Japan

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14 Killed as Typhoon Lashes Tokyo Area

50 missing on island south of capital

(Newser) - The Tokyo area was hit by its fiercest typhoon in at least a decade today, leaving at least 14 people dead and forcing 20,000 to evacuate. Typhoon Wipha drenched the city of 30 million and caused the cancellation of trains and planes, but the worst damage was on Izu...

Oops: Fukushima Co. Names New Mascot 'Fukuppy'

Firm's rebrand runs into translation trouble

(Newser) - A Japanese firm with the unfortunate name Fukushima Industries found itself the target of mockery on social media after unveiling a new mascot with an even more unfortunate name: Fukuppy. The company—an Osaka-based maker of industrial cooling equipment with no connection to the nuclear plant of the same name—...

Americans Read and Math Bad
 Americans Read and Math Bad 
Oct 8, 2013 9:00 AM CDT

Americans Read and Math Bad

New study shows US adults are lagging in crucial skills

(Newser) - You've probably heard that test scores are lagging badly for America's youth, but it turns out they're just chips off the old blocks. A sweeping new study has found that American adults are below-average when it comes to literacy, basic math skills, and "problem-solving in technology-rich...

Japan's Dolphin Slaughter Town Is Opening a Marine Park...

And it will serve whale and dolphin meat

(Newser) - Taiji, the dolphin-slaughtering Japanese town documented in The Cove, has no plans to end its annual dolphin hunt ... but it is opening a super-fun-sounding amusement park, where you can swim with the dolphins and then stop by a food stand and chow down on them. "This is part of...

Now Overrunning Fukushima: Wild Boars

Disaster led to population explosion, farmers complain

(Newser) - Ravenous wild boars are making life even tougher for farmers affected by the Fukushima disaster, the Japan Times finds. The government has lifted planting bans in part of the affected regions, but farmers are finding their crops devoured by the boars—even after electric fences have been put in place....

Earthquake Rattles Fukushima Area
Earthquake Rattles Fukushima Area
Sep 19, 2013 2:51 PM CDT

Earthquake Rattles Fukushima Area

No trouble reported after 5.3-magnitude quake

(Newser) - A 5.3-magnitude earthquake has hit the Japanese prefecture that is home to the shuttered Fukushima nuclear power plant. The US Geological Survey says the quake struck at a depth of about 13 miles under Fukushima Prefecture and about 110 miles northeast of Tokyo. The Japanese news agency Kyodo News...

Japan Will Go Nuclear Power-Free (Again) Tomorrow

Last reactor will be turned off

(Newser) - Japan will soon be completely without nuclear power. Again. The country is switching off the last of its 50 nuclear reactors—reactor 4 at Oi in western Japan—for maintenance tomorrow, and it's unclear if or when it will go online again, reports CNN . The country went completely nuclear...

Japan Prison Unveils Cuddly New Mascot

Institution decides its image needs softening

(Newser) - A Japanese prison that wants to be known as more than just a forbidding place of punishment has decided to soften its image with a cuddly mascot. The debut of "Katakkuri-chan"—a 6-foot-6 figure in a warden's uniform with a huge purple flower for hair—helped draw...

Tokyo Snags the 2020 Olympics

Beats Istanbul, Madrid, despite concerns about Fukushima

(Newser) - Tokyo has been awarded the 2020 Olympics, capitalizing on its reputation as a "safe pair of hands" and defying concerns about the Fukushima nuclear crisis. Tokyo defeated Istanbul in the final round of secret voting today by the International Olympic Committee. Madrid was eliminated earlier after an initial tie...

Japan Moves to Fund 'Ice Wall' Around Fukushima

Government to invest $473M in project

(Newser) - With dangerous radioactivity continuing to plague Fukushima Dai-ichi, Japan is preparing to make good on plans to build a wall of ice around the plant. The country will spend some $473 million on the project, which involves piping coolant through walls of frozen soil surrounding the plant. That should keep...

Radiation Soars to Lethal Levels at Fukushima

18 times worse than previously thought

(Newser) - New tests at Fukushima have found radiation levels around its tanks are up to 18 times worse than previously thought—high enough to kill someone within four hours of exposure, reports the BBC . What's caused the alarming spike? More accurate measuring equipment, says plant operator TEPCO. The previous equipment...

Japan's New 'Smart Rocket' Fails to Blast Off

Launch of self-monitoring Epsilon delayed

(Newser) - Japan's new era of "smart rockets" got off to a less than auspicious start today when the launch of its new Epsilon rocket was canceled seconds before blast-off. The Epsilon, the country's first new rocket in 12 years, is capable of running its own status checks using...

Fukushima Alert Level Gets First Upgrade Since 2011

Meaning it's at its highest since the meltdown

(Newser) - With Fukushima's radioactive leak now leakier , Japan's nuclear agency plans to up the alert level of the problem from a one to a three, reports the BBC —that's from an "anomaly" to a "serious incident," per the UN's International Nuclear and Radiological...

Huge Volcano Blast Showers City in Ash

Sakurajima eruption 'was a bit dramatic, but we are kind of used to it,' says resident

(Newser) - Residents in a southern Japanese city are busy washing ash off the streets today after a nearby volcano spewed a record-high smoke plume into the sky. Ash wafted as high as three miles above the Sakurajima volcano in the southern city of Kagoshima yesterday afternoon, forming its highest plume since...

Japan Debuts Biggest Warship Since WWII Era

Izumo weighs in at 19.5K tons

(Newser) - Japan has unveiled its largest warship since World War II—and China sees the move as the naval equivalent of Japan thumping its chest. The $1.23 billion Izumo is a 19,500-ton vessel equipped with what Time calls "a conspicuously large flight deck" capable of carrying 14 helicopters;...

Tons of Fukushima's Tainted Water Entering Pacific

And we literally mean tons, some 300 a day

(Newser) - Things have gone from bad to worse to this at Fukushima: A government official says roughly 300 tons of contaminated water are leaking from the crippled nuclear plant into the Pacific each day. The New York Times paints a mental picture: That's enough to fill one Olympic-sized pool per...

Japan Wants US Choppers Grounded After Crash

Remains found near crash site

(Newser) - Japan is calling on Washington to stop flying its HH-60 helicopters in the wake of yesterday's crash in Okinawa . "We have asked the US not to fly the same aircraft until they find out the cause of the accident and take preventive steps," says defense minister Itsunori...

Fukushima Leak Now an 'Emergency'

Underground barriers not working, radioactive water now rising to ground level

(Newser) - Just weeks after TEPCO finally acknowledged that radioactive water is leaking from its Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, the head of Japan's Nuclear Regulatory Authority has called the situation an "emergency." Shinji Kinjo tells Reuters that TEPCO's "sense of crisis is weak" and the country can'...

Helicopter Crashes on US Base in Japan

One crew member injured: report

(Newser) - A US military helicopter crashed today on the Japanese island of Okinawa, and Japan's defense minister says three of those in the chopper ejected themselves to safety while one was injured and hospitalized. No locals were hurt in the crash at US Marine Camp Hansen, though Reuters notes that...

Obama Nominates Caroline Kennedy as Ambassador to Japan

She would be the first woman in the job

(Newser) - Caroline Kennedy is finally getting a high-profile thank-you for all the help she has given President Obama over the years: He nominated her to be the next ambassador to Japan today, reports CNN . Assuming the Senate goes along, JFK's 55-year-old daughter will become the first woman to hold the...

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