In the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that left 13,392 dead and 15,133 missing (most of whom are assumed to have been washed out to sea), and the subsequent nuclear crisis at Fukushima, the Japanese are making a long-overdue assessment of their society. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Wednesday that former […]
Japan ranked the severity of the Fukushima nuclear crisis a level 7, the highest possibly rank on an international scale, putting the situation at Fukushima on the same level as Chernobyl. But as FPA blogger Jeff Myher pointed out in his Energy blog, there is a quantitative difference between the ongoing crisis at Fukushima and […]
U.N. Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction Margareta Wahlstrom had nothing but praise for Japan’s preparedness for natural disasters, which apparently includes drills, building codes and risk assessment. Wahlstrom said Monday strong building codes, constant drills among the population and an effective warning system saved lives when the massive earthquake and tsunami hit Japan on […]
Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara was voted in for a fourth term in Sunday’s election. Voter turnout was 57.8 percent, and Ishihara got about 43 percent of the vote. The 78-year-old, far-right incumbent, who has been an independent governor of Tokyo since 1999, played up his role in handling the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake […]
The brokerage arm of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, SMBC Nikko Securities Inc, says an employee at a Tokyo branch swindled 16 individual investors out of a total of about 880 million yen (more than $10 million) over an 11-year period to earlier this year. The employee, who was in charge of sales for individual investors, […]
Many foreign nationals fleeing Japan are basing their decisions on pressure from family back home and the overly bleak scenarios projected by foreign media. State Foreign Secretary Chiaki Takahashi told a press conference Thursday that foreign coverage of the nuclear crisis in Fukushima has been sensationalist and in some cases incorrect. Takahashi asked foreign media […]
A 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck near Miyagi at 11:32 p.m. Thursday. The quake was the strongest aftershock of the 9.0-magnitude quake that hit the same region Mar. 11. Two people have died and 132 were injured as a result of the quake. One 79-year-old man died of shock and a woman in her 60s died when […]
The Japanese government defended Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s dumping of radioactive water into the ocean by claiming the action violates no international laws Tuesday. The government claims TEPCO’s dumping of 11,500 tons of low-level tainted water does not violate the 1986 Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident or the U.N. Convention on the […]
Radiation leaking into the ocean from the faulting Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant following the Mar. 11 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami has apparently been stopped. Tokyo Electric Power Co. spokesman Naoki Tsunoda announced the company’s injection of 1500 liters of sodium silicate into a seaside pit that has been leaking radioactive iodine into the ocean […]
Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara, a constant source of material for this blog, has asked citizens to avoid holding cherry blossom viewing parties, known as hanami, such as the one I mentioned in Sunday’s post. Amidst the rolling blackouts in Tokyo caused by power shortages resulting from the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant, […]
The Japanese Red Cross Society and the Central Community Chest of Japan have received 115.5 billion yen ($1.37 billion) in relief funds for the victims of the Mar. 11 earthquake and tsunami as of Saturday. While the central government has no say in how the funds are to be distributed, the government is drawing up […]
My small town of Seto in the suburbs of Okayama held a cherry blossom viewing festival today. In Japan’s collective society, even viewing the ethereal cherry blossoms is a community activity. For one week in the early spring, the scraggly trees littering the hillsides burst to life in bright tints before their blossoms fall away […]
Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto said Japan is trying to prevent excessive import restrictions on Japanese products abroad over fears of radiation contamination Friday. Fears of contamination arose following the crisis caused by the Mar. 11 earthquake and tsunami at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. Matsumoto said, “We will fully inform other countries of the […]
The Japanese government decided this week not to renew its eco-points subsidy program, which ended Thursday. The ostensible purpose of the program was to encourage consumers to upgrade to energy-saving appliances and electronics. Consumer demand fell sharply following the Mar. 11 earthquake and tsunami, which crippled the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, leading to power […]
South Korea protested the Japanese government’s approval of a textbook claiming the South Korean-administrated Liancourt Rocks Wednesday. South Korean foreign ministry spokesman Cho Byung Jae said his government remains firm in its response to Japan’s attempts to undermine South Korea’s territorial sovereignty over the islets. “We express a strong protest and demand an immediate retraction […]