Japan slowly wakes up to doomsday debt risk

Capital flight, soaring borrowing costs, tanking currency and stocks and a central bank forced to pump vast amounts of cash into local banks — that is what Japan may have to contend with if it fails to tackle its snowballing debt.

This really happens: Japanese zoo uses  life-size papier-mâché rhinos to simulate animal escape and rescues.

nationalpost:

See how Japan has rebuilt since the earthquake and tsunami:
Japan’s Reconstruction Agency will be inaugurated Friday, almost 11 months after an earthquake and tsunami devastated the country. The agency will streamline the process to help municipalities, set up special reconstruction zones and provide subsidies for disaster-hit local governments. More photos here.
(Photos via AFP/Getty Images)

Participants display their works at a calligraphy contest to celebrate the new year in Tokyo, January 5, 2012.

Source: Reuters

brooklynmutt:

Japanese make world’s biggest KitKat

University of Tokyo students have made a giant version, measuring 100 x 60 x 20cm and weighing 80kg. 

KitKat is considered a lucky food in Japan as it is pronounced “kitto katsu” in Japanese which means “I surely win”.

Good morning!

Free Tickets to Japan courtesy of Japan Tourism Ministry

Announced today - the Japanese ministry of tourism is going to invite 10,000 foreigners to Japan - and pay for your travel.

Applications will be done through the internets and folks will be invited during 2012. Applicants need to submit their travel plans for when they are in Japan and if the government thinks that you truly intend to visit (and not overstay as an illegal immigrant) then they will pay for your return ticket.

The Japanese governments strategy for this plan is that they expect travelers to blog and use social media to spread the word about their experience in Japan which should hopefully lead to more folks visiting Japan.

The amount of foreigners visiting Japan since the earthquake and nuclear accident has decreased a ton - some prefectures like Yamagata have experienced up to 80% drop in overseas visitors.

The Japanese government is spending 1.1 billion yen on this project.
Sources: http://bit.ly/qbRQVW…
http://bit.ly/qX4tx5

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Residents Return $78 Million From Rubble

While looting often becomes an issue post-disaster, it’s been the exact opposite in Japan.

Since the March earthquake and tsunami that leveled much of Japan, thousands of wallets containing a total of $48 million in cash have washed ashore — and been turned in, ABC reports. In addition, 5,700 safes containing $30 million in cash also have turned up.

Ryuji Ito, professor emeritus at Japan’s Yokohama City University, tells the Daily Mail that these acts of integrity are simply reflective of the culture:

“…The fact that a hefty 2.3 billion yen in cash has been returned to its owners shows the high level of ethical awareness in the Japanese people.” [read more; March 13 photo: Jiji Press/AFP/Getty Images]

World War II: Before The War

Buddhist priests of the Big Asakusa Temple prepare for the Second Sino-Japanese War as they wear gas masks during training against future aerial attacks in Tokyo, Japan, on May 30, 1936. (AP Photo)

The first of our 20-part photo series on World War II. See more incredible photos at In Focus.

Japan tsunami victims search continues

The search is continuing for victims of the tsunami that struck Japan’s north-east coast almost a month ago, while officials said they hoped to stop pumping radioactive water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant into the sea.

More than 20,000 Japanese troops and 110 from the US conducted land, sea and air searches for the thousands of victims whose bodies have yet to be recovered.

One month since the 11 March disaster, fewer than 13,000 of the estimated 28,000 who died have been found.

Breaking: 7.4 Magnitude Aftershock in Japan, Tsunami Warning Issued

abcnewsradio:

UPDATE: As details emerge on the Japan earthquake aftershock, watch live now on ABC News.

From @ABC News - More information as it becomes available

Dog rescued from floating house

(Reuters) - A dog that survived in a house swept away to sea three weeks ago by the devastating Japan tsunami was saved on Friday by a coast guard rescue team flying over an island of debris.

Local television showed an aerial view of a brown medium-sized dog trotting around the roof of the house — the only part of it floating above water — before disappearing inside through a broken section of the roof.

The coast guard rescuers, thinking there might also be people alive inside the house, lowered one of their team onto the roof. He tried to coax the dog out, but then went in after tearing a wider opening. He came out with the dog in his arms and they were transported back to safety by boat.

Domestic media said no people were found inside the house.

Aftershocks Continue in Japan

Japan Today

inothernews:

Japan, March 20, 2011.

• An 80-year-old woman and her 16-year-old grandson were found under the debris of their home in Ishinomaki City, about 30 miles northeast of the city of Sendai, nine days after the earthquake and tsunami first ravaged Japan.  They were hospitalized, conditions unknown.
• Attempts to cool the No. 3 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant continued, with firefighters dousing it with 2,400 tons of water over 14 hours.
• The Japanese government announced it had found higher than normal levels of radioactivity in spinach and milk at farms about 90 miles away from Fukushima — the first confirmation that the unfolding nuclear crisis has affected the nation’s food supply.
• The death toll officially reached more than 8,100; the final toll is now expected to reach nearly 20,000.  Police officials in Miyagi, the prefecture hit hardest by the tsunami, said they expected the final toll there alone to exceed 15,000.