A discussion about the contamination risks near the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
Late Japanese musician Kiyoshiro Imawano’s anti-nuclear stance is enjoying a revival.
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has survived a no-confidence motion brought because of his handling of the earthquake and tsunami disaster. Before the motion was debated, Kan told his own political party he would step down when the crisis was under control. March’s disaster killed thousands of people and crippled the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Anchor Lisa Mullins talks with The World’s Marco Werman in Japan.
When the tsunami struck northeast Japan on March 11, one of the worst hit places was Ishinomaki. It’s a fishing port and had boasted one of the largest fish markets in the world. That economy ground to a halt. The port was devastated, more than 3,000 people died and almost 3,000 are still missing, presumed dead. The World’s Marco Werman went to Ishinomaki to see for himself. (Photo: Marco Werman)
The fall-out from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan has been not only the radioactive kind. It’s included a warning about the dangers of nuclear energy. Several countries have been reviewing their policies on nuclear power since the March disaster. The World’s Marco Werman has had an opportunity to talk with Eisaku Satu, former governor of Fukushima Prefecture.
The only consoling thing I can say about this picture taken in Ishinomaki in northern Japan is that the woman who owns this piano was not killed by the tsunami. Nor was her mother who was in the car with her when the quake struck, nor her elderly father, whom the two women rushed back home to rescue before the monster wave engulfed the entire port and levelled it [...]
Overheard from a frequent American visitor to Japan: “People in the States say Japan is so screwed. People in Tokyo say the north of Japan is so screwed. People in the north say Miyagi (where much of the tsunami damage occurred) is so screwed. People in Miyagi say Fukushima (where a lot of the current nuclear concern is focused) is so screwed. People in Fukushima say the people in the evacuation zone are so screwed. Those people say, ‘Well, at least it’s not a war.’” [...]
Japan continues to struggle with the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that crippled the Fukushima nuclear plant. Anchor Lisa Mullins speaks with The World’s Marco Werman. He’s in a village outside the exclusion zone that’s experiencing high levels of radiation.
Video: Marco Werman interviews Iitate Mayor Norio Kanno and Education Commissioner Kaname Hirose
Newton is Japan’s equivalent of Scientific American. The June issue (now almost off the newstands here) helps anxious Japanese better understand the historical patterns of seismic activity across their country, where those quakes have occured, and tries to establish a non-hysterical sense of when other large magnitude quakes like the one on March 11 might happen [...]
At first no one noticed them, the visual footnotes created by Japan’s version of Banksy. The artists — for they are six, not one — go by the name Chim↑Pom. This had been one of the recent works by the shock-art collective. They discretely painted burned-out nuclear power plants over an existing mural at Tokyo’s busy Shibuya train station [...]
The flight attendants take away our breakfast trays, leaving less than an hour before landing at Tokyo’s Narita airport. I look at the flight map on the screen, and see the airplane icon hover over the northern tip of Honshu, the largest of the Japanese archipelago. The map shows Tokyo in the distance, and Fukushima in the forefront. I wonder if the airline’s flight map always showed this farming region. I wonder if it will now be an untouchable place in people’s minds, occupying the same place as Hiroshima and Nagasaki [...]
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Anchor Marco Werman talks to Spin magazine contributing editor David Peisner about the local rap tunes that have provided the soundtrack for the start of the revolution in Tunisia. Download MP3
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Marco Werman tells us about the latest release from Senegalese musician Cheikh Lô. The new album is called “Jamm.” It features Lô’s usual acoustic blend of Afrobeat, flamenco and funk. Download MP3
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
In case you missed it, Canada held parliamentary elections yesterday and Prime Minister Stephen Harper won his long-coveted majority. The World’s Marco Werman has been listening to the music of Hey Rosetta! from Newfoundland, a band that seems to have tapped into a national Canadian ethos. Download MP3
