Hello and welcome to today’s news from Japan Daily News on April 12th, 2024. Today, Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako will visit the areas in Ishikawa Prefecture that were severely affected by the Noto Peninsula earthquake. They will offer their condolences to the people who were affected in Anamizu-cho and Noto-cho.

In other news, a company in Otaru, Hokkaido, has filed a police report after discovering that an accounting employee embezzled approximately ¥350 million from the company’s bank deposits. The employee responsible for finance at Showa Seiki is suspected of misappropriating the funds.

Moving on, the Tohoku Shinkansen, which had suspended operations between Shin-Aomori Station and Sendai Station due to a power outage, has resumed service as of 9:30 p.m. However, the suspension of the upbound line has been expanded from New Aomori Station to Sendai Station. According to JR, they expect to resume operations around 9:30 p.m.

In Yokohama, a fire broke out in Hodogaya Ward. The Yokohama Fire Department received a report around 7:40 p.m. that flames and smoke were coming from a building. Currently, more than 30 fire trucks are on the scene, working to extinguish the fire and checking for any injuries.

In a lighter news story, the Imperial Household Agency’s official Instagram account, which started operating this month, has begun following the official account of the Dutch royal family. This marks the first time the Imperial Household Agency has engaged in mutual following with a foreign royal family account.

Lastly, the Tohoku Shinkansen has resumed downbound operations between Kitakami and Morioka after suspending service on both upbound and downbound lines due to the power outage. However, the suspension of the upbound line is still ongoing. Downbound service resumed at 8:09 p.m. and the resumption of upbound service is yet to be determined. And now for the weather. Today in Tokyo, the weather will be partly cloudy with a maximum temperature of 18°C and a minimum temperature of 14°C. There is a 47% chance of overcast skies and a 0% chance of rain. The humidity will be around 60% and the wind speed will be 10 km/h. Visit JapanDailyNews.com for the news, yen exchange rates, and a daily Japanese proverb.