Retracing Basho’s steps at the mountain temple of Yamadera in Yamagata, I was surprised to come across this postbox for the monks. Every weekday, in rain or shine, a Japan Post mail carrier has to climb 1,000 stairs to reach this box for the 11 am collection.

North #Korea dismantles propaganda speakers as border tension eases: The move comes as Seoul put in place measures to reduce confrontation with its northern neighbour after the election of a new liberal president

www.thetimes.com/world/asia/a...

Original 1979 Sony Walkman TPS-L2 ad
youtu.be/lrrTv_BzAAQ?...

For Sale: The World’s Most Precise Clock: It’s the size of a fridge, costs US $3.4 million, and will deviate just one second over 10 billion years spectrum.ieee.org/optical-latt...

At the Osaka Expo, everything old is new again: Eiji Yamaya worked on the Ultrasonic Bath launched in 1970. Sadly, it flopped — but now the 84-year-old has helped to design a new AI-assisted version www.thetimes.com/article/2ccf...

Mount Fuji last erupted in 1707: In a new simulation, 11 prefectures would be covered with volcanic ash, including 3 cm near Shinjuku Ward in Tokyo and 30 cm in the zone extending to Sagamihara, where evacuations would be announced
www.asahi.com/ajw/articles...

Some of the amazing #Tokyo street photography of Bruce Gilden (ex-yakuza George Abe, 1998) www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture... via @magnumphotos

For @CACMmag I wrote about how NTT and other groups are trying to simulate patient hearts for automated emergency medical care: Digital Twins Promise Personalized Medical Care cacm.acm.org/article/digi...

Terahertz Chip Promises Big Power Without Big Lenses: New on-chip approach uses patterned holes to boost radiating power
spectrum.ieee.org/terahertz-wa...

It's the 80th anniversary of the U.S. firebombing of Tokyo (東京大空襲) aka Operation Meetinghouse, which may have killed over 100,000 people and left a million homeless. B-29 Superfortresses dropped E46 bombs packed with 38 M69 oil bomblets that left much of the city in ruins

#Japan has one of the best #rail networks in the world, but depopulation and declining demand have led to dozens of railways closing over the past 25 years, especially in rural areas. These maps show lines in Hokkaido in 1980 and 2025

An unfortunate side of real estate development in Japan is the wholesale removal of all vegetation on a property, down to the last tree and bush. This large plot in #Tokyo, owned by Suginami Ward, was recently home to many tall trees and an uninhabited house for civil servants. Now it's a moonscape