"Tsunami decisions divide a Japanese town" by Chico Harlan | Washington Post July 06, 2014
MINAMISANRIKU, Japan — The town workers in Minamisanriku have became a poignant source of national pride in Japan, their sacrifice already highlighted in some school textbooks. But in Minamisanriku, that narrative is now under siege.
Eventually we all learn our received history was a lie.
A painful debate is underway about the decisions made by its mayor that day and particularly whether its emergency workers should have been evacuated — as advised by the town’s disaster protocol — along with other citizens.
Conventional thinking casts Japan’s mega-tsunami as an unpreventable tragedy, but disasters, viewed up close, are rarely clear-cut, composed of so many small decisions that spare or cost lives. The debate in this town — in which a former mayor has turned against the current one — speaks to the nature of disaster aftermaths, and the sometimes complicated process of determining whether death was preventable.
There have been conspiracy theories floated; however, I'm not addressing them here. I'm on one mission, to see one word.
In some calamities, like the Gulf of Mexico oil spill or South Korea’s ferry sinking last month, the guilty parties are easy to pinpoint. But in Japan, the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami have left behind a more ambiguous search for blame and absolution, one that persists even as the region tries to rebuild.
The coverage has pretty much collapsed on both.
Questions about the Minamisanriku mayor’s decisions emerged soon after the tsunami. The case is particularly charged, because it involves two of the town’s most prominent men.
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"Massive typhoon batters Okinawa" Associated Press July 08, 2014
TOKYO — A powerful typhoon pounded across the southern Japanese islands of Okinawa on Tuesday, as residents took refuge from destructive winds, towering waves, and storm surges.
Airports closed and hundreds of people were evacuated from low-lying areas and shorelines as Typhoon Neoguri passed over Okinawa, packing sustained winds of 108 miles per hour and gusts up to 154 miles per hour, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. It said the storm could be one of the strongest to hit Japan in decades, generating waves up to 46 feet high.
The storm was moving slowly and diminishing in intensity, but its wide area and slow movement could add to the potential damage, weather forecasters said.
Television reports showed some downed branches. The national broadcaster NHK said an 83-year-old woman had suffered a head injury and a fisherman was missing after being swept off a boat. Some 22,100 homes in Okinawa were without electricity.
Government leaders held an emergency meeting Monday, and urged local governments and residents to take maximum precautions. Authorities in China and Taiwan also warned ships to stay clear of the storm.
The rewritten update left out the damage to the Philippines.
Forecasts show the storm tracking toward Kyushu Island and then across Japan’s main island of Honshu. It is forecast to lose more of its power over land, but wind and heavy rain could cause landslides and other damage.
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"Typhoon blasts Okinawan islands" by Elaine Kurtenbach | Associated Press July 09, 2014
TOKYO — A typhoon paralyzed transportation and knocked out power to thousands on the southern Japanese islands of Okinawa on Tuesday.
The Okinawan government said 17 people were injured, one seriously. Separately, a man was reported missing from a fishing boat in rough seas off Kyushu island, to the north.
One of the strongest and biggest typhoons to hit during Japan’s summer, Typhoon Neoguri was packing sustained winds of 100 miles per hour and gusts up to 134 miles per hour in late evening, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
The storm was weakening, but forecasters said its wide area and slow movement could add to the potential damage. Japan is relatively well prepared for typhoons, but torrential rains could cause greater damage if the typhoon moves across the Japanese archipelago as expected on Thursday or Friday.
‘‘Please refrain from nonessential activities and from approaching hazardous areas,’’ said Meteorological Agency official Satoshi Ebihara.
Local airports were closed and nearly 600,000 people were advised to evacuate their homes, though most stayed put, taking refuge from the destructive winds, waves up to 46 feet high, and storm surges that were set to intensify.
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"One injured in Japan earthquake" Associated Press July 12, 2014
TOKYO — A strong earthquake hit Japan’s northern coast near the nuclear power plant crippled in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The earthquake early Saturday triggered a small tsunami and injured at least one person.
Japan’s Meteorological Agency said the 6.8-magnitude quake struck 6 miles below the sea surface off the coast of Fukushima. The 4:22 a.m. quake shook buildings in Tokyo, about 120 miles southwest of the epicenter.
That is the word I'm looking for, and it shows up on a Slow Saturday.
Nothing about the hundreds of tons of contaminated water leaking into the Pacific each and every day since the whole thing began, huh?
An 8-inch tsunami reached the coast of Ishinomaki Ayukawa and Ofunato, about 50 minutes after the quake. Smaller waves were observed at several other locations along the coast. Changes to the shoreline were not visible on television footage by public broadcaster NHK.
In Fukushima, a 68-year-old woman fell down the stairs and broke her leg, the prefectural police said. No damage was reported.
All tsunami and evacuation advisories were lifted about two hours after the quake.
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Not even worth a Next Day Update.
"Japan easing sanctions on N. Korea; Tokyo seeks help in investigation of kidnappings" by Chico Harlan | Washington Post July 04, 2014
SEOUL — Japan decided Thursday to lift or ease several sanctions against North Korea, an effort to improve relations that comes as Pyongyang reinvestigates decades-old kidnappings of Japanese nationals.
Doesn't anyone listen to their AmeriKan masters anymore?
The sanctions that Japan rolled back were unilateral, and Tokyo will continue to abide by resolutions imposed by the UN Security Council. Still, Japan’s move is delicate, coming at a time when the United States and its allies have tried to hold a firm line against North Korea, saying relations will improve only if the North curbs or dismantles its illicit nuclear weapons program.
Japan will lift certain bans on travel and loosen its oversight of remittances to North Korea. It will also allow port calls by North Korean ships for humanitarian purposes. The easing of the sanctions is largely symbolic, but some analysts say these steps could mark the beginning of a broader warming if North Korea returns abducted citizens to Japan.
U.S. will throw a monkey wrench into it somehow.
Those abductions, which occurred primarily in the 1970s and 1980s, have long been Japan’s top priority with the North. This week, Japanese and North Korean diplomats met in Beijing, and Tokyo came away with information about a new investigative committee formed by Pyongyang to look into the issue.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that the North’s panel appeared to be credible and involved members of some of the authoritarian country’s most powerful organs.
‘‘This is only a start,’’ Abe said. ‘‘We will do our utmost to resolve the issue.’’
In a state-sponsored program, the North abducted dozens and possibly hundreds of Japanese citizens, some of whom were used in espionage training programs.
They had their own rendition program just like the CIA, 'eh?
In 2002, in another flurry of diplomacy, the North admitted to kidnapping 13 citizens. Five were still alive, the North said, and were returned home to Japan. North Korea claimed the others were dead, but Japan said that the explanations for these deaths were dubious. North Korea surrendered the alleged remains of two victims, but DNA tests proved there was no match.
Officially, Japan recognizes 17 kidnap victims. And the government said on a website devoted to them that ‘‘until this issue is resolved, there can be no normalization of relations with North Korea.’’
But it was unclear whether the North’s reinvestigation would lead to a breakthrough. A 2008 pledge to reexamine the cases fell through. Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, said that an initial report on the abduction issue could be received from North Korea by the end of the summer.
Some analysts say that North Korea could be newly motivated to deal with Japan as its ties with China show signs of strain. Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Seoul this week, becoming the first Chinese leader to travel to South Korea ahead of the North.
I will be on to that post next.
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