In Obayashi's project, a cable would be stretched up to 96,000 kilometers, or about one-fourth of the distance between the Earth and the moon. One end of the cable would be anchored at a spaceport on the ground, while the other would be fitted with a counterweight.

The terminal station would house laboratories and living space. The car could carry up to 30 people to the station at 200 kilometers per hour, which would mean a 7-1/2 day trip to reach the station. Magnetic linear motors are one possible means of propulsion for the car, according to Obayashi.

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Seismic risk at the Fukushima nuclear plant increased after the magnitude 9 earthquake that hit Japan last March, scientists report. The new study, which uses data from over 6,000 earthquakes, shows the 11 March tremor caused a seismic fault close to the nuclear plant to reactivate. The results are now published in Solid Earth, an open-access journal of the European Geosciences Union (EGU).

The research suggests authorities should strengthen the security of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to withstand large earthquakes that are likely to directly disturb the region. The power plant witnessed one of the worst nuclear disasters in history after it was damaged by the 11 March 2011 magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami. But this tremor occurred about 160 km from the site, and a much closer one could occur in the future at Fukushima.

When US-born Dave Aldwinckle became a Japanese citizen named Arudou Debito in 2000, two Japanese officials told him that only now did he have human rights in Japan. Such prejudice galvanized him into becoming a crusader against anti-gaijin (foreigner) discrimination after braving death threats to him and his family. Is Arudou throwing the egg of morality and legality against the rock of ancient bias? In this exclusive interview with Asia Times Online contributor Victor Fic, he sees Japan turning inward.

In contrast, names these days show that people living in what has become an extremely urbanized society miss their links with nature, Makino says. This can be observed in the proliferation of kanji such as 翔 (shō), meaning "flying," 海 (kai), which means "ocean," and 空 (taka), meaning "sky."

So how do parents decide on names for their babies? Well, there's no shortage of methodologies out there to help with their selection, and many people actually combine two or more of them.

The village of Kawauchi near the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant declared an end to evacuation on Tuesday and called on residents to return.

Kawauchi is the first among municipalities located in evacuation zones designated after the nuclear accident to take such a step.

The village will restart administrative services and reopen schools, nurseries and clinics in April, Kawauchi Mayor Yuko Endo said at a press conference.

Last year, the Japanese government ordered the nuclear authorities to conduct tests on all Japan's reactors after the 11 March meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi raised questions about the safety of nuclear power, particularly in a country prone to earthquakes and tsunami.

Earlier this week, a team of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] began a review of the safety tests but said it was up to the Japanese government whether or not to approve the restart of idle reactors.

Currently only three of Japan's 54 reactors – just over 6% of its total nuclear capacity – are in operation after the Fukushima accident forced the closure of active reactors for safety checks.

The Ministry of the Environment on Jan. 26 announced a schedule for decontamination work covering 26,700 hectares of "special decontamination areas" tainted with radioactive materials from the damaged Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.

The schedule eyes completion of decontamination work in areas where the yearly radiation dosage is below 50 millisieverts per year by the end of March 2014. However, the effectiveness of decontamination efforts is still unclear and there are a host of issues to deal with after the decontamination work is finished, including the building of infrastructure for each community. It remains unknown whether residents will be able to return to their homes.

The government's schedule does not clarify the targets for reducing radiation levels. The results of model decontamination work that the Cabinet Office is handling are expected to be released in February or March, and the Ministry of the Environment plans to wait for those results before deciding on targets.

The Japanese government is launching a large-scale cleanup of the fields, forests, and villages contaminated by the Fukushima nuclear disaster. But some experts caution that an overly aggressive remediation program could create a host of other environmental problems.

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Ten months after the nuclear disaster, trust in the authorities is nearly nonexistent. Without it, Japan’s government risks the biggest cleanup fiasco of all: a decontamination effort that carries huge financial and environmental costs but still fails to convince Fukushima residents that their homes, farms, and forests are safe once again

The Asahi Soft Drinks company installs and stocks thousands of vending machines across Japan. It has decided that in future new vending machines will come pre-installed with the kit necessary to act as a Wi-Fi hotspot. In so doing, anyone within 50 meters of a machine will be able to connect for free and surf the web. The only limit seems to be an auto cut-off after 30 minutes, but you can just re-connect if you need to.