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JAPAN
Mar 29, 2011

Radioactive water keeps workers out

Reactor turbine basements flooded with highly radioactive materials kept a desperate effort to stabilize the Fukushima No. 1 power plant at bay Monday, as fresh data showed that nearby seawater was being contaminated further by the leaking facility.
JAPAN / Q&A
Mar 29, 2011

Long-life cesium top threat to seafood

The damaged Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant is contaminating seawater with heavy amounts of iodine-131 and other radioactive materials.
JAPAN / Q&A
Mar 27, 2011

Radioactive water stymies crews

The effort to steer the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant away from disaster suffered another setback when workers discovered widespread uncontrolled leaking of radioactive water at the six-reactor complex.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2011

Injuries point to fuel rod damage in No. 3

The fuel rods in the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant's No. 3 reactor, including MOX, may be damaged, based on the highly radioactive water that injured two workers and exposed a third the previous day, the nuclear safety agency said Friday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / GLOBAL HUMAN RESOURCES SYMPOSIUM
Mar 26, 2011

Mix globalization and localization: experts

Companies in advanced economies need to work out new management strategies on globalization, especially as emerging markets account for an increasing portion of worldwide demand, Japanese and German scholars and business executives told a recent symposium in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Q&A
Mar 25, 2011

It's in the water, food, soil: But what are the risks?

Radioactive materials from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant have been spreading, contaminating milk, vegetables, water and soil in Fukushima and neighboring prefectures.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2011

Integration, radiation top Kansai poll agenda

OSAKA — Further regional integration and the future of nuclear power in the prefecture with the nation's largest number of reactors are topping voter concerns in Kansai heading into the April 10 elections.
JAPAN
Mar 24, 2011

Kan widens ban on contaminated food

Prime Minister Naoto Kan instructed Fukushima Gov. Yuhei Sato on Wednesday to tell local people not to eat certain leafy vegetables, including spinach, cabbage and broccoli harvested from Fukushima Prefecture, after finding radioactive materials well beyond the legal limit.
BUSINESS
Mar 24, 2011

Foreign fish firms to benefit from radiation fears

Fishing companies in Asia and Norway may benefit from an increase in demand from Japan, where radiation being released by the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant is showing up in the ocean and food supply.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 23, 2011

Preserving the energy mix

HONOLULU, EAST-WEST WIRE — As the triple disasters of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear emergency continue to wreak havoc on Japan, our condolences and admiration go out to the Japanese people for the courage and determination with which they are dealing with the aftereffects of an unprecedented...
EDITORIALS
Mar 23, 2011

Streamline relief operations

As more than 10 days have passed since the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami devastated northeastern Japan, the government should quickly review its setup so that it can carry out its relief operations as efficiently and effectively as possible.
COMMUNITY
Mar 22, 2011

Judge not, lest you be judged

At this point, a week and a half after the earthquake and tsunami, and with the government and thousands of volunteers rapidly restoring power and water and municipal services to the affected area, Japan — and the world — is anxiously awaiting the resolution of the nuclear crisis in Fukushima.
COMMUNITY / LIFELINES
Mar 22, 2011

The relief effort: how you can help

A few readers have questions about donating supplies.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 2011

The Vatican circles the wagons

HONG KONG — The abrupt — and underhanded — sacking of a key lay Catholic official by Vatican clerics raises disturbing questions about where Pope Benedict XVI is taking the Roman Catholic Church.
JAPAN
Mar 19, 2011

Workers battle against time

Separate desperate battles raged Friday to cool down a spent fuel pool and three reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant to keep highly toxic radiation from being released into the environment.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 18, 2011

Disaster clobbers a helper

The massive earthquake and tsunami that rocked and ravaged large parts of northern Japan have caused near apocalyptic devastation to the land and the environment. The 9.0-magnitude shock, the largest ever recorded in the earthquake-prone country, was brutally magnified by massive tsunami waves that washed...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 18, 2011

Earth Day event to help earthquake victims

Despite the sad irony of the title, given the events of the last few days, Happy Earth Day Osaka 2011 will go ahead as planned.
COMMENTARY
Mar 17, 2011

Calculating the impact of aerosols

SINGAPORE — Scientists have developed an extensive understanding of the impact that carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and other global warming gases have on Earth's climate.
EDITORIALS
Mar 17, 2011

Fukushima nuclear plant alert

The situation at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s No. 1 Fukushima nuclear power plant, damaged by the March 11 quake and tsunami, is worsening. Following hydrogen explosions in the No. 1 and No. 3 reactors Saturday and Monday, respectively, serious accidents occurred in the No. 2 and No. 4 reactors Monday...
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2011

Containment vessel failure unlikely: Edano

White smoke rose from the No. 3 reactor at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant and radiation levels rose at one point Wednesday, but the government later played down the possibility of grave damage to the containment vessel.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 16, 2011

Finding a way to make industrial policy work

GENEVA — Industrial policy (IP) is back — or rather, back in fashion. Of course, it never really went away, even in countries formally adhering to free-market principles. But the postcrisis world — in which government intervention in the economy has gained greater legitimacy — will see more of...
EDITORIALS
Mar 15, 2011

Nuclear power in disarray

Damage beyond imagination is unfolding in the wake of the massive earthquake that hit Japan on March 11. More than 5,000 people are confirmed dead or missing, and the death toll is expected to reach into the tens of thousands. In the Miyagi Prefecture town of Minami Sanriku alone, around 10,000 people...
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2011

Matsuzawa quits, backs Ishihara

Kanagawa Gov. Shigefumi Matsuzawa said Monday he will not run in the April 10 Tokyo gubernatorial election and will instead support incumbent Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara.
Reader Mail
Mar 13, 2011

Find out why whales wash ashore

The March 6 Kyodo article "22 melon-headed whales rescued" reports that 22 of 50 melon-headed whales were saved after they apparently had beached themselves in Kashima, Ibaraki Prefecture. Roughly two hundred people, including local residents and authorities, tried to keep them hydrated while others...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 13, 2011

Business must take longer view or stand by to bury capitalism

HONG KONG — Big business must get rid of its stock market-driven fixation with short-term results and institute deep and far- reaching reforms if it wants to ensure the survival of capitalism. This plea comes not from an isolated academic in an ivory tower but from Dominic Barton, global managing director...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 13, 2011

Has rice farming passed its expiry date in Japan?

Atsuo Aoki doesn't appear to be an irrational man. At 52, he works in the banking division of the Japan Agricultural Cooperative (JA) in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, an old castle city at the foot of the Japan Alps about three hours by rail north of Tokyo. He lives there with his wife and three children...

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?