In an interview with The Asahi Shimbun in December, Furukawa said the university president, Akitoshi Yoshida, refused to accept COVID-19 patients from Yoshida Hospital, also in Asahikawa city ...

ASAHIKAWA, Hokkaido--Asahikawa Mayor Hirosuke ... whether her death was caused by the bullying. It also found the city’s board of education broke the law in the way it handled the matter.

A series of cluster infections in the northern Japanese city of Asahikawa has stretched the medical system there to breaking point. Members of the Self-Defense Forces have been sent to help.

This was the scene at Kaguraoka Park in Asahikawa City, Hokkaido, in November 2022.

Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan - December 11, 2024 Penguins walk along a snow-covered path at Asahiyama Zoo in Asahikawa on the northernmost Japanese main island of Hokkaido on Dec. 11, 2024.