By Associated Press, Updated: Monday, May 2, 7:04 AM
FUKUSHIMA, Japan — On a windy, chilly day near the top of a volcano known as “little Mount Fuji,” the Ryan family of Florida described the fuss back home before they left.
“People thought we were crazy,” said Kerry Ryan, 52, of Cape Coral, Fla.
“They said we’d come back glowing,” 10-year-old granddaughter Isabelle Ryan added.
But the Ryans, who had never before traveled overseas, decided to stick to the plan. Destination: Fukushima.
The name is now synonymous with the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which lost power and spewed radiation after a massive tsunami devastated Japan’s northeast coast.
The unfortunate association has been a painful economic consequence of the triple disaster for Fukushima prefecture and Fukushima city, located about 40 miles inland from the nuclear plant. Along with the direct economic hit, farmers and businesses face so-called “fuhyo higai,” or damages stemming from the battered reputation of the Fukushima brand.
... Read the full article here: Washington Post Article
Monday, May 2, 2011
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Wellesley JC Silent Auction For a Cause
Wellesley College Japan Club presents
SILENT AUCTION
Wellesley College for Tsunami and Earthquake Relief in Japan
Please Join Us For A Night of Charity, Food, Fun and Performance
Auction items include clothing and Japanese crafts
Tishman Commons
Monday, May 2nd 2011
7 pm
suggested donation $5
open to all, students, faculty, staff, off-campus welcomed!
spread the word or stop by to check it out!
? JapanClubMail@wellesley.edu dis Jwice Exp 5/3
Monday, April 25, 2011
1,000 Paper Crane Project
Monday, April 11, 2011
Japan: Nuclear crisis level raised to highest level (BBC)
Original article can be found at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13045341
Japanese authorities have raised the measure of severity of their nuclear crisis to the highest level, officials say.
The decision was taken due to radiation measured at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi power plant, NHK reported.
The highest level for nuclear accidents (seven) had previously only applied to the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.
Meanwhile a 6.3-magnitude earthquake was reported off eastern Japan, the second tremor in as many days.
The aftershocks come a month after a huge quake and tsunami hit Japan, leaving nearly 28,000 dead or missing.
'Preliminary assessment'The raising of the severity level of the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi plant was announced on national television by an official with the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan.
"This is a preliminary assessment, and is subject to finalisation by the International Atomic Energy Agency," said an official at the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA), the government's nuclear watchdog, which made the announcement with the Nuclear Safety Commission, Reuters reported.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
New Japan Earthquake Brings Tsunami Warning
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.
Japan's NHK television immediately broke into programming late Thursday night with news of the earthquake, which struck at at 11:32 in the evening, and to warn of a possible tsunami.
The announcer warns people near the coast to move immediately to higher ground. NHK also told people to stay away from buildings that were damaged by the 9.0 earthquake on March 11.
The earthquake was centered under the Pacific Ocean off Japan's eastern coast in the same general area as last month's earthquake and tsunami, which killed more than 12,000 people and left more than 14,000 missing.
That earthquake damaged a nuclear power plant on the coast in Fukushima Prefecture. Shortly after Thursday's aftershock, the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power, said there were no new immediate problems found at the Fukushima Daiichi power station.
TV images showed violent shaking in cities across northern Japan.
In Sendai city, the capital of Miyagi prefecture, lights went off as the power failed during the earthquake. The quake was felt far down the coast, and Tokyo experienced strong shaking that lasted for at least a minute.
From: http://www.voanews.com/english/news/-New-Earthquake-Hits-Japan-Tsunami-Warning-Issued-119402639.html
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.
Japan's NHK television immediately broke into programming late Thursday night with news of the earthquake, which struck at at 11:32 in the evening, and to warn of a possible tsunami.
The announcer warns people near the coast to move immediately to higher ground. NHK also told people to stay away from buildings that were damaged by the 9.0 earthquake on March 11.
The earthquake was centered under the Pacific Ocean off Japan's eastern coast in the same general area as last month's earthquake and tsunami, which killed more than 12,000 people and left more than 14,000 missing.
That earthquake damaged a nuclear power plant on the coast in Fukushima Prefecture. Shortly after Thursday's aftershock, the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power, said there were no new immediate problems found at the Fukushima Daiichi power station.
TV images showed violent shaking in cities across northern Japan.
In Sendai city, the capital of Miyagi prefecture, lights went off as the power failed during the earthquake. The quake was felt far down the coast, and Tokyo experienced strong shaking that lasted for at least a minute.
From: http://www.voanews.com/english/news/-New-Earthquake-Hits-Japan-Tsunami-Warning-Issued-119402639.html
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Know Your Facts: Fear Of Radiation (And The Panic It Triggers) Does Far More Damage Than The Radiation Itself
Radiation From Cornwall to Hong Kong Beats Tokyo Amid Nuclear Plant Scare
By Stuart Biggs and Yuriy Humber - Apr 1, 2011 7:37 AM ET
Typical amounts of radiation in Hong Kong exceed those in Tokyo even as workers struggle to contain a crippled nuclear plant in northern Japan, indicating concerns about spreading contamination may be overblown.
The radiation level in central Tokyo reached a high of 0.109 microsieverts per hour in Shinjuku Ward yesterday, data from the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Public Health show. That compares with 0.14 microsieverts in the Kowloon district of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Observatory said on its website. A person is exposed to 50 microsieverts from a typical x-ray.
Many countries have naturally occurring radiation levels that exceed Tokyo’s, said Bob Bury, former clinical lead for the U.K.’s Royal College of Radiologists. A 30-fold surge in such contamination in Tokyo prompted thousands of expatriates to leave Japan after the March 11 tsunami knocked out power at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant, triggering the crisis. Radiation in Tokyo is barely above levels in London and New York even now, analysts said.
“The situation in Japan looks set to follow the pattern of Chernobyl, where fear of radiation did far more damage than the radiation itself,” Bury said in an e-mail referring to the 1986 accident in the former Soviet Union, the world’s worst nuclear disaster. “Whatever the radiation in Tokyo at the moment, you can be fairly sure it is lower than natural background levels in many parts of the world.”
Exceeds New York
Tokyo’s radiation level is only slightly higher than New York, where an average of 0.095 microsieverts an hour was recorded in the seven days to yesterday, according to a real- time Geiger counter reading set up as part of the Background Radiation Survey, a project where owners of the equipment feed their readings into a central database. The level in Tokyo the day before the accident averaged 0.0338 microsieverts an hour.
By Stuart Biggs and Yuriy Humber - Apr 1, 2011 7:37 AM ET
Typical amounts of radiation in Hong Kong exceed those in Tokyo even as workers struggle to contain a crippled nuclear plant in northern Japan, indicating concerns about spreading contamination may be overblown.
The radiation level in central Tokyo reached a high of 0.109 microsieverts per hour in Shinjuku Ward yesterday, data from the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Public Health show. That compares with 0.14 microsieverts in the Kowloon district of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Observatory said on its website. A person is exposed to 50 microsieverts from a typical x-ray.
Many countries have naturally occurring radiation levels that exceed Tokyo’s, said Bob Bury, former clinical lead for the U.K.’s Royal College of Radiologists. A 30-fold surge in such contamination in Tokyo prompted thousands of expatriates to leave Japan after the March 11 tsunami knocked out power at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant, triggering the crisis. Radiation in Tokyo is barely above levels in London and New York even now, analysts said.
“The situation in Japan looks set to follow the pattern of Chernobyl, where fear of radiation did far more damage than the radiation itself,” Bury said in an e-mail referring to the 1986 accident in the former Soviet Union, the world’s worst nuclear disaster. “Whatever the radiation in Tokyo at the moment, you can be fairly sure it is lower than natural background levels in many parts of the world.”
Exceeds New York
Tokyo’s radiation level is only slightly higher than New York, where an average of 0.095 microsieverts an hour was recorded in the seven days to yesterday, according to a real- time Geiger counter reading set up as part of the Background Radiation Survey, a project where owners of the equipment feed their readings into a central database. The level in Tokyo the day before the accident averaged 0.0338 microsieverts an hour.
Two Bodies Found at Japan Nuclear Complex
BY KEVIN DOLAK, NEAL KARLINSKY, WENDY BRUNDIGE AND RYAN CREED
April 3, 2011
The Tokyo Electric Power Co. today confirmed the first tsunami-related deaths at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex: a 21-year-old and a 24-year-old who were working when the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami hit Japan.
"It pains us to have lost these two young workers who were trying to protect the power plant amid the earthquake and tsunami," TEPCO Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata said in a statement.
The two workers may have run into a basement turbine room when the deadly wave hit the plant, according to The Associated Press.
Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, told The Associated Press today that cleanup of the nuclear facility may be prolonged, as officials seek new alternatives to stop the leakage of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean.
"It would take a few months until we finally get things under control and have a better idea about the future," Nishiyama said. "We'll face a crucial turning point within the next few months, but that is not the end."
Radioactive water has been spilling into the Pacific Ocean from a crack in a maintenance pit discovered Saturday at the distressed nuclear complex.
April 3, 2011
The Tokyo Electric Power Co. today confirmed the first tsunami-related deaths at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex: a 21-year-old and a 24-year-old who were working when the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami hit Japan.
"It pains us to have lost these two young workers who were trying to protect the power plant amid the earthquake and tsunami," TEPCO Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata said in a statement.
The two workers may have run into a basement turbine room when the deadly wave hit the plant, according to The Associated Press.
Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, told The Associated Press today that cleanup of the nuclear facility may be prolonged, as officials seek new alternatives to stop the leakage of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean.
"It would take a few months until we finally get things under control and have a better idea about the future," Nishiyama said. "We'll face a crucial turning point within the next few months, but that is not the end."
Radioactive water has been spilling into the Pacific Ocean from a crack in a maintenance pit discovered Saturday at the distressed nuclear complex.
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