East Sea vs Sea of Japan, Waterway Stirs Passion in South Korea

Waterway Stirs Passion in S. Korea
VOA - Steve Herman | Seoul
August 12, 2011

Passions have flared again in South Korea over the naming of the body of the water separating the Korean peninsula and Japan. But South Korean anger regarding the controversy is now being directed not only at Japan, but also at the United States.

US caught in middle of controversary

The United States is finding itself under criticism from officials and the news media here for restating a long-standing policy of referring to the waters between Japan and the Koreas as the Sea of Japan.

South Korean media say Seoul’s strong concern was among the matters raised this week in Washington when the visiting presidential national security adviser met with White House and State Department counterparts in the U.S. government.

The issue reignited in South Korea when U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner, on Monday, answered a question about why the American government does not also refer to the waters as the “East Sea.” “The U.S uses names decided by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. And the U.S. so-called BGN standard name for that body of water is the Sea of Japan,” he stated.

Newspaper editorials throughout the week criticized the United States for siding with the Japanese, the former colonial occupier of Korea.

One newspaper, referencing the delicate trilateral relationship among Washington, Seoul and Tokyo, said America’s spurning of Korean passions about this matter has made most Koreans feel like lousy losers in a love triangle.

South Korea’s foreign minister, Kim Sung-hwan, has been criticized by some politicians in the governing party for not pushing the matter forcefully enough.

On Friday, Kim said he is aware of that criticism. He emphasized it is an important issue in order to clear away the remnants of Japanese rule, which ended in August, 1945.

Kim points out that common usage of the Sea of Japan only began in the 1920’s, when a colonized Korea did not have sovereignty.

East Sea vs Sea of Japan

South Korea ultimately wants the name East Sea to be exclusively used, he explains. But Seoul recognizes that the Sea of Japan moniker is being widely used and would accept, for now, both names being used concurrently.

The United States, however, has a single-name policy for geographical entities. The United Nations encourages dual names when such matters are in dispute.

For some on the Korean peninsula, recognizing the waters as the East Sea would not go far enough. They point to centuries-old documents, include old Japanese maps, that refer to it as the Sea of Korea.

The naming matter will be on the table at next April’s meeting of the 80-nation International Hydrographic Organization.

Earthquake Hits Northeastern Japan Again

Earthquake Jolts Northeastern Japan
Sunday, July 24th, 2011 - VOA

A 6.2-magnitude earthquake has jolted northeastern Japan in the same region that was devastated by a massive earthquake and tsunami in March.

The U.S. Geological Survey reports that the earthquake hit Fukushima prefecture early Monday. It says the epicenter was at a depth of about 35 kilometers in the Pacific Ocean near the coast of Japan's Honshu island, 280 kilometers northeast of Tokyo.

A magnitude-6.4 quake struck the same area on Saturday. There were no reports of injuries or damage from either quake, and no tsunami warnings were issued.

More than 20,000 people were killed or left missing after the March 11 twin disaster in the region. Another 80,000 have been forced to evacuate their homes because of the radiation threat from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

An opinion poll Sunday showed that 70 percent of the Japanese public supports Prime Minister Naoto Kan's policy to make the country nuclear free in the future. The survey, by the Kyodo news agency, also showed that a vast majority — 67 percent — think the prime minister should leave office by the end of August.

He is under intense pressure to quit from political adversaries who accuse him of an inadequate response to the nuclear crisis caused by the natural disasters.


Japan Earthquake Article from VOA

Japan to Shut Down Fukushima Reactors By Year's End

Japan Promises to Shut Down Fukushima Reactors By Year's End

VOA - Steve Herman | Seoul May 16, 2011

Japan says it will shut down reactors at the Fukushima-1 power plant by the end of the year. The announcement comes despite revelations that a natural disaster in March damaged the nuclear facility worse than earlier believed.

Serious troubles continue to beleaguer the operators of the Japanese nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture that was crippled by an earthquake and tsunami. But Prime Minister Naoto Kan told parliament Monday the damaged reactors will be shut down sometime this year.

Powerful Earthquake Rattles Japan

Strong Earthquake Rattles Japan; Tsunami Warning Canceled
VOA - Martyn Williams | Tokyo April 07, 2011

A powerful 7.1 magnitude aftershock has rocked a large portion of eastern Japan, less than four weeks after an even stronger quake left thousands of people dead and caused a nuclear power disaster, but, this quake seems to have done limited damage.

The earthquake struck at 11:32 on Thursday evening and was centered under the Pacific Ocean off Japan's eastern coast in the same general area as last month's earthquake.

A warning of tsunami waves up to one meter in height was quickly issued, but withdrawn just over an hour later. The quake does not appear to have generated any high waves.

Video of 7.1 aftershock in Japan


Last month's magnitude 9.0 quake and the tsunami it generated killed more than 12,000 people and left more than 14,000 missing. More than 100,000 people are still living in evacuation shelters.

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and other senior government ministers rushed to an emergency cabinet meeting after Thursday's quake.

A major concern was further damage to the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and other nuclear power stations in the area.

Speaking two hours after the earthquake, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Tetsuro Fukuyama said there had been no rise in radiation at monitoring posts near the three nuclear plants closest to the epicenter.

Fukuyama says two of three external power connections to Onagawa nuclear plant are down, but the plant is fine with the remaining connection. Onagawa's reactors were not operating when the quake occured.

The earthquake last month crippled the Fukushima plant, leading to leaks of radioactive steam and water. The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company continues to struggle to prevent a meltdown of the nuclear fuel in the reactors. After Thursday's quake, TEPCO officials said there were no signs of new damage to the Fukushima plant.

NHK television reported a few light injuries stemming from the quake. The government says damage to the power grid had blacked out large parts of northern Japan.

The quake was felt far down the coast, and Tokyo, 300 kilometers from the epicenter, experienced strong shaking that lasted for at least a minute.




Strong Earthquake Rattles Japan; Tsunami Warning Canceled

Article from VOA

Japan - Engineers Prepare Damaged Reactors for Electrical Power

Japanese Engineers Prepare Damaged Reactors for Electrical Power
VOA - Sunday, March 20th, 2011

Japanese media reports say engineers at a stricken nuclear plant were preparing late Sunday to send electrical power into two nuclear reactors heavily damaged by a massive earthquake and a tsunami, as the toll of missing and dead from the twin disasters passed 20,000.

Japanese television said Tokyo Electric Power Company workers were inspecting equipment in reactors number 1 and 2 at the Fukushima-Daiichi power plant, to make sure components were in working order. The report said engineers wanted to route electricity to the crippled plant's central control room by late Sunday, in a race to cool dangerously overheated spent fuel rods. TEPCO said it can begin collecting data on conditions in the reactors once power is restored.

The company also said pressure in reactors 3 and 4 showed some signs of stabilizing late Sunday. Additionally, authorities said the number 5 and 6 units — the least problematic of the six reactors — were safely under control after newly-restored backup power sources activated water pumps that cooled storage pool temperatures below 100 degrees Celsius.

Meanwhile, the government says Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan will tour an area 20 kilometers from the plant on Monday. That announcement came hours after Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the entire facility north of Tokyo will eventually be shut down because it had sustained too much damage to repair.

Japanese police said the tally of confirmed dead and missing from the March 11 catastrophes climbed to just under 21,000 by Sunday evening. Police said that estimate includes forecasts for nearly 15,000 fatalities in Miyagi prefecture, one of four northeastern jurisdictions that bore the brunt of the huge tsunami.

In a bit of good news Sunday, rescue workers pulled an 80-year-old woman and her 16-year-old grandson from a flooded house in the hard-hit city of Ishinomaki. The pair were evacuated by helicopter and are being treated in a hospital.

In another development, the Japanese government says elevated radiation levels have been detected in milk and spinach in Fukushima prefecture and in a shipment of fava beans shipped to Taiwan.

However, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the tested food does not pose an immediate health risk. He said the government will decide Monday whether to ban sales and export of food products from the area.

Government health officials said Saturday that radioactive iodine was found in drinking water from Fukushima prefecture last week, at levels above government safety limits. Kyodo news, citing Japan's Health Ministry, says the iodine levels then fell. There was no explanation in the report as to why the information was not released sooner. The International Atomic Energy Agency says radioactive iodine can pose a short-term health risk if ingested, particularly for children.

The government also said trace amounts of radioactive substances have been detected in tap water in Tokyo and other areas, but at levels that are not dangerous to human health.

The risk of radiation poisoning has already forced the evacuation of more than 200,000 people who lived within 20 kilometers of the reactors. Many are in makeshift shelters, with inadequate food, water and other supplies, in frigid winter weather.

Japan raised the severity rating of the disaster from 4 to 5 on the 7-point international nuclear event scale. Level 5 signals an accident with wider consequences, including some release of radioactive material, with a high probability of significant public exposure.


Japanese Engineers Prepare Damaged Reactors for Electrical Power
Article from VOA

Japan Nuclear Crisis

Confusion, Anxiety Abound Near Fukushima

VOA correspondent ponders the situation in Japan

VOA - Steve Herman | Koriyama, Japan March 19, 2011

 

The following is an account based on reports and experiences of VOA correspondent Steve Herman during his time covering the nuclear crisis in Japan.

KORIYAMA, JAPAN _ Confusion and anxiety abound in the communities closest to the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant. But even experts, in Tokyo and other world capitals, attempting to keep track of the situation at the crippled plant, say the information from the Japanese government and the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has been sometimes contradictory, opaque and obtuse.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan, speaking during a nationally broadcast news conference Friday evening, assured Japanese all information is being shared with them about a situation he acknowledged is "very grave." His only reassuring words, without providing specifics, were that "quite soon" the whole situation would be under control.

Mainstream domestic media, including on-set announcers on the quasi-official NHK, have criticized the widening credibility gap between officials and the public. However, the Japanese media themselves appear to have been overly restrained in their reporting, perhaps to avoid panic and a patina of sensationalism, by giving little attention to particular nuggets of data, such as the official twice-a-day radiation readings for cities and towns here in Fukushima Prefecture.

While these readings are not of a level to spark immediate health concerns (such as the figures showing 20 microsieverts per hour at Iitate village on Friday) they are significant. They demonstrate that radiation is drifting from the plant in measurable quantities to the northwest (Fukushima City also has been recording elevated readings).

By comparison, TEPCO says some of the workers at Fukushima-1 have already been exposed to more than 100 millisieverts (note that milli is 1000 times micro.)

Some of the international media, on the other hand, have hyped the overall story without providing much context. That has sparked near panic among those with access to these foreign language reports. Even in Tokyo there are numerous foreigners who have concluded it is prudent to quickly leave Japan.

The U.S. State Department, in its latest travel warning issued late Saturday in Washington "strongly urges U.S. citizens to defer travel to Japan at this time and those in Japan should consider departing."

While Japanese officials say there is no reason to flee the country because of the crippled nuclear plant, what is starkly evident north from Tokyo, based on information exchanged among various correspondents this week, is store shelves have emptied and most businesses, including restaurants, are closed.

In Koriyama on Saturday morning long lines snaked for more than a kilometer outside several gasoline stands where drivers were told they can only purchase a limited amount of fuel, usually 10 liters.

If there is re-criticality of exposed fuel rods, or, less likely, a reactor core meltdown, news of these events would only exacerbate panic buying and hoarding. It will also make truck drivers reluctant to pass through Fukushima to re-supply this prefecture, as well as Miyagi and Iwate, the two hardest hit by the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and ensuing tsunami.

That will mean extended misery for hundreds of thousands of survivors living in paralyzed communities damaged by the natural disaster or who have moved to makeshift shelters.

So what is the situation at the nuclear power complex? It is not one that can be summarized in a paragraph.

Compared to the Three Mile Island 1979 partial core meltdown incident in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, this is evidently worse. But nearly all experts quoted by domestic and foreign media, in recent days, explain that the plant design and current circumstances at Fukushima mean we should not see a catastrophic meltdown on par with that in 1986 at Chernobyl, history's worst power plant accident.

Fukushima-1 is 40 years old, although some of its six reactors are newer. During the March 11 quake, all the reactors did what they were designed to do in such a large seismic event - safely shut down. What failed in the entire design was adequate property protection to prevent a huge tsunami from destroying the power lines feeding the system to keep the fuel rods cooled.

Here is a more specific breakdown for each of the reactors at Fukushima-1 based on information from TEPCO, the Japan Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, the Kyodo wire service and other sources, as noted:

-- Reactor No. 1 - Operations suspended after the quake, suffered a cooling failure, partial melting of core, vented vapor, building housing reactor damaged March 12 by apparent hydrogen explosion and the roof was blown off. Seawater was pumped in meaning the reactor can never again be used.

-- Reactor No. 2 - Operations suspended after the quake, cooling failure, seawater was pumped in (destroying the reactor), the fuel rods were fully exposed temporarily, vapor was vented and the building housing the reactor was damaged March 14 by blast at reactor No. 3. A blast was heard near the suppression pool of the containment vessel on March 15, raising fears that the containment vessel housing the reactor fuel has been cracked. Since the outer building has not blown off, water cannot be sprayed in from the outside. Reconnection of electrical power to the reactor to re-start the cooling process was expected Saturday.

-- Reactor No. 3 - This reactor, fueled by MOX (containing highly toxic plutonium) is getting the primary attention, at present. Its operation was suspended after the quake. But it also suffered a cooling failure, partial melting of the core is feared, vapor vented and seawater was initially pumped in, meaning that as is the case with Reactors 1 and 2 it will never be used again to produce electricity. Additionally the building housing the reactor was damaged March 14 by an apparent hydrogen explosion, high levels of radiation were recorded in its proximity the following day and a plume of smoke was observed March 16, presumably from the spent-fuel storage pool. Seawater was dumped over the pool by helicopters on March 17 but much of it appeared to be dispersed by the wind. On-site water spraying has been under way since Thursday. TEPCO says it hopes to have power restored for cooling to the reactor late Sunday.

-- Reactor No. 4 - This is the second most serious situation, at present. The reactor was under maintenance when the quake struck and its fresh fuel rods (much more dangerous than the spent rods in other reactor buildings) were all safely submerged at the time to keep them cool. However, the temperature in the storage pool reached 84 C on March 14. There was a fire the following day, possibly caused by a hydrogen explosion at the pool. A fire was observed Wednesday at the building housing the reactor. A renewed nuclear chain reaction was feared after the pool water level dropped. Only the skeleton of the building survived the fire. TEPCO says it hopes to have power restored for cooling to the reactor late Sunday. But The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times report the floor or sides of the spent fuel pool appear to be damaged, which would make it very challenging to refill the pool. The New York Times report, quoting an unnamed engineer, said that the stainless steel lining of the pool and the concrete base possibly were damaged by the quake. The pool's steel gates could also be leaking water if they no longer can close tightly.

-- Reactors No. 5, 6 - They were under maintenance when the quake struck. Water temperatures in the spent-fuel storage pools increased to about 64 C on Thursday. Plant operators said on Saturday that engineers were able to restart a diesel pump to cool reactor No. 5.

The top Japanese government spokesman on Thursday, before military helicopters made a futile attempt to cool the number 3 and 4 reactors with water drops and the initial spraying of water commenced from fire trucks, termed it the "last ditch effort." On Friday and Saturday, similar relays of trucks with powerful hoses targeting the number 3 reactor have been under way.

So far, no Japanese official is declaring these efforts a success. Because the emergency workers on the site can only remain at the plant for brief periods and cannot get too close to the damaged reactors and spent fuel ponds it is impossible to ascertain the full extent of the damage and the level of the pools after three days of water spraying.

The best clues come from radiation monitoring, both on and off site. Those are the numbers to watch closely and which the domestic and international media should be quickly reporting while attempting to provide scientific context for those numbers.

_____________

VOA's Northeast Asia Bureau Chief Steve Herman, spent the last week in Fukushima Prefecture. His experience with nuclear-related issues began in the late 1970s as a teenaged journalist at a Las Vegas radio station, reporting on activities at the Nevada Test Site and covering a highly-technical federal court trial stemming from the accidental release of radiation into the atmosphere from the U.S. government's 1970 Baneberry nuclear test.

 

 

 

Confusion, Anxiety Abound Near Fukushima

Article from VOA

Japan's Nuclear Crisis Batters Global Nuclear Industry

Japan's Crisis Batters Global Nuclear Industry
VOA March 15, 2011

U.S. President Barack Obama says he believes nuclear power is an important source of energy in the United States.

Mr. Obama said in a television interview Tuesday that nuclear plants are designed to withstand certain levels of natural disasters, including earthquakes and floods. But he acknowledged that no energy facility is completely foolproof. He said it is important to work on improving the safety of nuclear technologies.

VOA's Ira Mellman speaks with Scott Burnell, a spokesman for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, about the disaster in Japan.

A spokesman for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Scott Burnell, told VOA Tuesday that any request to build a nuclear power plant in the United States has to take into account the possibility of severe events at any given site, like heavy snow, flooding, earthquakes and tsunamis.

Burnell said the United States will look into all the information gathered form the nuclear crisis in Japan to see what can be learned from it.

The problems at Japan's quake-stricken nuclear power plant is hurting the global nuclear industry, with stock prices falling for companies that build or operate nuclear power plants. There also has been a decline in the price of uranium fuel.

Investor concern follows the temporary closure of some nuclear power plants in Germany, and plans by many nations to closely review safety issues related to earthquakes and cooling systems that are at the heart of the problems in Japan.

Nuclear power provides almost one-fifth of the world's electricity, from 442 nuclear power plants. The United States has 104 nuclear power plants, more than any other nation. But France is more dependent on nuclear energy than most nations, getting about three-quarters of its electricity from nuclear sources.

Another 65 nuclear power plants are under construction, and hundreds more are in some stage of planning.

About one-third of those new plants are in China, which needs more electricity to power its strong economic growth. India also has about a half-dozen plants under construction.



Japan's Crisis Batters Global Nuclear Industry
Article from VOA

Nuclear Crisis Deepens in Japan with Fire, Radiation Leaks

Japan's Nuclear Crisis Deepens With Fire, Radiation Leaks
VOA - March 16, 2011

The crisis at Japan's earthquake-stricken nuclear plant is deepening, with radiation emissions rising Wednesday to levels that forced authorities to temporarily evacuate the last technicians from the facility.

National television showed pictures of helicopters being prepared to drop water onto the Fukushima power plant's damaged number 3 reactor, in a desperate attempt to lower temperatures and prevent the nuclear fuel rods inside from melting down.

But NHK Television said the military aborted the plan after another helicopter flew over the plant to monitor radiation readings. Chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano said new preparations were under way late Wednesday to begin injecting water into the crippled reactor from the ground.

New fire erupts
Japanese awoke Wednesday to televised photos of a new fire at Fukushima's number 4 reactor, where a two-hour blaze on Tuesday released a plume of radiation that was detected as far away as Tokyo, 240 kilometers to the south. The new fire died down after a half-hour, and was soon replaced by clouds of white smoke pouring out of the number 3 unit.

At a press conference in Tokyo, Edano said the smoke was probably steam escaping from a rupture in the containment chamber housing the unit's nuclear core. Officials announced a similar rupture in the chamber of the number 2 unit a day earlier.

Danger forces evacuation
Edano said the skeleton crew of about 50 workers still struggling to pump seawater onto the fuel rods at all six of the plant's reactors had been removed from the plant for their safety, but that radiation levels appeared to be dropping by midday. He said later that monitoring showed radiation levels within 30 kilometers of the plant were not so high as to pose a threat to human health.

Even when they are not in use, the nuclear fuel rods remain very hot for weeks or months. Unless they are kept cool with a steady supply of water, their outer casings can melt away releasing radiation into the air.

At units 1, 2 and 3, the rods are inside thick concrete containment chambers designed to hold in any radiation, even if the rods melt down. But officials say the chambers surrounding units 2 and 3 have now been cracked, allowing radiation to escape.

Explosions have destroyed the outer buildings at all three of the units, caused when technicians vented steam from the containment chambers to ease a dangerous buildup of pressure. Seventy percent of the fuel rods at the number 1 reactor and 33 percent at the number 2 reactor are believed to have already been damaged or melted.

At units 4, 5 and 6, the rods were removed for maintenance before last week's earthquake and placed in cooling ponds outside the containment chambers. With the plant's pumping systems damaged by the earthquake and tsunami, those rods are also in danger of becoming exposed.

Worry spreads across Japan
The drama has caused alarm across a country already traumatized by the largest earthquake ever recorded in Japan.

The governor of Fukushima prefecture, Yuhei Sato, said at a news conference that panic caused by inaccurate reporting of the nuclear crisis is preventing relief supplies from reaching the evacuees and victims of the earthquake. He urged nuclear power company officials to give out more accurate information and appealed to all Japanese to extend help to those who have been evacuated.

In Tokyo, residents have been buying up facemasks and protective gear while some foreign governments have warned their nationals to leave the capital.

Edano said Japan is preparing to ask the United States for technical assistance and may reach out to other countries. The International Atomic Energy Agency is also preparing to dispatch a team of experts.



Japan's Nuclear Crisis Deepens With Fire, Radiation Leaks
Article from VOA

Japan Tsunami - Horrible Aftermath Video

Video of Tsunami Worst-Hit Japan Areas
Japan apocalyptic scenes in tsunami worst-hit areas.




Rikuzentakata, a port city in Japan of over 20,000 people in Iwate Prefecture. Local media has estimated that almost three-quarters of the city was swept away by the tsunami, which surged over a 26 foot high dike. Video footage also shows searching wreckage for survivors in the town of Iwanuma, Japan in Miyagi prefecture.

Japan's Tsunami - Video of amazing escape

Watch an amazing escape from Japan's tsunami.
This amateur video from Japan shows people narrowly surviving rising waters caused by the tsunami.

Sendai, Japan Struggles to Hang On After Quake, Tsunami

Sendai Struggles to Hang On After Quake, Tsunami

VOA - Steve Herman | Sendai, Japan March 14, 2011

Photo: VOA - S.L. Herman - A Sendai resident carries paper goods on a debris-filled street, March 14, 2011

As search and rescue efforts continue in northeastern Japan, following the country's worst natural disaster, millions of survivors there are trying to get on with life.

Many of are facing scarcities of daily necessities and spending much of their waking hours waiting in lines.  It is a situation younger Japanese have never faced and only have heard about from their parents and grandparents who survived adversity during and after World War II.

Along the estimated 600 kilometers of coastline devastated by tsunami, the city of Sendai is the most prominent place. Its sea port and airport have been destroyed and no trains are running through any of its rail stations. They all were critical links for the city's infrastructure.

Related video report by Henry Ridgewell

The killer waves reached three kilometers inland here, leveling buildings and trees.

Aid Sent and Offered to Japan US: 8 warships off coast, 50 rescue workers, US AID sending 72 personnel and equipment Australia: sends dogs, search, rescue teams Afghanistan: provice of Kandahar offers $50,000 in aid Britain, France, Germany offer personnel, equipment, emergency aid Russia: increases energy supplies to Japan China, South Korea, India offer aid Los Angeles Dodgers and pop star Lady Gaga raise money for relief efforts

Half of the city's one-million people have no electricity in their homes. Hundreds of thousands of residences and businesses are also without water.

Although downtown Sendai suffered some quake damage, it still essentially looks like a modern Japanese city, protected by its relative elevation. A limited amount of commerce continues, in an attempt to supply the stunned population with basic necessities.

Keiko Tanaka, six months pregnant, walks with her mother along a street in central Sendai, carrying a big box loaded with spinach, lettuce and onions. They had waited in line at a green grocer for 30 minutes and said the price of vegetables has doubled since Friday.

Tanaka says they are trying to stock up while they can.

Tanaka says although the interior of her home is a mess because of the quake, she feels lucky to live in this part of the city that still has electricity and running water. But her family is worried how long that will last, especially with scheduled rolling blackouts beginning across the country and official predictions of a magnitude seven aftershock coming any day.

Vegetable shoppers are not the only ones waiting in line. Hundreds of people can be seen patiently waiting to get into the very few clothing, hardware and convenience stores still open.

For drivers, finding an open gasoline station has become nearly impossible. The wait to fuel up can extend for hours.

Nearly all restaurants are shuttered. But in central Sendai, a branch of the Nakau beef bowl restaurant chain has stayed open. It is offering only one menu item - curry wheat-flour noodle soup. Every meal includes a cup of free hot water.

Manager Akihiko Yamaguchi says business has been predictably brisk since the earthquake struck, knocking out most competitors.

Yamaguchi says they have decided to remain open as long as possible to give the people of Sendai encouragement to try to carry on.

Residents, despite their weariness, express confidence Sendai will again thrive, noting the city has faced adversity before during its 400-year history.

Twenty percent of Sendai was destroyed by American bombers during World War II.  It managed to rebuild, becoming the economic hub for this region of Japan.

 

Sendai Struggles to Hang On After Quake, Tsunami

Article and video from VOA

Help - Japan Earthquake, Tsunami - Donate

Donate and Help the People of Japan

Support Yahoo's Campaign to help Japan recover from the devastating tsunami and earthquake.

Donate to Japan earthquake and tsunami relief efforts

AMERICAN RED CROSS: Emergency Operation Centers are opened in the affected areas and staffed by the chapters. This disaster is on a scale larger than the Japanese Red Cross can typically manage. Donations to the American Red Cross can be allocated for the International Disaster Relief Fund, which then deploys to the region to help. Donate here.

GLOBALGIVING: Established a fund to disburse donations to organizations providing relief and emergency services to victims of the earthquake and tsunami. Donate here.

SAVE THE CHILDREN: Mobilizing to provide immediate humanitarian relief in the shape of emergency health care and provision of non-food items and shelter. Donate here.

SALVATION ARMY: The Salvation Army has been in Japan since 1895 and is currently providing emergency assistance to those in need. Donate here.

AMERICARES: Emergency team is on full alert, mobilizing resources and dispatching an emergency response manager to the region. Donate here.

CONVOY OF HOPE: Disaster Response team established connection with in-country partners who have been impacted by the damage and are identifying the needs and areas where Convoy of Hope may be of the greatest assistance. Donate here.

INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CORPS: Putting together relief teams, as well as supplies, and are in contact with partners in Japan and other affected countries to assess needs and coordinate our activities. Donate here.

SHELTER BOX: The first team is mobilizing to head to Japan and begin the response effort. Donate here.

Japan Earthquake and Tsunami: How to help

Information on how to donate and help Japan sourced from the below link: Click to read the full article at Yahoo.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_newsroom/20110311/wl_yblog_newsroom/japan-earthquake-and-tsunami-how-to-help


Japanese Struggling to Find Food and Water in Disaster Area
VOA - Sean Maroney March 12, 2011

Officials with Japan's nuclear safety agency said early Sunday morning there is an emergency at another nuclear reactor at a quake-hit power plant. The agency says the cooling system at the number three reactor at the Fukushima nuclear power plant is offline and could possibly explode, following Saturday's blast at the plant's number one reactor.

Reports quoting government officials say up to 160 people may have been exposed to radiation. Meanwhile, residents in the country's northeast are struggling to find food and clean water.

Aftershocks continued to hit northeastern Japan Sunday, several days after a 8.9-magnitude earthquake and resulting 10-meter-high tsunami devastated the coastline.

VOA Correspondent Steve Herman is near the power plant. He says locals are complaining that the authorities are not giving them accurate information about the situation fast enough. "One of the things the authorities are trying to do is not have any panic spreading among people, but information about what is happening is coming out of Tokyo not Fukushima," he said.

Herman says authorities still have not determined how much damage the country's coastline communities have suffered. "Japan just has countless little farming communities and fishing communities. And it is these fishing communities that have really taken the horrible hit up and down the northeastern Pacific coast. There is obviously just hundreds, if not thousands, of these types of towns and villages that have been totally or partly destroyed," he said.

The final death toll could range from the thousands to tens of thousands, depending on how many of these communities are gone.

VOA reporters managed to travel to Fukushima by plane, but many airports, roads and railways remain flooded or damaged throughout Japan.

Herman says that because of this, people are scrambling to find basic necessities, even in inland areas such as Fukushima. "People are just trying to find clean water. Food supplies are running out. In the convenience stores, there are no rice balls left. There is no bottled water left. We are facing a really serious situation in the days ahead for these people that are living in areas that were only moderately damaged," he said.

Overall, analysts say Japan could have fared much worse in the disaster.

Tokyo has invested billions of dollars into making the country as earthquake-proof as possible. Architects specially design high-rise buildings to flex in a quake. Tsunami warning signs and large seawalls line the Japanese coast. Even schoolchildren practice drills on what to do during an earthquake.

However in the end, analysts say that no amount of human preparedness is foolproof against the power of nature.




Japanese Struggling to Find Food and Water in Disaster Area
Japan earthquake, tsunami article from VOA

Earthquake, Tsunami Hit Japan - At Least 200 Dead

At Least 200 Dead after Earthquake, Tsunami Hit Japan
VOA - Martyn Williams | Tokyo March 11, 2011


At least 200 people have been killed in a massive earthquake in Japan that also triggered a devastating tsunami. The quake - the most powerful to hit Japan in at least 100 years - caused massive damage and many people are missing and feared dead.

Video images from coastal areas struck by the tsunami showed widespread inundation as mud waves carried tons of debris over farmland in Sendai, the capital of Miyagi prefecture. Large-scale damage could be seen in various locations along the coast. In Chiba prefecture, a massive oil refinery fire has broken out.

In Tokyo, hundreds of kilometers away, buildings shook violently and items fell from shelves. The roof of at least one building collapsed.

Piere Manea, a student in Tokyo, ran out of his university dormitory when the quake struck.

"We were in the university building and it was quite strong, so after a few seconds we decided to go down. We were on the fifth floor and it was really strong," Manea said.

The powerful quake struck Friday about 125 kilometers off Japan's eastern coast, at a depth of 10 kilometers.

Addressing the nation, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the government would do anything it can to minimize the effects of the disaster.

Kan says he has created an office to deal with the disaster and maintain safety. He says the government will work to reduce the amount of damage to the smallest amount possible.

More than four million homes remain without power. Nuclear power stations, of which there are three in the region, either continued operating or were automatically shut down. Tokyo Electric Power said no radiation leaks were immediately detected.

The quake disrupted transportation across a large part of Japan. Trains automatically stopped, expressways were closed and flights halted.

Japan Rail has suspended all train services in the Tokyo region for the remainder of Friday. Hundreds of thousands of people are stranded in the city or have faced a long walk home.


Video clip: Japan earthquake




At Least 200 Dead after Earthquake, Tsunami Hit Japan
Article from VOA

Will Japan Halt Antarctic Whale Hunt?

Australia Lacks Confirmation Japan Will Halt Antarctic Whale Hunt

Phil Mercer | Sydney February 17, 2011 - VOA

Australian officials say they have received no formal word that Japan plans to call off its annual whale hunt in the Southern Ocean. Japan says it is suspending the controversial hunt because of interference from environmentalists. However, Japan’s fisheries agency says its whaling operations had been suspended because of safety concerns.

According to Australia’s Environment Ministry, it is not clear if the hunt will resume or if the Japanese fleet will head home soon.

What is apparent is that this year’s hunt has not gone smoothly. Although precise figures are not available, it is thought the Japanese have caught fewer than 100 whales out of a target of more than 900.

Boats operated by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a U.S. activist group, have tailed and harassed the whaling fleet. Anti-whaling activists say their strategy of placing vessels in the way of Japanese factory ships has hampered the hunt.

Sea Shepherd spokesman Peter Hammarstedt says their persistence has paid off.

"I think it's a combination of things that have led to victory down here in the southern oceans," Hammarstedt noted, "one is our efforts to blockade them here and every day we prevent them from whaling we're costing them literally millions of dollars in lost profit. And we speak the only language that these poachers understand and that's the language of profit and loss."

The activists were quoted as saying they would "continue following the fleet until it was clear it had headed north to Japan."

Commercial whaling is banned worldwide, but Japan conducts what it calls "scientific" whaling. The Japanese fishing authorities say up to 900 whales are hunted a year, so they can be studied. The meat, however, is sold back in Japan.

Some Japanese consider whale meat a delicacy, and many object to the hunting ban as interference in the country’s traditional fishing activities.

Australia calls the practice an "unnecessary slaughter" and New Zealand has also voiced its objections.

Last year, Canberra filed suit against Japan at the International Court of Justice in a bid to stop the Antarctic hunt. A decision could be years away.

Australia Lacks Confirmation Japan Will Halt Antarctic Whale Hunt

Artile from VOA

Japanese Whaling - Early Halt Could Mark Permanent End to Hunt in Antarctic Waters

Early Halt to Japanese Whaling Could Mark Permanent End to Hunt in Antarctic Waters

Washington, DC - 02/16/2011 - Josh Reichert, managing director of the Pew Environment Group, issued the following statement today in response to the announcement of the withdrawal of the Japanese whaling fleet from the Southern Ocean one month before it normally heads home:

"The Pew Environment Group welcomes the early departure of the Japanese whaling fleet from the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. Commercial whaling does not belong in the 21st century. We hope that the removal of the fleet marks the end of all whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, and that Japan confirms this exit is permanent at the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission in July.”


Pew Environment Group
Information sourced: from http://www.pewsharks.org/
Contact: Dan Klotz, 347.307.2866


 

China Second Largest Economy - Japan Now Third

Japanese Data Confirms Slip From World’s Second Largest Economy
Monday, February 14th, 2011 - VOA

New Japanese data confirm what was already widely expected – that China has ended Japan's 42-year-reign as the world's second largest economy.

The figures released Monday in Tokyo showed Japan's gross domestic product for 2010 stood at about $5.5 trillion, compared to China's $5.9 trillion. Japan's economy had been second only to the United States since the late 1960s.

The data also showed that Japan's economy contracted in the last three months of the year, though not as severely as economists had forecast. Japan registered 3.9 percent economic growth for the full year, marking its first expansion in three years.

While Japan's economy is now smaller than China's in absolute terms, it remains about 10 times richer on a per-capita basis.


Japanese Data Confirms Slip From World’s Second Largest Economy
Article from VOA

Sumo Scandal, Japan’s Top Sumo Wrestler Apologizes

Japan’s Top Sumo Wrestler Apologizes Over Scandal
Thursday, February 10th, 2011 - VOA

The ancient Japanese sport of sumo wrestling is facing an uncertain future in the wake of a match-fixing scandal.

The sport's governing body has canceled the annual grand tournament scheduled for next month, after three wrestlers admitted to taking part in a scheme to arrange the outcomes of their matches in exchange for thousands of dollars.

Mongolian-born Hakuho, sumo's yokozuna, or grand champion, apologized for the scandal during a press conference Wednesday, bowing deeply as he spoke.

Police unveiled the scheme after examining text messages on mobile phones confiscated last year during an investigation into charges sumo wrestlers were illegally betting on baseball games through organized crime.


Japan’s Top Sumo Wrestler Apologizes Over Scandal
Article from VOA