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The sixth month after the shock starts !





five months later -

nothing can erase

these memories











. Remember March 11, 2011, 14:46 　





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Gabi reports:



It is now five months since the great earthquake, tsunami and reactor crises.





Thursday, August 11, 2011 09:23 - NHK world news



5 months after March 11th disaster

As of July 28th, more than 87,000 people have lost their homes due to the disasters or have been forced to evacuate by the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Nearly 90 percent of planned temporary housing units have been completed but some remain vacant because they've been built in remote areas.

The government plans to draw up measures next month to address tenants' complaints that there's no place to shop nearby and the homes aren't barrier-free.

More than 140,000 people in Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima prefectures have lost their jobs, but there have been only about 86,000 job offers. Over 700 households in these prefectures are on welfare.

The labor ministry plans to step up support for the jobless in the region by asking businesses nationwide to give them priority in hiring, among other tactics.

The Environment Ministry says all debris in residential areas in the 3 prefectures, with the exception of the evacuation zone around the Fukushima plant, is expected to be removed by the end of this month. But the percentage of total debris that has only been moved to temporary dumps stands at 68 percent in Iwate, 43 percent in Miyagi and 39 percent in Fukushima.



15,689 people have been confirmed dead and

4,744 remain missing as of Wednesday.



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Take a look at a video from the Tsunami,

taken from inside a car at the coast near Sendai:

source : japanesetsunami



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LIGHT UP NIPPON

fireworks for August 11



source : lightupnippon.j



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Bulletins from NHK Online



source : www3.nhk.or.jp





2,400 lanterns lit for disaster victims - NHK

About 2,400 lanterns were lit in Iwate Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on Thursday night to pray for the victims of the March 11th disaster.

In the Taro district in Miyako City many homes were swept away when the tsunami overwhelmed a dike that was 10 meters high and 2.4 kilometers long.

The lanterns were arranged on the partially damaged dike and the grounds of a nearby temple.

The lanterns were lit using a flame from the "1.17 the Light of Hope", a monument in the city of Kobe set up to pray for recovery from the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake.

Visitors to the site were seen quietly watching the gentle lights.

A 64-year-old woman, who lost her husband and 5-year-old grandchild, said it feels like the 5 months have passed in the blink of an eye. With tears in her eyes she related that she wishes she could watch the beautiful lanterns with her husband and grandchild.





Moment of silence at retirement home in Miyagi

A moment of silence was observed at a retirement home in northeastern Japan on Thursday to mark the 5-month anniversary of the March 11th disaster.

At the facility in Higashi-Matsushima City, Miyagi Prefecture, 54 of the 58 residents and 11 staffers were killed by the tsunami. Another resident remains missing.

The facility is scheduled to be demolished. But the surviving staffers are continuing to remove mud and debris. On Thursday, they brought out mud-covered beds and retrieved clothes from chests.

At 2:46 PM, the exact time the earthquake struck, the staff stopped working and held a moment of silence at an altar.

Staff member Toshikazu Fukuda said his life has been turned upside down by the disaster. He added it is beyond belief that many of the residents and his colleagues died at a place where they had been living peacefully.





Thursday, August 11, 2011 13:45

Kesennuma marks 5 months since tsunami

Flower altars were set up across Kesennuma City, Miyagi prefecture on Thursday, exactly 5 months after the March 11th earthquake and tsunami.

The tsunami and an ensuing fire damaged 9,500 homes in the city and left over 1,400 people dead or missing.

On Thursday, flower altars were set up at 13 locations, including schools and fish markets.

Many residents were seen praying at Kesennuma Elementary School, one of the evacuation sites.

72-year old Hideo Kumagai said his daughter, who has 2 children, remains missing and that he hopes she is found soon.

Takeshi Futami, whose home and workplace near the port were swept away, says the central government's rebuilding efforts are too slow. He says he wants authorities to quickly present plans to elevate the ground level.



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Thursday, August 11, 2011 03:18 - NHK

Filtering system not working well at TEPCO plant

The decontamination of radioactive water at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is failing to reach its target, putting the timetable for bringing its reactors under control in doubt.

Exactly five months have passed since the plant's cooling system was shut down by the earthquake and tsunami disaster on March 11th.

Operator Tokyo Electric Power Company has entered stage two of its timetable to end the nuclear crisis. TEPCO aims to stably cool the reactors by Januay next year.

Decontaminating thousands of tons of wastewater at the site holds the key.

But failures of the installed filtering system have prevented the utility from achieving its initial operating rate of 90 percent. The figure as of Wednesday stands at 66 percent.

The system has been hit by a string of different malfunctions, though it has been fully operating for more than a month.

The man in charge of nuclear disasters at the Nuclear Safety Commission, Yoshinori Moriyama 森山善範, said on Wednesday that Tepco must improve the system by pinpointing the common root of problems, rather than addressing them ad hoc.

To complete the second stage, Tepco must reduce the amount of polluted water to prevent radioactive materials from spilling outside. That means it must operate the decontamination system effectively.





Thursday, August 11, 2011 10:24

Nuclear commission erases children's exposure data

Japan's nuclear watchdog has been found to have erased from its website, data on the results of thyroid checkups for children in Fukushima Prefecture.

The Nuclear Safety Commission had uploaded the test results carried out by the government in March. More than 1,000 children aged 15 or younger were checked to see whether radioactive substances are accumulating in their thyroid.

The results included information that showed a 4-year-old infant in Iwaki City was exposed to 35 millisieverts of radiation. This amount is not considered a health threat.

But the commission removed all the data earlier this month. It cited the possibility that individual children could be identified because detailed information such as the 4-year-old's address was included.

The deletion is drawing criticism as no other similar data is available on children's health. Children have greater risks of developing thyroid cancer.

Professor emeritus Hirotada Hirose of Tokyo Woman's Christian University says the commission cannot escape blame that it removed the data fearing a negative reaction to children's exposure. He said the move runs counter to providing accurate information to the public.





Thursday, August 11, 2011 11:57

US military keeping radioactive waste in Futenma

The Okinawa prefectural government has asked the Foreign Ministry to provide information on radioactive waste held at a US base in the prefecture.

The US military carried out an operation to help Japan's northeastern areas that were hit by the earthquake and tsunami in March.

Aircraft and other equipment mobilized in the operation were contaminated by fallout from the ensuing nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Radioactive waste such as cloth and other material used to remove contamination are being kept at the US Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa, as well as at a US naval base in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture.

The Foreign Ministry notified the Okinawa prefectural government about the matter on Wednesday.

The Japanese government is reportedly working on setting standards and guidelines for disposing of radioactive waste.

A spokesperson for the US Marines in Okinawa said the US military will properly keep the waste until the Japanese government disposes of it, adding its radiation level is so low that there is no possibility of a leak to the outside.



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Voices from around







August 8

Fukushima, Iitate village : 2.60

Tokyo : 0.059



. Daily Radiation Levels - LIST 　



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Japan Times:



Deal on bills looks to pave Kan's way out

Prime Minister Naoto Kan's hoped-for exit by month's end gets new legs after a Lower House committee OKs a key bond-issuance bill for passage later in the month and Democratic Party of Japan lawmakers begin laying the groundwork for a race to elect a new leader.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110811a1.html



Cattle giant files for bankruptcy

Agura Bokujo, a cattle farm business with operations nationwide, files for bankruptcy protection, blaming the crisis at the leaking Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, which it says prompted a rise in canceled contracts after radioactive elements were detected in beef.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nb20110811a1.html





Parents of kids killed on 3/11 sue school

Parents of four children killed when their kindergarten bus was engulfed by the March 11 tsunami file a lawsuit against the school in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, seeking compensation for its failure to ensure the children's safety.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110811a2.html





Chiba rice free of radioactivity

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110811a3.html





New dimension in peace appeal

Mayor Tomihisa Taue of Nagasaki on Tuesday

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/ed20110811a1.html



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87,000 still in limbo five months after quake

Memorial services take place to mark the passing of five months since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110812a1.html



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SHIMANUKI store



Daruma from Tohoku to buy in Japan

東北の「変わりダルマ

source : shimanuki 142









Things for Good Luck 縁起物

source : shimanuki 147



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Second Harvest Japan

Disaster Relief Report



http://2hjdrbloge.blogspot.com/



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Daruma from Takasaki 高崎　復興祈願 だるま



Print one out and hang it in your prayer corner!



ganbaro !! Nihon

ガンバロー　日本









がんばろう　日本　Ganbaro Nippon !









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. Toys and Talismans from Japan .　





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