Rent hikes for surviving 3/11 residents cause mass exodus of young families in Sendai
Eight years since the Great East Japan Earthquake, some survivors of the disaster still live in uncertainty as they fall between the cracks of governmental policy that is meant to support them. Now, 176 families who live in public apartment complexes within Sendai will have ...
Reborn-Art Festival: A Tohoku community gets a new lease on life
Climbing the stairs of Ishinomaki's first department store, built in 1930, I can hear the sound of a man singing and the gentle strumming of an acoustic guitar. The voice is not one of a professional crooner; it's raspy and unsure, and sounds like ...
Roads to promote Tohoku revitalization to fully open by March 2021, says land ministry
Roads designed to promote Tohoku revitalization following the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami will fully open in four prefectures by the end of fiscal 2020, the land ministry said Thursday. The opening of the final 47 kilometers of roads in five sections is now set ...
Runners complete 1,000-km road relay in support of disaster-hit areas
A 1,000-km road relay was completed Wednesday, connecting Tokyo and cities in the Tohoku region that were hit by the 2011 deadly earthquake and tsunami. Olympic marathon champion Naoko Takahashi and Paralympic long jumper Atsushi Yamamoto joined about 200 runners in the final 1.6 km ...
Time for 'air con,' yukata and beer: Summer sales battle heats up in Japan as rainy season ends
The summer sales battle is intensifying as the year's rainy period officially ended Wednesday after bringing a record-breaking lack of sunshine. The Meteorological Agency on Wednesday announced the end of the rainy season in the Tohoku region, declaring the end of the rainy period throughout ...
Road relay to support northeastern areas hit by 2011 disasters begins
A 1,000-km road relay between Aomori Prefecture and Tokyo began Wednesday in support of Tohoku's continuing recovery from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disasters. Some 1,400 runners and cyclists launched the "Road to Tomorrow" relay in Aomori with the goal of crossing the finish line ...
A building rush linked to the 2020 Tokyo Games has been affecting rebuilding efforts in some areas devastated by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, despite the government's push to brand the event the reconstruction Olympics. Shortages of construction materials such as steel beams ...
Organizers to build recovery monuments for disaster-hit areas
The Tokyo Games organizing committee said Wednesday it will oversee construction of three Olympic monuments made out of materials recycled from temporary housing provided in the wake of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The Tokyo 2020 Recovery Monument project is the latest effort ...
Tohoku residents try to keep memory of 3/11 quake and tsunami alive through VR and wreckage
Conveying the fear of when a massive earthquake and tsunami strike is no easy feat. But eight years on from the disaster that shook the nation to its core, schools, municipalities and museums in the Tohoku region devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake in ...
Stray fishing boat turns up eight years after Japan's devastating tsunami
A fishing boat swept away from Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, by the March 2011 tsunami was discovered recently off Kochi Prefecture, about 900 kilometers from its home port, officials said. A patrol vessel operated by the Kochi Prefectural Police found the capsized boat adrift 2.3 kilometers ...
Japan to tighten checks on South Korean fishery products in apparent Fukushima ban tit-for-tat
The health ministry said Thursday that it will strengthen inspections on flatfish and some other fishery products from South Korea starting Saturday. The ministry characterized the measure as an effort to safeguard the health of Japanese people ahead of summer, when food poisoning cases tend ...
JR East shinkansen ALFA-X prototype hits 320 kph in test run in northeastern Japan
A prototype of Japan's new shinkansen conducted a trial early Thursday, reaching 320 kilometers per hour, the maximum speed for existing shinkansen models. The prototype, dubbed ALFA-X, is designed to travel at 360 kph when it is put into service by the spring of 2031, ...
