Cooling Problem Shuts Nuclear Reactor in Japan - New York Times

Kyushu Electric, the operator of the reactor at the Genkai nuclear power plant, characterized the incident as minor and said there was no risk of a radiation leak. A problem with the condenser unit that turns steam back into cooling water appeared to have triggered the halt, but the reactor stopped safely and was undergoing checks, the utility said.

“At no point was the plant under any danger, and the reactor has been brought to a stable shutdown,” said Eiji Yamamoto, a spokesperson for Kyushu Electric. “There has been no effect on radiation levels outside the plant.”

Still, the shutdown came as the government was renewing a push to restart reactors that were idled following the nuclear accident at Fukushima in March. Kyushu Electric said that inspection work had been carried out on a valve of the condenser in question on Tuesday, raising the possibility that human error had triggered the shutdown.

“As we saw in Fukushima, cooling systems are central to the safety of nuclear reactors,” said Chihiro Kamisawa, a researcher at the Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center, an antinuclear organization. “We cannot take lightly the fact that there was also trouble with the cooling system at Genkai,” he said. “It underscores the fact that safety problems riddle Japan’s reactors.”

After Tuesday’s shutdown, only 10 of 54 reactors remain on the grid, threatening to deprive the nation of the source of almost a third of its electricity. At least four of six reactors at the Fukushima plant, which suffered multiple meltdowns earlier this year, are expected to be permanently decommissioned.

Many other reactors have passed maintenance checks, but have not received the go-ahead to restart. At Genkai, five of six reactors remain offline, and the last is due to halt in December for a scheduled maintenance check, legally required every 13 months.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda recently argued for a swift restart of reactors, albeit after extensive “stress tests” of their safety and ability to withstand earthquakes and tsunamis. Such a drastic loss of nuclear power would bring dire economic consequences, he has repeatedly argued, echoing warnings from Japan’s business lobby.

But he faces an uphill battle amid a collapse of public confidence in Japan’s nuclear program following the accident at Fukushima, where a tsunami knocked out the plant’s cooling systems, triggering meltdowns and a major radiation leak.

The government’s handling of the crisis and its aftermath, from the inadequate evacuation of local residents to scandals involving the restart of other reactors, have added to the public mistrust.

In fact, the governor of the southern prefecture of Saga had tentatively agreed to allow the restart of two idle reactors at Genkai in July. But he rescinded his permission when it was found that Kyushu Electric had tried to manipulate public opinion with fake e-mails to support a reopening of the reactors.

In an Associated Press-GfK poll of Japanese voters published last month, 6 out of 10 respondents said they had little or no confidence in the safety of the country’s nuclear plants. Only 5 percent were very confident.

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Japan Lifts Evacuation Advisories Near Nuclear Plant - New York Times

The easing was a bid by the government to bring the country a step closer to normalcy after the March 11 quake and tsunami, which destroyed wide areas of Japan’s Pacific coast and set off the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. But with lingering fears over radiation levels — as well as slow progress in decontaminating towns and cities hit by radioactive plumes — a return to these areas is likely to be slow.

A 12-mile exclusion zone will remain in place around the nuclear power plant, Fukushima Daiichi, which the government is working to bring under control. The worst contaminated areas close to the plant are likely to remain uninhabitable for decades, government officials have acknowledged.

Still, the government decided Friday to lift evacuation advisories for five lesser-hit towns and cities just outside that radius. Radiation levels in those towns and cities were stable enough to warrant lifting the advisories, which affected about 59,000 people, officials said. About 30,000 of those people had already returned to the area as radiation fears eased.

But questions remain about whether radiation levels are low enough for all residents to return. On Friday morning, for example, the entrance to Minamisoma city’s main hospital measured 0.51 microsieverts per hour in radiation, according to numbers released daily by the city. A simple calculation would bring annual exposure at the level to almost 4,500 microsieverts, or 4.5 millisieverts a year, far above the annual limit of 1 millisievert for civilians that is recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection.

At an elementary school in the town of Naraha, also declared safe for residents to return, the measurement came to 0.77 microsieverts per hour, or 6.75 millisieverts a year at that level.

While experts say these levels are still low — the limit for radiation workers in the United States is 50 millisieverts per year, for example — little is known about the health effects of extended exposure to low-level radiation. Moreover, children and pregnant women are known to be especially sensitive to radiation. A sievert measures the effect of radiation on the human body.

Defending its decision, the government cited progress in bringing the Fukushima plant to a relatively stable condition. In one milestone on Thursday, the government said that temperatures in the plant’s three most damaged reactors had fallen below 100 degrees Celsius, an important step toward what experts call a stable “cold shutdown” of the facility.

Despite Friday’s easing, many shops, schools, hospitals and train lines in the affected area remain closed — either damaged in the tsunami or simply unable to open because of the lack of staff and supplies — hindering any quick return to normalcy.

“There are many challenges we must overcome so residents can safely return home,” said Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, promising to speed up a cleanup effort that is expected to cost tens of billions of dollars. “The government must unite and lead the way in decontamination and recovery efforts, so we can clear away any doubts evacuees may have about returning,” he said.

The central government’s slowness in aiding areas affected by the disaster has irked some residents, however. Katsunobu Sakurai, mayor of one of the cities cleared for rehabilitation, said that tireless efforts by city officials were behind any progress made in preparing for residents to return. Since early summer, the city, Minamisoma, has teamed up with researchers from Tokyo University to decontaminate kindergartens and elementary schools, digging up contaminated soil in school yards and scrubbing surfaces with brushes.

Many residents also worry that “hot spots” of high radiation still exist across the city, posing health risks. “We’re the ones who took the lead,” Mr. Sakurai told the public broadcaster, NHK. “Now we’d like more assistance from the country.”

There is also the question of where to dispose of the huge amounts of nuclear waste from the decontamination work. Lacking proper disposal or treatment facilities, cities and towns in the area are simply piling up radioactive soil and debris in fields and parking lots and even in corners of school playgrounds.

Goshi Hosono, the minister in charge of the nuclear disaster, said that the government would come up with new laws and measures to deal with radioactive waste by next month.

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Typhoon Headed for Stricken Japanese Nuclear Plant - New York Times

TOKYO — A powerful typhoon struck Japan’s main island on Wednesday, stranding thousands of commuters in Tokyo and poured heavy rain on the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in the nation’s tsunami-ravaged northeast.

Typhoon-powered waves exploded against a breakwater in Kiho in central Japan on Wednesday.

Evacuation advisories went out to more than one million people across the main island of Honshu as torrential downpours caused flash floods in low-lying areas. As of Wednesday evening, six people had been found dead and seven others were missing, according to Japan’s national broadcaster, NHK.

The storm, called Typhoon Roke, directly hit greater Tokyo, briefly shutting down Japan’s commercial and political center. Strong winds and rains brought most subways and commuter trains to at least a temporary halt, stranding tens of thousands at stations. Bullet train and airline service was canceled.

Even so, most of Tokyo continued to have electric power even as the eye of the storm passed through the city on Wednesday evening, a testament to Japan’s generally robust basic infrastructure. According to Tokyo Electric Power, about 20,000 homes lost electricity in Tokyo, a city of almost 13 million residents.

Roke was the second powerful typhoon to strike Japan in the last month. Typhoon Talas, which made landfall in western Japan on Sept. 2, left 106 people dead or missing, the worst toll in decades.

Roke’s path was expected to take it over the Fukushima plant, which was crippled by the massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11. The storm’s approach raised concerns that heavy rains could increase the risk of a leak of contaminated water from the crippled reactor buildings into the nearby Pacific Ocean. But Takeo Iwamoto, a spokesman for Tokyo Electric, the plant’s operator, said before the storm hit that the plant could weather it without further damage or risk of a leak. Company spokesmen could not be reached on Thursday morning.

The storm also threatened to flood coastal areas damaged by the tsunami and earthquake, which lowered the level of the ground by as much as two or three feet in some areas, and to wash radioactivity from the evacuated area around the plant into the sea.

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Japan look to wipe slate clean again against All Blacks - Los Angeles Times

HAMILTON, New Zealand (Reuters) - Japan plan to put a stake in the ground at the rugby World Cup and banish memories of their 145-17 humiliation at the hands of New Zealand in 1995, the teams' only previous clash at the global tournament.

The 'Brave Blossoms' have already won plaudits for their spirited 47-21 loss to France in their first pool match but face the ultimate credibility test when they take on the All Blacks in Hamilton on Friday.

"I think the game's completely changed since 1995," Japan coach John Kirwan, a former All Black winger, told reporters on Thursday. "Tomorrow evening is about being competitive.

"We've got a goal to be the most improved country at the World Cup and so that means competing last week against France, competing tomorrow night and then winning our last two games."

Kirwan said a repeat of the 1995 result was unfathomable given the improvement in the structure of Japanese rugby since 1995. A stronger domestic league and inclusion in the Pacific Nations Cup over the last five years had also helped.

Japan, ranked 13th in the world, announced themselves as regional contenders with their first Pacific Nations title this year, seeing off the likes of 10th-ranked Samoa, Tonga (12th) and Fiji (15th).

"You can't see that improvement without things happening in the background. So better high performance, good competition and a good domestic competition, those things are in place," said Kirwan.

The coach cited the rise of scrumhalf Atsushi Hiwasa, whose form this year left Australian rugby great and World Cup winner George Gregan on the bench for his club in Japan's top league.

"It's little things like that. And George has passed on a lot of knowledge to Hiwasa, so things like that have really improved our game, so I think we'll see that tomorrow night and further on in the competition," added Kirwan.

"All the guys want to give it their best shot. We want to defend with our hearts on our sleeves and we want to have the ability to hang onto the ball and play some good football.

"The result doesn't matter for us tomorrow night -- and it didn't matter last week as well. It's about playing our style of rugby and then if we can get into a situation to win the football game, then we should take it."

(Editing by Ian Ransom)

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Sea radiation '3 times higher than thought'

The Yomiuri Shimbun

The total amount of radioactive substances released into the sea as a result of the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant is believed to have been three times the initial estimate by the plant's operator, according to the Japan Atomic Energy Agency.

A team led by senior researcher Takuya Kobayashi estimated the actual quantity at 15,000 terabecquerels, including substances in polluted water and substances released into the air that eventually fell into the sea. Tera means one trillion.

The figure is more than triple the estimate by Tokyo Electric Power Co. Also, the new estimate does not include cesium-134, meaning the actual total could be even larger.

The research team will announce its findings at a conference of the Atomic Energy Society of Japan scheduled to start in Kitakyushu on Sept. 19.

TEPCO's calculation was based on the premise that polluted water containing high levels of radioactive substances was only released into the sea from April 1 to 6.

TEPCO estimated a total of 4,700 terabecquerels of radioactive substances--iodine-131, cesium-134 and cesium-137--leaked into the sea during that period.

Based on the density of radioactive materials near the nuclear plant's water-intake facility, Kobayashi's team calculated backward to the March 21 to April 30 period. Radioactive substances were first detected in the sea on March 21.

The team simulated the proliferation of the substances in the ocean based on its new estimate and confirmed that the results matched data from the sea near the nuclear plant.

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All Blacks impressed by blossoming Japan - Los Angeles Times

HAMILTON, New Zealand (Reuters) - A stirring performance from Japan against rugby heavyweights France will ensure there's no complacency from the All Blacks when the two teams clash in Hamilton on Friday, according to scrumhalf Andy Ellis.

The New Zealand team, who overcame Tonga 41-10 in their first pool match but won few admirers from the error-strewn performance, watched the 'Brave Blossoms' open their tournament with an impressive display against France on Saturday.

The match was in the balance for much of the second half, only for three late tries to secure a somewhat flattering 47-21 result for the French.

Ellis said the performance sent a clear signal the John Kirwan-coached Japanese would not be intimidated by the traditional powers of world rugby.

"They went really well. I think they are really well coached and they've got the players to execute what they're trying to do," he said.

"They're all in really good positions on the field, they've got good systems. I think their guys know what they're doing in the contact, they carry well and they clean out well.

"You've got guys playing in good competitions all over the world, throughout the year. So when they come together they're really strong, no matter who the team is.

"So we know that about Japan and we're going to have to prepare well if we're going to perform well."

Watching games on Saturday from the comfort of their hotel, the All Blacks could not help but be impressed with the performance of some of the tournament's so-called minnows, with Romania and Namibia also acquitting themselves well against more established opponents.

"Everyone's growing and everyone's learning -- a lot of the time off the same sorts of coaches -- so guys are getting the same game plan and it's getting tougher and tougher," said All Blacks number eight Victor Vito.

"It's our job to keep ahead really.

"Take that Japan game yesterday. If it was just another test match the French probably would have had the better of them for most of the game. (The World Cup) gives the minnows time to shine and they grow another arm and another leg."

BATTLE FOR JERSEYS

Competition for places in the All Blacks team for the Japan match, and the remainder of the tournament, is heating up.

"It's good for the team when a man gets an opportunity in a jersey and he performs," said winger Cory Jane.

"It's better to have to battle for a jersey for a starting spot than to be guaranteed it. I guess if you're guaranteed it you can lapse a few times and take it for granted."

Jane will be feeling the heat after Richard Kahui's two-try, man-of-the-match performance on his favoured right wing in the tournament opener last Friday.

But that failed to curb the noted jokester's cheeky side as he put his own spin on the decision to move Kahui to the left wing when he came on against Tonga in the last quarter.

"I got told to throw him over there. He'd scored two tries, set up four, so may as well see what he can do on the left," said Jane.

"I think they (the coaches) want to see if he can play every position. I think he might be playing first-five (flyhalf) this week as well," he said, tongue firmly in cheek.

On the injury front, Adam Thomson and Kieran Read were recovering well, with the former expected to resume training this week.

Read is unlikely to be fit to return until the All Blacks' last pool game against Canada in Wellington on October 2.

(Editing by Ian Ransom)

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Japan delight tempered by disappointment - Los Angeles Times

ALBANY, New Zealand (Reuters) - Japan coach John Kirwan said his team had "exploded" onto the World Cup by giving France an almighty scare in their opening match on Saturday before succumbing 47-21 to the twice runners-up.

The former All Black great has high standards, however, and said his team were disappointed not to have driven home their advantage when they had the French on the rack in the second half and come away with what would have been the biggest ever World Cup upset.

Although both teams have been at all seven World Cups, there is a huge gulf in results between France, who have reached the semi-finals in all but one tournament, and Japan, who had just one win and a draw in their previous 20 encounters at rugby's showpiece event.

"It was important for us to play well, it was important for us to show the world that we are a very competent football team, that we can put phases together and attack, and defend for long periods of time," an upbeat Kirwan told reporters.

"We've been practising a long time for this World Cup and it was pleasing to come in under the radar and tonight was all about exploding onto the scene.

"We'll take confidence out of that (but) we will be disappointed tomorrow because there were times when we could have done a lot more."

A second try from flyhalf James Arlidge early in the second half ushered in a 20-minute period where the Japanese dominated their opponents and drew within four points at 25-21.

Kirwan said the team had discussed at half time how they could emulate Argentina in France's opening game of the 2007 World Cup and his former team Italy in the Six Nations earlier this year by upsetting the nine-times European Grand Slam champions.

"We said we needed to hang onto the ball and if we dd that and cut down the error rate, we would have a window in the game when we could win," he said.

"We've studied France intensively, we thought there would be a window in the second half where we could say in touch and put them under pressure where they might have some memories of the Six Nations and maybe Argentina in the last World Cup.

"World Cups are very different for everyone, this is a special tournament and it creates special types of pressure so it's important that you take advantage of those moments.

"To France's credit, we had them under the pump, they were making uncharacteristic errors but unfortunately we just couldn't come away with that try we needed to go ahead.

"We planned for it we just didn't quite take it away."

Kirwan said it was important that his team had lived up to their "Brave Blossoms" nickname as they knew people in the region devastated by March's earthquake and tsunami in northeast Japan would be watching.

"We spoke beforehand about the tsunami and said the result wouldn't matter, because people sitting their living rooms and watching us would understand what courage is," he said.

"We needed to show that courage by continuing to play, continuing to get up and tackle.

(Editing by Alastair Himmer)

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Finance chief's debut low-key - The Japan Times

MARSEILLE, France — For Japan, the Group of Seven financial meeting that just ended was an important opportunity to raise concerns about the yen's recent appreciation and seek the understanding of other industrial powers for additional interventions by Tokyo in the currency market.

New Finance Minister Jun Azumi appears to have made a smooth — albeit low-key — diplomatic debut, fulfilling his pledge to make the nation's case to its G-7 partners.

Before he took office when Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda created his new Cabinet earlier this month, Azumi was little known in the financial markets.

Considered a novice in global finance, some economists even pointed to the possibility of macroeconomic slipups because of his lack of experience in the field.

During the half-day meeting in Marseille, France, he explained to his G-7 peers that a strong yen could derail the otherwise robust recovery of Japan's economy following the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in March.

Azumi also sought the understanding of the other G-7 members for Tokyo's position on currency market intervention. Nevertheless, the postconference statement did not reflect his arguments — with the wording on the currency nearly identical to the previous statement released Aug. 8.

Although Azumi said other G-7 members were sympathetic to Japan's currency stance, his remarks drew little reaction, with most participants more focused on addressing the European debt crisis and spurring global economic growth.

A U.S. official revealed that only one G-7 country — Japan — took up the currency issue during the meeting.

Following the rare move by the Swiss Central Bank to set a minimum exchange rate target against the euro, the yen could draw more buying, rising even higher as it becomes the lone safe-haven currency.

Given the size of Japan's economy, the world's third-largest, many analysts and government officials said it is unlikely Tokyo will take a similar defensive step.

Japan faces a plethora of challenges — from combatting the strong yen to restoring fiscal health while maintaining growth — and needs policy coordination with G-7 members.

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Japan Investigates Online Posting of Obama Flight Plans - New York Times

TOKYO — Japanese officials moved to control the diplomatic damage after an air traffic controller was questioned here for posting secret American flight information on his blog that included the detailed flight plans last November of Air Force One.

The Transportation Ministry said Saturday that the controller, who works at the Tokyo International Airport at Haneda, could face charges of leaking national secrets. Japanese officials appeared embarrassed by the breach, which also included flight data of an American military reconnaissance drone.

Tokyo is apparently worried that the episode could raise new doubts in Washington about Japan’s ability to handle delicate information, following a scandal four years ago over the leak of American naval radar secrets. The Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’s largest newspaper, reported that Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda may personally apologize to President Obama for the breach during a meeting this month in New York.

The ministry said the controller, who was identified only as a male in his 50s, posted the flight plan of Air Force One during President Obama’s visit to Asia in November. It said the blog contained two pages of detailed information about the flight, including numerical data and a map showing the plane’s route.

The flight details of Air Force One are usually kept secret to protect the president. The ministry said the blog contained no explanation of the numbers or images, which would have been largely incomprehensible to a layman.

The ministry said the controller was being questioned, after an anonymous caller tipped off the ministry last Monday. The ministry said the controller did not appear to act with ill intent, but had told the authorities that he posted the information to show his friends. It said the sensitive information had been removed from the blog.

The controller posted a total of 12 pages of sensitive information on his blog, the ministry said. He included the flight plans of an American military Global Hawk drone that was gathering radiation readings near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, the ministry said.

For Japan, the episode is uncomfortably similar to the leak in 2007 of classified information about the American Navy’s advanced Aegis radar system, which is also installed on Japanese warships. A Japanese Navy officer was arrested for copying sensitive data about the radar onto CD-ROM disks and distributing them to classmates at a Japanese naval school.

That earlier leak raised doubts about Japan’s management of military secrets, prompting Washington to temporarily suspend shipment of parts for upgrading the radars.

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Sea radiation '3 times higher than thought'

Sea radiation '3 times higher than thought' The total amount of radioactive substances released into the sea as a result of the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant is believed to have been three times the initial estimate by the plant's operator, according to the Japan Atomic Energy Agency. A team led by senior researcher Takuya Kobayashi estimated the actual quantity at 15,000 terabecquerels, including substances in polluted water and substances released into the air that eventually fell into the sea. Tera means one trillion. The figure is more than triple the estimate by Tokyo Electric Power Co. Also, the new estimate does not include cesium-134, meaning the actual total could be even larger.
10 Sep About 600 people visit Urakawa, Hokkaido, in late August each year to attend the two-day Bethel Festival, a hallucination and delusion competition for those suffering from alcoholism and other mental illnesses. The venue is two hours by bus from New Chitose Airport to Urakawa, in a fishing town situated near Cape Erimo. During the festival, alcoholics and patients with schizophrenia talk about hallucinations they have experienced, create a stir among the audience with their stories of failure, and sing self-deprecating songs. There are no doubt people who cannot laugh at such a competition and others who are reluctant to even mention the event. (Mainichi)
10 Sep Japan is a fortunetelling nation and so, to start, here is Truman Capote's famous line about fortunetellers . . . They lie. Which is not quite true. Actually, Capote said . . . They fib. And it wasn't really him. It was a character in one of his books. A book which almost no one has read, so it's only famous in the cobwebbed corners of my mind. But what is beyond doubt is that this nation is nutso over fortunetelling. First, you have your omikuji shrine drawings. Then you have your birthday and blood-type soothsayers. Then you have those who read luck into kanji strokes, star alignments and tea leaves. And last you have those eerie folks with the lanterns who unfold tables at the stations late at night and whisper over just you want to know. For a fee, of course. (Japan Times)
9 Sep Prior to her nine-pic retrospective at next month's 24th Tokyo International Film Festival, legendary actress Kyoko Kagawa earlier this week looked back at filmmaking from six decades ago and compared it to the modern era. At a press conference at The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan on Tuesday, the 79-year-old actress said the biggest difference is the lack of big studios making films today. "The studios supported the filmmakers with much money and time so that they could make masterpieces," said Kagawa, who started her career at now defunct studio Shin Toho in 1949. "But today it seems that everyone is an independent filmmaker and there is more freedom, for better or for worse. When I worked with the masters, it was intimidating, but now it is more casual." (Tokyo Reporter)
9 Sep After the waters unleashed by Japan's March 11 tsunami receded, Sakae Kushida toured the big mobile phone makers that buy his electronic components, pleading with them not to dump his firm as a supplier. He assured them his company Hirose Electric was preparing to shift some of its high-tech production to South Korea, after the tsunami wiped out the factories of a manufacturing partner in Kamaishi, an old steel town in the northeast, disrupting its supply chain. "I told them, along with my apologies, that the impact of the March earthquake had largely been resolved, that we would establish dual production sites, so please don't abandon Hirose," said Kushida, Hirose Electric's senior executive vice president. Hirose and companies like it may end up abandoning Kamaishi and other greying towns in Japan's manufacturing heartland, after the events of March 11 exposed the vulnerability of their intricate supply networks -- and the impact on the global supply chain, which seized up after the disaster. (Reuters)
8 Sep "Alibi-ya" is a uniquely Japanese service that skirts the boundaries of legality. Its typical function is to assist women in concealing their participation in the world's oldest profession by providing them, for a set fee, with a respectable identity. The alternate identity is mainly used to conceal knowledge of the women’s employment from their families. The alibi-ya, upon request, will provide women with spurious tax payment certificates and other documentation needed to lease apartments or secure loans. In recent years the service has also been alleged to create false identities for foreigners lacking legal status in Japan. Nikkan Gendai (Sep. 8) reports the first known incident of an alibi-ya being busted. (Tokyo Reporter)

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Freddie Ljungberg to set pulses racing in Japan - Los Angeles Times

TOKYO (Reuters) - Former Arsenal and Sweden midfielder Freddie Ljungberg completed a move to Japan's Shimizu S-Pulse on Tuesday in the biggest J-League signing for some years.

The 34-year-old, who has modelled underwear in the past, was unveiled by the first division side and quickly had his new team mates gushing about his kicking motion.

"His motion is always the same but he has puts all sorts of different movement on the ball," goalkeeper Kaito Yamamoto told Japan's Nikkan Sports newspaper.

"His power and control are incredible," he added after getting a first-hand look at the shaven-headed new arrival.

"He's not at 100 percent yet but he is going to be give goalkeepers a lot of trouble."

Ljungberg, who captained the Swedish national team until announcing his international retirement after Euro 2008, is set to give a news conference on Thursday.

He was a member of Arsenal's "Invincibles" -- who won the 2003-04 English Premier League title without being beaten -- during nine hugely successful years in North London.

Ljungberg joins a list of high-profile players to make their swansong in the J-League since it was launched in 1993, including Zico, Gary Lineker and Dragan Stojkovic.

The Swede was capped 75 times and scored 14 goals for his country. He also had spells at West Ham United and in American Major League Soccer before joining Celtic last season.

(Reporting by Alastair Himmer; Editing by Sonia Oxley)

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Japanese pay top dollar for Ellensburg's timothy hay - The Seattle Times

ELLENSBURG —

On a recent summer morning, a sales manager from Japan and his assistant were driven to a 1,100-acre hay farm about three miles southeast of town.

They had flown into Seattle a few days earlier. At this particular farm, the sales manager, Kenny Miura, of Yoshi International out of Tokyo, went inside a massive barn stacked 20 feet high with bales of timothy hay.

Timothy is the hay that is predominantly grown here in the Kittitas Valley.

Miura pulled some of the hay out of a bale and quickly gave it a grade — in this case, what amounts to about a "C."

"It has a little bit of bluegrass in it," he said.

To the surprise of many who don't live here, 90 percent of the timothy grown in the valley will never be eaten by an American horse or cow.

The closest locals will get to it is when a hay truck goes by, or motorists see stacks covered with vinyl tarps in fields alongside Interstate 90.

Nearly all of the timothy from here is shipped by sea to Japan and, in lesser amounts, to countries such as South Korea and China, and also the United Arab Emirates.

It means $35 million to $38 million is paid to the farmers, and an additional $80 million or so pumped into the economy as the farmers then spend money on everything from equipment to labor, according to the Kittitas County Chamber of Commerce.

At a time when some wonder what the United States can export other than movies and video games, the exporting of timothy hay is an amazing success story.

Timothy hay is named, naturally, after a guy named Timothy Hanson, who promoted it in the early 1700s.

The publication Agricultural History tells how, because of a lack of good forage, livestock on the average farm in colonial America "were generally thin, weak, and susceptible to disease." That is when various kinds of grass seeds from Europe were tried, including one that would become known as timothy grass.

It was native to Scandinavia, and, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture reference book, became popular because it "is one of the most cold-tolerant cool-season grasses."

Horse and dairy-cow owners in this state do buy some of the timothy, but for the most part, they're priced out. Farmers can get $180 to $320 a ton from export sales, broker Rollie Bernth said.

Selling timothy hay for export is profitable, but it does have its own idiosyncrasies. Buyers generally focus on how green the timothy is, not its nutritional value.

The grading criteria for timothy used by a buyer such as Miura is formidable, and, to an observer, perplexing.

There are Super Premium Horse, Premium Horse and No. 1 Horse grades. There are Super Premium Dairy, Premium Dairy, No. 1A Dairy, No. 1B Dairy, No. 1.5 Dairy and No. 2 Dairy.

The differences in grading are because of the presence of bluegrass in the hay, or the length of the seed head, or the thickness of the stems.

"It's almost purely aesthetic," says John Kugler, a retired educator with Washington State University's Grant/Adams County extension, who has researched timothy hay. "It's the visual aspect, just like people want to buy potatoes that don't have scabs on them."

But the grade is what affects the price. That is why timothy growers fear rain, which bleaches out the green.

Kugler says a little rain, and a little bit of bleaching, don't reduce the nutritional value of the timothy.

"A horse doesn't care, and neither does a cow," says Bernth, president of Ward Rugh, about green timothy. His company is one of half a dozen brokers in Ellensburg that export timothy.

But as they say here, it's not the horse writing the check, but the owner.

Ellensburg hay

The international market for timothy hay out of Ellensburg began in 1971 with a bit of serendipity. It was an unexpected phone call to Ron Anderson, who, along with his dad, Clarence, founded Anderson Hay & Grain in Ellensburg. The company is a big player in the hay market.

Ron Anderson, now 80, had been flying around the country in the 1960s in his Cessna 180 to promote timothy hay.

He found markets at racetracks and Thoroughbred horse farms in Canada, California, the Midwest and numerous East Coast cities. A particular selling point, of course, was how green the Ellensburg hay was.

Anderson says that in 1971, he was contacted by Japanese investors who had been going to buy racehorses in Kentucky and saw the Ellensburg hay.

A company history that Anderson Hay published in 2010 for its 50th anniversary recounts, "Our hay always had the most beautiful color ... The Japanese were immediately captivated by the green color of the timothy and were particularly amazed by the length of time that the Washington state hay kept that attractive verdant hue."

And so in 1971, Anderson Hay shipped 200 tons of hay to Japan.

In 2009, it was 183,000 tons of timothy hay that were produced here and headed mostly overseas, says the county.

Now, every summer, the Japanese buyers descend on this town.

They poke the bales and the brokers pay close attention.

As John Kugler quoted an exporter in a research paper Kugler presented in 2004 at the National Alfalfa Symposium, "High quality timothy is whatever the customer says it is!"

Winds make difference

Bernth has been driving Miura, one of his clients, around to farms.

Says Bernth, "It's the only cash crop here that you can make a living at."

Miura is 45, a city guy, and had earned his college degree in international law. He then went to work for Yoshi, a large trading company.

He was assigned to the feed division and has worked in that section for the past 22 years. He comes to Ellensburg several times a year.

It is the Ellensburg winds that make the valley so desirable for growing timothy. "As much as we bitch and cuss the winds in this valley, it dries out the hay," says Jeff Brunson.

On this day, Miura was visiting the farm that Brunson runs with his wife, Jackie.

A hay farmer is always betting against the weather.

With Brunson's $2.5 million investment in farming equipment, a few days of no rain matter a lot. Brunson says he needs five days of good weather to dry, bale and store the hay.

If there is a drenching rain, the green color is washed out of the timothy. It turns straw-colored, and that top rating of "Super Premium Horse" is forever out of reach. The hay descends into feed for dairy cows.

"If it rains for a couple hours," Brunson said, "you're done."

Erik Lacitis: 206-464-2237 or elacitis@seattletimes.com

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Tropical depression leaves 17 dead in Japan - Los Angeles Times

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TOKYO (Reuters) - Tropical depression Talas, downgraded earlier from tropical storm, pounded western Japan with heavy rain at the weekend, leaving 17 people dead and a few dozens missing, public broadcaster NHK said on Sunday.

But there were no reports of major disruption to factory production, andTokyo Electric Power Co said its tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, located in northern Japan, has not been affected by the storm.

Talas, which made landfall in Japan's western island of Shikoku on Saturday, and cut through the country's main island by early Sunday morning, was off the nation's western coast on Sunday afternoon, moving north-northeast at 10 kms per hour (6 mph), the Meteorological Agency said.

Television showed mudslides and flattened wooden houses by a swollen, dark brown river in western Japan's Nara prefecture.

A Meteorological Agency official said some more rain is expected even though the storm's center has moved past Japan and that residents should stay on alert.

(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Ed Lane) Copyright © 2011, Reuters

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Short-term leaders in Japan leave disaster victims in limbo : 2011-09-02 - Washington Times

In this photo from Aug. 29, 2011, Yoshihiko Noda, new leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, speaks during a press conference shortly after his election at a voting by the party lawmakers in Tokyo. (Associated Press)

FUKUSHIMA CITY, Japan — Disaster survivors in northeastern Japan are demanding that government officials spend more resources on them instead of focusing on political squabbles in Tokyo, where Yoshihiko Noda took office this week as the country’s sixth prime minister in five years.

From the tsunami-ravaged towns of Ofunato and Rikuzen-takata to the radiation-troubled city of Fukushima, residents of Japan’s wide-ranging disaster zones told The Washington Times that Japan’s weak national leaders have left their lives in limbo.

Nearly six months since a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear reactors, Fukushima residents said they are still waiting for the government to provide Geiger counters and to test their children for exposure to cancer-causing radioactive isotopes.

“Decisions are not being made fast enough because of the political problems,” said Ayako Okada, who is raising her 5-year-old child in Fukushima city. “Many mothers are worried about what they should do for their children, and whether they should move or stay in Fukushima city. But they aren’t getting proper direction from the government.”

Daisuke Okamato, a teacher at a private school in Fukushima city, has been living in a sort of limbo since the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear crisis.

He and his wife recently moved from Iwaki city, about 30 miles south of the damaged nuclear reactors, to the outskirts of Fukushima city farther inland, only to discover that his new neighborhood has higher levels of radiation than he expected, though not high enough to warrant immediate evacuation.

“Nobody knows what is really happening to us right now,” he said. “It’s surreal, like living in a mystery movie. This could go on for the next 10 or 20 years.”

Disappointment and frustration over the government’s performance run deep and wide in Japan, a recent survey shows.

According to an Associated Press-Gfk poll, nearly 75 percent of Japanese citizens doubt the government can handle another major disaster. About 67 percent believe Japan is weaker internationally than it was 10 years ago.

Some 44 percent believe children born today will be worse off when they grow up than people are now, the AP reported.

In coastal areas of Iwate province devastated by the tsunami, many survivors say they can’t make plans because the government still hasn’t figured out where and how to rebuild destroyed towns.

Yasuo Shimizu, 64, a barber in the port town of Ofunato, said his family of four is desperate to build their own home in order to get out of a hot and cramped temporary house at an elementary school.

But the government hasn’t determined where they can build or whether they will be compensated for the loss of their former home.

“We have dreams of the home we would like to build, but it could be a long time before they can become a reality,” Mr. Shimizu said.

Yutaka Kinno, 34, an employee at the Japan agricultural cooperative in the devastated city of Ofunato in Iwate province, said Tokyo politicians have been too busy grappling with their own problems to solve issues in the disaster areas.

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Sept. 2, 1945 | Japan Formally Surrenders to End World War II - New York Times (blog)

Army Signal CorpsJapanese representatives on board USS Missouri.Learn about key events in history and their connections to today.

On Sept. 2, 1945, Japan formally surrendered in a formal ceremony aboard the U.S.S. Missouri, ending World War II.

The Associated Press article published by The New York Times about the surrender reported that it “ended just as the sun burst through low-hanging clouds as a shining symbol to a ravaged world now done with war.”

During the ceremony, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who accepted the surrender on behalf of the United Nations, said, “It is my earnest hope and indeed the hope of all mankind that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past.”

General MacArthur spoke also as supreme commander of the allied powers in Japan; he would head the occupation forces in Japan through 1952. Speaking of the challenge, and opportunity, ahead, he said: “Nor is it for us here to meet, representing as we do the majority of the peoples of the earth, in a spirit of distrust, malice or hatred. But rather it is for us, both victors and vanquished, to rise to that higher dignity which alone benefits the sacred purposes we are about to serve.”

In the 40 years after the end of its occupation, Japan experienced huge economic growth, becoming the second-largest economy in the world, only recently surpassed by China.

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At a March 2011 press conference after the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said: “I think that the earthquake, tsunami and the situation at our nuclear reactors make up the worst crisis in the 65 years since the war. If the nation works together, we will overcome.”

In a March 15, 2011, New York Times Op-Ed article, Peter Fretwell and Taylor Baldwin Kiland outlined the many challenges facing Japan. Reflecting the optimistic title, “History Is on Japan’s Side,” the authors concluded that “the aging Japanese population may become a strength in the current crisis; the older citizens have the most experience in facing the challenges. Japan should emerge in a few years as a stronger and even more competitive world power.”

What are the similarities and differences between the aftermath of war and that of natural disasters? Do you think that those who have survived the ravages of war have an advantage when it comes to facing the challenges of rebuilding in the aftermath of a destructive force? Why or why not?

Learn more about what happened in history on Sept. 2»

Learn more about Historic Headlines and our collaboration with findingDulcinea »

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Countermeasures for yen revealed - The Japan Times

The government outlined a set of strategies Monday for responding to the soaring yen, including financial assistance for struggling exporters.

The measures, presented at a meeting of economic ministers and Bank of Japan officials, encourage Japanese companies to sell yen for dollars and other major currencies to accumulate enough funds to make external investments.

The measures also offer incentives to prevent them from shifting production and other facilities abroad, which would hollow out the export-dependent economy.

The yen's extended climb is hurting exporters, who have seen their competitiveness eroded by cheaper exports from rivals in South Korea and other emerging economies. This has sparked talk of a hollowing out of Japanese industry as firms move to countries with cheaper labor costs to offset damage from the strong yen.

"We will continue to closely watch (currency) market developments and take decisive steps when they prove necessary," the government document said, adding it expects the BOJ to collaborate with it and make "appropriate and decisive policy responses."

The move comes as Prime Minister Naoto Kan prepares to step down and after the Democratic Party of Japan elected Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda as his successor. The policy priorities are likely to be reflected in the budgets to be formulated by the next administration.

Financing aid for small and medium-size exporters, as well as corporate incentives to keep research, development and production facilities in Japan, are the major goals of the plan. Another is promoting tourism, which has plunged since March 11.

In a related move, the Finance Ministry unveiled last week an unprecedented plan to provide $100 billion in cheap loans from foreign-exchange reserves and encourage Japanese firms to accelerate mergers and acquisitions abroad, as well as investments in securing overseas energy resources by making the best use of the yen's strength.

The BOJ has come under growing pressure from the government to ease monetary conditions further. The central bank is scheduled to start a two-day policy meeting Sept. 6.

BOJ Deputy Gov. Kiyohiko Nishimura, who attended Monday's economic ministers meeting, was quoted by economic and fiscal policy minister Kaoru Yosano as saying the BOJ will closely communicate with the government and make "decisive policy responses."

Earlier in August, the BOJ decided to expand its asset-purchasing fund by ¥5 trillion to ¥15 trillion and also boosted the supply of six-month funds to financial institutions under its fixed-rate operations by ¥5 trillion to ¥15 trillion, while keeping the provision of ¥20 trillion in three-month funds.

One option for the BOJ is to expand the fund for buying government bonds with longer maturities, which would be an attempt to lower long-term interest rates and effectively help Japan raise funds to finance post-March 11 reconstruction.

Yosano expressed his support for the position of the BOJ, which has warned that direct purchases of JGBs will only hurt confidence in Japan's fiscal and monetary policies and possibly lead to catastrophic inflation.

"The government should never make such a reckless request for the BOJ to underwrite its bonds," Yosano told reporters.

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Japanese Island's Activists Resist Nuclear Industry's Allure - New York Times

The move, while reminiscent of a Greenpeace action, was highly unusual in understated Japan. But it was emblematic of the islanders’ nearly three-decade fight against the powers arrayed against them — their own government and the nuclear industry it has championed.

“The sea is our livelihood,” said Ms. Takebayashi, 68, whose family has fished for sea bream, mackerel and other local delicacies for generations. “We will never let anyone sully it.”

The story of Iwaishima’s battle has become something of a touchstone in Japan, especially among those who feel uneasy in the wake of the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant for having accepted decades of government assurances that nuclear power was safe. And because the plans to build the plant are closer to approval than any others in Japan, many antinuclear activists see the island’s struggle as their best hope of ending the country’s reliance on nuclear energy.

If the plans are scuttled, they believe, the decision is likely to set a precedent that will end the construction of nuclear plants in Japan.

Iwaishima’s tale of resistance started in 1982. The town of Kaminoseki — made up of Iwaishima, two islets and the Murotsu peninsula off Japan’s main island, Honshu — was one of many backwaters that seemed ripe for the revitalization that the nuclear industry promised.

With no industry to speak of beyond small-scale farming and fisheries, the town struggled to keep up with Japan’s rapid changes in the postwar era.

So in 1982, when the Chugoku Electric Power Company first raised the idea of building a nuclear power plant on the peninsula’s deserted tip, many residents were enthusiastic.

Chugoku Electric wooed them, paying for lavish “study tours” to nuclear reactors around the country — trips that included stops at hot springs, according to residents who participated. It also offered local fishing cooperatives compensation for the loss of fishing grounds that would be filled in to build the 3.5-million-square-foot plant.

“The town needed the money,” said Katsumi Inoue, 67, who led a movement supporting the plant. “Kaminoseki was shrinking. We needed to grow.”

But Iwaishima, an island of about 1,000 people just two and a half miles from the planned site, was not convinced. The island’s fishing cooperative voted overwhelmingly against the plans. On a chilly morning in January 1983, almost 400 islanders cut short their New Year’s festivities to stage a protest march, the men in their fishing boots and the women in bonnets, through alleyways lined with stone walls.

It was the first of more than 1,000 protests the islanders would carry out, some of them involving scenes of high drama to rival Ms. Takebayashi’s 2009 protest.

In one protest this year, a small armada of fishermen raced out to sea to head off the utility’s vessels. “No nuclear power plant here!” they shouted, their boats’ engines in full throttle. “This sea does not belong to you.”

Not even the residents of Iwaishima are exactly sure why they were willing to challenge the establishment when so many of their compatriots were not. The best they can venture is that their livelihoods depend on the sea too much to take a chance, and that if disaster struck, it would be much harder to flee.

Beyond that, many of the island’s men had, over time, left for work elsewhere. Some of them worked in nuclear plants, and they returned home with worrisome stories. They would become part of the front line in the island’s struggle.

Kazuo Isobe, 88, was one of them. He left the island in Japan’s postwar chaos and initially worked at construction sites. But in the 1970s, he started work at the newly opened Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

He worked to clean up radioactive buildup at the plant’s No. 2 reactor, using rags while sweltering in a protective suit.

His radiation records from the time, which he provided, show he received about 850 millirems of radiation during just three months of work — about the amount of radiation allowed for nuclear workers in a year, and more than eight times as much as the limit set for civilians.

When Mr. Isobe heard, on a trip back to Iwaishima in 1982, that Chugoku Electric planned to build a nuclear plant just across the water, he was “terrified.”

“I had seen with my own eyes that radiation is hard to contain,” Mr. Isobe said. “I told everyone in the neighborhood not to agree to anything they said.”

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DPJ hopefuls make final poll pitches - The Japan Times

The race for the Democratic Party of Japan presidency drew heated debate on the final day of campaigning Sunday as the five candidates took their best shots at convincing their peers why they should be the next prime minister.

The five — former Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara, trade minister Banri Kaieda, Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda, ex-transport minister Sumio Mabuchi and farm minister Michihiko Kano — are vying for the votes of the DPJ's 398 Diet members.

On Sunday, the five appeared on TV programs and engaged in an open debate to clarify their policies on crucial issues.

While all five candidates stressed the importance of rebuilding the nation's economy and infrastructure in the wake of the March 11 disasters and ensuing nuclear meltdown, each had different visions on how to fund the process.

In a debate held at The Prince Park Tower Tokyo in Minato Ward, Maehara, a popular former foreign minister who resigned earlier in the year over a political donations scandal, said that talk of a tax hike to finance reconstruction should be shelved for at least one or two years and that alternative measures should be explored.

Noda, a fiscal hawk who initially pushed for a tax hike but has toned down his stance lately, said he intended to put priority on rebuilding the economy by addressing the strong yen and deflation.

"We cannot back up reconstruction efforts without economic recovery," he said.

Trade Minister Kaieda, who is being backed by party kingpin Ichiro Ozawa, the head of its largest faction, said that while a tax hike may be inevitable, the timing is crucial and needs to be discussed.

Kaieda also added that issuing construction bonds to finance the effort should also be considered.

So far, media reports indicate that Kaieda, thanks to Ozawa's support, is the front-runner.

Ozawa, who had his party membership suspended after being specially indicted over a scandal about political funds reports, heads a faction of 120 lawmakers, which gives him considerable sway.

Whether to lift the suspension has been one of the main issues in the campaign. DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada is against the proposal.

Maehara, who is considered one of the strongest candidates, has ruled out lifting Ozawa's suspension but said on a separate TV program Sunday that he might appoint Ozawa's allies to leadership posts if elected president.

Maehara, Noda and Kano all appear to be drawing about the same amount of support, with the youngest candidate, Mabuchi, lagging behind.

But with no single candidate likely to garner the 200-vote majority needed to win, the chances of a runoff vote being held the same day is becoming increasingly likely.

Political observers say the most likely scenario has Kaieda running against one of the two "anti-Ozawa" heavyweights — Maehara or Noda.

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Five officially toss hats into ring in Japan PM race - Tehran Times

Font Size TOKYO --Trade Minister Banri Kaieda, former foreign minister Seiji Maehara and three others submitted their official bids on Saturday morning to run in next week's Democratic Party of Japan presidential election. In what has turned out to be crowded race to select Japan's next prime minister, Finance Minister Yoshikiko Noda, Agriculture Minister Michihiko Kano and former transport minister Sumio Mabuchi also threw their hats into the ring. The candidates submitted their official bids to DPJ headquarters. While voting in the race is only open to DPJ lawmakers, in terms of public support, Maehara is by far leading the pack, the latest opinion poll shows. A telephone survey in the Asahi Shimbun Saturday showed 40% of respondents back Maehara as the next premier. Kaieda is second-ranked, obtaining a distant 5% support rating. But with Ichiro Ozawa, one of the most influential members of the DPJ, reportedly supporting Kaieda, an increasingly heated battle is widely expected. The poll also showed 39% of surveyed supported a grand coalition with the biggest opposition Liberal Democratic Party, while 36% expressed opposition. By convention, the ruling party's leader usually becomes prime minister. The new leader will be the sixth of prime minister in the past five years. The new premier will face numerous challenges ahead amid a slew of problematic issues including reconstruction after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and the ensuing nuclear plant accident, global financial market turmoil and the yen's strength. The presidential race comes after Prime Minister Naoto Kan Friday stepped down following the passage of key bills through the Diet, a precondition he made for his resignation. In the leadership vote Monday, if none of these five candidates obtain more than half of the valid ballot of the ruling party, that vote will become a decisive vote between the top two. The head of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry expressed his desire Friday that the candidates debate policy in a positive way in such areas as quake reconstruction steps including financing, unified reforms of social security and tax, as well as the implementation of the government-led growth strategy. "We strongly hope the ruling and opposition parties will work with each other to overcome  the national crisis," JCCI Chairman Tadashi Okamura said in a written statement. Meanwhile, Former foreign minister Seiji Maehara is by far leading the pack in terms of public support in the race to become Japan's next prime minister with a support rating of 40%, far exceeding other likely candidates ahead of next week's Democratic Party of Japan presidential election, a poll in the Asahi Shimbun showed Saturday. The latest result of an Asahi poll, taken on Thursday and Friday by telephone, showed 40% of respondents back Maehara as the next premier. The second and the third ranked are trade minister Banri Kaieda and former internal affairs minister Kazuhiro Haraguchi with each obtaining 5% support rating. The poll also showed 39% of surveyed supported a grand coalition with the biggest opposition Liberal Democratic Party, while 36% expressed opposition. 
Last Updated on 27 August 2011 14:33

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Political churn in Japan does not solve problems - The Seattle Times

GLUM American voters can only imagine the funk that envelops Japanese politics. The governing Democratic Party of Japan meets Monday to select the nation's seventh prime minister in six years.

In office only 15 months, Prime Minister Naoto Kan announced Friday he would resign after his party picks a new leader. Kan was supposed to be the creative outsider who could combine strong public approval ratings and the DPJ's decisive parliamentary advantage to overhaul the economy. Then came the twin disasters in March.

The tsunami and flooding that took out the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant triggered a national tragedy and it created a political opportunity Kan failed to exploit. The public wanted leadership in the wake of the natural and nuclear calamities, but he was not perceived as having delivered. He championed a move away from nuclear power — embraced by the public and loathed by the political establishment — but Kan's intentions became muddled.

Internal party politics and scandal complicate even the guessing about a successor for Kan. If events proceed on course, the DPJ's choice on Monday would be endorsed Tuesday by the lower house of parliament, which the party controls. If names are in short supply, desirable traits are not. Key among them, communication skills.

Expect the next prime minister to be a chatterbox. A willingness to meet and greet the public and media is a must. Kan's reluctance to engage anxious Japanese citizens cost him dearly.

Japan's economy, the envy of the planet in the 1980s, has been dormant for two decades. Government debt is the largest among developed nations. Japan's economic and political systems spent years avoiding tough decisions.

The nuclear disaster adds a basic concern about how to safely keep the lights on.

Survey results find frustrated Americans eager to throw the bums out and start fresh. Japan's experience is that experience counts. They crave continuity.

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