Chinese journalists change image of Japan after covering March disaster

BEIJING (Kyodo) -- A number of Chinese journalists saw their long-held negative views about Japan and its people change completely after traveling to northeastern Japan to cover the aftermath of the March 11 quake-tsunami disaster, according to their reports to a recent symposium with university students in Beijing.

Impressed by the orderly and patient behavior of disaster victims and the relatively high transparency of information released, they said they developed a feeling of respect toward the Japanese.

Chen Jie, 38, a cameraman from Beijing News, was one of them. While admitting that he had felt resentment and mistrust toward the Japanese for a long time, he said, "The prejudice that I felt gradually disappeared while I was there, trying to cover the disaster damage."

He was moved, he said, when he saw people patiently queue up in front of shops following disruption to merchandize distribution. He also noted that shop owners had not taken advantage of the confusion to indulge in price gouging and that even family members of those who had died tried to restrain themselves from crying openly during burial rituals.

"I was surprised that I was given priority treatment at a gas station as I had an emergency press pass," he said, showing slide photos of a large number of people waiting for their turn to fill their vehicles.

The story touched on how Self-Defense Forces members gave a salute to dead people before burying them, providing a new image of SDF members, whom ordinary Chinese still tend to view in ways colored by memories of the wartime Imperial Japanese Army.

Volunteers prepare to give out food to people in a school gymnasium acting as a shelter for those whose homes were damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, Japan

Read the whole story
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110429p2g00m0dm008000c.html

・Here are the latest reports on the quake victims in Japan.  
http://hearthevoicefromjapan.blogspot.com/

How can we help?

・Save the Children, Japan quake victim
www.savethechildren.org/japanquake

・Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support Website

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Japan-Earthquake-Animal-Rescue-and-Support/207835229228979
OR;
http://japanearthquakeanimalrelief.chipin.com/japan-earthquake-animal-rescue-and-support/

・Japanese Red Cross
http://www.jrc.or.jp/english/relief/l4/Vcms4_00002070.html

Tsunami video clip released by Japan Coast Guard, Apr 28

This video was released by JCG, Japan Coast Guard today after a month and a half from March 11.
It was shot at JCG Sendai Air Base adjacent to Sendai Airport.  Cars, buildings... even aircrafts are engulfed by massive tsunami. 

・Here are the latest reports on the quake victims in Japan.  
http://hearthevoicefromjapan.blogspot.com/

How can we help?

・Save the Children, Japan quake victim
www.savethechildren.org/japanquake

・Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support Website

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Japan-Earthquake-Animal-Rescue-and-Support/207835229228979
OR;
http://japanearthquakeanimalrelief.chipin.com/japan-earthquake-animal-rescue-and-support/

・Japanese Red Cross
http://www.jrc.or.jp/english/relief/l4/Vcms4_00002070.html

US Red Cross chief struck by tsunami's destruction

TOKYO – The head of the American Red Cross, who has visited earthquake zones in Haiti and China, said Thursday that she was overwhelmed by the "miles and miles" of devastation along Japan's tsunami-battered northeastern coast.

"The (power of the) ocean was just furious. Everything we saw was strewn in small pieces," Gail McGovern said in an interview with The Associated Press at the headquarters of the Japanese Red Cross Society. "When you start walking around, you can see a doll or a kid's bicycle or a teacup. It just strikes home that this is so personal."

Wrapping up a four-day visit to Japan, McGovern said the $187 million received in donations and pledges from the American public for tsunami relief is being used initially to buy essential household appliances for people who lost their homes and are now living in temporary housing.

Gail McGovern, the chief executive officer and president of the American Red Cross looks at a map of affected area in Japan.

Read the whole story
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110428/ap_on_re_as/as_japan_earthquake_red_cross_3


・Here are the latest reports on the quake victims in Japan.  
http://hearthevoicefromjapan.blogspot.com/

How can we help?

・Save the Children, Japan quake victim
www.savethechildren.org/japanquake

・Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support Website

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Japan-Earthquake-Animal-Rescue-and-Support/207835229228979
OR;
http://japanearthquakeanimalrelief.chipin.com/japan-earthquake-animal-rescue-and-support/

・Japanese Red Cross
http://www.jrc.or.jp/english/relief/l4/Vcms4_00002070.html

Australian PM 1st foreign leader to visit tsunami-hit area

SENDAI —

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Saturday visited a Japanese coastal town devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, becoming the first foreign leader to travel to the disaster-hit area.

Her visit to Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, accompanied by Japan’s Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto, followed the deployment there from March 16 to 19 of 75 rescue workers and two search dogs from Australia.

Gillard was briefed by Minamisanirku Mayor Jin Sato on how he survived the disaster at the town’s disaster prevention office building, which was reduced to its frame by the tsunami. A local photographer took a picture of Sato and other officials clinging to the top of the structure while the tsunami engulfed the three-story building.

Gillard also visited a gymnasium being used as a makeshift shelter accommodating about 340 survivors and gave stuffed toy koalas and kangaroos to children, who in return handed her folded paper cranes—symbols of peace.

Recalling her impressions when she saw her first images of the disaster on television, Gillard said she found the scale of the devastation amazing. But she added that nothing compared with seeing the disaster zone at first hand. ‘‘It is miraculous that anyone survived such devastation,’’ she said.

‘‘It’s been amazing to see the spirit of the people…even in such difficult, difficult circumstances,’’ Gillard said, referring to the cheerful atmosphere in the shelter where both children and adults greeted her in English.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, accompanied by her partner Tim Mathieson (to her right), holds baby Iori Sato, who was born in March 26, during their visit to an evacuation center in Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, on Saturday. Gillard is the first foreign leader to visit one of the areas devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Read the whole story
http://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/australian-pm-1st-foreign-leader-to-visit-tsunami-hit-area

・Here are the latest reports on the quake victims in Japan.  
http://hearthevoicefromjapan.blogspot.com/

How can we help?

・Save the Children, Japan quake victim
www.savethechildren.org/japanquake

・Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support Website

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Japan-Earthquake-Animal-Rescue-and-Support/207835229228979
OR;
http://japanearthquakeanimalrelief.chipin.com/japan-earthquake-animal-rescue-and-support/

・Japanese Red Cross
http://www.jrc.or.jp/english/relief/l4/Vcms4_00002070.html

Fukushima Victims: Many cows and animals are dying...

I saw a very shocking news footage on TV  just now.
Many cows are dying with no food, water, and care.

I knew of the situation from other news sources here and there, but seeing them with your own eyes.... My heart aches so much.

I know that the top priority should be placed on saving human lives, but.... still cannot help thinking that some measures could have been taken for these innocent animals who could not voice their needs.  Be it transferring to other farms or even euthanizing...

"These animals are part of my family," says a livestock farmer crying.  It must be so hard for them to just let their animals suffer and die.

As of today, Japanese government completely banned any entry into the 20km radius evacuation zone.
 
Farmers who entered the zone from time to time to watch over their cattle by risking radiation can no longer feed them....
Many animal rescue volunteers can no longer save stranded dogs and cats.

Animals are also victims of Fukushima crisis.


I could not find the same video footage, but this is what's happening in Fukushima evacuation zone.

It's tough to watch, but we should never forget this reality.

・Here are the latest reports on the quake victims in Japan.  
http://hearthevoicefromjapan.blogspot.com/

How can we help?

・Save the Children, Japan quake victim
www.savethechildren.org/japanquake

・Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support Website

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Japan-Earthquake-Animal-Rescue-and-Support/207835229228979
OR;
http://japanearthquakeanimalrelief.chipin.com/japan-earthquake-animal-rescue-and-support/

・Japanese Red Cross
http://www.jrc.or.jp/english/relief/l4/Vcms4_00002070.html

TEPCO should incorporate measures to support workers in nuke plant roadmap

The Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, hit hard by a massive tsunami generated by the March 11 earthquake, has managed to avoid catastrophe thanks to the efforts of workers who are trying hard to place the power station under control.

More than 40 days have passed since the plant was hit by the disaster, and workers' fatigue and stress have certainly reached an alarming level.

It is expected to take six to nine months before the plant can be placed under control, according to a roadmap released earlier this week by its operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO). However, it is feared that the work will actually take far longer. Photos taken by remote-controlled robots illustrate severe conditions in the buildings housing the crippled reactors.

Many of the workers are crying out for help. It is extremely important for TEPCO and the government to step up support for employees who are working hard under such severe conditions.

A doctor who inspected TEPCO employees working at the plant has revealed that they are forced to sleep at a gymnasium attached to the Fukushima No. 2 Nuclear Power Plant after working at the No. 1 plant. They cannot take a bath everyday and eat mostly canned and instant food. Furthermore, many of them have been evacuated from their home situated in disaster-hit areas or had their residences damaged, and are mentally distressed.

In this April 18, 2011 photo released Wednesday, April 20, 2011 by Ehime University Medical Department Prof. Takeshi Tanigawa, workers, mostly employees of Tokyo Electric Power Co., engaged in operations at the tsunami-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant, take rest inside a gymnasium that serves as their temporary dormitory at Fukushima Dai-ni Nuclear Power Plant in Naraha, 14 kilometers (9 miles) south of the former plant in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. (AP Photo/Ehime University Medical Department Prof. Takeshi Tanigawa)

Read the whole story
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/perspectives/news/20110421p2a00m0na001000c.html


・Here are the latest reports on the quake victims in Japan.  
http://hearthevoicefromjapan.blogspot.com/

How can we help?

・Save the Children, Japan quake victim
www.savethechildren.org/japanquake

・Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support Website

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Japan-Earthquake-Animal-Rescue-and-Support/207835229228979
OR;
http://japanearthquakeanimalrelief.chipin.com/japan-earthquake-animal-rescue-and-support/

・Japanese Red Cross
http://www.jrc.or.jp/english/relief/l4/Vcms4_00002070.html

Nuclear plant workers at risk of depression, death from overwork

 FUKUSHIMA —

Tokyo Electric Power Co workers engaged in efforts to stabilize the crisis-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant are at risk of depression or death from overwork, a doctor who recently saw them said Wednesday.

The workers are not only undertaking dangerous work in severe conditions but also feel a sense of moral responsibility as employees of the firm to blame for the nuclear disaster, Takeshi Tanigawa said.

Some of them were also victims themselves of the March 11 quake and tsunami that triggered the nuclear crisis, and faced with the deaths of relatives or friends, the workers are exposed to multiple stresses, he said.

‘‘Many are complaining of difficulty sleeping and the risks of depression and death from overwork will rise further if this goes on,’’ he said after examining some 90 TEPCO workers from Saturday through Tuesday.

At the end of each day, workers are decontaminated and go to the Fukushima Daini (No 2) nuclear plant some 10 kilometers to the south to sleep on the floor of a gymnasium there in sleeping bags with blankets. There are tatami mats on the floor and a sheet to insulate from the cold, he said.

Among the workers was one who was engaged in work around the clock without being allowed to go out at one point, he said.

Read the whole story
http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/nuclear-plant-workers-at-risk-of-depression-death-from-overwork-doctor


(Comments by an author)
According to a news source I read today, their working condition is really severe.  It says that they are eating canned/packaged food mainly, and haven't been able to bathe during the mission.
THIS HAS TO CHANGE DEFINITELY!

・Here are the latest reports on the quake victims in Japan.  
http://hearthevoicefromjapan.blogspot.com/

How can we help?

・Save the Children, Japan quake victim
www.savethechildren.org/japanquake

・Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support Website

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Japan-Earthquake-Animal-Rescue-and-Support/207835229228979
OR;
http://japanearthquakeanimalrelief.chipin.com/japan-earthquake-animal-rescue-and-support/

・Japanese Red Cross
http://www.jrc.or.jp/english/relief/l4/Vcms4_00002070.html

'Invisible' deaths continue at evacuation shelters

With the help of her son, 84-year-old Sai Ito survived the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that swamped their hometown of Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture.

Amid the frigid temperature, the son, Akira, 60, and neighbors carried the elderly woman up a mountain, where she was air-lifted by helicopter the following afternoon to a nursing home.

Fully conscious but cold, Sai received intravenous drips and doses of insulin for her diabetes, but she had to go without the medication she used to take three times a day.

Sai kept eating and responding to her son even after she became unable to move. But she died 20 days after the disaster struck.

Her doctor listed the cause of death as disease.

Sai's case is one of the growing number of "invisible" deaths among evacuees who have died after developing illnesses or seeing their pre-existing conditions worsen following the quake.

Read the whole story
http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201104190200.html


・Here are the latest reports on the quake victims in Japan.  
http://hearthevoicefromjapan.blogspot.com/

How can we help?

・Save the Children, Japan quake victim
www.savethechildren.org/japanquake

・Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support Website

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Japan-Earthquake-Animal-Rescue-and-Support/207835229228979
OR;
http://japanearthquakeanimalrelief.chipin.com/japan-earthquake-animal-rescue-and-support/

・Japanese Red Cross
http://www.jrc.or.jp/english/relief/l4/Vcms4_00002070.html

"I love you & I need you Fukushima" by Inawashiroko's

You tube movie featuring a song written for and dedicated to Fukushima and its people.
47 faces representing 47 prefectures of Japan, including actors/actresses, TV commentators, are taking part in singing with good wishes for Fukushima.

Do you recongize some faces?

Comments left are also touching and encouraging.

「I love you & I need you ふくしま」猪苗代湖ズ

・Here are the latest reports on the quake victims in Japan.  
http://hearthevoicefromjapan.blogspot.com/

How can we help?

・Save the Children, Japan quake victim
www.savethechildren.org/japanquake

・Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support Website

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Japan-Earthquake-Animal-Rescue-and-Support/207835229228979
OR;
http://japanearthquakeanimalrelief.chipin.com/japan-earthquake-animal-rescue-and-support/

・Japanese Red Cross
http://www.jrc.or.jp/english/relief/l4/Vcms4_00002070.html

Japan nuclear crisis: the ghost towns inside Fukushima exclusion zone

The dining table is covered with the remains of a meal, four sake glasses and an overflowing ashtray, but there are no signs of life in Tomioka town, just four miles from the critically-damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant.

The family that lived here fled in a hurry, leaving their clothes strewn across another room's tatami floor.
Outside, cars stand abandoned in the empty streets while packs of dogs roam, searching for food.

On the edge of town, a dead cow lies by the edge of the road, while another has escaped its farm to stand and stare at our car, one of only a tiny handful to enter the 12-mile exclusion zone around the plant since the evacuation alert was sounded a month ago.

Read the whole story
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/8457177/Japan-nuclear-crisis-the-ghost-towns-inside-Fukushima-exclusion-zone.html


・Here are the latest reports on the quake victims in Japan.  
http://hearthevoicefromjapan.blogspot.com/

How can we help?

・Save the Children, Japan quake victim
www.savethechildren.org/japanquake

・Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support Website

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Japan-Earthquake-Animal-Rescue-and-Support/207835229228979
OR;
http://japanearthquakeanimalrelief.chipin.com/japan-earthquake-animal-rescue-and-support/

・Japanese Red Cross
http://www.jrc.or.jp/english/relief/l4/Vcms4_00002070.html

They need Manpower: so many people are trying to help their restoration, but it is still far short.

In Tokyo, passers-by look as if there was no disaster. But you would soon realize that they are only trying to act as calm as possible.  Strong sense of anxiety persists.


 (The following is the Interview of a Japanese volunteer who visited Ishinomaki, Miyagi.  Cited from Real Voice of Japan http://hearthevoicefromjapan.blogspot.com/)


In the affected areas, victims are worrying, suffering and bearing the pain beyond our imagination. I understood how enormous the damages of this earthquake disaster were after seeing them with my own eyes.


Self Defense Force garrisons, policemen, firefighters, aids from overseas, and volunteer workers like me – so many people are trying to help their restoration, but it is still far short. Manpower is what they need most.




And hands of the people are what they can actually use for the help no matter how advanced the technologies are, and how the communication becomes useful. Hands to remove the mud, hands to make rice balls, hands to carry the supplies, hands to treat patients, hands to hug and hold people in pain – it could be recognized as sharing the pain with body warmth.

You could tell those who are in pain “Don’t worry. Everything will heal easy.” But I realized how important it would be to share the feeling of pain with them by placing the hand on the wound and tell them “I know it hurts, but I’m sure it will heal. Let’s cure the wound together. “

(Read the whole story)
http://hearthevoicefromjapan.blogspot.com/2011/04/earthquake-disaster-document-back-to.html

How can we help?

・Save the Children, Japan quake victimwww.savethechildren.org/japanquake

・Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support Website

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Japan-Earthquake-Animal-Rescue-and-Support/207835229228979
OR;
http://japanearthquakeanimalrelief.chipin.com/japan-earthquake-animal-rescue-and-support/

・Japanese Red Cross
http://www.jrc.or.jp/english/relief/l4/Vcms4_00002070.html

Japan's Crisis One Month Later

Japan is just in the beginning of the long term recovery effort from the earthquake that struck off northeastern Japan on March 11.

The crisis alert level from the damage to the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant has now been raised to the highest level of impact, the same as the Chernobyl Russia incident 25 years ago.

Searchers continue to look for the dead, displaced Japanese live in shelters, protests continue over use of nuclear power, Japan's economic engine may be disrupted, the massive cleanup of debris is just underway, aftershocks are feared and many continue to mourn those who were lost.

Japanese Self-Defense Forces cleaned the rooms at the Okawa elementary school in Ishinomaki, Miyagi prefecture. Japan said it was to widen the evacuation area around a crippled nuclear plant to include territory outside the current 12-mile exclusion zone

74 out of a total 104 children have died or have been missing at Okawa Elementary School which was located at lower land in Ishinomaki.  It's shocking to note that the number is equivalent to 70% of the whole student body.

Visit the original site for more photos and comments by Lloyd Young:
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/04/japans_crisis_one_month_later.html


・Here are the latest reports on the quake victims in Japan.  
http://hearthevoicefromjapan.blogspot.com/

How can we help?

・Save the Children, Japan quake victim
www.savethechildren.org/japanquake

・Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support Website

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Japan-Earthquake-Animal-Rescue-and-Support/207835229228979
OR;
http://japanearthquakeanimalrelief.chipin.com/japan-earthquake-animal-rescue-and-support/

・Japanese Red Cross
http://www.jrc.or.jp/english/relief/l4/Vcms4_00002070.html

Child evacuee from Fukushima bullied amid radiation fears

A child evacuee from an area near the troubled nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture was bullied by other children, who taunted him, saying he could infect others with radiation, an education board in Chiba Prefecture said Thursday.

After learning about the incident through an anonymous phone call, the board in the city of Funabashi instructed 83 local elementary and middle schools to tell their students to be kind to the evacuees and be considerate of their feelings.

Read the whole story
http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/04/85404.html

・Here are the latest reports on the quake victims in Japan.  
http://hearthevoicefromjapan.blogspot.com/

How can we help?

・Save the Children, Japan quake victim
www.savethechildren.org/japanquake

・Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support Website

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Japan-Earthquake-Animal-Rescue-and-Support/207835229228979
OR;
http://japanearthquakeanimalrelief.chipin.com/japan-earthquake-animal-rescue-and-support/

・Japanese Red Cross
http://www.jrc.or.jp/english/relief/l4/Vcms4_00002070.html

Many volunteers risk radiation to rescue animals near Fukushima Daiichi Plant

Many volunteers risk radiation to rescue animals near Fukushima Daiichi Plant.
Now the rescue operations for abandoned animals are underway within 20 km radius evacuation zone.
Towns are totally abondoned due to radiation fears.  Only animals are roaming around.  How sad.

Volunteer rescuers try to rescue dogs

 

CNN news April 13, 2011

 

As a normal procedure, rescued animals are screened for radiation to be accepted.

・Here are the latest reports on the quake victims in Japan.  
http://hearthevoicefromjapan.blogspot.com/

How can we help?

・Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support Website

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Japan-Earthquake-Animal-Rescue-and-Support/207835229228979
OR;
http://japanearthquakeanimalrelief.chipin.com/japan-earthquake-animal-rescue-and-support/

TEPCO considers plan to remove spent fuel rods from crippled Fukushima plant

TEPCO workers began collecting samples of water from a storage pool at the plant on Tuesday to help assess the condition of the spent fuel rods and the feasibility of the plan.

Under normal conditions, spent fuel rods are kept for many years in the storage pools to cool. They are then placed in airtight steel casks for removal.

But TEPCO is having to improvise a method of moving spent fuel rods that may have been severely damaged by explosions at the reactors.

The buildings housing the Fukushima plant's No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 reactors have all been damaged, leaving storage pools exposed, and equipment normally used in the removal process may also have been knocked out by the explosions.

High levels of radiation are also likely to prove a major obstacle to the removal effort, which sources said TEPCO has been formulating since March.

Read More
http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201104130196.html  Asahi shimbum

・Here are the latest reports on the quake victims in Japan.  
http://hearthevoicefromjapan.blogspot.com/

How can we help?

・Save the Children, Japan quake victim
www.savethechildren.org/japanquake

・Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support Website

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Japan-Earthquake-Animal-Rescue-and-Support/207835229228979
OR;
http://japanearthquakeanimalrelief.chipin.com/japan-earthquake-animal-rescue-and-support/

・Japanese Red Cross
http://www.jrc.or.jp/english/relief/l4/Vcms4_00002070.html

Where Japan stands now, after a month from the quake & tsunami

A little over a month passed since the massive quake hit the north-eastern part of Japan.
Normal TV programs are back now with occasional (well, very frequent) breaking news that report large-scale aftershocks occuring at the affected area night and day.

Shinkansen (Bullet Train) and regular train lines which connect Tokyo to Sendai are now restored and the operation was restarted.

Sendai Airpot that was washed away heavily by the tsunami is also partially restored in a matter of a month, and the first flight to/from Tokyo took off/landed just today with passengers and cargo.

Tokyo Disneyland is to reopen the park from April 15, although the open hours will be limited to 18:00

Yes, we started to hear some news on the brighter side, but this is what the heavily damaged area looks like now even after a month.

 An elderly man observes an area devastated by the giant quake and tsunami in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture,

on Monday, exactly a month after the disaster. AP PHOTO

I've been searching for a single good article in English that well describes where Japan stands right now after a month from the multi-scale disaster hit the nation.  I share the same view with this journalist.

Nation's unpreparedness ahead of disaster is blasted  (Japan Times)

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110412f1.html

Among all the reliable info in the article, this fact recently revealed was also very shocking to me.

"To top off the seismic impact, a survey by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory revealed that the intense shift of the Earth's crust changed the distribution of the planet's mass. Because of the way the fault responsible for the quake slipped, the Earth now rotates faster, making a day about 1.8 microseconds shorter than before."

The Tohoku earthquake was one for the record books.

・Here are the latest reports on the quake victims in Japan.  
http://hearthevoicefromjapan.blogspot.com/

How can we help?

・Save the Children, Japan quake victim
www.savethechildren.org/japanquake

・Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support Website

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Japan-Earthquake-Animal-Rescue-and-Support/207835229228979

Questions and answers: Japan, Chernobyl disasters by AP

Japan raised the assessment of its nuclear crisis to the most severe rating Tuesday, on the same level as the Chernobyl disaster, the world's worst to date.

Here is a good source to clear up some confusion about Fukushima situation and the related info on the assessment and health and safety concerns.

Questions and answers: Japan, Chernobyl disasters
http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_15818/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=pZvlStRh



Q1 Has the situation at the Japanese nuclear power plant worsened?

A. No. The heaviest radiation leaks at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex occurred in the first days after the March 11 earthquake-triggered tsunami crippled the plant's cooling systems. Workers are trying to lower temperatures in the overheated nuclear reactors, but still don't have full control. Problems persist, like the leak into the ocean plugged last week, but authorities say the radiation leaks are declining.

Q2 If the situation's not getting worse, why did Japan raise its assessment of the crisis?
Q3 So is Japan's crisis as bad as Chernobyl's?

Q4 Then why the same severity level rating?

A. The IAEA defines a level-7 accident as one in which a large amount of radiation is released into the atmosphere, likely harming human health and damaging the environment over the long-term. That threshold is set at several tens of thousands of terabecquerels - a unit of radiation - of iodine-131, a radioactive element commonly released in nuclear accidents. Leaks at both plants have exceeded that limit, but the Japanese government says Fukushima's are still one-tenth of those released by Chernobyl. The possibility Fukushima's emissions could surpass Chernobyl's is considered small, but still a risk until Fukushima's cooling systems are restored.

Q6 Are only people close to the plant at risk?  Did people die?

Answers are found in this website by AP.
Read more:

Questions and answers: Japan, Chernobyl disasters
http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_15818/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=pZvlStRh


・Here are the latest reports on the quake victims in Japan.  
http://hearthevoicefromjapan.blogspot.com/

How can we help?

・Save the Children, Japan quake victim
www.savethechildren.org/japanquake

・Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support Website

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Japan-Earthquake-Animal-Rescue-and-Support/207835229228979
OR;
http://japanearthquakeanimalrelief.chipin.com/japan-earthquake-animal-rescue-and-support/

・Japanese Red Cross

http://www.jrc.or.jp/english/relief/l4/Vcms4_00002070.html

Thank you for the Kizuna. Japan PM's message to the world

Kizuna　絆

The Bonds of Friendship

Thank you for the Kizuna.

One month has passed since an earthquake of unprecedented scale struck Japan, taking thousands of precious lives. Even today, evacuation shelters are still the only refuge for more than 150,000 people.

In the tsunami-devastated regions there was no food, no water, no electricity and the survivors had no communications. At that desperate time people from around the world rallied to our side bringing hope and inspiring courage.

Every blanket and every cup of hot soup brought warmth and strength to the cold and exhausted who had lost everything. Rescue teams heroically searched for survivors in the heaps of broken rubble, while medical teams worked tirelessly caring for the injured.

We are still receiving a tremendous outpouring of encouragement, prayers and support from people worldwide. We deeply appreciate the Kizuna our friends around the world have shown and I want to thank every nation, entity, and you personally, from the bottom of my heart.

Reconstruction has already begun and we are putting every effort into stabilising the situation at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

Through our own efforts and with the help of the global community, Japan will recover and come back even stronger. We will then repay you for your generous aid.

With this in our hearts, we now stand together dedicated to rebuilding the nation.

As our feelings of deep gratitude to you grow into feelings of hope, we, the people of Japan, express our sincere thanks to you all.

Naoto Kan
Prime Minister of Japan.

A Friend In Need Is A Friend Indeed.

Original Message in Japanese

http://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/kan/statement/201104/11kizuna.html

Quake takes toll on interns working in Japan

KESENNUMA —
The March 11 earthquake and ensuing tsunami in Japan have taken a toll not only on human lives and infrastructure but also on long-nurtured transnational personal relationships.

At a seafood processing firm in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, six female Indonesian college students were working as interns when the disaster hit the coastal city on March 11.

The lively and industrious interns, who were in charge of processing shark fins, an ingredient of a widely prized delicacy, were like daughters to Hiroshi Usui, 59, who ran the firm, and his wife Michiko, 56.

The massive quake and tsunami washed away their fishery plant and forced the Indonesians to stay at an evacuation center with the Usuis.

In the evacuation facility packed with refugees, however, the interns remained as vivacious as ever, with one of them softening their heart by saying in Japanese, ‘‘I heard the president snore for the first time.’‘

But the devastation wrought by the disaster left the six no choice but to soon return to their home country.

Five days after the quake, around 30 Indonesian women staying in the area were given seats on a bus dispatched by the Indonesian Embassy in Japan, and the interns could not have enough time to even say goodbye to the Usuis. Michiko Usui could not hand over a farewell letter to them.

                                                    Kesennuma, devastated by Tsunami

Read the whole story
http://www.japantoday.com/category/lifestyle/view/quake-takes-toll-on-interns-working-in-japan



・Here are the latest reports on the quake victims in Japan.  
http://hearthevoicefromjapan.blogspot.com/

How can we help?

・Save the Children, Japan quake victim
www.savethechildren.org/japanquake

・Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support Website

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Japan-Earthquake-Animal-Rescue-and-Support/207835229228979
OR;
http://japanearthquakeanimalrelief.chipin.com/japan-earthquake-animal-rescue-and-support/

・Japanese Red Cross

http://www.jrc.or.jp/english/relief/l4/Vcms4_00002070.html

Japan Quake Map

Shocked to see the monsterous scale of 3.11 earthquake and the frequency of afterquakes in this visual interactive.

http://www.japanquakemap.com/


・Here are the latest reports on the quake victims in Japan.  
http://hearthevoicefromjapan.blogspot.com/

How can we help?

・Save the Children, Japan quake victim
www.savethechildren.org/japanquake

・Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support Website

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Japan-Earthquake-Animal-Rescue-and-Support/207835229228979
OR;
http://japanearthquakeanimalrelief.chipin.com/japan-earthquake-animal-rescue-and-support/

・Japanese Red Cross
http://www.jrc.or.jp/english/relief/l4/Vcms4_00002070.html

A Pine Tree of Hope, Rikuzentakata

Rikuzentakata in Iwate is one of the cities hard-hit by Tsunami.
The area once boasted its scenic beauty highlighted by 70,000 pine trees along the coast.  Sadly however, the trees which used to stretch out for 2km were all wiped out by tsunami on March 11th except for one.

Among the shattered branches and other debris, the one resilient pine tree still standing is giving hope to residents who were devastated by the earthquake and tsunami.

Picture of a tree of hope which survived the devastating tsunami

According to the source, the tree is now in danger due to the high content of salt in the ground.  Measures are in place by authorities to maintain this symbol of hope.

One month passed.

More than 14,000 still missing. 
Power and water system are not restored for many households. 
Coastal towns are still covered by a huge amount of debris.
Hygine condition is getting worse at many shelters as days pass.  
282 people who survived the earthquake have died in the past month due to worsened health condition.

We have a long way to go.  Please pray for Japan.


・Here are the latest reports on the quake victims in Japan.  
http://hearthevoicefromjapan.blogspot.com/

How can we help?

・Save the Children, Japan quake victim
www.savethechildren.org/japanquake

・Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support Website

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Japan-Earthquake-Animal-Rescue-and-Support/207835229228979
OR;
http://japanearthquakeanimalrelief.chipin.com/japan-earthquake-animal-rescue-and-support/

・Japanese Red Cross
http://www.jrc.or.jp/english/relief/l4/Vcms4_00002070.html

Sirens, tears mark one month since tsunami; over 14,000 still missing

FUKUSHIMA —

Sirens wailed and people bowed their heads and wept along Japan’s devastated northeast coast Monday as they marked a month since the tsunami that killed up to 25,000 people and unleashed a persistent nuclear crisis.

With thousands of bodies yet to be found, a tsunami-flooded nuclear power plant still spewing radiation and more than 150,000 people living in shelters, there was little time for reflection on Japan’s worst disaster since World War II.

“My chest has been ripped open by the suffering and pain that this disaster has caused the people of our prefecture,” said Yuhei Sato, the governor of Fukushima, which saw its coastal areas devastated by the tsunami and contains the damaged plant at the center of the nuclear crisis. “I have no words to express my sorrow.”

People in hard-hit towns gathered for ceremonies at 2:46 p.m., the exact moment of the magnitude-9.0 quake that spawned the tsunami March 11.

Read the whole story
http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/more-than-14000-still-missing-1-month-after-quake-and-tsunami

・Here are the latest reports on the quake victims in Japan.  
http://hearthevoicefromjapan.blogspot.com/

How can we help?

・Save the Children, Japan quake victim
www.savethechildren.org/japanquake

・Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support Website

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Japan-Earthquake-Animal-Rescue-and-Support/207835229228979

Deadly magnitude 7.4 aftershock rocks northeast Japan

Number of aftershock of magnitude 5.0 or more which hit the northeastern Japan is recorded to be nealy 400 times.
Imagine.  400 big earthquakes (aftershocks) in just a month.  It must be very taxing to those who have already suffered a great loss.
 
One month passed, yet the situation surrounding many victims is still harsh.

As days progress, I'm also getting very concerned with mental & physical well-being of all the administrative & medical staff, Self Defense Force troops, relevant officers, and all the wokers involved in Fukushima Daiichi Plant who are working to their max limit.

The following is the news about the largest aftershock which occured on April 7, 2011.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Deadly magnitude 7.4 aftershock rocks northeast Japan

A magnitude 7.4 earthquake shook northeast Japan late on April 7, leaving three people dead, in one of the largest aftershocks since a magnitude 9.0 quake and tsunami wreaked havoc on the region.

The tremor -- which registered a strong 6 in Sendai and a strong 5 in Morioka on the Japanese scale -- rekindled anxiety among the already quake-shocked population and dealt a blow to recovery operations. "It shook terribly, just like it did that time," one local said, comparing the late-night temblor to the March 11 disaster.

"It hit just as I was going to bed," a 65-year-old Sendai housewife who lives on the sixth floor of a seven-story apartment block told the Mainichi. "It was completely dark, and so many things fell on the floor there was nowhere left to step. I thought it was just another aftershock, but it shook so much. I'm still upset," she continued in a trembling voice.

Read the whole story  http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110408p2a00m0na003000c.html

・Here are the latest reports on the quake victims in Japan.  
http://hearthevoicefromjapan.blogspot.com/

How can we help?

・Save the Children, Japan quake victim
www.savethechildren.org/japanquake

・Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support Website

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Japan-Earthquake-Animal-Rescue-and-Support/207835229228979
OR;
http://japanearthquakeanimalrelief.chipin.com/japan-earthquake-animal-rescue-and-support/

・Japanese Red Cross
http://www.jrc.or.jp/english/relief/l4/Vcms4_00002070.html

Japan's nuclear reactor: radioactive leaks

As work continues to bring the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant back under control, Reactors 2 and 3, are the most likely sources for the main leaks of radioactivity.

Updates & Graphics on Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant by BBC

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12911190


・Here are the latest reports on the quake victims in Japan.  
http://hearthevoicefromjapan.blogspot.com/

How can we help?

・Save the Children, Japan quake victim
www.savethechildren.org/japanquake

・Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support Website

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Japan-Earthquake-Animal-Rescue-and-Support/207835229228979
OR;
http://japanearthquakeanimalrelief.chipin.com/japan-earthquake-animal-rescue-and-support/

・Japanese Red Cross
http://www.jrc.or.jp/english/relief/l4/Vcms4_00002070.html

Man stranded in empty Japanese town since tsunami

MINAMI SOMA, Japan – The farmhouse sits at the end of a mud-caked, one-lane road strewn with toppled trees, the decaying carcasses of dead pigs and large debris deposited by the March 11 tsunami. Stranded alone inside the unheated, dark home is 75-year-old Kunio Shiga. He cannot walk very far and doesn't know what happened to his wife.

His neighbors have all left because the area is 12 miles (20 kilometers) from the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant — just within the zone where authorities have told everyone to get out because of concerns about leaking radiation.

When a reporter and two photographers from The Associated Press arrived at Shiga's doorstep Friday, the scared and disoriented farmer said: "You are the first people I have spoken to" since the earthquake and tsunami.

(Author: It's so sad and shocking.....)
Read the whole story
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_re_as/as_japan_earthquake_stranded_alone;_ylt=ArDTe4CUAu368OMkGWLQN3mnxQ8F;_ylu=X3oDMTM4N2dsYTE3BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTEwNDA4L2FzX2phcGFuX2VhcnRocXVha2Vfc3RyYW5kZWRfYWxvbmUEcG9zAzEEc2VjA3luX3BhZ2luYXRlX3N1bW1hcnlfbGlzdARzbGsDbWFuc3RyYW5kZWRp

Kunio Shiga

Kunio Shiga poses for a photo at his home in Minami Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, inside the deserted evacuation zone established for the 20 kilometer radius

・Here are the latest reports on the quake victims in Japan.  
http://hearthevoicefromjapan.blogspot.com/

How can we help?

・Save the Children, Japan quake victim
www.savethechildren.org/japanquake

・Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support Website

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Japan-Earthquake-Animal-Rescue-and-Support/207835229228979
OR;
http://japanearthquakeanimalrelief.chipin.com/japan-earthquake-animal-rescue-and-support/

・Japanese Red Cross
http://www.jrc.or.jp/english/relief/l4/Vcms4_00002070.html