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kumiki 組み木 wooden puzzle dolls



They are made with patterns for the doll festival of the girls or the Boy's festival and other seasonal festivals. They also feature legendary people and animals. They are cut out from one piece of wood and then laquered.
Made by the workshop Sora Tobu Kujira 空とぶくじら in Date town
(A whale flies in the sky)

Date town -
a whale used to fly
high in the sky

. Folk Toys from Fukushima .

Date town is now much affected by the radiation problems.


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Gabi reports:

. . . . . at 9:57
Earthquake M 7.1, off the coast of Sanriku

It was felt as 4 on the land.
It was felt as 1 all the way down to Nara!

watched the news at 11:25
The tsunami is expected along all of the coast, but only of about 10 to 50 cm.
Fukushima reactors are all working orderly, no problems there.

Tsunami advisories issued after quake : NHK news
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit northeastern Japan on Sunday morning.
The agency issued tsunami advisories for coastal regions of Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures at 10AM.
The region was devastated by the March 11th earthquake and tsunami.
Tremors with an intensity of 4 on the Japanese seismic scale of 0 to 7 were felt at around 9:57 AM.
Japan's Meteorological Agency says the quake had a focus off the coast of Sanriku, at a depth of 10 kilometers.
The agency observed the first wave off Miyagi Prefecture at 10:28 AM. It estimates 50 centimeter tsunami will hit coastal areas.
Tokyo Electric Power Company says it has found no problems with its Fukushima Daiichi and Daini nuclear plants as a result of the quake. It says it ordered its workers to move away from the coast.
.
Sunday, July 10, 2011 12:14
Tsunami advisories lifted at 11:45
The Meteorological Agency lifted tsunami advisories for coastal regions of Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures before noon.
A magnitude 7.3 earthquake hit northeastern Japan on Sunday morning. Tremors felt at around 9:57 AM had an intensity of 4 on the Japanese seismic scale of 0 to 7.
Tsunami advisories were issued for the areas at 10AM.
The agency observed 10 centimeter waves at Ofunato port in Iwate Prefecture and Soma port in Fukushima Prefecture. But after that, it observed no major tsunami and lifted the advisories at 11:45 AM.
The agency says the quake had a focus off the coast of Sanriku, at a depth of 34 kilometers. It originally estimated the magnitude at 7.1, but later upgraded it to 7.3.
Local police and fire departments report no major damage as a result of the earthquake.
from NHK world news


. . . . . at 13:18
Earthquake M 4.5, off Ibaraki coast

. . . . . at 14:24
Earthquake M 4.7, off Sanriku coast


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Another cloudy but very humid day is beginning.
Later in the day the first cicada of this year started chirping, the sun came out and suddenly it was 36 degrees centigrade HOT HOT HOT!
Now the summer is here!


The story of the contaminated beef is another one of confusion ...


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Bulletins from NHK Online
source : www3.nhk.or.jp

Sunday, July 10, 2011 02:12
Kaieda outlines Japan recovery to ASEAN ministers
Japan's economy minister Banri Kaieda has described the country's recovery from the March 11th disaster in his speech to his ASEAN counterparts.
Kaieda attended a meeting of Japanese business groups and the economy ministers of South East Asian nations in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.
Kaieda said that more than 60 percent of production bases in the disaster areas had recovered as of April, and the rest is expected to be restored by the end of July.
He said that the situation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is gradually being stabilized, although it's not yet fully under control.
In talks later, ASEAN ministers said they hope to invite more investment from Japan to help narrow development gaps within the region.
They also called for more cooperation in energy trading. The ASEAN area is a major natural gas exporter to Japan.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Kaieda said that he understood how much South East Asia expects of Japan. He also asked the ASEAN ministers to consider scientific evidence when discussing rumors of nuclear contamination of Japanese products.


Sunday, July 10, 2011 07:33
Tokyo traces cows from contaminated farm
The Tokyo Metropolitan government has begun tracing beef from 6 cows shipped from a Fukushima farm where 11 other cows were found contaminated with high levels of radioactive cesium.
On Friday, tests detected 1,530 to 3,200 becquerels per kilogram of cesium in beef from the 11 cows raised in Minami Soma city, about 20 kilometers from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The national safety limit is 500 becquerels. Tokyo ordered the beef to be removed from distribution.
But beef from 6 cows shipped from the farm to Tokyo and Tochigi in May and June are believed to have already made it to market without radiation testing. Tests were supposed to have been conducted at the production site.
Tokyo plans to collect the beef for examination, if it can locate it along the distribution routes.
The Tokyo Metropolitan government is calling for tests to be conducted at production sites. Tokyo says it's difficult to check all the cows shipped to the city.
.
Sunday, July 10, 2011 13:11
Cattle farm inspected for radiation-tainted beef
Fukushima prefectural officials have started an inspection of a cattle farm in Minami-Soma city. Radioactive cesium surpassing the government's safe limits was detected in cattle shipped from the farm.
1,530 to 3,200 becquerels of radioactive cesium per 1 kilogram was detected in 11 head of cattle carried to a meat processing firm in Tokyo.
Fukushima prefectural authorities asked the municipality to refrain from shipping beef cattle.
The officials visited the farm on Sunday morning to make inquiries about feed and water given to the cattle.
The inspection has found that the 11 cattle were kept inside a barn, and since last fall, they had been fed with straw that was stored indoors and mixed with feed from outside the prefecture. They were given water drawn from a well.
No radioactive substances were detected on the skin of the cattle in pre-shipment screening.
The prefecture will also analyze water and feed samples at a laboratory to determine the source of the contamination.


Sunday, July 10, 2011 12:51
TEPCO: Quake caused no problems at nuclear plants
Tokyo Electric Power Company says it has found no problems with its Fukushima Daiichi and Daini nuclear power plants as a result of Sunday's quake.
TEPCO says it ordered Daiichi plant workers to move away from coastal areas to higher ground after tsunami advisories were issued for the Fukushima coast. It also stopped moving low-level contaminated water from the plant to a giant steel storage barge.
The company confirms the safety of all the workers.
TEPCO says the work to inject cooling water into the reactors is proceeding as usual. It adds that no problem was found with external power supply.
As for radiation readings, the company says no changes were detected at monitoring posts around the 2 plants.
Tohoku Electric Power Company says it has found no problems with its Onagawa nuclear plant in Miyagi Prefecture and Higashidori plant in Aomori Prefecture. It says their reactors were not in operation at the time of the quake.


Sunday, July 10, 2011 14:14
Meteorological Agency warns of aftershocks
Japan's Meteorological Agency says Sunday's earthquake in northeastern Japan was likely an aftershock of the March 11th earthquake.
An agency official in charge of quake and tsunami monitoring, Akira Nagai, spoke to reporters on Sunday following the magnitude 7.3 earthquake.
Nagai said the latest quake is believed to have been caused by faults shifting horizontally in the Pacific plate, an oceanic tectonic plate.
He said the number of aftershocks is on the decline, but warned of the possibility that aftershocks with a magnitude of 7 and over could occur due to the enormous strength of the March quake


Sunday, July 10, 2011 16:46
TEPCO suspends decontamination system
The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has suspended part of the activity of the radioactive water decontamination system as a liquid substance was found leaking from the device.
Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, said that it stopped the system on Sunday morning. The liquid was found leaking from the hose for injecting chemicals to break down radioactive materials in the French-made device.
About 50 liters of liquid is believed to have leaked.
TEPCO said it is examining whether the liquid was the chemicals or radioactive water, as well as the cause of the leak. The company added that it is doing its best to resume the operation as soon as possible.
The system to recycle decontaminated water is the key to cooling reactors.
But TEPCO has to shut down the system frequently as it has been having continued problems since the start of its use on June 27th.
The utility has only one week left until July 17th, when it is scheduled to complete the first stage of the plan to bring the facility under control.
But the operating rate of the system during the week through last Tuesday was below the target, showing the difficulty the firm is facing.


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Voices from around



Japan Times :

Insider blew whistle on Kyushu Electric TV stunt
The scandal in which Kyushu Electric Power Co. tried to make local residents appear supportive of restarting the utility's nuclear reactors was brought to light by an in-house whistle-blower.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110710a1.html

Students from Taiwan denied disaster funds
Taiwanese students attending universities in Tohoku at their own expense were barred from applying for emergency funds after the March disaster due to the lack of diplomatic relations with Taipei.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110710a2.html


Heatstroke surge feared as people save power
As the mercury rises to levels unseen in decades and amid the nationwide power-saving drive, health experts warn the public of the risk of heatstroke if they refrain too much from using air conditioning.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110710a3.html


Nuke crisis panel to question hundreds of people
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110710a4.html

Media were quick off the mark with March 11 disaster publications
MARK SCHREIBER
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/fd20110710bj.html

. . . . .

Tuesday, July 12, 2011 15:56 - NHK WORLD
Over 100 involved in Kyushu Power's e-mail scam
Over 100 people are now thought to have been involved in a scam by the operator of the Genkai nuclear power plant to get its reactors turned back on.
Kyushu Electric Power Company is under fire after its executives told about 50 subordinates at its head office and affiliates to send supportive e-mails and faxes to a meeting hosted by the government.
The meeting was called to explain safety measures before restarting the Number 2 and 3 reactors of the Genkai plant in Saga prefecture.
On Tuesday, it was found that workers at a company branch in Saga were also told to send messages to the meeting, bringing the total involved to over 100.
That accounts for more than 30 percent of the opinions at the meeting that were in favor of restarting the reactors.
Kyushu Electric warns that the number may increase further and says it will submit a report of its investigation to the government by the end of the week.
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/12_25.html


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shoofuku kokeshi 招福こけし
wooden dolls to invite good luck

by Sato Kooson 佐藤香村, Date Town


. Folk Toys from Fukushima .


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