April 30, Saturday

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まけるもんか、岩手！
Iwate will not be defeated!


source :　tohoku-umaimon
Grandaruma

. Earthquake Daruma


. WASHOKU .
Specialities from Iwate prefecture


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Gabi reports:

Since yesterday, the exodus for the Golden Week Holidays (GW) started, but much less traffic than usual. Hawaii is also suffering from lack of visitors.
Only travel to Tohoku was in full swing, as many use the holidays to visit relatives in the region and many volunteers were also streaming it.
The return peak will be around May 5.

A sudden warm spell here, the thermometer rose above 20 degrees centigrade !

The rainy season has officially started today in Okinawa ... usually it starts in June ! What is happening to climate?

. . . . .

. . . . . at 14:06
Earthquake M5.3, off the coast of Ibaraki

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Bulletins from NHK Online

source : www3.nhk.or.jp

FUKUSHIMA NEWS

Saturday, April 30, 2011 06:04
TEPCO president pledges swift, fair compensation
The president of Tokyo Electric Power Company has promised to quickly and fairly pay compensation for losses caused by the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
Masataka Shimizu testified Friday before a Lower House committee. He referred to the 1st guidelines released Thursday by a government panel. They named evacuees, farmers and fishermen subject to shipping restrictions as among those eligible for compensation.
Shimizu said his company will follow the guidelines and study how to calculate damages and pay them out.
He acknowledged the number of claimants will be vast. But he said TEPCO will act fairly and swiftly with the government's support, financial and otherwise.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan addressed the same Lower House committee on Friday. He said he will ensure that adequate relief reaches all the victims of the March 11th disaster, which he pointed out is the government's responsibility.


Saturday, April 30, 2011 06:08
Japan, China, S. Korea to share disaster info
The environment ministers of Japan, China, and South Korea have agreed to step up their sharing of information to minimize the environmental impact of disasters.
The 3 ministers met in Pusan, South, Korea, on Friday.


Saturday, April 30, 2011 06:09
Japan steps up efforts to prove its food safe
Imports of Japanese food are banned in many parts of the world because of concern about radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, so Japan is stepping up its efforts to prove that its food is safe.
Japan's foreign ministry says more than 50 countries and territories are not allowing imports of Japanese food and other products.
China has banned agricultural products from Tokyo and 11 prefectures including Fukushima and neighboring Ibaraki.
Hong Kong, the largest importer of Japanese farm and fishery products, is not allowing food imports from 5 prefectures.
Governments have kept import bans on Japanese food products that Japanese authorities have declared safe.
Japanese diplomats are stepping up their efforts to deal with the problem by giving governments accurate information on radiation and explaining Japanese screening measures.
They're also working with the Japan External Trade Organization to hold briefings for companies in Beijing and London.


Saturday, April 30, 2011 09:03
Edano: No compensation exemption for TEPCO
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano emphasized that Tokyo Electric Power Company cannot be exempt from paying compensation for the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
The country's Act on Compensation for Nuclear Damages would allow the responsibility for compensation to be dismissed if the accident is regarded as an exceptionally massive natural disaster. TEPCO has implied this act should be applied to what happened at Fukushima Daiichi.
But Chief Cabinet Secretary Edano says while the earthquake and tsunami were very powerful, Japan's Diet had warned the nuclear plant would face problems if hit by an enormous tsunami.
Edano points out TEPCO cannot be exempt from its responsibility because the company was not prepared for what had been flagged by the Diet, and therefore the damage is not unexpected.


Saturday, April 30, 2011 09:03
Safety agency seeks nuclear plant quake data
Japan's nuclear safety agency has asked all of the country's utilities to submit data on fault lines and other geological features beneath or close to their nuclear power plants by the end of May.
It made the request after the independent Nuclear Safety Commission ordered a reassessment of the quake-resistance of Japanese nuclear plants on Thursday.
12 utilities must submit data on safety assessments of their nuclear plants and facilities, including fault lines and other geological issues that were previously considered irrelevant to plant safety.
All the utilities conducted their own safety analyses after the government revised its quake-resistance guidelines 5 years ago.
The nuclear safety agency says the Magnitude-9 earthquake on March 11th has caused a dramatic shift in tectonic plates.
It says it's now become necessary to carry out a fresh round of detailed studies looking into which fault lines could pose a risk to nuclear plants.


Saturday, April 30, 2011 15:10
Kan comments on nuclear advisor's resignation
One of the nuclear advisors to Prime Minister Naoto Kan has resigned to protest what he called the government's impromptu handling of the nuclear crisis.
University of Tokyo Professor Toshiso Kosako 小佐古敏荘, who tendered his resignation on Friday, also said that the government has belittled the law.
Speaking at a Lower House committee meeting on Saturday, Kan said Professor Kosako resigned because of disagreements with other scientists.
Kan said the government responded to the nuclear accident based on advice from the Nuclear Safety Commission and has never taken ad hoc measures.
Kosako also criticized the education ministry for allowing students at primary schools in Fukushima Prefecture to perform outdoor activities if the level of radiation of the school ground does not exceed 20 millisieverts per year.
The nuclear scientist said it's very unlikely that even workers at nuclear reactors could be exposed to such a high level of radiation, and therefore he cannot agree on that figure as an upper limit for children.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters that the ministry's decision seeks to reduce exposure to radiation and that it does not mean the government will allow the limit of 20 millisieverts per year for children.


Saturday, April 30, 2011 16:51
Radiation exposure for 2 workers nears limit
Two workers at the crisis-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have been found to have been exposed to radiation levels close to legal yearly limit.
Late last month, the plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company measured the internal radiation exposure of the workers whose external exposure exceeded 100 millisieverts.
It says it found that the amount of internal and external radiation that 2 of its employees had been exposed to exceeded 200 millisieverts. The reading for one of the men reached 240.8 millisieverts.
The health ministry recently raised the legal radiation limit that workers can be exposed to in an emergency from 100 to 250 millisieverts.
On March 24th the 2 workers, without wearing proper protective gear, stood in highly radioactive water while working in the basement of the Number 3 reactor building.
The utility says it took about one month to measure their internal exposure levels.
TEPCO says workers are transferred out of the Fukushima plant once their external exposure reaches 150 millisieverts, and that 8 workers in total have been relocated.
The utility says it will manage the situation with utmost attention to make sure that the workers are never exposed to radiation levels above the legal limit.


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Saturday, April 30, 2011 06:04
Volunteers surge in disaster-hit region
Japan starts a week of national holidays on Friday. And that has caused the number of volunteers visiting its disaster zones in the northeast to surge.
A long line formed before 8AM outside a registered volunteer center at a university in Ishinomaki City, located in Miyagi Prefecture. The region was hardest hit by the March 11th earthquake and tsunami.
The center has so many volunteers it has already ended its recruitment drive for the holiday period.
The head of Ishinomaki's social welfare council, Hideo Otsuki, says Ishinomaki is now looking for people who can help out when the holiday period ends.
Right now, some volunteers are being asked to remove mud from houses and compounds, and to collect damaged televisions and electrical appliances.



Saturday, April 30, 2011 06:04
Chinese group tours to Japan resume
The first Chinese tour groups to visit Japan since the March 11th disaster have arrived in Osaka and Fukuoka.
Airport staff and transport ministry officials were on hand when a 10-member Chinese tour group arrived at Kansai International Airport in Osaka on Friday.
During their 4-day stay, the tourists are expected to visit Osaka castle and go shopping. One of them, a 65-year-old woman, says she came to cheer up the Japanese people.
The March disaster halted Chinese tour groups across Japan, even though the Chinese government had only advised its citizens to avoid the disaster zone.


Saturday, April 30, 2011 09:03
Labor unions vow to help rebuild quake-hit region
Japan's largest labor organization says it is committed to efforts to rebuild the regions hit by the March 11th disaster. RENGO says it will urge the government and businesses to take action to create jobs.
It held a May Day rally on Friday in central Tokyo.
There are growing employment concerns in Japan because many people lost their jobs in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami.
The rally organizer says around 9,000 people attended the event.
Rengo President Nobuaki Koga said it will take a long time for people in the northeast to rebuild their lives.
He stressed his organization should do everything it can to support them.
RENGO adopted a declaration at the rally asking the Japanese government to provide support for people who have lost their jobs and for affected companies. It also calls for continued assistance for the disaster areas and action to prevent unfounded rumors from undermining the reputation of products from the Tohoku region.
Rengo collected donations at the May Day rally and set up a corner to sell vegetables from Ibaraki. Farmers from that Prefecture have been affected by the problems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, north of them.
A truck driver at the rally says he is worried about the impact on his industry because production is shrinking in Japan's manufacturing sector. He says he wants workers to join hands and do their best to help with rebuilding efforts.


Saturday, April 30, 2011 09:03
No holidays for quake-affected manufacturers
Japan's Golden Week holidays started on Friday. But this year, some leading manufacturers are not giving workers time off.
The extraordinary move is designed to make up for production declines caused by the March 11th disaster and subsequent rolling blackouts.
Chugai Pharmaceutical Company has cancelled plans to shut down its plant in Utsunomiya for 10 consecutive days. The facility is north of Tokyo. It was damaged in the earthquake and is running short on inventory.
Chugai also plans to keep factories in Tokyo and Shizuoka up and running for 5 to 8 days during the holidays.
Among electronics makers, Sony is calling up some of its research staff in Atsugi, near Tokyo, for 4 days during the holidays. The company is trying to make up for research and development delays.
Other manufacturers are ramping up production now rather than in the summer, when soaring electricity demand could again trigger power shortages.
Fuji Xerox Company will continue producing components for photocopiers for 5 straight days next week at its plant near Tokyo. The factory will go off line for a week in late July.
Camera maker Nikon plans to give its employees in the area covered by Tokyo Electric Power Company 6 extra days off this summer. They will instead be on regular duty for 6 days during this extended holiday period.


Saturday, April 30, 2011 16:52
China lifts advisory against travel to Japan
China has lifted its advisory against travel to Japan.
The country's foreign ministry says the advisory has been lifted as social order and life have returned to normal in most areas.
The advisory was issued following the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit eastern Japan on March 11th.
The Chinese government continues to call on people to refrain from traveling to areas that were hit hard by the disaster including Fukushima Prefecture.
A 41-member Chinese tour group arrived in Fukuoka on Friday.
They were the first Chinese tourists to arrive in Japan since major Chinese travel agencies cancelled their tours to Japan after the disaster.


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Voices from around

. The Daily Reading List . 　

. Daily Radiation Levels . 　

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quote
No time for political games as Japan tries to rise again
By KEVIN RAFFERTY
Japanese people who have been hit by the triple disasters of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident have been — rightly — praised worldwide for their courage and resilience. In many other places, even one such disaster would have triggered widespread looting if not rioting.

But too many sympathizers have made the blithe assumption that all will be well with Japan, that this resilience, sense of togetherness and fighting spirit will pull the country through this disaster, as it has done through so many other crises since World War II. This is dangerous, the language that turkeys gobble before Thanksgiving:
We have been OK before, so we will survive again.
Before the earthquake, Japan stood perilously close to several economic and political fault lines: failure to respond adequately to the disasters could push it over the edge. ...
source : Japan Times


Tepco, and state, responsible: Kan
Prime Minister Naoto Kan acknowledges the government bears some responsibility for the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant crisis.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110430a1.html

Extra budget for rebuilding sent to the Diet
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110430a3.html

Panel to probe nuke accident
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110430a5.html

Dalai Lama leads prayers
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110430a7.html

Depopulation latest threat
Mayor Futoshi Toba lost his wife in the March 11 tsunami that pulverized his city of Rikuzentakata and left two-thirds of its residents homeless. He says it's too early to move on and rebuild.
About 13 km down the coast is Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, where shops are selling fresh food, schools have opened and city leaders are making plans to partially reopen a damaged fish market.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110430n1.html

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「復興ダルマ凧（だこ）」 Daruma for reconstruction



A group of handicapped people from Matsuura have made these kites to encourage people in Tohoku.
The money from their purchase will go to charity.

source : /www.nagasaki-np.co.jp


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