First solo expedition to the North Pole set by Naomi Uemura

Naomi Uemura (1941 - 84), the Japanese explorer and mountaineer, became the first person to reach the North Pole in a solo trek across the Arctic sea-ice at 4:45 a.m. GMT on 1 May 1978. He had travelled 725 km (450 miles), setting out on 7 March from Cape Edward, Ellesmere Island in northern Canada.

About Naomi Uemura
Uemura Naomi, February 12, 1941 - February 13, 1984) was a Japanese adventurer. He was particularly well known for doing alone what had previously been achieved only with large teams. For example, he was the first person ever to reach the North Pole solo, the first ever to raft the Amazon solo, and the first ever to climb Mount McKinley solo.

While still in his 20s, Uemura had soloed Mount Kilimanjaro, Aconcagua, Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn. He walked the length of Japan. He was a member of the first Japanese expedition to climb Mount Everest.

Uemura was born in Hidaka, now part of Toyooka, Hyogo, Japan. Shy by nature, he began climbing in college in the hope that mountaineering would increase his self-confidence. He is remembered as not only a gifted climber and a driven adventurer, but also as a gentle, self-effacing man who cared about others. In the words of Jonathan Waterman,

Just as remarkable] as his solo achievements was his sincere modesty and unassuming nature. Another part of his greatness lay in his deep interest in everyone he met.

Like many great adventurers, Uemura gave frequent public lectures and wrote about his travels. His adventure books for children were popular in Japan.

Worlds Fastest Head Spinner Japan World Record

worlds fastest head-spinner, 18-year-old Aichi Ono from Japan, will attempt to break his own record on New Year's Evening. Aichi Ono currently holds the record for 101 head spins in one minute with Guiness World Records.

Watch our Amazing Videos of Aichi Ono



He will attempt to beat this with 130 spins in just one minute, at a celebration to open a massive street party in Hong Kong's Causeway Bay.

Check out this Live video clips of a headspin war between Ono and Boom:

worlds oldest man in Japan Celebrates its 112th Birthday

18th September - One hundred and twelve candles on the cake for the world's oldest man, who earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records back in June 2006. Tomoji Tanabe was born Sept. 18, 1895, and was named the world's oldest male after the death of a Puerto Rican man in January at the age of 115.

Tomoji Tanabe, a Japanese man born on 18 September 1895, has celebrated his record birthday at home in Miyakonojo, on the island of Kyushu, 900 kilometres south-west of the capital.

The town's Mayor paid his respects with a bunch of flowers and a cheque for 850 yen, equal to around 650 euro. And of course, the question about the secret of a long life.

Drink milk, steer clear of alcohol and eat healthily: lots of greens and a breakfast of rice soup, miso (fermented soya) and algae. Tanabe claims that he has never stopped keeping his diary, reading every daily paper of the day and going for a walk alone.

"He is in really good health", doctors assure us. "I want to live for ever, I do not want to die", he told journalists. It is a target that more and more Japanese are attaining: according to statistics, there are over 32,000 hundred-year-olds.

The women of the rising sun have held the world record in longevity for the past twenty-two years, with the men second only to Icelanders. However, with life-expectancies growing and birth-rates falling, Japan risks a demographic crisis, warn experts.