Search - fukushima-

 
 
JAPAN / FOCUS
Sep 10, 2014

Japan's regulator OKs nuclear plant return while pushing to close old reactors

The Nuclear Regulation Authority has approved the restart of a nuclear power station in Kyushu, the first step toward reopening an industry that was mothballed after the Fukushima triple meltdown.
COMMENTARY / Japan / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 28, 2014

Abe's nuclear renaissance ignores stiff opposition

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's nuclear renaissance involves downplaying risks, restarting reactors, building new ones, and exporting reactor technology and equipment. A number of hurdles remain before he can rev up the reactors, but the summer of 2014 will probably be Japan's last nuclear-free one for decades...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2014

Students take worldly approach to study abroad

A University of Tokyo student set to spend a year as an exchange student in Illinois this summer doesn't think English skill is the only thing that matters when going to the United States.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jun 4, 2014

Atop Pacific 'Ring of Fire,' debate flares over volcanic risk to Japan's nuclear plants

In the three years since the Fukushima disaster, Japan's utilities have pledged $15 billion to harden their nuclear plants against earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes and terrorist attacks.
JAPAN
May 21, 2014

Kinki no more: With eye on foreign students, university opts for new name

Perhaps fed up with being the butt of jokes by English speakers, Kinki University in Osaka will rename itself Kindai University from April 2016, when it launches a new department offering courses in foreign languages.
EDITORIALS
May 11, 2014

A new look at spent nuclear fuel

Shizuoka Gov. Heita Kawakatsu's plan to get the use of plutonium-uranium mixed-oxide fuel re-approved for Chubu Electric Power Co.'s Hamaoka nuclear power plant highlight various contradictions in the central government's continuing pursuit of a nuclear fuel-cycle policy.
JAPAN / Politics
May 7, 2014

Ex-leaders revive no-nukes crusade

Three months after his defeat in the Tokyo gubernatorial race, former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa has teamed up once again with fellow ex-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to renew their effort to abolish nuclear power, even as the central government takes steps to revive it.
EDITORIALS
Apr 20, 2014

Exports that defy reason

Why would a country that suffered disastrous accidents at a nuclear power plant three years ago choose to push the export of its nuclear power technology around the world? Yet, the Abe administration sees this as a pillar of its economic strategy.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 2, 2014

Kyushu Electric in talks for public aid

Kyushu Electric Power Co. has become the second utility to seek government support this week as reactors across the country remain idled and industry losses mount three years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 6, 2014

'Ieji (Homeland)'

Many documentaries have been made about the nuclear-plant disaster in Fukushima and its aftermath, but relatively few feature films. One reason could be seen in the rough handling local critics gave "Kibo no Kuni (The Land of Hope)," Sion Sono's 2012 film set in a near-future Japan that has again experienced...
JAPAN / THREE YEARS AFTER 3/11
Mar 5, 2014

Tohoku finding real recovery hard to come by

Yumiko Onodera is a survivor. She saw her town of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, devastated by gigantic tsunami and ensuing fire from damaged heavy oil tanks at the major fishery port on March 11, 2011.
COMMENTARY
Feb 25, 2014

Time to shutter Monju

The long-stalled project to commercialize fast-breeder reactor technology has been kept alive by the Abe administration in its plan for the nation's new basic energy policy.
WORLD
Jan 25, 2014

'Abe-genda': nuclear export superpower

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is now in New Delhi to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the founding of the Indian Republic. His presence speaks volumes about closer diplomatic, security and economic ties and, at least from Tokyo's perspective, a common agenda on responding to the rise of China. India remains...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 25, 2014

Nuke issue could restore power to the regions

The LDP fears that if Morihiro Hosokawa successfully taps anti-nuclear sentiment among Tokyoites and wins the gubernatorial election, the movement could spread to areas across the country that host nuclear plants.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 23, 2014

Nuclear energy fight highlights aging economy

The 'nuclear village' is at the root of the cronyism, corruption and inertia that continue to prolong Japan's malaise and dent its competitiveness. Tokyo gubernatorial candidate Morihiro Hosokawa threatens that village.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 18, 2014

Hirata and Saito: love on the run

The trial of Makoto Hirata, which commenced Thursday, is expected to reveal a number of new facts about the former Aum Shinrikyo fugitive, but of most interest to investigators will be how he managed to stay hidden for so long.
EDITORIALS
Jan 16, 2014

Election spotlight on nuclear power

Expect the question of whether Japan should rely on nuclear power generation in the future to be a main theme of the Feb. 9 Tokyo gubernatorial election after former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa announced his candidacy.
EDITORIALS
Jan 12, 2014

Nuclear plant restarts on the table

While Japan goes through its first winter season with all of its 50 nuclear power reactors offline, the Nuclear Regulation Authority is considering utility companies' applications to restart 16 reactors under new post-3/11 safety standards.
EDITORIALS
Dec 2, 2013

The politics of secrets

Flip-flops in government explanations of the contentious bill for protecting state secrets — now under deliberation in the Upper House — suggest that the government itself does not have a clear idea of how it plans to prevent the arbitrary designation of information as a special secret.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Oct 27, 2013

Nuclear regulators can't win

Criticisms of the biases and capabilities of the Nuclear Regulation Authority — from both the pro- and anti-nuclear power camps — summarize the contradictions of Japan's nuclear power policy.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 2, 2013

Koizumi takes up post for Tohoku reconstruction

Shinjiro Koizumi's appointment Monday as parliamentary secretary in charge of Tohoku's recovery has generated much attention amid mounting criticism of the government for failing to speed up reconstruction efforts or end the radioactive water spill into the sea at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
EDITORIALS
Sep 17, 2013

Change Japan's energy policy

The Abe administration should heed public opinion and set a clear timeline for ending Japan's reliance on nuclear power.

Longform

Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?