Daily life in Tokyo

More water leaks found at Fukushima nuclear plant

2012-01-30T22:51:00.000+09:00

More water leaks have been found at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Tokyo Electric Power Company told reporters on Monday morning that it has discovered 2 additional water leaks at the nuclear plant.

This comes after it was announced on Sunday that nearly 8 tons of water was found to have leaked in 14 locations at the plant.

One of the 2 new findings involves about 30 liters of water that has leaked from a device that is removing salt from contaminated water. The other leak is from a valve of a pipe that is injecting water into a reactor.

TEPCO says leaked water has neither spilled out of the plant, nor flowed into the sea.

The utility firm is trying to determine whether water in some of the pipes froze and cracked the pipes, or loosened the pipes' connections.

It plans to quickly implement preventive measures, including carrying out more patrols early in the morning and wrapping insulation around the pipes and other equipment.

The temperature on Monday morning around the plant dropped to minus 8.7 degrees Celsius.

40% of Japanese to be over 65 years old in 2060

2012-01-30T22:49:00.000+09:00

A newly-released report predicts that Japan's population will shrink by about 40 million in the next 50 years while about 40 percent of the people will be aged 65 or older.

The report on Japan's expected demographic trends through 2060 was compiled by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.

It says Japan's population will fall below 100 million in 2048 from the 2010 figure of 128 million. In 2060, it says the population will drop to 86 million.

It also says the average life expectancy is likely to expand further to 84.19 for men and 90.93 for women.

The report says the average number of babies born per woman will be 1.35 in 2060. That's slightly up from the previous estimate 6 yeas ago.

The institute says this is because more women who have held off having children are expected to give birth in their late 30's.

It predicts the number of people between the ages of 15 to 64 years will fall by nearly 50 percent to 44 million in 2060.

The previous estimate showed the proportion of the population aged 65 or older will reach 40 percent in 2052.
The speed of aging is expected to slow a little.

The institute says with the aging population and lower birth rates, the decrease in population will continue.

Japan to name 39 uninhabited isles

2012-01-16T22:16:00.000+09:00

Japan plans to give official names to 39 uninhabited islands that serve as the basis for the boundary of the country's exclusive economic zone, or EEZ.

The plan emerged after the government found that 7 islands around the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea remain nameless in official documents.

In 2010 a Chinese trawler collided with two Japan Coast Guard patrol ships in Japanese territorial waters near the Senkaku Islands.

The Japanese government says it plans to strengthen control of the key islands by officially naming them. The step is also designed to clearly demonstrate Japan's EEZ border to other nations and at home.

The government is asking local authorities what the islands are called in their areas.

It plans to decide the names and put them on maps and sea charts by the end of March after consulting agencies concerned.

Of Japan's more than 6,000 remote islands, most are uninhabited. Some have no agreed upon names.

Disaster debris still remain in Tohoku

2011-12-30T22:34:00.000+09:00

The Japanese government is struggling to remove millions of tons of debris from the country's northeast, more than 9 months after the March earthquake and tsunami.

The goal is to completely transfer 22 million tons of waste from disaster areas to temporary storage sites by the end of next March.

But environment ministry spokespeople say about 7 million tons, or one-third of the total debris, still needs to be hauled away.

They say the main reason for the delay is the time it takes to demolish damaged buildings. The government needs to get the approval of building owners and implement measures to prevent asbestos from scattering when it destroys the structures.

Spokespeople also say the ministry needs to build facilities with incinerators to burn up the debris that has been collected.

That work is progressing slowly because local governments are facing difficulties preparing the land where these facilities would be built.

Preparations for New Year well under way

2011-12-30T22:32:00.000+09:00

People in Japan are gearing up for New Year festivities.

A shrine in the rice-growing town of Takanezawa, in Tochigi Prefecture, central Japan, dedicated a 3-layer jumbo rice cake on Friday, in thanks for the passing year's bounty.

The round cake measures 90 centimeters high and weighs 500 kilograms. A forklift carried the lower 2 layers to the hall of worship, while 12 female shrine attendants put the third layer in place.

A citrus fruit measuring 20 centimeters in diameter crowned the traditional New Year decoration.

In Tokorozawa City, Saitama Prefecture, a Japanese restaurant is preparing 160 sets of traditional New Year foods using ingredients from Fukushima Prefecture, which was hard hit by the March disaster and subsequent nuclear accident.

The restaurant's operator, who is from the prefecture, says she wants to encourage people in her hometown because they are still suffering from the effects of the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

At an aquarium in Yokohama, a 9-year-old otaria, a kind of sea lion, is practicing writing a Chinese character meaning dragon -- the zodiac sign for 2012.

Helped by a keeper, the male otaria, named Jay, wrote the character with a brush in his mouth before a cheering crowd on Friday. He will soon display his writing technique in a New Year event.

Radiation impact on Fukushima kids to be monitored

2011-12-21T14:44:00.000+09:00

The Japanese government will monitor the impact of radiation exposure on children born to mothers in Fukushima Prefecture.

The Environment Ministry said on Tuesday that the monitoring program will cover 25,000 children.

The program will look for any links between the radiation exposure of the mothers and congenital abnormalities, asthma, allergies or other diseases of their children.

The checks will continue until the children reach the age of 13.

The ministry decided to carry out the monitoring amid rising public concern about radioactive contamination from the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Fukushima Prefecture is already checking the health of all its residents and their radiation exposure.

Year-end sweeping begins at historic sites

2011-12-21T14:43:00.000+09:00

Year-end cleaning got under way at Japan's historic monuments on Tuesday, in an annual ritual ahead of the New Year.

In Nikko, north of Tokyo, an event took place at Toshogu Shrine, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Shinto priests and maidens dressed in traditional costumes participated in the work.

At Yomeimon Gate, designated as a national treasure, they used long bamboo brooms and dusters to clean about 500 sculptures.

In Kyoto, about 800 Buddhist priests and followers gathered to sweep at Nishi-Honganji temple.

They beat the dust out of nearly 500 tatami mats in one of the temple halls, and used large fans to clear dust from the building.

Mourners head to pro-N.Korean assoc. in Japan

2011-12-21T14:41:00.002+09:00

A pro-North Korea association in Japan has begun receiving mourners for the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

The General Association of Korean Residents in Japan opened its offices across Japan to mourners on Wednesday.

Many people were seen visiting the association's headquarters in Tokyo after 10AM, when it started to receive visitors.

A man who visited the headquarters said an altar with a youthful photo of Kim was set up on the second floor. He said visitors were allowed to offer flowers for the late leader.

The association will receive mourners through Thursday.

It says the period of mourning will last until December 29, and memorial ceremonies will be held at its offices across the country on the same day.

The association is also planning to send a delegation to North Korea.

Children from Miyagi invited to Kobe festival

2011-12-11T10:15:00.000+09:00

Children from a city hard-hit by the March 11th disaster have been invited to the Kobe Luminarie festival, featuring the city's annual year-end lighting display.

The lighting displays have been staged since 1995 to mourn the victims of the Great Hanshin Earthquake and to express people's determination to rebuild the city.

A non-profit organization in Kobe invited 38 elementary and junior high schools students from Natori city, Miyagi Prefecture, to the festival on Saturday.

The students enjoyed the illumination for about one hour, taking photos.

This year the festival's theme is "the light of hope," and is dedicated to those affected by the March disaster.

A 4th-grade girl said she was impressed by the beauty of the lighting display on her first visit, adding that she wants to come back when she grows up.

A 5th-grader said he was looking forward to visiting Kobe. He said he wants to do all he can to rebuild his hometown just as Kobe was reconstructed.

Lunar eclipse observed on Japan's Pacific coast

2011-12-11T10:13:00.000+09:00

People on the Pacific coast of Japan were able to view a total lunar eclipse on Saturday night.

This was the first time in 11 years that an entire lunar eclipse was visible from any place in Japan.

The phenomenon occurs when the earth casts its shadow over a full moon, with the sun, moon, and earth being exactly aligned.

In Tokyo's Shibuya Ward, home to NHK, the shadow started to fall on the moon shortly before 10 PM, Japan time.

The total eclipse was observed just after 11 PM. The moon appeared dusky red due to solar rays refracted in the earth's atmosphere and could be seen with the naked eye for about 50 minutes.

The National Astronomical Observatory says the next total lunar eclipse visible in Japan will occur in October 2014.

TEPCO issues interim report on Fukushima accident

2011-12-03T09:58:00.000+09:00

The Tokyo Electric Power Company has released an interim report on its in-house probe into the nuclear disaster at the firm's Fukushima Daiichi power plant.

But the report issued on Friday fails to clarify how or why a huge amount of radioactive materials leaked outside the facility.

Based on data and interviews of more than 250 workers since June, the report describes how the giant tsunami on March 11th knocked out almost all of the plant's power sources and all of its fail-safe mechanisms. The report also details how meltdowns occurred at some of the plant's reactors after the accident.

The report says the firm had worked with the government and obtained its endorsement in taking measures to guard the plant from severe accidents before March 11th.

The report also defends as reasonable the utility's effort to contain the damage from the accident.

The report says that the plant lost all of its safety mechanisms because the tsunami was much larger than expected, that workers could not keep up with developments, and that core meltdowns occurred.

The report calls for thorough steps to protect the cooling and power systems of power plants from tsunamis and for installation of an emergency power source in a safe place.

The report calls on the utility to ensure that it has ways to cool reactors in case of further accidents.
The report does not contain an in-depth examination of the utility's failure to immediately submit to the government the firm's 2008 estimate that a tsunami higher than 10 meters could hit the plant. The utility has said it did not submit the estimate immediately because it was based on a groundless hypothesis. The firm eventually submitted the estimate only 4 days before the March 11th disaster.

Much remains unknown about how workers tried to cool the plant's Number 1 reactor -- where a meltdown occurred -- or why the Number 2 reactor ended up releasing a large amount of radioactive materials

Post-disaster preparations discussed in Tokyo

2011-11-23T16:47:00.001+09:00

Japanese officials in charge of natural disaster measures have discussed preparations for stranded commuters after major disasters such as earthquakes.

National and local government officials along with representatives from business groups held the second meeting of its kind in Tokyo on Tuesday.

Many people were stranded in the Tokyo metropolitan area on March 11th as most public transport was suspended after the quake.

A Cabinet Office survey found that more than 47 percent of over 5,300 respondents said they left their school or office before 6 PM on that day.

The office estimates that 5 million 150,000 people were stranded in Tokyo and the 4 neighboring prefectures, including the southern part of Ibaraki.

A guideline compiled at the meeting says firms should dissuade employees from leaving their offices after disasters as rescue operations and firefighting should be given priority. It recommends that companies store supplies of food and drinking water to last for 3 days.

Tokyo's Deputy Governor Naoki Inose, who chaired the meeting, said it's important for people to realize that they should stay put after a disaster and preparations will be crucial. He added that the Tokyo Metropolitan government will propose a regulation that will require firms to store food and water. He said the guideline should set a tone for policy-making and he hopes that neighboring local governments will follow suit.

TEPCO: hydrogen from reactor caused blast

2011-11-10T21:19:00.000+09:00

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant says the explosion of the facility's Number 4 reactor on March 15th was caused by a backflow of hydrogen from an adjacent building.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, announced the finding on Thursday.

The blast was initially thought to have been caused by hydrogen created when spent fuel stored in a pool at the reactor building was damaged by the devastating March 11th quake.

TEPCO workers who entered the building on Tuesday to determine the cause found that the 5th floor was more severely damaged than the 4th, where a pool of spent fuel is located, and that the fuel was intact.
The workers also confirmed that an air conditioning duct on the floor was severely damaged.

TEPCO says the hydrogen likely flowed into the reactor through the duct connected to the plant's Number 3 reactor when workers released pressurized air from it to prevent a hydrogen blast.

The firm says the explosion very likely occurred after the density of hydrogen in the duct increased.

A hydrogen blast took place at the Number 3 building a day before the explosion at the Number 4 building.

Fish market in tsunami-hit town reopens

2011-11-07T20:18:00.000+09:00

A fish market in a northeastern Japanese town that was devastated by the March tsunami has begun trading again.

The market in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, had been closed for about 8 months after the tsunami swept away the market building and an ice-making facility.

On Monday, 20 tons of mackerel, salmon and other fish were brought in. The market's first fish auction since the tsunami was about a half the normal haul for this time of the year but enough to bring life to the market again.

Before the auction, about 30 fishermen and market officials observed a moment of silence for those killed in the disaster.

The head of the town's fisheries cooperative says he has mixed emotions. He says the reopening is only a small step forward and that more fisheries workers should come back to the market.

One dealer says the market will gradually be revitalized now that the fish have returned.

Crown Prince to fill in for duties of sick Emperor

2011-11-07T20:15:00.001+09:00

Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito will temporarily take over the duties of state affairs for his ailing father, the Emperor.

Emperor Akihito was admitted to the University of Tokyo Hospital on Sunday evening for bronchitis complicated by persistent fever. He entered the hospital accompanied by Empress Michiko.

The 77-year-old Emperor saw doctors earlier in the day and was recommended to stay in the hospital as precaution.

After developing a fever due to a cold on Thursday, he cancelled his attendance at a tea party with recipients of the Order of Culture and Persons of Cultural Merit. The Emperor did not attend a national convention of supporters for people with mental disabilities on Sunday.

The Emperor has had a persistent mild form of bronchitis, but accumulated fatigue is believed to have weakened his immunity and worsened the symptoms.

While the Emperor is in the hospital, Crown Prince Naruhito will take his father's place in awarding this fall's Orders recipients in a ceremony on Monday.

The Crown Prince will be standing in for the Emperor for the first time since January 2003, when his father had surgery for prostate cancer.

The Crown Prince is also expected to attend the 100th anniversary of a donation of forestland by the Meiji Emperor, scheduled for November 13th in Yamanashi Prefecture.

"Kotatsu" heaters delivered to disaster survivors

2011-10-21T20:50:00.000+09:00

Volunteers are delivering traditional Japanese heaters to survivors of the March 11th disaster, before the start of the harsh winter.

On Friday, evacuees welcomed the arrival of the "kotatsu" heaters at the playground of a junior high school in Kesennuma City, Miyagi Prefecture.

The kotatsu is a low table with an electric element fitted to its underside, and a quilt to cover the thighs. The heaters are being jointly provided by Lion's Club groups in Okayama and Taiwan.

The volunteers delivered kotatsu and a letter of encouragement to occupants of housing units in the playground.

The 2 groups plan to donate 600 kotatsu to the Kesennuma evacuees.

Radioactive cesium found in plankton off N-plant

2011-10-15T18:10:00.000+09:00

High concentrations of radioactive cesium have been found in plankton from the sea near the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

Researchers from Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology collected plankton in waters up to 60 kilometers from the coast of Iwaki City in July. They found 669 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive cesium in animal plankton from waters 3 kilometers offshore.

They say a wide range of fish feed on animal plankton and that the contamination could accumulate in the food chain and have a more serious impact when it gets into relatively large fish.

The research group's leader, Professor Takashi Ishimaru, says the plankton were so heavily contaminated because sea currents continuously carried contaminated water southward from the nuclear plant. He says detailed studies are needed to determine how long the effect on fish will continue.

New safety rules for outdoor nuclear workers

2011-10-08T08:36:00.000+09:00

Japan's health ministry will introduce safety guidelines to protect workers who clean up radioactive substances around the disabled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Existing guidelines target only those working indoors at the plant.

Citizens groups had complained that the ministry was not doing enough to minimize the exposure of workers who engage in decontamination outdoors.

The new guidelines will require outdoor clean-up workers to wear protective masks and carry dosimeters to monitor radiation.

The ministry says it will work to ensure that the rules are upheld, as efforts to decontaminate farmland and residential areas near the Daiichi plant will soon begin in earnest.

Nagasaki "Kunchi" dance festival begins

2011-10-08T08:34:00.000+09:00

Thousands of spectators have gathered in Nagasaki City, southwestern Japan, for a traditional autumn festival.

The Nagasaki Kunchi Festival opened on Friday. It dates back 377 years and has been designated a national cultural treasure.

Seven communities in the city took part in dances and other performances at Suwa Shrine.

A group from a community once known for its textile dyeing opened the festival with a dance depicting their work.

Another group from the coastal town of Dejima presented a model of a Dutch-style sailing ship. During the feudal Edo period, Dejima was the only port open to the Netherlands -- Japan's sole trading partner in the West.

In a performance by yet another group, an elementary school student dressed like a fisherman threw a fishing net from a model ship. Spectators applauded when he netted 5 fake carp on the ground.

The festival will run through Sunday with performances across the city.

Debris from March disaster tested for radiation

2011-10-02T09:45:00.001+09:00

Work has begun in Miyagi Prefecture to examine debris left behind by the March 11th natural disaster, and test for radioactive substances released by the nuclear accident in Fukushima.

Testing began on Saturday, at a temporary storage site in Ishinomaki City. Here the quake and tsunami left behind more than 6 million tons of debris -- the largest amount among all municipalities hit by the disaster.

Using heavy machinery, workers removed samples of wood and rubber from a huge pile of debris.

Storage sites across the prefecture are getting close to capacity.

If safe levels of radioactivity are confirmed, local officials hope to move debris to new disposal sites being built in Miyagi Prefecture and also to incineration facilities located outside the prefecture. The testing is aimed at dispelling public safety concerns about the transfer and disposal of debris.

The prefecture plans to measure the radioactivity of debris at 12 storage sites, including those in Kesennuma and Minamisanriku.

One official says he hopes the testing will facilitate the transfer of debris to neighboring regions and help reduce the burden on Miyagi Prefecture.

Unearthed ancient sword bears manufacture date

2011-09-22T07:57:00.000+09:00

Archaeologists say an ancient sword recently unearthed in western Japan bears the date of manufacture.

Fukuoka City's board of education says the artifact was found on September 7th in an old stone tomb amongst ruins in the city.

The tomb is believed to have belonged to a powerful local clan. The 75-centimeter-long, steel-made sword is believed to be a grave furnishing.

An X-ray scan has found 19 Chinese characters inscribed on the back of the sword.

The characters say the sword was manufactured on the 6th day of the first month of A.D. 570, in the old Chinese calendar.

3 findings of swords from the Tumulus period bearing the year of their manufacture have been reported in Japan, but none with the exact date.

Kyushu University Professor Yasutoshi Sakaue called the latest finding a milestone as it is the first example of an archaeological find showing the full use of the calendar at that time in Japan.

He says historical records show the traditional calendar was brought to the country from the Korean Peninsula in A.D. 554, 16 years before the date recorded on the Fukuoka sword.

TEPCO releases new images of Fukushima plant

2011-09-22T07:55:00.000+09:00

Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, has released new video footage of its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The video footage is 3 minutes and 40 seconds long and consists of various clips taken between late June and mid-September.

Footage shot at the No. 1 reactor showed work to cover the reactor building to reduce the release of radioactive substances. A panel of 20 square meters was being lifted with a crane. TEPCO says 8 of the 18 panels needed to cover the entire building had been installed as of Tuesday.

Footage taken at the No. 3 reactor showed workers manually adjusting the volume of water to be injected in order to cool the reactor. Earlier this month, TEPCO began boosting water injection to lower the temperature of the reactor to below 100 degrees Celsius.

The video also showed workers learning how to use dosimeters and how to put on full face masks at a training session.

The company said it is becoming more important to train workers as operations to bring the plant under control proceed. It added that it hopes the images will convey the atmosphere at the site.

A new plan set to reduce radiation emissions

2011-09-21T17:19:00.000+09:00

The Japanese government and the operator of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant say they will install new devices to reduce the amount of radioactive substances released into the air. The government and Tokyo Electric Power Company, TEPCO, originally planned to achieve a cold shutdown, in which temperatures of the reactors reach below 100 degrees Celsius by January next year. They now say that they will aim to reach that status within this year, as their work is making steady progress. The government and TEPCO revealed the plan in their monthly review of the timetable for containing the nuclear crisis. They will install new devices at the NO.1, No.2 and No.3 reactors to take contaminated gases out of the reactors using filters. They plan to start installing the devices next week. TEPCO also plans to complete the construction of a giant polyester shield over the No.1 reactor by mid-October. The operator also plans to improve its cooling systems so that the temperatures of all 3 reactors will drop below 100 degrees Celsius. They say the amount of radioactive substances released from the plant was about 200-million becquerels per hour in the first half of September. They say that's about one-four millionths of the level of the initial stages of the accident in March.

Typhoon makes landfall in central Japan

2011-09-21T17:17:00.000+09:00

Typhoon Roke has made landfall on the Pacific coast of central Japan. Japan's Meteorological Agency says the typhoon landed near Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, at around 2:00 PM on Wednesday. The storm is believed to be heading northeast at a speed of 40 kilometers per hour. It has an atmospheric pressure of 950 hecto-pascals and is packing winds of up to 160 kilometers per hour. Wide areas of central Japan are now in the storm zone. Gusts of more than 125 kilometers per hour were observed in Omaezaki, Shizuoka Prefecture, about half an hour before the typhoon made landfall. Roke is bringing heavy rains to central, northern and eastern Japan. Between 1:00 and 2:00 PM, more than 54 millimeters of rain fell in Hamamatsu. Downpours have also been recorded in Yamanashi, Aichi and Kanagawa prefectures.

Hosono: Cooling down to be achieved this year

2011-09-20T22:37:00.001+09:00

Japan's minister in charge of the nuclear disaster says reactors at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi plant will be cooled to below 100 degrees Celsius within this year. Goshi Hosono spoke at the International Atomic Energy Agency's annual ministerial meeting on Monday. He thanked the international community for assisting Japan in dealing with the accident at Fukushima. Hosono said that decontaminated water has been successfully used to cool down the troubled nuclear reactors, bringing the temperature close to 100 degrees Celsius. He also said spent nuclear fuel pools have been cooled in a stable manner. Hosono also said the spent nuclear fuel has been steadily cooled and will fall below 100 degrees by the end of this year, instead of early next year as initially predicted. When the reactors and spent fuel have been cooled below 100 degrees, radiation emissions can be kept very low. The minister also said Japan will work with the IAEA to remove radioactive materials from areas near Fukushima Daiichi. He explained the plan to separate the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency from the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry, saying it will be merged with the Cabinet Office's Nuclear Safety Commission to create a nuclear safety agency under the Environment Ministry by next April.