and the incident grabbed the global spotlight after the arrest was revealed publicly on Wednesday night. Meng was apprehended for allegedly violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, but we won’t officially hear the charges until her bail hearing later…

Tech News Matt Novak

Japan’s Last Remaining Pager Service Is Officially Calling It Quits

The heyday of the pager is long since over, but the devices themselves have continued to be used for specialized purposes like search-and-rescue teams and emergency workers. In Japan, however, the funeral bells are officially ringing. According to a recent report in the Japan Times, Tokyo Telemessage Inc., the nation’s last remaining pager service provider,…

Gadgets Tom McKay

A Skeletal Anime Star Is Teaching Me a Lot About the Japanese Comics Industry

One of my favorite new anime this season isn’t full of explosive action or high drama. It’s not even the one about high school archery. It’s about a skeleton named Honda who sells books. As well as being hilarious, he offers some fascinating insight into the world of selling comics in Japan. Honda is the…

io9 James Whitbrook

Nuclear Fuel Rod Removed From Stricken Fukushima Reactor for the First Time

Japanese Teen Suspected of Making Yellowcake Uranium Maybe Just Really Into Chemistry, Police Say

Misogyny at Microsoft, Farscape, and the New Airpods: Best Gizmodo Stories of the Week

Hayabusa2 Spacecraft Blasts Artificial Crater in Asteroid Ryugu’s Surface

All of the Coolest Nerdy Things I Spotted in Tokyo, the Greatest City on Earth

How Filmmakers Created Fake Newsreels in the 1920s

Japanese Cops Investigate 13-Year-Old Prankster for Sharing Link to ‘Uncloseable’ Pop-Up Window

Sanrio Just Gave New Line the License to Make a Hello Kitty Movie

Tokusatsu GaGaGa Is a Heartwarming Meditation on Trying Not to Hide Your Geeky Self

Tokyo Is Testing a New System to Detect ‘Guerilla’ Rain and Tornadoes Up to 30 Minutes in Advance

Owner of Stolen 400-Year-Old Bonsai Worth $90,000 Pleads on Facebook: ‘Are They Giving You Enough Water?’

How TV Pirates Accidentally Pushed a 25-Year-Old Indie Song to the Top of the Charts in Japan

Amateur Astronomy Equipment May Have Spotted Tiny Object Beyond Neptune

Japanese Sushi Magnate Kicks Off 2019 by Ridiculously Overpaying for Bluefin, Regretting It

Ice Cores Could Solve Thousand-Year-Old Cosmic Ray Mystery

Japan Says It Will Withdraw From IWC and Resume Commercial Whaling

This Japanese Robot is as Cute as it is Soulless

Everything That Happened With Huawei While You Were Sleeping

Japan’s Last Remaining Pager Service Is Officially Calling It Quits

A Skeletal Anime Star Is Teaching Me a Lot About the Japanese Comics Industry

Should We Be Hyped—or Freaked Out—About Nuclear Microreactors?

Roku’s 2025 Streaming Stick HD Is 40% Off to Compete With Amazon Fire TV Stick During Spring Sale

Epstein Victims Sue Google, Claim AI Mode Exposed Personal Information

‘Wicked Spot’ Is a Fun, Sapphic Rom-Com That Yeets a Witch Into the Magical World of Influencer Culture

Anthropic and OpenAI Just Gave Us a Glimpse Into the Future of Model Pricing

Amazon Slashes 63% Off Acer Aspire Desktop for a Limited-Time Spring Sale, With Keyboard and Mouse Included

Smart Glasses Now Have One of the Vision Pro’s Best Features

Marvel Just Put ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Season 2 in a Very Weird Place in the MCU Timeline

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

Nintendo’s Talking Flower Is Annoying as Hell. I Love It

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets

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