Australian PM Julia Gillard visits Japan's ground zero
An emotional Julia Gillard has toured Minamisanriku, a once tranquil Japanese fishing town that was obliterated by the recent tsunami. The Prime Minister, who was the first foreign dignitary to tour the devastated region, joined the town's mayor, Jin Sato, to survey the devastated frame of a building that was once the town's disaster management centre. Mr Sato was inside when the torrent of water hit. He fled to the roof and hung on as the wave engulfed the building, sweeping his friends and colleagues to their deaths. (Sydney Morning Herald)Ex-Goto-gumi members assassinated in Thailand!? Dead men have no mouths.
According to several sources, on April 27th, a Thai tour guide was arrested after he confessed to shooting to death one Japanese tourist and wounding another while they were trekking in northern Thailand. The two "tourists" are believed to be former yakuza members. Apichart Inphisak, the 41-year-old guide, was arrested Tuesday at a friend's house 30 kilometers from Chiang Rai. The pistol he said he used to shoot the two Japanese was confiscated, according to local Thai press sources. Japanese police sources assert that the two Japanese individuals were both members of the Yamaguchi-gumi Goto-gumi. One of the individuals is believed to have involved in the murder of real estate agent, Nozaki Kazuo, in 2006. (japansubculture.com)
Makoto Nagai was sitting in his third-floor office at 2:46 p.m. on March 11 when the earthquake alarm buzzed. An orange LCD screen flashed 100 and 4, telling him the number of seconds before a category 4 quake would hit the city of Sendai on Japan's northeast coast. The intensity warning quickly jumped to 6, said Nagai, 55, head of the emergency response team in Sendai, located 129 kilometers (80 miles) west of the epicenter of what became the strongest quake in Japan's recorded history. "I stood up, and my coffee cup bounced sideways off my desk," he said. "We were in an earthquake-resistant building yet an internal wall and bookshelves collapsed. Then people started to scream." (Bloomberg)
The Japanese prime minister's special advisor on the nuclear crisis says the immediate risk of a major radiation leak from the Fukushima power plant has receded, the Wall Street Journal reported.The government could not say the situation had been completely stabilised at the plant, but after studying the possibility of severe deterioration Tokyo was comfortable with the current evacuation policy, Goshi Hosono told the paper in an interview Saturday.
Japan plans to send more than 20,000 soldiers into its northern disaster zone Monday in an intensive mission to recover the bodies of those killed in last month's earthquake and tsunami. More than 12,000 people are missing and presumed dead from the twin disasters that hit March 11. Some were likely swept out to sea, while others are buried under the mass of rubble. About 14,300 are confirmed dead. Defense Ministry spokesman Ippo Maeyama said Sunday that the military would send 24,800 soldiers to carry out a two-day search of the area. Police, coast guard and U.S. troops will also be involved. (AP)
China and South Korea rebuffed on Sunday Japan's calls for more "reasonable" restrictions on imports of food and other products that could be contaminated with radiation after last month's nuclear disaster, showing the difficulty Japan will face in restoring trust in its products. Trade ministers from China and South Korea also told their Japanese counterpart they hope Japan can quickly repair its supply chain, which was damaged after last month's earthquake and tsunami, as shortages of Japanese manufactured goods will impact the global economy. (Reuters)
Japan's monster earthquake has claimed its latest victim, a popular hippo named Satsuki at the Tokyo zoo. The 39-year-old animal, who became a popular attraction after appearing in a tooth brushing event, has been hobbled with injuries since the magnitude 9 quake struck last month, zoo officials said. She died last Saturday. Keepers at the Ueno Zoo said Satsuki was in a pool when the tremblor hit on March 11 and did not suffer any injuries. However, the hippo lost her balance and twisted her left front leg as she walked back to her cage an hour after the shaking stopped. Officials believe the shock and stress from the record setting jolt may rattled and disoriented the animal. (ABC News)
Britney Spears has revealed that she is to auction one of her outfits to raise money for the relief effort in Japan. The 'Till The World Ends' star is selling an outfit that she wore in a Japanese candy commercial at the start of her career back in 1999. The advert was shot during Spears's first visit to Japan and the outfit has been kept in pristine condition by the commercial's production company ever since. The auction is being held on j-Grab and due to close on April 24. (digitalspy.com.au)
KISAI - The evacuated families in the school gym outside Tokyo are bound by their suffering to those in shelters closer to the disaster zone. Both lost homes, friends and livelihoods in the tsunami that pounded northeastern Japan last month.But the conditions they live in now as they try put their lives back together are markedly different.
NHK live broadcasts on the tsunami that swept coastal villages in Eastern Japan on March 11 were a shocking scene to the Korean people. Japan now confronts the aftermath of triple natural disasters-an earthquake of a record 9.0 magnitude, a devastating tsunami and the threat of radioactive contamination-that have left tens of thousands dead and missing, and hundreds of thousands still struggling to survive at crowded shelters. Following the daily progress of crisis, Koreans moved quickly to help the Japanese. The Korean government's decision to dispatch a rescue team within days of the earthquake was the earliest action taken by any foreign government. Korea sent 53 tons of boric acid to help control the badly broken Fukushima nuclear plants, and on March 19, delivered 100 tons of water and 6,000 blankets for the Japanese people in shelters. (The Diplomat)
Kiyo Hiratsuka is on the longest spring vacation of his life. The 12-year-old student was supposed to start middle school on April 8. Instead, he's spending his time reading comics, drawing cartoons, and playing board games in a classroom in his former elementary school, which he now shares with 312 other Ishinomaki residents left homeless by the colossal tsunami and earthquake that struck Japan last month. School gets a delayed start on April 21, but Kiyo isn't sure if he's excited or anxious. "I have no idea what it'll be like," he says, slouched on a blanket next to his mother. (csmonitor.com)
Toyota Motor Corp. resumed car production at all of its plants in Japan Monday for the first time since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, but said the factories will run at half capacity due to parts shortages. The world's No. 1 automaker said it was still struggling to secure around 150 types of auto parts. The magnitude-9.0 earthquake and ensuing tsunami destroyed parts factories in northeastern Japan, causing severe shortages of components. The twin disasters forced Toyota to shut down all output in Japan except at three plants, which have been running at limited capacity since late March and early April to produce hot-selling Prius, Lexus and Corolla cars. (AP)
The forbearance shown by survivors of Japan's quake-tsunami has been lauded in the West, but psychologists worry not talking about the hurt could be doing long-term damage. Commentators have heaped praise on the emotional resilience of people who have lost everything, but, say some, the surface calm masks deep undercurrents of emotion. More than five weeks on and tens of thousands of evacuees are still living in school gymnasiums and other public buildings, sharing their sleeping space with dozens -- sometimes hundreds -- of other people. Under these conditions, emotion remains tightly regulated. (AP)
Japan's economy suffered a big blow in the triple earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster, but the country should have no problem financing reconstruction, the central bank chief said Thursday. Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa conceded problems in the economic supply chain, power generation, tourism and other important sectors. But he said the financial system could cope. (AFP)
Tokyo Disneyland will open April 15, its operator Oriental Land Co. said, after the amusement park was shut by Japan's March 11 earthquake, which damaged power plants and caused disruptions to electricity supply. The theme park will run on shortened hours until 6 p.m. daily, Oriental Land said in a statement to Tokyo's stock exchange today. The Tokyo DisneySea theme park will be opened "as soon as possible," it said, without providing a date. The monthlong closure of the two parks may have cut the company's revenue by about 21 billion yen ($249 million), according to Bloomberg calculations using data from the company. Sales at the theme parks, which generate 82 percent of Oriental Land's revenue, may suffer during summer as power supply is regulated to avoid a large-scale blackout. (staradvertiser.com)
The body of a California man swept out to sea by a surge from Japan's tsunami last month has washed up on the Oregon coast, some 500 kilometres away, US authorities said on Tuesday. The body of Dustin Douglas Weber, 25,who was taking photographs of the tsunami when he was swept away, was found on April 2 by someone walking on the beach near Warrenton, Oregon, at the mouth of the Columbia River. "The body had been in the water for several weeks," Dr Christopher Young, Oregon deputy state medical examiner, said. (Sydney Morning Herald)