The Japanese Space Agency has unveiled a prototype of what it says is the world’s first solar powered sail spacecraft.

It will be launched together with the country’s first Venus orbiter on May 18. There is also a campaign you can be a part of in this project. Look below for information on how to get your name and a message into space.

The “Youth Nurturing and Protection Ordinance,” is a proposal to essentially censor images of “childlike” characters in media. It is set to enter committee on March 18th. Should the bill move through it will be placed before the Diet for a vote on March 30th, and will be taking effect as early as October.

The effect on mass media in Japan would be astounding.

Thirty Japanese women were injured in an accident Friday while watching the making of an animated drama starring South Korean heartthrob Bae Yong Joon, according to the Japanese Embassy and South Korean police and firefighters. While most of the 30 women had only light injuries, one sustained a serious injury to her face, the Japanese Embassy said. The women were in their 30s to 70s. Three South Korean men were also hurt in the accident. According to Yonhap News Agency, high winds during the event at an outdoor set in …

X Japan leader Yoshiki has filed a lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court against the music production company Nexstar Corporation, seeking approximately 375 million yen in damages. However, that figure could grow by another 600 million yen.
According to the lawsuit, after X Japan reunited, they entered a contract with Nexstar Corporation in January 2008, which included the use of some recordings. That initial deal was for the sum of 600 million yen in advance royalties and contract money, which has so far been entirely unpaid.
Between 2008 and 2009, the company …

Japan-based Korean singer Iconiq (25) is making a splash and is about to be in a wave of new commercials aired in Japan. She will be in commercials for no less than seven different corporations at the same time only three months after making her debut in Japan. This is said to be a record. Even funnier is that all seven commercials will air together on TV Asahi March 13th. Some of the corporations involved are ANA, Starbucks, and Maserati. With all this momentum, her Japan debut album …

On Tuesday, director Takeshi Kitano (63) was in Paris to receive the Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters, France’s highest honor for arts and culture. The award was presented to him by Frédéric Mitterrand, the country’s Minister of Culture and Communication, at the Fondation Cartier art museum.
Kitano is active as an actor, comedian, television personality, and many other things, but he is perhaps best known internationally as a filmmaker. He debuted in 1989 with “Violent Cop” (”Sono Otoko, Kyobo ni Tsuki”) and went on to direct other critically …

Panasonic Corp. on Wednesday revealed the price for its first 3-D TV set, confirming that $3,000 is about what it takes to be among the first to watch 3-D movies in the home.

The Japanese company put its first 3-D sets on sale at an event in New York on Wednesday. Panasonic’s suggested retail price is $2,900 for a 50-inch plasma set, one pair of glasses and a 3-D Blu-ray player. An extra pair of glasses costs $150.

The Oscar win for documentary “The Cove” is not getting much applause in Taiji, the port city in western Japan where Louie Psihoyos and his crew secretly filmed the annual dolphin slaughter.

“This film has mistakes of fact,” mayor Kazutaka Sangen told local press. “I’m surprised that it won the award even though its content is not truthful.”

Tokyo-based Medallion Media will release the doc in Japan this summer.

The words “Japan, wine exporter” have a somewhat unlikely ring but that is the aim of a new organisation, Koshu of Japan, which is keen to shine an international spotlight on a grape variety that is often dismissed within its native country.
I have just made my second visit in 12 years to Yamanashi prefecture, the Bordeaux of Japan in terms of winemaking. Except it reminds me more of Switzerland than Bordeaux. Every square metre in the heavily populated Kofu basin overlooked by Mount Fuji is cosseted. Individual vineyards are tiny, …

Preparatory education for university entrance examinations is an important rite of passage for many Japanese teenagers. This period of preparation can be a time of profound personal growth, confidence-building, and personal triumph for many of these ambitious youths. Toward that end, Tokyo-based, Mustard Seed Academy (MSA) recently celebrated the debut of its new campus in Shizuoka City last month, introducing to the community a unique approach to preparatory education in Japan. According to author, school dean, and senior English instructor Hajime Nakazawa, “If students deeply experience their worth and value, …