GotJapan

Wednesday, April 19, 2006 at 13:46 EDT

NARITA — A former Imperial Japanese Army soldier who was recently confirmed to be alive in Ukraine after going missing in Russia’s Far East after World War II returned to Japan on Wednesday for the first time in 63 years. Ishinosuke Uwano, 83, and his son, Anatoly, 37, arrived at Narita International Airport aboard an Aeroflot plane and will stay in Japan through April 28.

Uwano will meet with his relatives in the town of Hirono, Iwate Prefecture, on Thursday, his first reunion since he was drafted in 1943.

TOKYO — A new type of digital terrestrial broadcasting started Saturday in Japan, enabling people to watch television programs in high-definition on their portable terminals like mobile phones and car navigation equipment. For the new service, popularly known as “One Seg,” broadcasters are using the remaining one of 13 segments of a channel. They use 12 segments for normal digital terrestrial broadcasting.

While watching a TV program on their terminals, One Seg users can also receive related textual information on the screens. The “data broadcasting” system allows viewers to browse the Internet for further information by simply clicking a menu. Users must pay data transmission fees for web browsing, but it is free to watch TV programs.