In terms of soil contamination, the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant is only about an eighth as severe as the meltdown at the Chernobyl plant, in what is now Ukraine, in 1986, according to a report by the science ministry released Tuesday.
The study, which began in June and was conducted by the ministry in cooperation with universities and semigovernmental bodies including the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, looked at 2,200 sites within a 100-km radius of the Fukushima plant, which had three reactor meltdowns.
(Japan Times)
Fukushima soil fallout far short of Chernobyl
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Auto giants, other major makers cut '12 bonuses
Major Japanese manufacturers offered reduced bonuses in negotiations Wednesday for fiscal 2012 from next month, citing a deterioration in the business environment in the wake of the March 2011 earthquake and the yen's historic strength.
Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. fully accepted their unions' bonus requests, which were lower than the previous year. An average annual bonus totals ¥1.78 million, equivalent to five months' wages plus ¥30,000 for Toyota and five months' wages for Honda. (Japan Times)
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Sharp names new president as losses mount
Sharp Corp named the head of its global operations as president to turn around a company facing a record annual loss, the latest Japanese firm to shake up management after tumbling into the red on slumping TV sales.
Takashi Okuda, 58, a company veteran of over 30 years, immediately pledged to revamp the company after he takes the helm on April 1. He will replace Mikio Katayama, who becomes chairman. (Reuters)
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Shinkansen off power six hours
Kyushu Railway Co. executives apologized Wednesday for stopping bullet-train services for six hours Tuesday, citing "insufficient experience" in trouble-shooting compared with other Japan Rail companies.
The shutdown affected about 9,000 JR Kyushu passengers and forced some to spend the night aboard shinkansen cars.
Workers found a large plastic sheet hanging on an overhead wire for bullet trains between Kurume and Chikugofunagoya stations. They switched off the power supply for the wire and stopped one train at 4 p.m. (Japan Times)
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Radioactive material sank into ground after Japan crisis
Radioactive substances were believed to have sunk 10 to 30 centimetres into the ground after escaping from damaged Japanese nuclear reactors, Kyodo News reports, citing a research institution.
Researchers said radioactivity was detected 5 centimetres beneath the ground three months after the start of the nuclear emergency at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, which was struck by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
After fires and blasts, the plant released massive amounts of radioactivity into the environment. (timeslive.co.za)
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Global Fund welcomes $340 million contribution by Japan
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria today welcomed a $340 million contribution by Japan, the highest amount that Japan has ever made in 10 years of vigorous support for the Global Fund. Japan is now making its first payment of US$ 216 million for its 2012 contribution.
"Japan has always been a leader in the fight against disease, but this is a great vote of confidence in our commitment to saving lives," said Gabriel Jaramillo, General Manager of the Global Fund. "We recognize Japan's determination to see real advances in global health, and we are equally determined to deliver." (sacbee.com)
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AKB48, Misia to sing at cherry blossom concerts in Washington to thank U.S.
Two of Japan's best-selling pop acts will play in Washington to mark the centennial of the capital's cherry blossoms and offer thanks for U.S. support after last year's tsunami, organizers said Monday.
Misia, Japan's best-known R&B singer who has sold more than 30 million albums, will perform on March 25 at a ceremony to celebrate 100 years since Japan gifted the celebrated pink-flowering trees to the United States.
AKB48 will perform two free concerts on March 27 and also visit a local school, the Japanese embassy said. (Japan Today)
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Nikkei closes above 10,000 for first time in 7-mths
Japan's Nikkei average climbed 1.5 percent to close above 10,000 for the first time in seven months on Wednesday, boosted by Wall Street gains after the Fed upgraded its U.S. economic outlook, while Tokyo shares received a further lift from a weaker yen.
Exporters and financials outperformed, with Sony Corp jumping 5.2 percent, Nissan Motor Co Ltd up 3.8 percent and Japan's leading investment bank Nomura Holdings Inc adding 3.4 percent.
(Reuters)
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Developed economies to pick up steam in 2012: Reuters poll
Developed economies will pick up steam this year thanks to an array of ultra-loose monetary policies from major central banks and amid new signs of progress in the euro zone's debt crisis, Reuters polls found.
The surveys of over 250 economists, taken in the past few days, saw 2012 growth forecasts for the euro zone, Britain and Japan revised up, but left unchanged for the United States.
Greece, the source of the currency bloc's debt crisis, swapped its privately held bonds at the weekend for new, longer maturity paper with less than half the nominal value, cutting its debt by more than 100 billion euros ($131 billion).
(Reuters)
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Sumo: Baruto's title chase hits bump
Estonia-born ozeki Baruto saw his bid for yokozuna promotion take a hit Wednesday as he was sent to a shock first defeat at the hands of Mongolian sekiwake Kakuryu on the fourth day of the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament.
Baruto's slapdash sumo style reared its ugly head in his first real test of the 15-day meet, when he was toppled onto his back by rival Kakuryu, who improved to a 4-0 mark to share the lead with lone yokozuna Hakuho, ozeki Harumafuji and rank-and-filer Takayasu.
(Japan Times)
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Tale of trouble at Japan pension funds
A scandal involving the alleged disappearance of billions of dollars in pension-fund money is highlighting an uncomfortable truth here. Most of the pension plans set up by groups of small businesses in Japan are under water, the latest data from the health ministry shows, even as the burden of future payouts grows in step with the aging of the country's population.
Last month, Japanese financial regulators alleged that most of the roughly ¥200 billion ($2.4 billion) in funds overseen by AIJ Investment Advisors Co.-an asset manager that specialized in handling such small-business pensions-was missing. Regulators are still investigating.
(Wall Street Journal)
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DoCoMo users hit 60 million, half Japan's population
Though its growth has slowed significantly in recent years, DoCoMo managed to get more than 60 million Japanese to sign up for contracts as of last Sunday.
That's nearly half Japan's population of 127 million. The figure includes subscribers to DoCoMo's LTE, 3G, and 2G mobile services.
DoCoMo's high growth period in the late 1990s saw it increasing by 10 million users in only 18 months. But recent years have proven more challenging for the phone giant.
(CNET)
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India, China, Japan join hands for anti-piracy operations
India has joined China and Japan to coordinate their anti-piracy operations and naval deployment in the Gulf of Aden to escort merchant vessels, the Rajya Sabha was informed Wednesday.
"India, China and Japan have recently agreed for better coordination amongst their naval ships deployed for anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden," Defence Minister A.K. Antony said in a written reply.
(twocircles.net)
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Japan fails to settle university dispute
It has been a rough year for materials scientist Akihisa Inoue, the president of Tohoku University in Japan.
Last March, an earthquake crippled his campus (see Nature 483,141-143; 2012). Since then, he has had to retract a series of papers because they contained text that had appeared in his previous publications, and has faced continuing calls for his resignation from the university, which he has rejected. His critics, mostly professors at his university, claim that some of his work cannot be replicated, and that there are irregularities in the data in some of his papers (see Nature 470, 446-447; 2011).
(nature.com)
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Ex-TV personality held over rape, robbery
A 25-year-old former TV personality who had been accused of robbery and injury in another case was rearrested Wednesday on suspicion of raping and robbing a woman after breaking into her apartment in Tokyo, police said.
According to the Metropolitan Police Department, Alexander Lee Dela Fuente broke into the Ota Ward apartment of the woman in her 20s at about midnight on June 28. He chloroformed her until she became unconscious, and then raped her and stole 5,000 yen and a cash card, police said. (Yomiuri)
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Another hike in sales tax seen in FY16
The government likely will raise the consumption tax rate further in fiscal 2016 after hiking it from the current 5 percent to 10 percent in two steps, it was learned Wednesday.
The gist of bills to raise the consumption tax rate, which the government aims to submit to the Diet this month, says the rate will be raised to 8 percent in April 2014 and 10 percent in October 2015.
(Yomiuri)
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Google pays tribute to origami pioneer
Google paid tribute on Wednesday to the "father of the modern origami" Akira Yoshizawa by transforming its celebrated homepage logo into an homage to the folded-paper art pioneer.
To mark what would have been Yoshizawa's 101st birthday, the letters in Google's name are formed by folded paper shapes created by origami artist Robert Lang.
Lang also wrote a blog post explaining how to create the origami letters.
(Japan Today)
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Bodies of elderly woman, son lie undiscovered in apartment for weeks
Police said Thursday that the bodies of a mother and her son were found in their apartment in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture, on Wednesday, and that they likely died 2-3 weeks ago.
The bodies of Fuyo Midorikawa, 92, and her 64-year-old son Kiyomitsu were found after a neighbor noticed they had not been collecting their newspapers, TBS reported.
Fuyo's younger brother, who visited the apartment, was quoted as saying he saw Kiyomitsu lying by a heated coffee table, while Fuyo was on her futon.
(Japan Today)
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Badeball: Giants accused of salary breach
Japan's richest baseball team, the Yomiuri Giants, could face an investigation after a newspaper report said they regularly burst the professional league's salary limit between 1997 and 2004.
The Asahi newspaper reported that the Giants paid six players more than the maximum contract of 150 million yen ($1.78 million) to acquire their services.
The total amount paid was reported as 3.6 billion yen.
(Reuters)
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67th anniversary of battle at Iwo Jima marked
A brass band played under a blazing sun as American veterans and Japanese dignitaries gathered Wednesday on the remote island of Iwo Jima to mark the 67th anniversary of one of World War II's bloodiest and most symbolic battles.
The guests from both nations saluted their flags near the foot of Mt. Suribachi, where five U.S. Marines and a Navy corpsman raised the U.S. flag in 1945. An Associated Press photo of them would become the most iconic image of the Pacific war.
Fighting began on Feb. 19, 1945, and Iwo Jima was declared secure on March 26. Virtually all the Japanese soldiers were killed in the battle, which claimed 6,821 U.S. and 21,570 Japanese lives.
(freep.com)
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