Giant panda cubs Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei turned two on Friday at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo. More than 700 people are preparing to run for election in Japan's so-called House of Representatives this coming autumn. Okinawa marked the 78th anniversary of the end of the Pacific War last week. Tokyo’s Narita Airport plans to raise surcharges for international passengers from September, and a think-tank in West Japan is planning to repurpose abandoned homes and rundown buildings by re-using their wood and shortcut the global strain on lumber. Matsuyama is the capital of Ehime prefecture on the main island of Shikoku. Notebook recently visited the city and rode the streetcar made famous by writer Soseki Natsume to visit the Dōgo Onsen public bathhouse. — Substack: notebookpodcast.substack.com Instagram: @notebook_pod Twitter: @notebook_pod — Get in touch: notebook.podcast@gmail.com Leave a message: speakpipe.com/notebook — Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices