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Minami Soma City assemblyman Koichi Ooyama discloses the result of the test of the mysterious black dust found in locations in Minami Soma City, Fukushima Prefecture. A blogger whom I featured before, "Night that never ends", has been measuring radiation on the strange, black dust he finds in many locations in Minami Soma City, mostly on the road surface. His geiger counter (Inspector) measures all alpha, beta, gamma radiations and x-ray, and his measurement on the surface of this black dust was 295 microsieverts/hour. Assemblyman Ooyama apparently sent the sample to Professor Tomoya Yamauchi of Kobe University. Professor Yamauchi did...

Full title..What a comeback! Eleven months after the tsunami ravaged Japan, a series of pictures reveals the incredible progress being made to clear up the devastationWhen Japan was hit by both an earthquake and tsunami in quick succession in March last year, the images of devastation gripped the world. And now after 11 months of tireless rebuilding, these pictures reveal the amazing progress made since those tragic events. Photographers returned to the scenes of desolation to take these stunning shots that capture the way in which the areas most severely affected have changed.

What if you were promoting an industry that had the potential to kill and injure enormous numbers of people as well as contaminate large areas of land for tens of thousands of years? What if this industry created vast stockpiles of deadly waste but nevertheless required massive amounts of public funding to keep it going? My guess is that you might want to hide that information. From the heyday of the environmental movement in the late 1960s through the late 1970s, many people were openly skeptical about the destructive potential of the nuclear power industry. After the partial meltdown at...

Saint Paul Miki and Companions Denver, Colo., Feb 5, 2012 / 08:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Feb. 6, the Catholic Church honors the 26 Martyrs of Nagasaki, a group of native Japanese Catholics and foreign missionaries who suffered death for their faith in the year 1597.During the 16th century, the Catholic faith reached Japan by the efforts of the Jesuit missionary Saint Francis Xavier (1506-1552). Jesuit outreach to the Japanese continued after his death, and around 200,000 Japanese had entered the Church by 1587.Religious tensions led to a period of persecution during that year, during which many churches were...

"[A]fter studying the facts on the ground in Tokyo for decades I find it hard to avoid the conclusion that the story of Japan's stagnation is a media myth." •The highest Japan's unemployment rate has been in the last 20 years is 5.5%. Its current unemployment rate, 4.6%, is about half that of the United States. Among those of prime working age, unemployment is virtually nonexistent in Japan today. •Japan's average life expectancy at birth increased by more than four years -- from 78.8 years to 83 years -- between 1989 and 2009. Japanese, Fingleton points out, "now typically live...

A startling number of Japanese youths have turned their backs on sex and relationships, a new survey has found. The survey, conducted by the Japan Family Planning Association, found that 36% of males aged 16 to 19 said that they had “no interest” in or even “despised” sex. That’s almost a 19% increase since the survey was last conducted in 2008. If that’s not bad enough, The Wall Street Journal reports that a whopping 59% of female respondents aged 16 to 19 said they were uninterested in or averse to sex, a near 12% increase since 2008.

Godzilla Will Come Out Of Tokyo Bay Before Japan Economy And Stock Market Rebounds Economics / Japan Economy Feb 02, 2012 - 10:55 AM By: Money Morning Keith Fitz-Gerald writes: Let's talk Japan. Every year some analyst comes out with a variation of the story that Japan is about to rebound. Usually the argument goes something like this: Japanese markets are impossibly cheap and the central bank will be there to prevent a catastrophe. Or sometimes there is another variation of the Cinderella story. Either way, don't hold your breath. Japan posted its first trade deficit since 1980 last year...

From UC Davis News and Information (1/26/2012; emphasis is mine): Japan used seawater to cool nuclear fuel at the stricken Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant after the tsunami in March 2011 -- and that was probably the best action to take at the time, says Professor Alexandra Navrotsky of the University of California, Davis. But Navrotsky and others have since discovered a new way in which seawater can corrode nuclear fuel, forming uranium compounds that could potentially travel long distances, either in solution or as very small particles. The research team published its work Jan. 23 in the journal Proceedings of the...

The radioactivity dispersion simulation JCOPE (Japan Coastal Ocean Predictability Experiment) by JAMSTEC (Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology), showing cesium-137 dispersion in the Pacific Ocean from March 21, 2011 to January 27, 2012. March 21, 2011 was when the high levels of radioactive materials from the seawater near the plant were first detected. Screenshots from their JCOPE page with the simulation animation (1/30/2012).

Yesterday the Japanese Finance Ministry made a whopper of an announcement: in the year ending March 2013, total Japanese debt will surpass one quadrillion yen, or ¥1,086,000,000,000,000. This is roughly in line with the Zero Hedge expectations that by this March total Japanese debt would surpass one quadrillion yen. In USD terms, at today's exchange rate, this is precisely $14 trillion. And while smaller than America's $15.4 trillion (net of all post debt ceiling breach auctions), which was $14 trillion about a year ago, the GDP backing this notional amount of debt, which just so happens is greater than...

The risk of the southern Kanto region including Tokyo being hit by a major temblor within the next four years could be as high as about 70 percent, according to a study compiled by Monday by a team of researchers at the University of Tokyo's Earthquake Research Institute. The figure is the same as the 70 percent forecast given for a magnitude 7.0 temblor hitting the region in the ambiguous "next 30 years" that has been repeatedly issued by the government's Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion on the basis of intervals between large quakes in the past. Naoshi Hirata, a...

HONOLULU: Canada, Mexico and at least two other countries have expressed interest in joining US-led talks for a pan-Pacific trade pact, a US Republican lawmaker said on Friday after Japan asked to take part. “There’s a good deal of momentum for the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership),” Representative Kevin Brady said after meetings with members of President Barack Obama’s administration at the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. That momentum was evidenced by Japan’s announcement earlier on Friday that it was interested in joining the talks “and what seem to be very solid inquiries from Canada, Mexico and a few others,” Brady...

Battle for control of Asia's seas goes underwater YOKOSUKA, Japan (AP) — It's getting a bit more crowded under the sea in Asia, where Andrew Peterson commands one of the world's mightiest weapons: a $2 billion nuclear submarine with unrivaled stealth and missiles that can devastate targets hundreds of miles (kilometers) away. Super high-tech submarines like Cmdr. Peterson's USS Oklahoma City have long been the envy of navies all over the globe — and a key component of U.S. military strategy. "We really have no peer," Peterson told The Associated Press during a recent port call in Japan. But America's...

How China is advancing its military reach As the US shifts its focus to Asia, Alexander Neill, head of the Asia Security Programme at the Royal United Services Institute, sets out the Chinese military advances challenging the regional balance. At the Pentagon recently, US President Barack Obama announced deep cuts to the US military and set out a shift in attention towards the Asia-Pacific region, in a thinly-veiled message to China. Despite a narrative of peaceful intent, China's leaders have struggled to reassure the US over the direction of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). Both countries admit that their military...

TOKYO: A 5.7-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Japan on Thursday near the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, but did not cause any further problems at the power station, officials said. The quake hit in the Pacific, 22 kilometres (14 miles) east of Iwaki in southern Fukushima, at 12:20 pm (0320 GMT) at a depth of nine kilometres, the US Geological Survey said. A tsunami was not expected, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, and there were no immediate reports of damage. Nuclear plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant remained stable.

There have been a number of odd happenings recently at the plant. What they all mean right now is not totally clear. On January 2nd, the day after the widespread new years quake, the radioactive fallout levels in Fukushima and also in Chiba spiked. A weird white ash was reported by some in Chiba, no word if this is related in any way. On January 6th the cesium levels detected leaking out of unit 3′s intake canal tripled in one day. We still have no explanation for the rush of police cars, fire engines and two buses of workers to...

New 'silent camera' apps cause plague of voyeurism in Japan - and some are on sale in West 60 per cent rise in illicit photography Apps let users take photos - but only show innocent-looking emails on screen Silent camera apps already on sale in West By Rob Waugh Last updated at 12:55 AM on 3rd January 2012 Most smartphone cameras have a built-in shutter noise to prevent the camera being used to take pictures without people's consent. But a new wave of 'silent' apps - some specifically designed for voyeurism - have been blamed for a huge rise in...

So we enter Year IV of the Long Slump, the cruellest yet though not the most acute. Since the purpose of New Year predictions is to stick one's neck out. It will be a global downturn on all fronts, aborting what remains of recovery even before industrial output in the OECD bloc has regained its pre-Lehman peak. The second wave will hit with youth unemployment already at 45pc in Greece and 49pc in Spain; and with the US labour participation rate already at depression levels of 64pc. We will hear more about Italy's Red Brigades, Greece's Sect of Revolutionaries, and...

One-Ounce Gold Coins Popular among Women amid Uncertainty Tokyo, Jan. 2 (Jiji Press)--Economic uncertainty is increasing the popularity of one-ounce gold coins, available for less than 200,000 yen a unit, in Japan especially among women. At major gold retailer Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo, sales of gold coins in January-November totaled some 220,000 units, already nearly double the annual sales in 2010. Of the total, about 70 pct were one-ounce coins, and many of their buyers were women, according to Tanaka Kikinzoku. Gold prices soared toward autumn last year on the back of such economic concerns as the European debt crisis. Rising...

Most of Ron Paul’s Iowa campaign stops have been in the state’s largest population centers and college towns. Now, with a caucus victory within reach, the Texas congressman is taking his libertarian message to Iowa’s smaller cities. Paul visited Perry, Iowa over the noon hour on Thursday. The crowd of 100 was definitely more reserved than what Paul is used to. There was no standing ovation at the beginning or end of his speech. There were no whoops or cheers, but plenty of polite applause. “I like a lot of what he says, especially about the U.S. economy and balanced...

BEIJING: Japanese Premier Yoshihiko Noda's ongoing India visit aimed at boosting bilateral strategic ties was part of Tokyo's attempt to strengthen its alliances with Asia-Pacific nations to "contain" China, the official media here claimed today. Boosting ties with India is part of Japan's strategy of strengthening alliances with Asia-Pacific nations with an eye on China, state-run China Daily quoted security analysts as saying. The India-Japan summit is a continuance of Japan's "Arc of Freedom and Prosperity" strategy, which has been widely interpreted as an effort to contain China, Lu Yaodong, director of the department of Japanese diplomacy at the Institute...

In the days following the Great East Japan Earthquake the United States Armed Forces mobilized to aid Japan’s disaster relief efforts and launched ‘Operation Tomodachi’ (lit: Operation Friend). It has since become a large scale operation with the United States committing roughly 20,000 personnel, 20 ships and 160 aircraft to date. Efforts so far have included distributing supplies to the disaster area, searching for missing persons off the Sanriku Coast, cleaning up rubble and debris, and restoring a landing strip at the disaster-struck Sendai Airport. The United States also provided a specialized unmanned aircraft to photograph the area around the...

Impact Seen As Roughly Comparable to Radiation-Related Deaths After Chernobyl; Infants Are Hardest Hit, With Continuing Research Showing Even Higher Possible Death Count An estimated 14,000 excess deaths in the United States are linked to the radioactive fallout from the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear reactors in Japan, according to a major new article in the December 2011 edition of the International Journal of Health Services. This is the first peer-reviewed study published in a medical journal documenting the health hazards of Fukushima.Authors Joseph Mangano and Janette Sherman note that their estimate of 14,000 excess U.S. deaths in the 14...

Diocese may push for assassin’s canonization September 30, 2011 The Archdiocese of Seoul may launch a cause for the beatification of Thomas An Jung-geun, a Korean Catholic who assassinated the Japanese prime minister when Korea was under Japanese rule. The assassin “acted in righteous defense of the nation,” the late Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan said of the 1909 killing. “The Catholic Church does not regard killing committed to defend the nation from unjust aggression as a crime.” Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window. Committee pushes assassin’s sainthood (UCA News) An Jung-geun (Wikipedia)

Population decline is the elephant in the world's living room. As a matter of arithmetic, we know that the social life of most developed countries will break down within two generations. Two out of three Italians and three of four Japanese will be elderly dependents by 2050. If present fertility rates hold, the number of Germans will fall by 98% over the next two centuries. No pension and health care system can support such an inverted population pyramid. Nor is the problem limited to the industrial nations. Fertility is falling at even faster rates - indeed, at rates never before...

China has made an audacious move to force Iran to sell it cheaper crude, disrupting the flow of more than 10 per cent of its exports by cutting January imports in half. In contrast to other top Asian buyers worried about what sanctions mean for crude flows from the world's fifth-largest exporter, China has shown no public qualms about the risk that a disruption will drive up the cost of oil. The world's second-largest crude importer has chosen its moment for hard bargaining. Iran is facing the threat of fresh sanctions from the US and European Union over its nuclear...

As Prime Minister Noda plans to ask China if he can borrow pandas for the disaster recovery in Miyagi, Minister of Economy Yukio Edano wants to give gift certificates to all people in Fukushima as compensation for the nuclear accident. Gift certificates are to be used only within Fukushima Prefecture, in order to promote economic recovery of Fukushima. Fukushima Minpo reported the news only in its print version (12/23/2011). Here's partial translation from the image of the article (article image is posted on my Japanese blog): Idea to distribute gift certificates to all Fukushima residents, as compensation for the residents...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- The United States, Japan and India held their first trilateral dialogue here on Monday over a "wide range" of regional and global issues of common interest. "These discussions mark the beginning of a series of consultations among our three governments, who share common values and interests across the Asia-Pacific and the globe," the State Department said in a statement. Responding to the prevailing assumption that the meeting was aimed at containing China, Assistant Secretary Kurt Campbell dismissed the idea as "preposterous." Campbell said they would discuss at the event a number of issues, including "larger...

The Japanese government made a formal decision on Tuesday to choose the F-35 stealth jet, which is being developed by the United States and eight other countries, as the country's next-generation fighter jets… Japanese Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa said Japan adopted F-35 mainly for its high performance and 42 F-35 fighters will be acquired. The government said Japanese companies would participate in building the new aircraft. Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter, which had been reviewed along with Boeing's FA-18 Super Hornet and the Eurofighter Typhoon, will replace the country's 40-year-old fleet of F-4's.

Japan Chooses F-35 For Next Generation Fighter Jet . TOKYO—Japan's Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa said Tuesday that Tokyo has selected Lockheed Martin Corp.'s F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter as its next-generation jet, capping a multiyear vetting process to upgrade its aging fleet. The contract for the new fighter, dubbed the FX, totals 40 to 50 planes, according to Lockheed Martin, valued at an estimated $4 billion. It is Japan's most expensive fighter procurement ever and one of the world's largest military contracts this year. The Lockheed Martin jet won the contract over two lower-cost, combat-tested aircraft—Boeing Co.'s F-18 Super...

Boeing: F-35 hasn’t yet won in Japan Despite news reports claiming that Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will win Japan’s F-X fighter contest, Boeing officials say Tokyo delayed the contract award until next week because it is still heavily weighing all three contestants, including Boeing’s Super Hornet. “We think what they’ve done is taken another hard look at the full situation and have decided that if they do pick F-35 there are some things that they are not sure of right now, some risk in terms of cost and schedule,” saidPhil Mills, Boeing’s lead salesman for the F-X contest...

First debris from Japanese earthquake/tsunami reaches Olympic Peninsula By Arwyn Rice  Peninsula Daily News    Oceanographer Jim Ingraham answers questions about the islands of debris from the March 11 Japan tsunami that are slowly floating toward the Pacific Northwest. Behind him is a float, found east of Neah Bay, that is believed to be the first identified piece of wreckage to arrive via ocean currents. -- Photo by Arwyn Rice/Peninsula Daily News  PORT ANGELES — The first piece of debris that could be identified as washing up on the West Coast from the March 11 tsunami in Japan —...

A recent multi think-tank publication entitled “Shared Goals, Converging Interests: A Plan for U.S.–Australia–India Cooperation in the Indo–Pacific,” has apparently been the source of an about-face by Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd. Co-published by Australia’s Lowy Institute, India’s Observer Research Foundation, and the U.S. Heritage Institute, the authors called for a tripartite defense pact between the United States, Australia, and India in a world where “the rise of China…is posing the first serious challenge to U.S. military preeminence in Asia in half a century.” While there have been no official intergovernmental talks about this particular defense pact, on November 30,...

THE OFFICE OF PROPHET IS ABOUT TO RETURN TO THE CHURCH BODY WORLDWIDE ! The Office of Prophet is about to return , This is not from a person but from a yearn , From the calling of many for my voice to speak out , True guidance directly into My House , For many confusion has been the stage , But now I will speak both in grace and in rage , For judgement is here in My house , Holiness received and strange fire cast out , The true and faithful shall remain and be renewed , But...

A very well-written article from New York Times by Martin Fackler, on December 6, 2011. I translated this article and posted on my Japanese blog, but the futility of so-called "decontamination" is best summarized, to me, by the photo that the New York Times put at the top of the article: Even the ardent supporter for the residents' return by decontaminating the towns and cities, Professor Tatsuhiko Kodama of Tokyo University, has this to say: “I believe it is possible to save Fukushima,” said the supporter, Tatsuhiko Kodama, director of the Radioisotope Center at the University of Tokyo. “But many...

There are foreign nuclear experts who have said the explosion in Reactor 3 on March 14 at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant was a nuclear explosion. But this Japanese engineer and whistleblower at JNES (Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization) Setsuo Fujiwara says there were two explosions at Reactor 3: a hydrogen explosion, and a nuclear explosion at the Spent Fuel Pool. The following is my best-effort translation of the interview Fujiwara did with the SPA magazine, without detailed technical knowledge of nuclear physics, subject to revision. From Zakzak (12/13/2011): "The explosion in Reactor 3 at Fukushima I Nuke Plant on...

It seems "debt," "Greece," "crepe," or any other words that might relate to the current Euro crisis prompts a flurry of activity on stocks around the world. But if you thought Greece's and Italy's debts were high, there exists a country with an even higher debt-to-GDP ratio. Surprisingly, it also has some of the lowest government bond rates in the world. Let's take a look at this macro mystery.Land of the rising debtJapan's 2011 gross public debt as a percentage of GDP is estimated by the IMF at 234%. Compare this to down-but-not-yet-out Greece's at 139% and Italy's at 119%,...

Japan likely to pick F-35 fighter - Nikkei (Reuters) - Japan is likely to pick Lockheed Martin's (LMT.N) F-35 fighter jets to replace its ageing fleet of F-4 Phantom fighters, Japanese media reported on Tuesday, reaffirming strong security ties with the United States. The government will choose between two U.S. models -- the F-35 and the Boeing (BA.N) F/A-18 Super Hornet -- and a European third contender, the four-nation Eurofighter Typhoon, at a meeting of the national security council on Friday, the Nikkei business daily said. Analysts say the purchase is potentially worth $8 billion. The F-35 or Joint Strike...

The Weekend Is Over, And Markets Are Booming In Asia Joe Weisenthal Dec. 11, 2011, 8:00 PM One story is likely to dominate this week: What in the world did Europe just accomplish or not accomplish, and does the market buy it at all? Remember, on Friday we got a pretty nice rally, even though there was no fiscal union, and UK torpedoed a big EU wide treaty. The rally continues in the Asian Monday morning. The Nikkei is up nicely.

Things aren't looking good in Euroland While we are waiting for Mario and Merkozy plus, just a quick thought on one of the EMU break-up reports hitting my desk daily, and sometimes in twos and threes. (Ah, how I look back to those halcyon days when it was just we happy few, we band of brothers, tiny handful of Little Englanders, Danes, Swedes, cheese-eating Souverainistes, and Czech patriots, against the crushing force of orthodoxy.) The Dutch bank ING has had another go at the numbers, calculating that the Greek Drachma would fall by 80pc against the D-Mark in a full-blown...

More pics/links at Reaganite Republican Have a great weekend, everybody- ___________________________________________________________ Beauty.jp   Missology   The Examiner   ShinyMeteor   MetroNews.ru

"We interrupt this program to bring you a special news bulletin. The Japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, by air, President Roosevelt has just announced. The attack also was made on all naval and military activity from the principal island of Oahu." 1:55 PM EST Dec 7, 1941

The manufacturer will replace 400,000 cans of its baby formula free of charge. The brand that radioactive cesium has been found is "Meiji Step", a formula designed for infants 9 months and older. As the article by Sponichi below states, Meiji is the largest manufacturer of baby formulas with 40% market share. Meiji did its own testing and disclosed the number. Will other makers follow suit? SNIP "Meiji Step", a baby formula manufactured and sold by Meiji (headquartered in Tokyo), one of the largest food manufacturers in Japan, has been found with the maximum 30.8 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium by...

An outing of luxury sportscar enthusiasts in Japan ended in an expensive freeway pileup -- smashing a stunning eight Ferraris, a Lamborghini and two Mercedes likely worth more than $1 million together.

Japan Weighs Options for Pricey Fighter Jets By CHESTER DAWSON TOKYO—Japan is upgrading air defenses increasingly tested by China and Russia, and officials are wrestling with a fundamental question: Can the country still afford to pay for the most advanced technology and nurture its domestic industry? In a move expected as soon as this month, Japan's Defense Ministry will pick a replacement for its aging squadrons of Vietnam-era F-4 fighters from among three finalists, two American and one European. The order for a new fighter is expected to total 40 to 60 planes valued at an estimated $4 billion. It...

STEVE KEEN: The Best We Can Hope For Is Japanese Style Stagnation Gus Lubin Dec. 3, 2011, 6:45 AM If you haven't heard of him, think of Steve Keen as the Nouriel Roubini of Australia: a vocal economist who pissed people off for predicting the recession before it happened, and is still pissing people off predicting further economic crisis. In fact Keen says the world in another Great Depression, where developed countries would be lucky to come out as easily as Japan. Here's an excerpt from his interview with BBC's HardTalk: HT: Do you really think we’re headed for another...

There you go! It took TEPCO only 8 and a half months to say what many people have been saying at least for 8 months. The corium has long escaped the Reactor Pressure Vessel AND the Containment Vessel of Reactor 1 (that much TEPCO has actually admitted, but..), and has eaten into the concrete pedestal to about 65-centimeter deep. For Reactors 2 and 3, TEPCO thinks (hopes, wishes...) that a good chunk of the corium dropped from the RPV onto the CV. No mention whether the corium there is eating into the concrete or not. From NHK News (11/30/2011; quick...

TEPCO's worst-case scenario (here and here) pales in comparison with the analysis by the Institute of Applied Energy, also presented on November 30 at the workshop held by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency. From what Yomiuri Shinbun reported (01:01AM JST 12/1/2011): The analysis done by the Institute of Applied Energy commissioned by the national government, 85% of fuel dropped to the Containment Vessel in Reactor 1, and 70% of fuel dropped to the Containment Vessels in Reactors 2 and 3. The researchers at the Institute pointed out the possibility of the damage to the stainless-steel shroud that surrounds the...

The scheduled talks between China and India over border issues at the end of November were temporarily postponed. While speculations about this decision are varied, one thing is certain: India, whose GDP is a third of China's, has been maintaining a bold stance when dealing with China. Indian public opinion will not permit concessions to China, but China will not yield to India's demand on border issues either. This is where the dilemma is. Both sides must keep the border issue from worsening by focusing on keeping goodwill talks alive and being mindful of the consequences of a sudden breakdown....