News
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26 August 2020
Ex-lower house vice speaker Kozo Watanabe dies at 88
Kozo Watanabe, former vice speaker of the House of Representatives and a major figure in Japanese political life who served in key Cabinet posts such as trade minister, died of old age at 2:08 a.m. on Aug. 23 at a …
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23 August 2020
Youngsters visit deserted hometown schools in Futaba after 9.5-year hiatus
In the Fukushima Prefecture town of Futaba, young people took out school supplies and other articles on Aug. 22 from their alma mater, deserted almost nine and a half years ago following the 2011 nuclear accident at Tokyo Electric Power …
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15 August 2020
Join contest for video clips of “Bon odori” dancing scenes! Deadline: Aug. 31
Fukushima-Minpo Co. is soliciting video clips showing scenes of “Bon odori” dancing to the tune of folk song “Aizu Bandai-san ” (Mt. Bandai in Aizu) in a contest to close on Aug. 31. Applicants are asked to shoot video footage …
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31 July 2020
Blast rips through eatery in Koriyama, killing 1, injuring 19 others
An explosion ripped through a restaurant in the Fukushima Prefecture city of Koriyama on July 30, killing one man and injuring at least 19 other people, some seriously. The blast occurred around 8:55 a.m. at the Koriyama Shin-sakura-dori outlet of …
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27 July 2020
Pilot-development program for young people begins in Fukushima, aided by acrobatic aviator Muroya
A program has been launched to nurture young people as private pilots with the support of acrobatic race aviator and Fukushima local Yoshihide Muroya and other volunteers. The first lessons under the "Youth Pilot Program" were given for three days …
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14 July 2020
J-pop group TOKIO promoting Fukushima products in 3 new TV ads
Three new TV commercials starring members of all-male J-pop group TOKIO have been completed to promote farm, forestry and marine products from Fukushima Prefecture, Fukushima Gov. Masao Uchibori announced on July 13. The TV ads, separately focusing on peaches, skipjack tuna …
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10 July 2020
Cylindrical facility to be built in park planned in Fukushima in memory of disaster
A national park to be built in an area straddling the towns of Futaba and Namie in Fukushima Prefecture in memory of victims of the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster will have a cylindrical indoor facility for the permanent …
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8 July 2020
Robots in Fukushima monitor cucumber production in IT-farming joint project
Three ventures from the IT and farming industries have started testing methods to produce cucumbers with less human labor in Sukagawa, Fukushima Prefecture, in the hope that it will reinvigorate the agriculture industry suffering from a worsening labor shortage, including …
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2 July 2020
Arakawa River in Fukushima rated top in Japanese water quality survey for 10th straight year
The Arakawa River in Fukushima city has been found to have the best water quality among all rivers in Japan, obtaining the country's top rating for the 10th year in a row, the central government said July 1 in its …
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25 June 2020
17 municipal assemblies in Fukushima view gov't response to polluted water disposal as "inadequate"
Amid controversy over how to dispose of growing stores of treated but tritium-contaminated radioactive water at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, 17 out of 59 municipal assemblies in Fukushima Prefecture have passed statements or resolutions so far this year, branding the central government's disposal policy as insufficient. They also oppose the proposed release of treated water into the sea and have called for stronger measures to address reputational damage stemming from the 2011 nuclear accident at the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. plant. The series of municipal assembly moves reflect their increasingly clear stance seeking to have the …
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25 June 2020
Fukushima localities speak out against dumping radioactive water in sea
Seventeen out of 59 municipal assemblies in Fukushima Prefecture have either passed a resolution or issued a statement opposing the discharge into the Pacific Ocean of treated radioactive water currently stored at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, a Fukushima Minpo survey has shown. The resolutions and statements also described measures taken by the central government as inadequate to combat reputational damage to food and fishery goods produced in Fukushima Prefecture, and the hope that local voices will be reflected in Tokyo’s decision on whether to release the tritium-tainted water into the sea. Fukushima Minpo conducted a survey of assemblies in …
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19 June 2020
Fukushima roadside post swept away by tsunami discovered on Okinawa beach
A white roadside post believed to have been swept away when a tsunami hit the Fukushima Prefecture city of Soma has been discovered on a beach in Okinawa Prefecture. Known as a “delineator,” the 1.5-meter-long metal pole topped with a …