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Outbreak of Rare Phantom Squid in Pacific Coast of Japan May Herald Imminent Earthquake

Outbreak of Rare Phantom Squid in Pacific Coast of Japan May Herald Imminent Earthquake

Deep below the ocean lives the squid Chiroteuthis, known in Japan by the name Yurei Ika (Phantom Squid).  The Japanese name comes from its ghost-like fluttering and floating movement.

It’s a squid seldom seen by people who don’t have access to a submarine and can visit their habitat 200 to 600 meters beneath the ocean.  So when they started turning up in unprecedented numbers around the southeastern coast of Japan, experts became understandably alarmed.

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Is Mt. Fuji About to Blow Its Top?

According to researchers, Japan might be about the add volcanic eruptions to the list of catastrophes that have dogged it over the past year, and the volcano in question is none other than the iconic Mt. Fuji. Read More

How a Prius Can Make You Dinner

Toyota announced this month that it will be a releasing a system for using your Prius plug-in hybrid as a big ol’ battery. The key feature is an inverter which will allow you to plug household electronics directly into the car through a water-proof cable. Read More

Demand for “Mini-Dam” Rain Barrels Triples in Year-Plus Since 3/11, Municipal Subsidies Available

A movement toward storing rainwater for emergency use seems to be afoot throughout Japan. Sanei Build System has reported threefold demand for its user-friendly “Mini-Dam” rain barrels in the wake of the March 11 disasters. 

The manufacturer has suggested retail prices of 50,000 yen for the 200-liter model and 120,000 yen for the 1,000-liter model, but it adds that certain municipalities will subsidize as much as half the retail price. Read More

Harley Davidson Restore Project Stirs Respect, Admiration in Japanese Internet Community

The heartwarming, true story about a disaster-stricken man being reunited with his long lost Harley Davidson has made the rounds on the Internet and tugged at the heartstrings of Japanese Internet users in particular.

“They’ve started writing the movie already,” posted one enthusiastic reader on the Topsy.com comments section.

Man loses three family members and nearly all of his possessions in a horrific earthquake and tsunami and spends over a year in temporary housing before hearing one day that someone found his treasured motorcycle 4,000 miles across the ocean, reasonably intact considering the beating it took at the hands of the Pacific Ocean?  We may have something here, Mr. DeMille. Read More

Only the Hardcore Need Apply to be Fukushima Cops


The recruitment poster for the Fukushima police force is moving, to say the least. It definitely singles out only the most dedicated, most driven potential recruits. The poster features a person wearing an anti-radiation suit, walking through some desolate, post-tsunami wasteland, with text saying hauntingly, “There is work here that only I can do…”. Japanese posters often omit words and thus have implied messages, but this recruitment poster is relatively explicit. And it has gained some attention for its darkness and severity. It’s pretty plain that you should be looking forward to working in hazardous conditions.

A police spokesperson confirmed that they were seeking people with strong mettle precisely because of the still-dire situation in Fukushima. The photo is from May 2011 (the disaster was in March), shows the main damaged nuclear reactor in the background, and was unanimously selected for the poster in February this year. The desire for driven new officers who won’t give up on the work or come for the job thinking about it too casually is understandable, but there could also be a subtext, which is that they don’t just want anybody either.

source: Asahi via Jin (Japanese)

Fukushima Refugees Rather Gamble than Work, Claims Iwaki City Mayor

The city of Iwaki lies 30km south of the Fukushima Daiichi just outside of the evacuation zone created after the nuclear disaster struck.  As such it has become home to approximately 25,000 displaced people from Futaba District, where the Daiichi reactor is located.

On 9 April, Iwaki Mayor Takao Watanabe had this to say about the evacuees: “With the compensation money they received from TEPCO, most people are choosing not to work.  The pachinko parlors, however, are packed every day.”  Pachinko is a highly popular game similar to pinball that is often used for gambling much like slots or video poker in other parts of the world.

Although this may sound like another case of a Japanese politician putting his foot in his mouth, it appears Mayor Watanabe is not alone with his opinion.

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Tokyo PD Announces Traffic Restrictions to Follow Major Earthquakes in Tokyo Metro Area, PDF Files Available in Several Languages

On April 9, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department released pamphlets describing traffic restrictions that would be put into effect if a massive earthquake (Intensity Lower 6 or greater) were to strike the Tokyo Metropolis. The restrictions were made public in Japanese some time ago, but now the pamphlets are available as PDF files in English, Korean and Chinese. Read More

Algae Found Capable of Removing Radioactive Matter from Water

Necessity is the mother of invention, and the damaged created by the Tohoku earthquake and subsequent Fukushima Daiichi disaster has created an urgent need for solutions to the environmental problems Japan faces.

Working with various universities across Japan, the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research, better known as RIKEN have developed a new method of decontaminating water containing radioactive materials.  It uses a type of algae that has been shown to “eat” radioactive cesium.

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New Major Faults Found Near Japan Coast

Two active and sizable faults were discovered east of Tokyo, a bit more than 100 km off the coast of Chiba Prefecture, measuring 160 km(99miles) and 300 km(186miles) long respectively.

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Possibly Korean, Definitely Effeminate Young Man has Some Choice Words to Share with Japan: “Please Die Quickly.”

A young man who is assumed to be Korean has decided to share his feelings to the world on YouTube and as a result ignited a powder keg of tensions between Koreans and Japanese internet users.

In broken Japanese, the boy gave a minute and a half speech about his take on the post-Tohoku Earthquake situation which, as one Japanese commenter said, “crossed the line.”  He then gives a glimpse into his own homicidal fantasies before politely asking all Japanese people to “die quickly.”

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Possible Debris From Tohoku Earthquake Reaches American Shores

As we quickly approach the one year anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake the have been signs that debris from the massive tsunami has finally touched down on American shores.

Recently residents of northwest Washington state have been finding more and more fishing gear and garbage with Japanese writing on it since last weekend.  In fact, in the past two months one man found 15 pieces of Japanese debris has been reported which is a sharp increase from the only 4 pieces found in the previous 46 years.

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Lovers’ Final Emails Moments Before Tsunami: “Don’t get yourself killed!”

Text messages sent from Arisa Miura, a city worker who died in the tsunami that struck Minami-Sanriku in Miyagi Prefecture, and her boyfriend were released to the press on March 5th. In the 5 texts, which were sent between the two lovers after the earthquake and before Miura was swept away, one can see the depth of their affection in their consideration for the other’s safety even in a hectic emergency situation. Read More

1 Year After Tōhoku Earthquake FujiFilm Reports Over 1,000,000 Photos Rescued and Cleaned

Like with many natural disasters, governments and large corporations throw money and supplies in relief efforts.  Although the aid is greatly appreciated and needed by the victims, there is always this lingering cynicism that these donations were done out of self-serving motives.  Especially when said company releases an ad tooting their own horn about the contributions they made.

However, a largely unsung gesture by FujiFilm has recently celebrated its milestone of restoring over 1,000,000 photos recovered from earthquake devastated areas.  The cynic in you may ask what the big deal is about cleaning some photos when these people need food and shelter.

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A Must-See Visual of Japan’s 2011 Earthquakes

On March 11, an unprecedentedly large earthquake struck northern Japan, marking 2011 as a disastrous year for the Japanese. This video shows the fierce power of that quake and the cascade of aftershocks that came in the months to follow as nothing less than horrific. Read More

Welcome Home, Arisa: Missing Woman’s Body Found Nearly 11 Months After Tsunami

The corpse of a woman found in January in the ruble of Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, has been determined by DNA testing to be that of 24-year-old Arisa Miura, an employee at the disaster preparedness office at the city hall, which was washed away in the March 11th tsunami last year. Following the results, her body is finally being sent home. Read More

Dragon Tree On Coast Of Disaster-Struck Miyagi Prefecture Symbol Of Recovery, Draws Visitors From Across Japan

Iwai-saki is a beautiful cape surrounded by pine trees located at the southern end of Rikuchu Seacoast National Park in Kensennuma city, Miyagi prefecture.

While the area around the cape is now still and peaceful, large sections of Kensennuma city were destroyed and hundreds of lives lost in the tsunami and fires triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake last March.

While Kensennuma has a long road to recovery ahead of it, the city is said to be experiencing an increase in visitors recently who come to see a lone pine tree twisted in the shape of a dragon that stands alone on a beach of Iwai-saki.

We travelled to Kensennuma with camera in hand to see the scene for ourselves.

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Tokyo Clinic to Test Internal Radiation Exposure

On January 16th, a clinic was opened in Tokyo’s Shinagawa Ward to check the levels of internal radiation exposure. The clinic, loosely translated as Radioactivity Premium Dock, offers a complete body scan for radiation levels, among other services, which the general public can access for a fee. The company hopes to reduce anxiety resulting from the Fukushima Daiichi disaster and to help the public manage their health.
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Yakuza’s Debtors Forced to Work at Fukushima Daiichi?

According to a book recently published by Tomohiko Suzuki, a freelance journalist who went undercover as a laborer at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant for two months this year, people who were unable to repay loans from yakuza gangs were forced to work at the site as a means of repaying their debts. Tokyo Electric issued a refutal, calling the claim that organized crime would be allowed to influence the recruitment process “groundless”.
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Manhattan Japanese Restaurant EAST Serves Unexpected Tear-Jerker

I happened upon a kaiten sushi-ya (conveyor belt sushi restaurant) while on an extended trip to New York, and I was surprised that something other than the hot wasabi brought tears to my eyes.

Japanese Restaurant EAST in Manhattan is a far cry from any Japanese kaiten sushi-ya – this place is as hip as any nightclub in the area. The chef is not Japanese, but his skills are just as good as those of any “genuine” sushi chef. He rolled out perfectly squeezed nigiri sushi and delicious miso soup.

And though I like to get adventurous with the wasabi from time to time, I was not prepared for the rotating item that would move me to tears on this day.

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