Japan

Centenarian Hidekichi Miyazaki sets sprint record in Japan

Hidekichi Miyazaki, dubbed "Golden Bolt" after the fastest man on the planet, clocked 42.22 seconds in Kyoto to set a 100 metres world record in the over-105 age category — one for which no mark previously existed — a day after reaching the milestone age.

"I'm not happy with the time," the pint-sized Miyazaki told AFP in an interview after recovering his wind on Wednesday (local time).

"I started shedding tears during the race because I was going so slowly. Perhaps I'm getting old."

Japan coach Eddie Jones aims to beat Scotland

Karne Hesketh crossed in the final minute to win the World Cup Pool B encounter in Brighton on Saturday.

The Brave Blossoms face Scotland on Wednesday in their second match.

"We have two objectives: reach the quarter-finals and be team of the tournament," said Jones.

"With that in mind we have made a successful start. We did not come here to be one-hit wonders."

Japan, who were given a guard of honour as they left their Brighton hotel in the wake of their win over the Springboks, have had just four days to prepare for Wednesday's match.

Japan beats South Africa in biggest-ever upset

Japan players and fans shed tears of joy at the end of a thrilling encounter that ebbed and flowed, but victory was fully deserved after a tenacious performance by the underdogs at the Brighton Community Stadium on Sunday morning.

South Africa had sounded a note of caution ahead of the game, but few, if any, would have predicted defeat at the hands of an opponent that had previously won only once in 24 World Cup outings.

Warning over Pacific bluefin tuna stocks

A four-day meeting in Sapporo, northern Japan, of countries that monitor stocks in most of the Pacific Ocean, made no progress towards helping fish populations recover from decades of overfishing, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Faced with the collapse of bluefin stocks, last year members of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission decided to halve the catch of tuna under 30kg from its average level in 2002-2004, although conservation groups had called for a moratorium to give stocks time to recover.

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Queen Elizabeth II leads ceremonies in Britain for WWII victory over Japan

The monarch and other members of the royal family commemorated the event at a church service at St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London, joined by veterans of the conflict and former prisoners of war.

Some in the crowd dabbed their eyes during the solemn ceremony that recalled the pain and the memory of those who had perished.

Solar plane damaged by heat, won't fly again before August

The Solar Impulse 2's team says the batteries were over-insulated and became overheated on day one of the Japan-Hawaii leg. The team said Saturday that it monitored the situation throughout the flight but could not decrease the temperature.

The plane won't fly before the beginning of August as the team works to replace and repair damaged parts.

The plane landed in Hawaii on July 3 after completing a 118-hour voyage that broke the record for the world's longest nonstop solo flight.

Solar-powered plane lands in Hawaii after flight from Japan

Pilot Andre Borschberg and his single-seat aircraft landed at Kalaeloa, a small airport outside Honolulu. 

His 120-hour voyage from Nagoya broke the record for the world's longest nonstop solo flight, his team said. The late U.S. adventurer Steve Fossett set the previous record of 76 hours when he flew a specially-designed jet around the globe in 2006.

But Borschberg flew the Solar Impulse 2 without fuel. Instead, its wings were equipped with 17,000 solar cells that charged batteries. The plane ran on stored energy at night.

Japan navy drill in South China Sea may lead to larger role

A Japanese surveillance plane and about 20 troops conducted the first of two days of joint training with the Philippine navy on Tuesday off the coast of Palawan, a strategically important island not far from contested islands claimed by several countries including China and the Philippines.

While the P-3C plane was being used for maritime search-and-rescue drills and disaster relief drills, the aircraft is also a mainstay of Japan's anti-submarine and other aerial surveillance efforts. In theory, it could help the U.S. keep an eye on the Chinese navy in the South China Sea.