**JAPAN UPDATE**

[AsahinaKimi]

TEPCO seeks 10% increase in power rates

Tokyo Electric Power Co. has asked a third-party panel tasked with assessing its financial standing to approve an increase in electric charges of at least 10 percent, but the panel plans to reject the request, it was learned Saturday.

The panel, which the government appointed in June, will instead ask TEPCO to work harder to cut costs.

TEPCO wants to raise electricity fees as it has had difficulty coping with the surge in fuel costs for its thermal power plants, according to sources.

MORE..
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110827003536.htm

Evacuees want a Prime Minister with vision

Victims in the disaster-hit region are eagerly awaiting the election of Prime Minister Naoto Kan's successor in the hope that the new prime minister will show leadership and a future vision for the region.

Five members of the Democratic Party of Japan kicked off their election campaigns Saturday after announcing their candidacies.

The disaster victims are placing high hopes on Kan's successor, as the current prime minister is generally considered to have failed to take proper measures in response to the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake and the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

"I don't want to seek immediate benefits. He should look 10 years, 100 years and 1,000 years into the future," said Hiromichi Shishido, 52.

more..
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110827003540.htm

Kan visits Fukushima to apologize over no-go zones

FUKUSHIMA —

Outgoing Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Saturday said he was sorry that some areas close to the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant will remain uninhabitable for a long time.

“In reality, I cannot deny the possibility unfortunately for residents not being able to return and live in some places for a long time even after taking decontamination measures,” Kan told Fukushima Gov Yuhei Sato.

“I am very sorry. I apologize,” Kan said, according to Jiji Press.

Everywhere inside a 20-kilometer radius of the plant was evacuated after the March 11 quake and tsunami triggered the world’s worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl.

more..
http://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/kan-visits-fukushima-to-apologize-over-no-go-zones

Beef containing radioactive cesium served to elementary school children in Kanagawa

YOKOHAMA —

Beef containing higher than the government standard levels of radioactive cesium has been fed to children in elementary school lunches in Kanagawa Prefecture, it has been revealed.

Yokohama city authorities confirmed Thursday that beef from cows raised on a farm in Fukushima Prefecture was served to elementary school children in 16 schools throughout the city.

According to city authorities, out of a group of 229 cows, 12 were found to contain higher than standard levels of radioactive cesium. Of those 12 animals, beef from one was used in the school lunches.

A spokesman was quoted by TV media as saying the amount of contaminated beef per student amounted to around 30 grams, so there should be no effect on health. Authorities say Yokohama schools have been refraining from using beef in school lunches since July and that the policy is set to continue indefinitely.

http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/beef-containing-radioactive-cesium-served-to-elementary-school-children-in-kanagawa

Suicides add to despair in Tohoku disaster zone

SUKAGAWA —

When Japanese farmer Hisashi Tarukawa watched the local nuclear plant blow up on television, he uttered a sentence that will forever chill his family: “Oh, no. It’s over.”

Within days, the radioactive cloud from the Fukushima plant had forced authorities to ban some farm produce in Fukushima, where the 64-year-old had been growing rice and vegetables all his life.

more
http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/suicides-add-to-despair-in-tohoku-disaster-zone

Kurion says Fukushima plant contaminated water cesium levels reduced by more than 40%

IRVINE, Calif —

American company Kurion Inc, an innovator in nuclear waste management, says that as of Aug 17, cesium levels in the contaminated water within the facilities of the tsunami-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant had dropped by more than 40% since startup of the Kurion Ion Specific Media System on June 17.

Kurion says the design goal of the Kurion 50 MT/hour (220 gpm) rated system is to remove approximately 99.9% of the cesium, the principal source of radioactivity in the contaminated water. When originally operated in its design configuration, the system was removing cesium by a factor of 70,000 (99.999% removal).

more..
http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/kurion-says-fukushima-plant-contaminated-water-cesium-levels-reduced-by-more-than-40

Freezing winter looms for Tokyo post-Fukushima

TOKYO —

With September barely a week away and Tokyo’s wicked-hot summer having sparked to life in only a couple of brief spells, the capital’s residents can now breathe easy, safe in the knowledge that post-Fukushima power outages are but a fading fear. Or are they?

Not according to the Nikkei Shimbun, which says the next looming threat is a freezing winter compounded by electricity shortages and a lack of backup from power plants outside the Kanto region.

more..
http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/freezing-winter-looms-for-tokyo-post-fukushima

TEPCO knew of tsunami threat: nuclear agency

TOKYO —

Japan’s nuclear regulator said Wednesday that the operator of a crippled nuclear plant knew it might be hit by a far bigger tsunami than it was designed to withstand.

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said the operator informed it just four days before Japan’s massive March 11 earthquake and tsunami that waves exceeding 10 meters could hit the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

The plant was only designed to withstand a tsunami about half that height.

Agency officials said Wednesday they recommended that Tokyo Electric Power Co take measures to prepare for a bigger tsunami but did not give specific instructions.

more..
http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/tepco-knew-of-tsunami-threat-nuclear-agency

Japanese find millions in lost tsunami cash - and return it

TOYKO – If disaster struck, and millions of dollars in cash turned up, do you think it would be returned to its rightful owners?

In Japan, it was.

During the four months since the giant tsunami struck Japan's northern coast, more than 5,700 safes containing approximately $30 million has been recovered from the three hardest hit prefectures, Japan’s National Police Agency recently announced.

Remarkably – since residents of the tsunami zone have scattered across the country and even the world – 96 percent, or nearly $29.6 million in cash, has already been returned to its rightful owners, or if authorities feared the owner had died in the disaster, their closest relative.

more..
http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/08/24/7460114-japanese-find-millions-in-lost-tsunami-cash-and-return-it

No quick way to remove radioactive substances from soil: experts

Experts say there is no technology or machinery available that can quickly remove radioactive substances from soil. Steady and repeated efforts are required to gradually reduce radioactive substances by removing the surface from soil, mowing down grass, or scraping the matter off with water.

Under the government's basic scheme, radioactive substances can be removed from roads, roofs and playground equipment by rinsing with water in areas with radiation measuring less than 20 millisieverts per year.

more
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110827p2a00m0na012000c.html

Low levels of cesium found in rice

KYODO

The Fukushima Prefectural Government said Friday a small amount of radioactive cesium, below the allowable limit, was detected in raw rice in Nihonmatsu, some 60 km from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

The level came to 22 becquerels per kilogram against the government-set maximum limit of 500 becquerels, in the first case in which cesium was detected in newly harvested rice in Fukushima Prefecture. But no cesium was found in the polished version of rice harvested in Nihonmatsu.

The prefectural government also said no cesium was detected in rice harvested in Koriyama and Motomiya, which are also about 60 km from the Fukushima plant.

more..
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110827a8.html

Mainichi Ohatu~ Something new everyday

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. I'd like to remind people that Kan's government

was in danger of falling BEFORE fuku...

Beef served to kids, the scandals increase every day.

[gateley]

2. Thanks you - of course the media's attention has been

elsewhere. Lots still going on in Japan!

[AsahinaKimi]

4. You can say that again!

[gateley]

3. Thanks you - of course the media's attention has been

elsewhere. Lots still going on in Japan!

[Overseas]

5. Thank you for these fascinating updates. So many different aspects

of the tragedy that is still unfolding.

The whole world should be following and monitoring this story every day on their main broadcast news. All these aspects of it.

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. I'd be happy at this point with a ONCE A WEEK update

for all you know it never happened.

[AsahinaKimi]

7. I couldn't believe it when someone on MSNBC

Actually mentioned they couldn't believe the "Japanese disaster is no longer considered newsworthy by the American press." For them to even mention this at all.. was monumental. A slap in the face to American news organizations. Not even the great CNN covers it anymore. This is something, that will not go away any time soon. I would imagine, there are more stories about the Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico that have been ignored. If not for the internet, who would even know?

[Kalidurga]

8. thank you for the update n/t

[AsahinaKimi]

9. you are most welcome

Dou itashimashite!　どういたしまして！

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. And I might even learn some Japanese

should start collecting them

[AsahinaKimi]

11. If you do take a formal class..

I once knew this guy who told me he learned Japanese by watching NARUTO anime. Learning that way is like Learning English from a Rap song. Its more insulting to the Japanese if one were to speak to people like Naruto does. He told me he couldn't afford classes but was going to Japan anyway, and said he would get by. I haven't from him since. My guess he is sitting somewhere with a couple of black eyes and some teeth missing.

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. Yeah but I might need them for a novel

where a phrase or two might be needed for flavor...

Trust me... if I wanted to learn the language I would have to take anywhere form three to five years of formal classes and the extensive use of Roseta Stone.

Preferably eight years actually.

[AsahinaKimi]

13. Roseta Stone actually doesn't work so well with Japanese

The language is based on levels of politeness. Not something that's even touched by Roseta Stone. One could say something totally inappropriate and not realize it. Case in point.

Once I was watching a drama. A character on a motorbike was run off the road. The woman driver got out and asked if he was okay.. saying "daijoubu?" He replied.. "Betsu ni" which the subtitles translated as "Yeah, I am okay, thanks for asking", which was totally wrong. What he was really saying was " I don't care!" which is considered a rude response. I nearly made the mistake of using "Betsu ni" until I was told it was rude.

Roseta Stone gives you no clues to these kinds of responses. They basically show you a Bear and say
"Kuma". They don't teach you honorifics or how to use them. Plus, if you have a question, who do you ask?

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. that is a problem

:-)

Trivia Spanish, SPANISH.. as in Castillian... has some of that too