Daily Japan Headlines: Wednesday, Jul 6, 2011

Written By: guyjin on July 6, 2011 No Comment

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Matsumoto Ryu. Photo Source: Edmonton Sun

BBC Video: Japan’s minister for reconstruction resigns over comments

Japan’s Minister for Reconstruction Ryu Matsumoto has announced his resignation after just a week in the job.
He had been widely criticised for making insensitive remarks to governors of areas badly affected by March’s deadly earthquake and tsunami.

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BBC: Japan’s gaffe-prone politicians

Ryu Matsumoto, Japan’s newly-appointed disaster reconstruction minister, has resigned after appearing to insult the victims of the March quake and tsunami. He is the latest in a long line of politicians who have made high-profile gaffes.

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Bloomberg: Kan Proposes $25 Billion Earthquake Budget That May Pave Way for His Exit

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan proposed a 2-trillion yen ($25 billion) extra budget, spending that would fall short of what’s needed to rebuild after a record earthquake and the worst nuclear accident in more than 20 years.

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Washington Times: Tsunami drill saved Japanese town from worse fate

Famous in Japan for harvesting seaweed, urchin and abalone, Taro holds tsunami escape drills every March 3 on the anniversary of the 1933 disaster.
This year the drill was only eight days before the real thing hit. Many people knew they had to flee to higher ground immediately and not wait for officials to tell them what to do.

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BBC Video: Japan: What’s happened 4 months on?

Yuri Ota took leave from her job in Tokyo to become a volunteer working in Koriyama, the largest city in the Fukushima prefecture, some 60 km from the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

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NPR: The Science Of Japan’s Nuclear Crisis

Japanese officials already have concluded that the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant was not designed to withstand the 40-foot tsunami that hit it on March 11. But different decisions early in the crisis might have reduced the accident’s severity.

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Reuters: Japan eyes first nuclear restart since quake

Reactors at Kyushu Electric Power Co’s 36-year old plant in the town of Genkai in the southern Saga prefecture are likely to be the first to return online, pending an approval from the prefecture’s governor Yasushi Furukawa. The Genkai city mayor has already given his consent to the restart.

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Reuters: Japan can’t reject nuclear power out of hand: lawmaker

“I think we must escape from our reliance on nuclear power,” Sumio Mabuchi, a former transport minister nicknamed the “Terminator” for his body-building hobby, told Reuters in an interview. “But we shouldn’t just decide emotionally to abandon it because of a dangerous accident.

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Wall Street Journal: Japan Power List: Ghosn’s Millions

The CEO’s total compensation for the fiscal year ended March 31 rose 10% from a year earlier to 982 million yen, or about $12 million. That meant Mr. Ghosn held onto his place as the top-paid foreign executive at a listed Japanese company.

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ESPN: England stymies Japan with revamped lineup

England, who came into the game at 1-0-1 with four points, needed to defeat Japan to win Group B and guarantee advancing. The Japanese entered the game leading the group 2-0-0 with six points but now settle for a quarterfinal date with Group A winner Germany in Wolfsburg.

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