A 500-pound bomb dropped by American forces on Japan during World War II exploded unexpectedly beneath an airport runway on Tuesday after being buried for around 80 years.
The explosion damaged a taxiway at the Miyazaki Airport in southwestern Japan, causing more than 80 flights to be canceled, the Associated Press <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-bomb-world-war-ii-103352124.html?guccounter=1&amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9jaXRpemVuZnJlZXByZXNzLmNvbS8&amp;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAIOLuZv8vckSEmdek_j8V6HyKiRbVyp55y44h2iLKa_Av78vKCPmpX89dIDp_GQvuyC4y2y7mE3acqwcHQJrI0EUKc1HO8CAXVdqD5eikgYTdn1EtydvCx7MsIcAVLyRInXfDsfeNMZdTUi55XWVDZLsnRWDV7w5A05Jj7OdT73o" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. No injuries were reported after the explosion, which was caught on video and posted to social media. The video shows that the bomb exploded far away from any aircraft, but according to a local broadcaster, an airplane had been taxiing near the area just two minutes before the bomb exploded.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
🌐 Breaking News: Explosion at Miyazaki Airport? ✈️💥
This morning, an explosion was reportedly captured on the information camera at Miyazaki Airport at 7:58 AM, sending plumes of dust into the air.
The airport office has confirmed that a sinkhole was found on the taxiway… <a href="https://t.co/LPwA0VKsPp">pic.twitter.com/LPwA0VKsPp</a>
&mdash; Currently JAPAN (@Currently_JAPAN) <a href="https://twitter.com/Currently_JAPAN/status/1841313365563740351?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 2, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said, &#8220;There is no threat of a second explosion, and police and firefighters are currently examining the scene,&#8221; CBS News <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-wwii-bomb-explodes-japan-airport-runway-flights-canceled/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Authorities are still trying to determine what caused the bomb to detonate.
An investigation by Japanese authorities confirmed that the explosion was caused by a 500-pound U.S. bomb that was dropped on the airfield, which was built in 1943 to train Imperial Japan&#8217;s kamikaze pilots during World War II. Japan&#8217;s Defense Ministry said that numerous unexploded bombs dropped from U.S. warplanes have been discovered near the airport.
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The crater caused by the explosion on Tuesday was 7 feet in diameter and 3 feet deep, according to the AP. Throughout Japan, hundreds of tons of unexploded bombs from World War II have been dug up, often at construction sites. In fiscal year 2023 alone, Japanese officials <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/japan/japan-airport-shut-after-likely-ww2-era-bomb-explodes-near-runway-87-flights-2024-10-02/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that 2,348 bombs were disposed of in the country.
After the war, the U.S. helped remove thousands of unexploded bombs in Japan, but experts predict that it could take another 100 years for all of the bombs from World War II to be disposed of just in the Okinawa Prefecture. Near the end of the war, Okinawa was pounded with around 200,000 tons of bombs, according to <a href="https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20240929_09/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NHK World Japan</a>. An estimated 10,000 tons of those bombs were unexploded.

USA/JApan: A USAAF B-29 bomber over Osaka, 1 June 1945

Bomb From WWII Explodes At Airport, Cancels More Than 80 Flights

Bomb From WWII Explodes At Airport, Cancels Over 80 Flights

Air and Space

Bombings

Japan

World

World War II

The Japanese television executives behind “The Boyfriend,” Netflix&#8217;s first-ever same-sex reality dating <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/television">show</a>, said the project aimed to &#8220;deepen the understanding&#8221; of the LGBTQ community in the socially conservative country. 
Like many other r<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/reality-tv">eality dating shows</a>, the series features nine single men living in a beach house looking for love. But unlike so many American shows with the same premise, “The Boyfriend” is completely devoid of sexual content. Even the kissing scenes are tame by comparison, per <a href="https://variety.com/2024/global/news/japanese-same-sex-reality-show-boyfriend-netfix-normalize-lgbtq-1236151678/">Variety</a>. 
“It’s no different from the familiar reality shows we’ve seen before. The only thing that felt odd or questionable was that, while there have been plenty of heterosexual reality shows, there have been so few featuring same-sex couples, and none in Japan,” casting director Taiki told the outlet. “We didn’t aim to create a special genre.”
The group behind the show says that was the point. Even if they weren’t explicitly talking about having sex, contestants did share their coming out stories on camera. Participants were encouraged to have deep discussions about life. 
“I don’t think this show has caused a 90-degree shift in public opinion, but it might have provided a moment for those who felt distant from LGBTQ+ people to realize that everyone struggles, enjoys life, makes friends and falls in love just like anyone else,” said Durian Lollobrigida, a drag queen who appeared as a commentator on the show. “It could lead them to think, ‘Hey, they’re just like us.’”
The drag queen said his presence on the show was &#8220;crucial.&#8221;
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&#8220;As this was Japan’s first romance reality show featuring male same-sex relationships, it was crucial to have someone from that community in the studio,” said Durian Lollobrigida, a drag queen who appeared as a commentator on the show. “Although my influence might be limited, by being a studio commentator who is a member of that community, I wanted to act as an interpreter … to help lower the barriers and deepen the understanding that viewers may have towards LGBTQ+.”
Variety also noted how producers intentionally made diversity a priority, casting men of Korean and Taiwanese descent despite a “social stigma” about other ethnicities in Japan. 
Even if they weren’t explicitly talking about having sex, contestants did share their coming out stories on camera. Participants were encouraged to have deep discussions about life. 
 “I discussed with the cast how growth and valuable experiences stem from shared friendships, youth and struggles, not just romance. This led to many unexpected miracles on set,” Hishida Keisuke, the director, said. 
&nbsp;

LGBT TV

Japan’s First Same-Sex Reality Show Aimed To Send Message: ‘Hey, They’re Just Like Us’

TV Execs Discuss Japan's First Ever Same-Sex Reality Show, 'The Boyfriend'

Entertainment

LGBTQ

Reality TV

Television

Those marginally familiar with World War II will no doubt recognize names like Normandy, Iwo Jima, or Guadalcanal. But like many of the other battles into which American boys have been thrown over the centuries, only the most ardent history buffs can relay much, if anything, about the agony that was the struggle for the island of Peleliu.
This month, we mark the 80th anniversary of the September 1944 landings on Peleliu in the Palau Island chain by the First U.S. Marine Division during the Pacific War. Peleliu is one of those battles that often gets passed over in our national memory.
In the fall of 1944, the island’s airfield was considered vital to protect MacArthur’s southern flank in his advance towards the Philippines 600 miles farther west. And so the First Marine Division was sent to this 14 square-mile dot in the Pacific to seize and clear the island of its estimated 14,000 Japanese defenders.
The operation, prophetically code-named Stalemate II, was expected to last a mere three days.
It didn’t.
<div id="attachment_798471" style="width: 774px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-798471" class="wp-image-798471 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/GettyImages-486561439-764x576.jpg" alt="US ships and landing craft heading towards Peleliu Island during the Pacific Campaign of World War Two, Palau, September 5th 1944. (Photo by US Navy/Getty Images)" width="764" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/GettyImages-486561439-764x576.jpg 764w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/GettyImages-486561439-300x226.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/GettyImages-486561439-768x579.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/GettyImages-486561439.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 764px) 100vw, 764px" />US ships and landing craft heading towards Peleliu Island during the Pacific Campaign of World War Two, Palau, September 5th 1944. (Photo by US Navy/Getty Images)</div>
The Japanese, mimicking a new and bloody strategy first utilized on Biak several months before, did not meet the Marines on the beaches with anything but a skirmish line of machine guns, mortars, and well-sighted artillery. (Although for the men who landed ashore that day, the carnage and mayhem of this initial action would haunt them forever.) Nor would they waste themselves on mass Banzai charges that were methodically mowed down by the entrenched Americans as occurred on Saipan. Rather, the real battle for Peleliu would be fought against a tenacious enemy burrowed deep into the island’s rock-hard coral ridges, hidden within a network of caves, bunkers, pillboxes, and interconnected tunnels whose often steel doors were impervious to even the heaviest caliber naval gunfire. The U.S. military had never fought such a tenacious defender before. Said one Marine veteran, &#8220;Peleliu was, I think, the biggest surprise the Marine Corps received during World War Two.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_798475" style="width: 880px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-798475" class="size-large wp-image-798475" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/GettyImages-1500211936-870x576.jpg" alt="American military officers move across the sands during the Battle of Peleliu (Operation Stalemate II), during the Second World War, on the beach at Peleliu, Palau, 15th September 1944. The troops, supporting the 7th Marines, are either the 16th Marine Field Depot or the 17th Naval Construction Battalion Special. (Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images)" width="870" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/GettyImages-1500211936-870x576.jpg 870w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/GettyImages-1500211936-300x199.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/GettyImages-1500211936-768x509.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/GettyImages-1500211936.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px" />Archive Photos/Getty Images</div>
The Americans found themselves shelled and fired down on without rest from Japanese gun emplacements dug into the sides of the forbidding Umurbrogol Ridge, a limestone outcropping some 550 feet above sea level which ran down the middle of the island like the vertebrae of a malevolent beast. As such, Japanese defenders had to be methodically rooted out, one position at a time, with small arms, grenades, demolition charges and, most terrible, flamethrowers while Marine and Navy fighter-bombers dropped canisters of napalm on Japanese positions. It was a brutal affair that went on for 73 tortuous days. In the process, the Marines and their Army replacements suffered crippling casualties.
<div id="attachment_798483" style="width: 716px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-798483" class="wp-image-798483 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/PELELIU-96764-706x576.jpg" alt="A column of Marines marches toward the front line through a defile at the southwestern end of Peleliu's Bloody Nose Ridge. (U.S. Marine Corps). U.S. Naval Institute." width="706" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/PELELIU-96764-706x576.jpg 706w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/PELELIU-96764-300x245.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/PELELIU-96764-768x627.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/PELELIU-96764-1536x1253.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/PELELIU-96764-2048x1671.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 706px) 100vw, 706px" />A column of Marines marches toward the front line through a defile at the southwestern end of Peleliu&#8217;s Bloody Nose Ridge. (U.S. Marine Corps). U.S. Naval Institute.</div>
When a journalist caught up with an exhausted file of Marines rotating off the sheer coral escarpments that dominated the island, he asked them if this was the 1st Marine Regiment. “Mac, there ain’t no more 1st Marines,” a grim veteran replied.
Along with the agony of battle itself, the Americans also found themselves in a struggle with Peleliu’s forbidding topography and climate. The coral base of the island was too hard to dig adequate foxholes, or bury the dead, so many a combatant had to share what little shelter he could find with the bloating, maggot, and fly-infested corpses of enemy and friend alike strewn across the open ground. Adding to the misery, the temperature at times rose to 115 degrees in the shade, and the omnipresent vile stench of rotting flesh and swamp was thick in the oppressively humid air. Some veterans even wondered if they’d ever be able to get the odor out of their nostrils.
For the first few days of the battle, fresh water, a life-and-death matter in such tropical heat, was scarce; as if just to twist the screws, what water the Marines did receive was fouled by traces of fuel oil and rust residue from the reused oil drum containers that had been inadequately cleaned before being repurposed, adding vomiting and aggravated innards to the experience.
Through September, into October, then November the fighting dragged on, and casualties on both sides mounted. Part of the reason for the protracted and bloody nature of the battle was that arguably the two ablest fighting units of each country, the American First Marine Division and the Japanese 14th Infantry Division, faced off in this ghastly arena.
The Japanese were especially driven by a fanaticism to die for their god-emperor and a military code that viewed surrender as the worst of disgraces. Trapped on an island with no escape, the Japanese commander, Col. Kunio Nakagawa, steeled his men to sell their lives dearly, vowing to fight to the last man and take as many Americans as possible with them along the way. For the Marines and soldiers, any pretense of quarter was quickly abandoned in the see-saw fighting as they came across the bodies of captured comrades who’d been sadistically tortured and mutilated or tied to trees and used for bayonet practice. And given the Japanese penchant for trickery by feigning injury or death only to then detonate hidden grenades, blowing apart both themselves and the unsuspecting corpsmen or medics ostensibly coming to their aid, no one was in a mood to take prisoners.
<div id="attachment_798497" style="width: 478px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-798497" class="size-large wp-image-798497" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/GettyImages-514678544-468x576.jpg" alt="(Original Caption) 9/26/1944-Peleliu Island: Weary and exhausted after the tough battle for Hill 200 Near Peleliu Airpoet, this leathr neck sits down amidst the battle rubble and weeps. According to latest reports, the marines are making steady progress on the Island, although heavy fighting continues." width="468" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/GettyImages-514678544-468x576.jpg 468w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/GettyImages-514678544-244x300.jpg 244w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/GettyImages-514678544-768x945.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/GettyImages-514678544.jpg 832w" sizes="(max-width: 468px) 100vw, 468px" />(Original Caption) 9/26/1944-Peleliu Island: Weary and exhausted after the tough battle for Hill 200 Near Peleliu Airport, this leather neck sits down amidst the battle rubble and weeps. According to latest reports, the marines are making steady progress on the Island, although heavy fighting continues.</div>
Indeed, by 1944, both side&#8217;s combatants had for years been marinated in the notion that the enemy belonged to an inferior species. A Japanese newspaper <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/406393.Jim_Proser" target="_blank" rel="noopener">once described</a> the U.S. Marines as &#8220;a special force recruited from prisons and insane asylums for bloodlust&#8221;. As such, Peleliu was a place where courage was paramount and devotion to the man sharing your foxhole sacrosanct, but where chivalry was replaced with visceral, and understandable, loathing. A reductive atavism fueled by both dehumanizing propaganda and the realities of a medieval brand of warfare experienced day in and day out in an endless battle of attrition.
As with so many of these Pacific Island battles, the rules of warfare as dictated in the Geneva Conventions were ignored.
“The hatred was so intense,” remembered Marine Pvt. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Old-Breed-At-Pelelui-Okinawa/dp/0091937531" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eugene Sledge</a>, that to him Peleliu was like “two scorpions in a bottle. One was annihilated, the other nearly so.”
Finally, on 27 November, 1944, D+72, after more than two months of non-stop fighting from one end of the superheated rocky island to the other, Peleliu was declared secure. Operation Stalemate II had taken an agonizing 70 days longer than confident planners had predicted. And both sides paid a horrific price for their efforts.
Of the 28,000 combined Marines and Army infantry involved, they incurred the highest American casualty rate of any amphibious landing of the war. The fine First Marine Division was shattered. It suffered 1,252 KIA and 5,274 wounded. The Army’s 81st Infantry Division lost another 542 KIA and 2,736 wounded.
The Japanese garrison was effectively wiped out. Only 202 of the 14,000 defenders were taken alive and of them, only 19 were Japanese military; the rest were Korean and Okinawan laborers.
<div id="attachment_798495" style="width: 744px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-798495" class="wp-image-798495 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/GettyImages-486559307-734x576.jpg" alt="A wounded US Marine lifted aboard a Coast Guard-manned transport, during the Pacific Campaign of World War Two, Peleliu, Palau, 1944. (Photo by US Coast Guard/Getty Images)" width="734" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/GettyImages-486559307-734x576.jpg 734w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/GettyImages-486559307-300x236.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/GettyImages-486559307-768x603.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/09/GettyImages-486559307.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 734px) 100vw, 734px" />A wounded US Marine lifted aboard a Coast Guard-manned transport, during the Pacific Campaign of World War Two, Peleliu, Palau, 1944. (Photo by US Coast Guard/Getty Images)</div>
Tragically, it is debatable whether Peleliu ever needed to be captured at all. The main purpose of the operation, to secure an aerodrome from which to cover the landings on Mindanao in the southern Philippines, was rendered of dubious value when MacArthur opted to bypass Mindanao and strike first at Leyte in the central part of the archipelago. Admiral William Halsey, in fact, had recommended the cancellation of the Palau landings in favor of using the Marines on Leyte. But, as author William Manchester, a wounded Pacific War Marine veteran himself, would <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Goodbye-Darkness-Memoir-Pacific-War/dp/0316501115" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bitterly write</a>: “[Admiral] Nimitz decided it was too late to recall the Palau force and 9,171 [sic] Americans fell there, tragically and pointlessly.”
Since it was expected to be a quick, easy fight, few journalists bothered to cover the landings. Those who did found their stories overshadowed by events in the Philippines and Europe. In fact, the fighting on Peleliu was still raging when MacArthur’s invasion force hit the beaches of Leyte in October.
So Peleliu, perhaps the most brutal battle of our most brutal theater of war, remains in relative obscurity. The men who fought and especially those who died there deserve better. For many veterans who fought throughout the Pacific–the First Marine Division also saw action at Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, and Okinawa–Peleliu remained the battle that stayed with them in the sheer savagery of the action, hostility of the terrain, and abject misery of the conditions.
“Something in me died at Peleliu,” lamented Sledge, who’d somehow made it through 45 days of combat before his decimated 5th Marine Regiment was pulled off the line.
Whether or not the Marines and soldiers of Peleliu suffered and died needlessly, there is no debating whether they successfully carried out their mission with extraordinary bravery, skill, and perseverance. They did so on one of the most inhospitable battlefields into which men-at-arms have ever been placed, against an enemy whose homicidal fanaticism was matched only by their tenacity and skill as warriors.
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We owe this moment, then, to the men of Peleliu, most of whom have now died from causes far removed from that terrible battlefield, to remember their sacrifice, to honor their courage, and give them one final salute as they move into their twilight.
Indeed, they should know they are not forgotten. They should know that the seminal moment of their young lives, one they carried to the end of their days, has not slipped away into the collective amnesia of a peaceful society. We will never fully comprehend what happened there and what they overcame to move the country one step closer to a just victory and the world to an enduring peace.
* * *
Brad Schaeffer is a commodities trader, columnist, and author of two acclaimed novels. Along with Daily Wire, his articles have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Daily News, New York Post, National Review, The Federalist, The Hill and other media outlets. His newest book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Life-Pits-Rough-Tumble-Exchange/dp/B0CKPNCMQW/ref=sr_1_1?adgrpid=1331509151681009&amp;hvadid=83219665089301&amp;hvbmt=bp&amp;hvdev=c&amp;hvlocphy=97755&amp;hvnetw=o&amp;hvqmt=p&amp;hvtargid=kwd-83219680392082%3Aloc-190&amp;hydadcr=18892_13467888&amp;keywords=brad+schaeffer&amp;qid=1698162015&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.com/Life-Pits-Rough-Tumble-Exchange/dp/B0CKPNCMQW/ref%3Dsr_1_1?adgrpid%3D1331509151681009%26hvadid%3D83219665089301%26hvbmt%3Dbp%26hvdev%3Dc%26hvlocphy%3D97755%26hvnetw%3Do%26hvqmt%3Dp%26hvtargid%3Dkwd-83219680392082%253Aloc-190%26hydadcr%3D18892_13467888%26keywords%3Dbrad%2Bschaeffer%26qid%3D1698162015%26sr%3D8-1&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1722366620272000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0vhiW3SrKDrsWDil8BZYgg">LIFE IN THE PITS: My Time as a Trader on the Rough-and-Tumble Exchange Floors</a>, is a fun and informative memoir of his time as a floor trader in Chicago and New York. You can also find more of Brad’s articles on <a href="https://bradschaeffer.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://bradschaeffer.substack.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1722366620272000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3J2TVu4lEyxt1MB9TGXQzF">Substack</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

World War II – Navy Seabees

‘Like Two Scorpions In A Bottle’: The 80th Anniversary Of The Invasion Of Peleliu

'Like Two Scorpions In A Bottle': The 80th Anniversary Of The Invasion Of Peleliu

American History

History

Marines

Pacific Ocean

U.S. Army

U.S. Military

80-G-236841

The Battle Of Saipan, Part Two: The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot

Readers Pass

U.S. Navy

Nintendo restored a character’s previously hidden gender identity in the new English version of a Mario game, after initially introducing the character in the 2004 Japanese version of the video game as transgender.
In the new Nintendo Switch version of “Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door,” game makers have decided to make it clear that a supporting character named Vivian is transgender after previously removing the language in the 2004 English and German version of the game, UK <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2024/05/22/paper-mario-remake-restores-characters-trans-identity-english-version-20890660/">Metro</a> reported.
In the original 2004 Japanese version, released for the Nintendo GameCube, the villainous character &#8212; born as a male &#8212; is introduced alongside his two villain sisters, the <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/05/23/lifestyle/nintendo-includes-transgender-character-in-new-paper-mario-video-game/">New York Post</a> noted.
Vivian’s sister Marilyn asks him how they can be defined as &#8220;the three shadow sisters,&#8221; before exclaiming: &#8220;You are a man! A man!&#8221; Vivian then replied, &#8220;Sorry, sister … it was my mistake … Sigh…&#8221; Metro noted.
In the European version, it is also clear Vivian is a man, replying to his sisters, &#8220;That’s true, you are two sisters, but I am a woman too now, and I’m proud to have turned into a woman,” Metro noted.
In the previous English version of the game, the character was described as “ugly” and was bullied, the Post noted. However, in the new remake with the English translation, Vivian tells Mario: &#8220;Truth is, it took me a while to realize I was their sister … not their brother. Now their usual bullying feels heavier,&#8221; the outlet noted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Paper Mario TTYD localizers made Vivian trans.
She was originally a cross-dresser, or femboy, in the original Japanese. Not trans.
We have such a problem with kids being forced into gender assignment before they are consenting adults that this doesn&#8217;t belong in a kid&#8217;s game by… <a href="https://t.co/Qx1cGpdu0S">pic.twitter.com/Qx1cGpdu0S</a>
— Grummz (@Grummz) <a href="https://twitter.com/Grummz/status/1792951090671153194?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 21, 2024</a></blockquote>
Another reported change in the new version of the game is that Vivian’s trans status is now seen as something to celebrate and they have tamped down the teasing, the Post noted.
However, there were those on social media who disputed the claim Vivian was ever trans, noting that translation to English is off. One <a href="https://x.com/revenant_MMXX/status/1793675263462814177" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post</a> shows that Vivian was described as a &#8220;feminine-presenting man or a crossdressing&#8221; one, rather than trans.
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Another <a href="https://x.com/Grummz/status/1792951090671153194" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post</a> wrote, &#8220;She was originally a cross-dresser, or femboy, in the original Japanese. Not trans. We have such a problem with kids being forced into gender assignment before they are consenting adults that this doesn&#8217;t belong in a kid&#8217;s game by [NintendoAmerica].&#8221;
The introduction of a transgender character in the Super Mario Universe is reportedly not new, Metro noted. A character named Birdo was first introduced as trans in the Japanese-only “Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic” in 1987, which later became known as &#8220;Super Mario Bros. 2.&#8221;
However, the outlet noted that there’s been no consistency about the character’s transgender status since its earliest introduction. <a href="https://www.nintendo.co.jp/clv/manuals/en/pdf/CLV-P-NAADE.pdf">Nintendo</a>&#8216;s own <a href="https://www.nintendo.co.jp/clv/manuals/en/pdf/CLV-P-NAADE.pdf">instruction manual</a> for &#8220;Super Mario Bros. 2&#8221; described Birdo as a character who &#8220;thinks he is a girl&#8221; and would &#8220;rather be called &#8216;birdetta,’” <a href="https://screenrant.com/birdo-deserves-better-nintendo-mario-trans-identity-gender/">Screen Rant</a> noted.

Debut Of Allied Esports’ “PlayTime With KittyPlays” At HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas

Nintendo Restores Alleged Trans Character’s Identity In English Version Of Mario Game

Nintendo Restores Alleged Trans Character's Identity In English Version Of Mario Game

Nintendo

Transgender

Video Games

Japan&#8217;s government says it was &#8220;unfortunate&#8221; that President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden</a> called Japan, a U.S. ally, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-labels-japan-xenophobic-for-not-following-his-lead-in-importing-hordes-of-third-worlders" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8220;xenophobic&#8221;</a> in remarks last week.
During a campaign reception in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Biden lumped Japan in with U.S. adversaries Russia and China while arguing that immigration can help to create strong economies.
&#8220;One of the reasons why our economy is growing is because of you and many others. Why? Because we welcome immigrants. We look to — the reason — look, think about it,&#8221; Biden <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2024/05/01/remarks-by-president-biden-at-a-campaign-reception-7/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
&#8220;Why is China stalling so badly economically? Why is Japan having trouble? Why is Russia? Why is India? Because they’re xenophobic. They don’t want immigrants,&#8221; he added.
&#8220;Immigrants is [sic] what makes us strong,&#8221; Biden continued. &#8220;Not a joke. That’s not hyperbole. Because we have an influx of workers who want to be here and just contribute.&#8221;
Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/japanese-government-responds-biden-claim-japan-xenophobic-unfortunate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> on Saturday that the Japanese Embassy had given a response to Biden, alluding to a <a href="https://twitter.com/WarMachineRR/status/1786076693909619126" target="_blank" rel="noopener">defense</a> of the president given by White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in speaking to reporters.
&#8220;We are aware that the U.S. government has clarified that President Biden&#8217;s comment was made in the context of explaining that the U.S. is a nation of immigrants and that immigrants make the U.S. stronger, and that his comment was not made with the intent of undermining the importance and permanence of the Japan-U.S. relationship,&#8221; the embassy said.
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&#8220;It is unfortunate that some of the comments were not based on an accurate understanding of Japan&#8217;s policies, and we have raised this point to the U.S. government and explained Japan&#8217;s positions and policies once again,&#8221; Japanese officials added.
India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar also <a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-japan-immigration-xenophobic-india-modi-biden-b7a488366c583454ed5f6b16f1c56d01" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rebuffed</a> Biden on Saturday, touting his country&#8217;s GDP growth while insisting that India is a welcoming place during an event organized by the Economic Times newspaper in New Delhi, according to the Associated Press.
&#8220;I haven’t seen such an open, pluralistic, and diverse society anywhere in the world. We are actually not just not xenophobic, we are the most open, most pluralistic and in many ways the most understanding society in the world,” Jaishankar said.

Joe Biden

‘Unfortunate’: Japan Responds To Being Called ‘Xenophobic’ By Biden

'Unfortunate': Japan Responds To Being Called 'Xenophobic' By Biden

Executive

Global Politics

Immigrants

India

Politics

President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden</a> called U.S. ally <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/japan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Japan</a> &#8220;xenophobic&#8221; just weeks after hosting the country&#8217;s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, for <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2024/04/10/remarks-by-president-biden-and-prime-minister-kishida-fumio-of-japan-in-joint-press-conference/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">talks</a> and a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WHkXO_IM-Y" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ritzy state dinner</a> in the nation&#8217;s capital.
He made the comment on Wednesday during a campaign reception in Washington, D.C., while arguing that immigration can help to create strong economies, according to a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2024/05/01/remarks-by-president-biden-at-a-campaign-reception-7/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">transcript</a> from the White House.
&#8220;You know, one of the reasons why our economy is growing is because of you and many others. Why? Because we welcome immigrants. We look to — the reason — look, think about it,&#8221; Biden said.
&#8220;Why is China stalling so badly economically? Why is Japan having trouble? Why is Russia? Why is India? Because they’re xenophobic. They don’t want immigrants,&#8221; he added.
&#8220;Immigrants is [sic] what makes us strong,&#8221; Biden continued. &#8220;Not a joke. That’s not hyperbole. Because we have an influx of workers who want to be here and just contribute.&#8221;
Although Japan <a href="https://apnews.com/article/japan-economy-2023-gdp-893d53deba654c4924e4924f0b321cc5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">entered a recession</a> amid a population decline this year, losing its spot at the world&#8217;s <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/14/economy/japan-economy-recession-hnk-intl/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">third-largest economy</a>, local media reported in March how government data showed the nation <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/03/23/japan/society/foreign-nationals-visas-japan-record/#:~:text=acute%20labor%20shortage.-,As%20of%20the%20end%20of%20December%2C%203%2C410%2C992%20foreign%20nationals%20resided,Immigration%20Services%20Agency%20said%20Friday." target="_blank" rel="noopener">hit a record</a> of 3.4 million foreign residents in 2023 as employment-related visas rose to <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/10/14/japan/society/japan-foreign-population/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">meet demand</a> created by a labor shortage.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), a member of the Committee on Foreign Relations, was among those who criticized Biden for calling Japan &#8220;xenophobic&#8221; alongside U.S. adversaries China and Russia.
&#8220;That is why his staff doesn’t want him speaking without those note cards,&#8221; Rubio <a href="https://twitter.com/marcorubio/status/1785988694970663102" target="_blank" rel="noopener">quipped</a> on X, alluding to concerns about Biden&#8217;s mental state as he runs for a second term in this year&#8217;s presidential election.
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Last month, during a state dinner at the White House with Kishida and a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/04/10/white-house-releases-state-dinner-guest-list-4/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">milieu of dignitaries</a>, Biden praised Japan during a toast.
&#8220;Well, we are the same, Japan and the United States. Many — we may be divided by distance, but the — generations after generation, we’ve been brought together — the same hopes, the same values, the same commitment to democracy and freedom and to dignity for all,&#8221; he <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2024/04/10/remarks-by-president-biden-and-prime-minister-kishida-fumio-of-japan-at-state-dinner/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
Biden added, &#8220;And today, without question, our alliance is literally stronger than it has even been.&#8221;

President Biden Hosts State Visit For Japanese Prime Minister Kishida

Biden Labels Japan ‘Xenophobic’ For Not Following His Lead In Importing Hordes Of Third Worlders

Biden Labels Japan 'Xenophobic' For Not Following His Lead In Importing Hordes Of Third Worlders

Marco Rubio

U.S.

White House

Late-night host <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/jimmy-kimmel">Jimmy Kimmel</a> said he’s looking at America in a new light after a recent visit to Japan.
The 56-year-old said his trip abroad made him realize that the U.S. is unsanitary compared to the land of the rising sun.
“After traveling to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/japan">Japan</a>, I realize that this place, this USA we’re always chanting about, is a filthy and disgusting country,” he said during his monologue on Monday night’s episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”
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Kimmel went on to describe how he used to believe that while the U.S. had “areas for improvement,” it was mostly ahead in terms of cleanliness compared to most of the rest of the world.
“I go to Europe, and there are dirt holes where plumbing is supposed to be. I hold my breath, and I go, ‘I’m glad I’m not one of these people,’ and then I go back home,” he continued. Kimmel went on to praise the cleanliness of the bathrooms in Japan.
“The bathrooms in Tokyo and Kyoto are cleaner than our operating rooms here. Everywhere you go the bathrooms are clean, they don’t smell bad, they have those toilets that wash you from the inside out,” he marveled. Kimmel also joked that even truck stop restrooms were “cleaner than Jennifer Garner’s teeth — the cleanest. Beautiful.”
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“And it’s not just the bathrooms,” the host added. “People carry their own trash. There are no garbage cans,” Kimmel said, mentioning the 1995 terrorist incident when a man put poisonous sarin gas in trash cans. This resulted in the country removing public trash receptacles and Japanese citizens adapting to dispose of their own garbage.
“They’re like OK, no more trash cans, everybody clean up after yourselves. And guess what — they clean up after themselves! They bring their garbage to their houses,” he added.
“It’s like the whole country is Disneyland, and we’re living at Six Flags,” Kimmel said. “I’ve been home 36 hours, I have never felt dirtier. We are like hogs compared to the Japanese. I can’t imagine what they must think of us. ‘Oh, the garbage people. Yes, the Americans. Garbage.&#8217;”

JIMMY KIMMEL

Jimmy Kimmel Calls USA ‘Filthy And Disgusting’ After Traveling To Japan: ‘We Are Like Hogs Compared To The Japanese’

Jimmy Kimmel Calls USA 'Filthy And Disgusting' After Traveling To Japan: 'We Are Like Hogs Compared To The Japanese'

Celebrities

Jimmy Kimmel

United States

A powerful earthquake hit off the coast of eastern Taiwan on Wednesday morning, leading officials to say at least <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/04/03/taiwan-japan-earthquake-tsunami-warning-74/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">at least nine</a> people were killed and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/03/world/asia/taiwan-earthquake.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hundreds</a> of others were injured due to the natural disaster.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) <a href="https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us7000m9g4/executive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">measured</a> the earthquake at 7.4 magnitude, while Taiwan&#8217;s monitoring agency pegged it at 7.2, which would make it the strongest tremor to rock the island in 25 years, according to the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/taiwan-earthquake-tsunami-f086aac0c3082036d1ca77c01828fb28" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Associated Press</a>.
News reports said buildings suffered damage, and dozens of people became stuck or lost in places such as <a href="https://apnews.com/article/taiwan-earthquake-tsunami-f086aac0c3082036d1ca77c01828fb28" target="_blank" rel="noopener">quarries</a> and national parks. Search-and-rescue teams have been deployed to reach people who are trapped or stranded.
Multiple aftershocks followed the original quake, which led to tsunami warnings in places such as Japan and the Philippines. As reported by <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/04/03/taiwan-japan-earthquake-tsunami-warning-74/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Washington Post</a>, Shanghai and China&#8217;s southeastern provinces even felt the earthquake.
&#8220;Disaster response is underway following this morning’s 7.2 earthquake and aftershocks,&#8221; Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen <a href="https://twitter.com/iingwen/status/1775424526404538734" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a post to X. &#8220;I’m deeply grateful for the messages of support we have received from around the world, and to our first responders for their life-saving work.&#8221;
Tsai added, &#8220;My heart is with everyone affected. Please keep in touch with loved ones, and stay safe.&#8221;
Images and videos posted to social media showed bridges shaking, debris falling, and even water from swimming pools raining down from towers.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Taiwan was struck by its strongest earthquake in 25 years on Wednesday.
Scenes of water cascading down the side of buildings and debris falling onto the streets below were captured. ⁣ <a href="https://t.co/my5Rkn16uB">pic.twitter.com/my5Rkn16uB</a>
&mdash; AccuWeather (@accuweather) <a href="https://twitter.com/accuweather/status/1775517766373589447?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 3, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson released a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/04/03/statement-from-national-security-council-spokesperson-adrienne-watson-on-the-earthquake-impacting-taiwan/">statement</a> that said officials at the White House are &#8220;monitoring reports of the earthquake impacting Taiwan and continue to monitor its potential impact on Japan.&#8221;
She went on, &#8220;The United States stands ready to provide any necessary assistance. All those affected are in our prayers.&#8221;
The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/03/world/asia/taiwan-earthquake.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a> Taiwan has been working to improve its early warning system and roll out new building codes to reinforce buildings over the years.
The island is regularly shaken by tremors given that it is situated in the <a href="https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/ring-fire/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pacific &#8220;Ring of Fire&#8221;</a> known for active volcanoes and frequent earthquakes.
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CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/02/asia/taiwan-earthquake-tsunami-warning-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> a 6.2 magnitude earthquake that hit in 2018 near the same area where the tremor happened on Wednesday, Hualien County, killing at least 17 people and injuring more than 300 others.
In September of 1999, a 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit Taiwan that killed more than 2,400 people, injured 100,000 more, and caused <a href="https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/earthquake-kills-thousands-in-taiwan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">billions of dollars</a> in damage.
USGS <a href="https://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/today/index.php?month=4&amp;day=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">says</a> one of the world&#8217;s deadliest earthquakes shook Taiwan in April of 1935, leading to 3,270 deaths, 12,000 injuries, and 39,000 rooms destroyed or severely damaged.

Taiwan’s largest earthquake in 25 years leaves 4 dead, hundreds injured

Strong Earthquake Hits Taiwan, Killing At Least 9 People

earthquake

Natural Disaster

Taiwan

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/oppenheimer-sweeps-96th-academy-awards" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8220;Oppenheimer&#8221;</a> finally opened in Japan on Friday and was met with mixed reactions, eight months after it hit theaters in the U.S.
The Christopher Nolan-directed <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/oppenheimer-review-the-amazing-christopher-nolan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">film</a> centers on the inner conflict American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer went through in creating the atomic bomb that was used in the destruction of the country&#8217;s cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/oppenheimer-japan-reaction-1235862734/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to The Hollywood Reporter.
Speaking to the <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/oppenheimer-finally-premieres-japan-mixed-reactions-high-emotions-108645695">Associated Press</a>, Toshiyuki Mimaki, who survived the bombings when he was just a child, said he has been fascinated by the story of the man called &#8220;the father of the atomic bomb.&#8221;
&#8220;What were the Japanese thinking, carrying out the attack on Pearl Harbor, starting a war they could never hope to win,&#8221; Mimaki said in a phone interview with the AP.
&#8220;During the whole movie, I was waiting and waiting for the Hiroshima bombing scene to come on, but it never did,&#8221; he added, after seeing the film.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
‘OPPENHEIMER’ has finally been released in Japan.
8 months after the film’s launch <a href="https://t.co/xkaTAA6uFh">pic.twitter.com/xkaTAA6uFh</a>
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) <a href="https://twitter.com/DiscussingFilm/status/1773690317914394636?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 29, 2024</a></blockquote>
Others spoke to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/japan-finally-screens-oppenheimer-with-trigger-warnings-unease-hiroshima-2024-03-29/">Reuters</a> about the film that took home numerous awards at the 2024 Academy Awards, Golden Globes, and the Screen Actors Guild awards.
&#8220;Of course this is an amazing film which deserves to win the Academy Awards,&#8221; Hiroshima resident Kawai said, who gave only his family name.
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&#8220;But the film also depicts the atomic bomb in a way that seems to praise it, and, as a person with roots in Hiroshima, I found it difficult to watch,&#8221; the person added, warning that he&#8217;s not &#8220;sure this is a movie that Japanese people should make a special effort to watch.&#8221;
Another Hiroshima resident, Agemi Kanegae, told the outlet, &#8220;The film was very worth watching. But I felt very uncomfortable with a few scenes, such as the trial of Oppenheimer in the United States at the end.&#8221;
While a younger movie goer, 19-year-old student Rishu Kanemoto, said after seeing the movie, &#8220;Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where the atomic bombs were dropped, are certainly the victims.&#8221;
&#8220;But I think even though the inventor is one of the perpetrators, he&#8217;s also the victim caught up in the war,&#8221; he added.
Former Hiroshima Mayor Takashi Hiraoka said, &#8220;From Hiroshima’s standpoint, the horror of nuclear weapons was not sufficiently depicted,&#8221; per a Japanese media outlet. &#8220;The film was made in a way to validate the conclusion that the atomic bomb was used to save the lives of Americans.&#8221;
During an online discussion between director Takashi Yamazaki and Nolan, the &#8220;Godzilla Minus One&#8221; filmmaker said, &#8220;I feel there needs to [be] an answer from Japan to Oppenheimer. Someday, I would like to make that movie,&#8221; and Nolan agreed, THR noted.

US-ENTERTAINMENT-CINEMA-CONVENTION

‘Oppenheimer’ Finally Opens In Japan; Met With Mixed Reactions

'Oppenheimer' Finally Opens In Japan; Met With Mixed Reactions

Hollywood

Movies

Oppenheimer

While some <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/taylor-swift">Taylor Swift</a> fans are speculating over whether she’ll put on a surprise performance at the Super Bowl, others are doing the math to figure out if she can get there at all to watch her boyfriend play.
The 34-year-old pop icon was spotted on the field celebrating the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/kansas-city-chiefs">Kansas City Chiefs&#8217;</a> AFC Championship win Sunday night over the Baltimore Ravens, which means they’ll be taking on the San Francisco 49ers at <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/super-bowl">Super Bowl LVIII </a>on February 11 in Las Vegas. Swift was photographed kissing her beau, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, 34.
The popular singer has made time to attend several NFL games this season as her romance with Kelce heated up, but making it to Vegas for the Super Bowl poses some logistical challenges. Swift will be performing a scheduled stop of her Eras Tour in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/japan">Tokyo</a> on February 10, meaning she’ll have to jet across the Pacific Ocean right after her concert to make it in time for kickoff. 
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Because she’ll be performing in Japan, the seventeen-hour time difference will work in Swift’s favor. 
Swift’s fans on social media figured out that she could pull it off because of the international date line, which runs between the South and North Poles and serves as the boundary between one calendar day and the next. Technically, the “Karma” singer could perform Saturday night and get a full night of sleep before hopping a plane by Sunday evening, Tokyo time, and she’d still land in Las Vegas prior to kickoff at 3:30 P.M. Pacific time.
In this situation, it’s helpful that Swift has her own private jet and won’t have to worry about long layovers.
Fans are eager to see the Grammy Award-winning star cheering on her boyfriend, and so are the advertisers dropping millions on Super Bowl commercials. While some NFL fans aren’t thrilled with how much attention Swift has received at the Chiefs games this season, the fact remains that her presence has boosted television ratings as a whole new demographic of Swifties tunes into professional football for the first time.

Swift and Kelce

Taylor Swift Will Have To Basically Time Travel To Attend Super Bowl In Vegas

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas

Nevada

Super Bowl

Taylor Swift

Tokyo

Travis Kelce

A Boeing 737-800 in Japan carrying 59 passengers and six crew members was forced to turn back mid-flight after a crack developed in the cockpit window. 
The plane, with Japan’s All Nippon Airway, was headed to Toyama airport but was forced to return to Sapporo-New Chitose airport after the crack was discovered. The crack was found in the most outward of four cockpit windows, Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/japan-ana-boeing-737-800-flight-turns-back-due-cockpit-window-crack-2024-01-13/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. The accident comes as airlines face increased scrutiny over safety concerns amid an uptick in crashes and airplane malfunctions. 
&#8220;The crack was not something that affected the flight&#8217;s control or pressurization,&#8221; an airline spokesperson said. 
Aviation expert John Strickland said the crack may have been caused by the plane hitting a bird or also could have been a stress fracture.
&#8220;These things do sometimes happen, something may have struck the window, for example a bird, a large hailstone, it&#8217;s not unheard of,” he <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-67968526" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the BBC. &#8220;You might occasionally get a stress fracture too, from wear and tear.”
The incident comes less than two weeks after a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/plane-carrying-379-people-catches-on-fire-after-runway-crash-in-tokyo?ref=mc.news" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fiery plane crash in Japan</a> and amid widespread airplane safety concerns in the United States. In Japan, a passenger plane carrying nearly 400 people burst into flames after a suspected collision with a Japanese Coast Guard plane in Tokyo. 
Remarkably, all 379 passengers and crew onboard the passenger plane were able to evacuate safely as the plane burned, but five of the six passengers onboard the Coast Guard plane died as a result of the crash, <a href="https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/backstories/2941/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to local media.
In the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration is investigating Boeing after a chunk of an Alaska Airlines plane was blown out mid flight causing an emergency depressurizing situation. The plane, a Boeing 737 Max 9 <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/im-going-to-die-alaska-airlines-makes-emergency-landing-after-chunk-of-plane-blown-out-on-nightmare-flight" target="_blank" rel="noopener">carrying</a> more than 170 passengers, had to make an emergency landing in Oregon. 
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“This incident should have never happened, and it cannot happen again,” the FAA <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/11/business/faa-boeing-737-boeing-max-investigation.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. 
As a result, the FAA has temporarily grounded all Boeing 737 Max 9 planes and called for more stringent safety inspections. Boeing has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/11/business/faa-boeing-737-boeing-max-investigation.html">said</a> it will fully comply with the FAA’s investigation and will cooperate “transparently.”
“Safety is our top priority and we deeply regret the impact this event has had on our customers and their passengers,” Boeing spokeswoman Jessica Kowal said in a statement. “We agree with and fully support the FAA’s decision to require immediate inspections of 737-9 airplanes with the same configuration as the affected airplane.”

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