20110421

Popular hippo in Tokyo zoo is latest quake victim

from News On Japan by ABC News

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 to auction outfit for Japan

from News On Japan by digitalspy.com.au

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)

Japanese comforted or cramped in evacuee shelters

from News On Japan by AP

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.
At the school in Kisai, a 90-minute drive north of Tokyo, masseurs tend to creaky joints. A bus arrives several times a day to ferry people to public baths. Volunteers help seniors make colored paper crafts. Then there are the frequent visitors who provide free entertainment - from professional athletes to military bands.
A couple hundred miles (several hundred kilometers) to the north, families are crammed into every spare bit of floor space at a community hall at Natori - under the stairs, in the hallways, along the large windows in the front. At another shelter in Ishinomaki, some people have taken to sleeping in their cars for privacy, using cardboard or newspaper to cover the windows. (AP)