Tag - kyushu

 
 

KYUSHU

Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Jun 28, 2026
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Drawn by the quality of Kanoya’s local produce, chef Yasuhiko Uchida relocated to the Osumi Peninsula. Now, his restaurant is a shining example of Kagoshima’s culinary appeal.
A statue of Saint Francis Xavier in Hirado, Nagasaki Prefecture. Christianity spread rapidly in Kyushu before facing brutal suppression under the Tokugawa shogunate.
JAPAN / History / The Living Past
Jan 16, 2026
How Tokugawa Japan learned to fear faith
The Shimabara Rebellion reveals how faith, fear and power converged in Tokugawa Japan, ending in martyrdom, massacre and historical memory.
A folding screen depicts a Dutch vessel allied with the Tokugawa shogunate in its efforts to quash a rebellion of local ronin and Catholic peasants led by Amakusa Shiro.
JAPAN / History / The Living Past
Dec 20, 2025
Edo Japan’s bloody legacy of Christian revolt
By the end of the 16th century, Kyushu was more Christian than Buddhist — setting the stage for one of the most violent clashes of the Edo Period (1603-1867).
Chef Taizo Hirokado worked at high-end Japanese restaurants around Japan for two decades before returning to his hometown, Beppu, to open his eponymous restaurant.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants
Dec 12, 2025
Beppu Hirokado puts the spotlight on Kyushu’s rich seafood
In a town better known for hot springs than haute cuisine, chef Taizo Hirokado is making waves with his bold cuisine that brilliantly showcases the bounty from the region’s waters.
Workers from Heisei Chikuho Railway replace an old railroad tie with a new one, securing it with heavy-duty nails.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Nov 17, 2025
Railway in rural Fukuoka stands at crossroads as passenger numbers dwindle
If Heisei Chikuho Railway maintains its current train line operations, it is projected to incur an annual deficit of around ¥1 billion over the next 30 years for maintenance.
Heavy rain falls in the city of Kumamoto on Monday morning.
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2025
Millions told to evacuate as heavy rain sparks flooding and landslides in Kyushu
Footage from various communities in Kumamoto Prefecture showed houses, stores and vehicles submerged in water while surging rivers swept away vehicles and damaged roads.
An embankment on the Amikake River that collapsed due to heavy rain in Aira, Kagoshima Prefecture, on Friday. Downpours continued in the Kyushu region over the weekend.
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2025
Weather agency warns of landslides and flooding in Kyushu as heavy rain continues
Wide areas of the country also experienced rainfall Sunday due to a large stationary front. Rainfall is projected to continue until at least Tuesday morning.
The Nissan Motor Oppama Plant in Yokosuka. The company will wind down production at the plant and transfer assembly of vehicles to a factory in Kyushu.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 15, 2025
Nissan to close Oppama plant as part of wider restructuring push
Oppama, which has been in operation since 1961 and employs roughly 2,400 workers, will cease production by March 2028.
Visitors to the Osaka Expo walk under the sun in the city of Osaka on Friday as the rainy season ended at the earliest date on record in the country's western regions that day.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2025
Western Japan sees earliest end to rainy season on record
The rainy season usually lasts from June to July, but for a large swath of the country — from Kyoto to Kyushu — it ended about three weeks earlier than usual.
The beach on Aka Island, Okinawa Prefecture, where U.S. forces first landed in the 1945 Battle of Okinawa
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Kyushu
May 26, 2025
How a remote island escaped mass suicide in Battle of Okinawa
Residents had been told that, if captured, women would be assaulted and men mutilated by U.S. soldiers.
Houses along canal with heavy steam and mist in Beppu, Oita Prefecture. The Meteorological Agency announced the arrival of rainy season in the southern part of the Kyushu region, making it the first time the season began in the area before any other region since records began in 1951.
JAPAN
May 17, 2025
Japan’s rainy season begins in southern Kyushu
This is the first time since statistics began in 1951 that southern Kyushu has entered the rainy season earlier than any other region in Japan.
The luxury Seven Stars in Kyushu train trades the hyper-efficiency of typical rail travel in Japan for a slower, more decadent version.
LIFE / Travel
Mar 1, 2025
Aboard Japan’s most luxurious train, the journey is the destination
For those with yen to burn, the Seven Stars in Kyushu is one of the most luxurious ways to experience some of southern Japan’s best hidden gems.
A worker at a Kongo factory in Kashima, Kumamoto Prefecture, carefully processes an aluminum plate using a forming press.
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Jan 28, 2025
Companies in Kyushu struggle to enter TSMC’s supply chain
One report shows that firms in the region make up less than 10% of Japanese companies doing business with TSMC or its unit in Japan.
Violin, a day care center for the elderly, is housed in a building that used be an office of the Kudokai crime syndicate in the city of Kitakyushu. It retains the original look of the Kudokai facility, with its thick steel-plated front door, glittering chandelier and marble floor.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Oct 28, 2024
Former yakuza office repurposed to become elderly care facility
The building that houses Violin, a day care center for the elderly, was once one of the main facilities for the Kudokai syndicate.
Unexploded ordnance detonates near a taxiway at Miyazaki Airport on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Oct 2, 2024
Blast from unexploded ordnance halts flights at Japanese regional airport
Authorities said they found a hole about 7 meters long, 4 meters wide and a meter deep on asphalt pavement near a taxiway.
Fukuoka Prefecture Medical Association executive director Takeshi Inamitsu said schools should take the initiative in deciding the methods used and things to be checked during their students' health exams.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Sep 16, 2024
Students’ clothing at school health checkups comes into focus
Doctors worry signs of illnesses or abuse may be overlooked if examinations are performed in gym clothes or other clothing as urged by the education ministry.
Elevated water levels on the Tama River in Kawasaki on Friday after Shanshan dumped torrential rain on wide areas of Japan.
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2024
Slow-moving storm Shanshan downgraded to tropical depression
The storm lingered south of Mie Prefecture on Sunday afternoon, unleashing widespread torrential rain across the country.
People walk in front of closed ticket gates for the Tokaido Shinkansen in Tokyo Station as train operations between Tokyo and Nagoya remain suspended due to Tropical Storm Shanshan on Saturday.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2024
Tropical Storm Shanshan soaks Japan as flood and landslide risks rise
Shanshan was moving slowly south-southwest of Wakayama Prefecture on Saturday afternoon, bringing widespread torrential rain to much of the country.
A submerged area of Yufu, Oita Prefecture, on Thursday after Typhoon Shanshan dumped torrential rain throughout the Kyushu region.
JAPAN
Aug 30, 2024
Alerts issued for Tokyo area cities as Shanshan crawls across Japan
Multiple rivers in and around Tokyo threatened to spill their banks as the storm brought torrential rain.
Vehicles are stranded on flooded road on Thursday following heavy rains from Typhoon Shanshan in the city of Tamana, Kumamoto Prefecture.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2024
Heavy rain batters Japan after Typhoon Shanshan makes landfall in Kyushu
Later Thursday, Shanshan was downgraded to a severe tropical storm, but it was still bringing heavy rain and strong winds to the region and beyond.

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival