News
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28 April 2021
Flower garden opens in Fukushima village as part of reconstruction project
A flower garden opened on April 20 in part of idled farmland in the Fukushima Prefecture village of Iitate. The "Tulip/Flower Farm" is located in the village's Sasu district, where an evacuation order was issued after the 2011 nuclear accident …
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22 April 2021
Gov’t decides to release Fukushima wastewater into sea, starting in 2 years
The central government decided on April 13 to release into the ocean tritium-containing wastewater from Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc.’s Fukushima Daiichi plant, starting in two years. The decision, taken at a meeting of relevant Cabinet ministers held at the prime minister’s office in Tokyo, brought to an end the controversy over how to dispose of swelling wastewater that has been treated but is still polluted by tritium, a radioactive substance. It effectively overrode opposition by prefectural residents concerned over additional reputational damage to local products already hit by harmful rumors stemming from the 2011 nuclear disaster at the …
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19 April 2021
Football school reopens in Fukushima town of Hirono after 10-year hiatus
The Japan Football Association (JFA) reopened its youth-training school on April 6 in the Fukushima Prefecture town of Hirono, 10 years after its base of practice was relocated to Shizuoka Prefecture following the 2011 nuclear accident at Tokyo Electric Power …
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8 April 2021
Prefectural gov't forms TOKIO section to spread charms of Fukushima
The Fukushima prefectural government has created a "TOKIO section" serving as a liaison with a company set up by the popular eponymous male pop group. The new section will work with the company to send out information about how the reconstruction in Fukushima Prefecture is progressing 10 years after the Great East Japan Earthquake and ensuing nuclear accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s Fukushima Daiichi plant, as well as on the region's attractions. TOKIO member Tomoya Nagase quit the Johnny & Associates music management agency at the end of March, reducing the group to a trio of Shigeru Joshima, …
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18 March 2021
10 YEARS SINCE DISASTER: Memorial ceremony held for lost loved ones
March 11 marked the 10th anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami and ensuing nuclear accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s Fukushima Daiichi plant. Residents in various parts of Fukushima Prefecture offered prayers from early morning to …
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11 March 2021
Tsunami-wrecked "miracle piano" turned into eponymous song by pop duo Kiroro member
A member of female pop duo Kiroro unveiled a song about a grand piano resurrected after being damaged by the 2011 earthquake-tsunami disaster when she visited the Fukushima Prefecture city of Iwaki on March 1. Ayano Kinjo, a 43-year-old keyboard …
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4 March 2021
10 YEARS SINCE DISASTER: Half of residents in municipalities with evacuation zones see recovery slow
Two separate opinion polls conducted by Fukushima-Minpo Co. show that about half of the respondents think reconstruction from the 2011 earthquake and nuclear accident has not made headway in 12 cities, towns and villages in Fukushima Prefecture where evacuation zones …
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25 February 2021
Sukagawa's two "Tsuburaya" natives to be made honorary citizens
The Fukushima Prefecture city of Sukagawa announced on Feb. 15 a plan to propose making two of its native sons with the same family name honorary citizens -- movie director Eiji Tsuburaya (1901-1970), the creator of the Ultraman and Godzilla …
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18 February 2021
10 YEARS SINCE DISASTER: Group of Fukushima natives in Britain to post thank-you video on YouTube
An association of Japanese nationals in Britain with ties to Fukushima Prefecture will post a streaming video in English on YouTube showing aspects of the region's past, present and possible future, as well as messages of gratitude for support, on …
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12 February 2021
Messages of thanks from Fukushima "reconstruction envoys" posted on YouTube channel
Video messages by "Fukushima ambassadors of reconstruction," publicly solicited by Fukushima-Minpo Co., were posted on a YouTube channel on Feb. 4 to express gratitude for support from home and abroad as the 10th anniversary of the 2011 Great East Japan …
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5 February 2021
Fukushima photographer produces shot linking "3/11" Japan quake & "9/11" U.S. terror attacks
A 61-year-old photographer in Fukushima Prefecture has completed a large photographic work based on a rose garden in the Ogatsu district of Ishinomaki city in the neighboring prefecture of Miyagi in an attempt to produce a symbolic photo of the …
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29 January 2021
Japan's oldest arboreal fossil found in Hirono
A museum in the Fukushima Prefecture city of Aizuwakamatsu announced on Jan. 19 the discovery of Japan's oldest metasequoia tree fossil found in an 88 million-year-old layer in the coastal town of Hirono. The discovery was made by Hiroaki Inose, a …