Daily Japan Headlines: Tuesday, Jul 19, 2011
Photo Source: AFP.
AFP: ‘Air-conditioned clothes’ help Japan beat heat
As jackets go it looks far from fashionable, but its Japanese maker cannot meet sky-rocketing demand for “air conditioned” coats with built-in fans.
Kuchofuku Co. Ltd — whose name literally means “air-conditioned clothing” — has seen orders soar amid power shortages in Japan after the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
*****
Bloomberg: Japan Should Have Nuclear Weapons: Ishihara
Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara criticized Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s vow to reduce dependency on atomic energy after the Fukushima disaster, saying instead the country should deepen its nuclear embrace to include weapons.
“Japan should absolutely possess nuclear weapons,” Ishihara said in a July 15 interview at his office in Tokyo, citing China and North Korea as potential threats. “I don’t think we can easily do away with atomic power. Nuclear energy is inexpensive if managed well,” he also said.
*****
BBC Audio: Japan ‘forced open’ by disaster
Is the conservatism of Japanese culture acting as a hindrance to the country’s recovery from the earthquake and tsunami?
Justin Webb reports from Japan on whether cultural ideas of respect for authority are being questioned in the wake of disaster.
*****
Telegraph: Japanese tsunami stood at 132.5ft
The research shows that the tsunami was taller than the December 2004 tsunami triggered by the undersea earthquake off Indonesia. That tsunami reached a height of 108 feet and claimed an estimated 230,210 lives in Indonesia, Thailand, Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka.
*****
Wall Street Journal: Crippled Nuclear Plant Largely Meets Three-Month Goals
The nine-month road map for Fukushima Daiichi, announced on April 17, was plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s answer to criticism that its response to the crisis was too ad hoc. The plan’s first-stage goals were to achieve stable cooling of the heavily damaged reactor cores, secure storage space for the highly radioactive water and prepare countermeasures against any new quakes or tsunami.
“Most of the objectives have been accomplished,” Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan declared Saturday when he visited local leaders.
*****
Fox Business: Osaka Gov: Kansai Has Enough Power, Kepco’s Warnings “Scare Tactics”
The governor of Osaka said Tuesday he believes his region has enough power to make it through the summer and criticized the region’s electric company for what he described as scare tactics.
*****
BBC Audio: Could Japan’s recovery fail?
Japan faces a new economic reality, with fears that it may not be able to pull itself back after the devastating effects of the earthquake and nuclear disaster.
*****
AP: Toyota utilizing hybrids to help with power crunch
Toyota’s electric-gasoline hybrid car technology will be utilized to help ease power shortages in Japan’s disaster-struck northeast, part of a set of measures the automaker hopes will underline its commitment to the region.
Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday it will donate emergency power supply systems linked to its Prius hybrid cars to prefectures (states) in the Tohoku region ravaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
*****
Wall Street Journal: International Assessment of Seismic Risk
At Fukushima Daiichi, on the east coast of Japan, the plant owned by Tokyo Electric Power Co. had prepared for a maximum likely quake of about magnitude 7.8, but was overwhelmed by a far more powerful 9.0 offshore temblor and the associated tsunami in March. Although most experts believe the tsunami did most of the damage, not ground shaking from the earthquake, some said the catastrophe underscores the need for conservatism in earthquake risk analysis and nuclear-plant design.
*****
AFP: Japan women eye World Cup/Olympics double
Japan captain Homare Sawa vowed Tuesday to go for gold at next year’s London Olympics as her squad returned home to a hero’s welcome following their historic triumph at the women’s World Cup.
*****
LA Times: Japan’s World Cup winners get rock star treatment on return
“It hadn’t sunk in that we’d won the World Cup until we landed at Narita airport,” Japan captain Homare Sawa, the tournament’s MVP and leading scorer, told reporters.
“I’d never seen so many people come to greet us,” added the talismanic leader of Japan’s “Nadeshiko” — named after a type of frilly pink carnation, symbolising grace and stoicism. “It was amazing.”
*****
No related posts.
