SENDAI — More than a half of evacuees from the March 2011 quake and tsunami feel local recovery from the disaster has been insufficient, according to results of a Kyodo News survey released Feb. 11. The rate of respondents who said recovery has not been substantial was 54 percent in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures […]
Journalists use ‘restorative narrative’ to report on Fukushima
April 16, 2015 by Leave a Comment
The San Francisco State University’s Dilena Takeyama Center for the Study of Japan and Japanese Culture presented April 4 on the state of Fukushima, Japan at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California. The presentation, featuring the works of San Francisco State University students who visited Fukushima last year, included a series of […]
Indirect deaths from March 2011 disaster exceed direct ones
May 29, 2014 by Leave a Comment
FUKUSHIMA, Japan (Kyodo) — The number of people dying of indirect causes related to the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami has exceeded those who lost their lives directly in the disaster in Fukushima Prefecture, the home of a crippled nuclear complex, the prefectural government said May 27. As of May 26, the number of those […]
Kennedy in Fukushima for first time as envoy, visits nuclear plant
May 15, 2014 by Leave a Comment
FUKUSHIMA, Japan — U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy visited Fukushima Prefecture on May 14 for the first time since she assumed her post last November and toured the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. “We are committed to providing support as long as it is necessary,” Kennedy said in a statement released after her […]
The question of Shin-Nisei and Japanese American identity: Exploring Nikkei history at the Nikkei Youth Conference and creating models of Nikkei activism
December 19, 2013 by Leave a Comment
On Nov. 16, I had the great pleasure to attend the Nikkei Youth Conference at the Berkeley Methodist United Church. I first heard about plans for the conference at the JACL’s most recent National Convention this July in Washington, D.C. from the JACL Berkeley chapter’s co-president. He mentioned that the conference would be centered on […]
Antinuclear rally draws 170,000 people
July 26, 2012 by Leave a Comment
TOKYO — An anti-nuclear power plant rally called for by a group led by Nobel literature laureate Kenzaburo Oe and other celebrities drew a crowd of around 170,000 people on July 16 at Tokyo’s Yoyogi Park, according to organizers. The Metropolitan Police Department, which provided security for the event, said the assembly attracted around 75,000 […]
Veterinarian works to save surviving animals in Fukushima
February 16, 2012 by Leave a Comment
A long row of cows is crowded at a gate, their heads straining through the metal as if desperately reaching for food. All of them are dead. For Dr. Shigeki Imamoto, a veterinarian who travels to Fukushima Prefecture to save animals in communities devastated by last year’s disaster, this was not an uncommon sight. In […]
Japan mourns deaths of quake-tsunami victims on 6-month anniversary
September 15, 2011 by Leave a Comment
SENDAI (Kyodo) — Residents in a wide area of northeastern Japan ravaged by the March 11 quake and tsunami held ceremonies on Sept. 11, the six-month anniversary, in memory of the victims of the massive calamities, offering silent prayers at 2:46 p.m., the time when the magnitude 9.0 temblor occurred. Others took part in a […]
REFLECTION ON JAPAN: Growing stigma against victims of Fukushima
April 29, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Editor’s note: A month after the Tohoku disaster, a quasi-nationalistic “love it or leave it” attitude has gained currency, putting pressure on people to stay and face potential dangers for the sake of group solidarity. A wrenching dilemma has emerged in the midst of the nuclear radiation crisis afflicting Japan. A quasi-nationalistic “love it or […]
Grateful Crane Ensemble’s goodwill tour to Tohoku, Japan
“How was your trip to Japan?” It’s a question I’ve been asked several times since we returned from our Goodwill Tour to Tohoku last month. “It went really well,” I would say. But after that, I would have a hard time finding the words to describe it. “It wasn’t like your typical tour of Japan,” […]