Tag Archives: japan

Business/Economics, International

What Economic Recovery? Nearly 400 Japanese companies out of business since March

Blaming the March 11 disasters, credit research firm Teikoku Databank says at least 373 companies have collapsed since then.

Construction firms topped the list with 63 bankruptcies (despite reconstruction opportunities), followed by hotels and inns with 32 (despite people who’ve lost their homes and need a place to stay) and clothing companies with 23 (despite people who’ve lost all their clothes in the tsunami).

Even companies far away from the disaster areas have failed.  More business failures are expected, because there are 2,500 companies who say they are still unable to resume operations!

Fukushima

Government & Corporate Incompetence: Radioactive Strontium found on Yokohama roof tops!

Yokohama City officials are testing their soil for strontium, after a private testing firm said they found high levels of strontium on some roof tops.

The company said they detected 195 becquerels of strontium per kilogram, more than six times the government safety limit.  Yokohama has already suffered cesium levels at 80 times the government limits.

Yokohama is about 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

 

Fukushima

Government & Corporate Incompetence: Once again, Plutonium contamination found in Japan, this time outside the Fukushima Daiichi compound!

30 September 2011, for the first time since the March nuclear disaster, the Japanese government has found plutonium contamination outside the Fukushima Daiichi nuke plant compound.

There have been at least three other times plutonium was found. A couple of times it was found within the perimeter of the nuclear plant’s compound, but, in June a university team found plutonium outside the Fukushima Daiichi compound.

This latest (government confirmed) plutonium contamination was found 45 km (28 miles) outside the nuclear plant.  It was detected in samples taken from six locations in the towns of Futaba, Namie and Iitate Village in Fukushima Prefecture, all northwest of the nuclear plant.

The isotopes included plutonium 238, 239 and 240.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Japanese banks following the money to…Vietnam

September 30, Japan’s Mizuho Financial Group will invest big time in a major Vietnamese bank, Vietcombank, all in an effort to profit off Vietnam’s explosive economic growth.

Even officials with the U.S. bank Citigroup is amazed at how well Vietnam’s economy is doing.

Currently Vietnam’s GDP is at 6.11%.  Very good, but less than their 2010 GDP, which was 7.18%.  The annual GDP for the U.S. is stagnating between 1% and 2%!

The down side to Vietnam’s explosive growth, is that most Vietnamese are being left behind in the dust of poverty.  Fast economic growth comes with the paradox of increased poverty, because most of the quick profits end up in the pockets of the few (and they do not trickle it down).

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Japan to help bailout Greece, it’s an effort to save the Japanese car industry

September 27, Japan’s Finance Minister Jun Azumi, said Japan is ready to help Greece, possibly by buying more Greek government bonds.

However, Japan is a little cash strapped itself and is hoping the Europeans do something quick, to turn around the collapsing European economy. The reason; Japan’s car industry is relying on a European, as well as U.S., economic recovery.

Chairman Toshiyuki Shiga, of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, said that the falling value of the Euro, and the U.S. dollar, is driving up the value of the Japanese yen, which is making Japanese cars to expensive to sell.

Most of Japan’s national income is made by selling products to other countries (exports), and since the March 11 disasters the yen has been going up in value causing huge drops in demand for Japanese products.

Japan is hoping to see the Euro and U.S. dollar go up in value, which would make Japanese products more affordable on the world market.

Business/Economics, Fukushima

Government Incompetence: Japanese officials decide to check beer & wine for radiation!

27 September 2011, Japan’s National Tax Agency has just now realized that all alcoholic drinks coming from the Fukushima area are probably contaminated with radiation.  Even so, testing on beer, wine/sake will not take place until next month!

Mandatory testing will be done at all beverage factories within 150 km (93 miles) of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.  Random testing will take place at factories outside the 150 kilometer radius.

Along with the national government, six major cities, including Tokyo, will test water meant for use in making beer and wine.

Rice and barely, used in beer and sake, have already tested positive for cesium contamination.

Fukushima

Typhoon Roke comes ashore, heading for direct hit on damaged nuclear plant Fukushima Daiichi, 4 dead!

21 September 2011, Typhoon Roke is moving up the Pacific coastline of Japan, after coming ashore south of Tokyo at Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture.

Sustanted winds are 144 km (89.4 miles) per hour, with gusts up to 155 km (96 miles) per hour recorded at Hachioji City, near Tokyo.

During the past 24 hours, more than 400 millimeters (15.74 inches) of rain has fallen in Tokai region and Yamanashi Prefecture, and more than 200 mm (7.87 inches) of rain fell in northeastern Japan.

At least four people have died, three are missing.  More evacuation orders have been given to at least a half million more people.

The damaged nuclear plant, Fukushima Daiichi, has escaped typhoon damage from previous storms, but Roke looks like it will make a direct hit.

Roke is moving fast and should be approaching the northeastern Honshu prefecture of Fukushima. Already 200 mm of rain has fallen in Fukushima since September 20.  The nuclear plant is already flooding with rain water.

Work to stop the further spread of radiation, like the steel wall around the ocean intakes, and specially treated tarps over the exploded reactor buildings, has been halted.  Tokyo Electric says their workers have tied down everything they could think of that might get blown away.

TEPCo says reactor 1 and 2 have rain water pouring in from the roofs, and Reactor 6 basement is totally flooded.  TEPCo officials insist that none of the radioactive water will leak out.  Yeah right, how many times now have they made such promises?

 

 

Fukushima

Corporate Incompetence: Heavy rain from Typhoons & Tropical Storms are flooding Fukushima Daiichi

Nine months later, and the radiation just keeps pouring from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.  Now its Mother Earth who’s to blame.

Tokyo Electric Power Company admitted that the heavy rains from typhoons and tropical storms are flooding reactor buildings, greatly increasing the chance of massive flooding of highly contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean.

The nuclear plant is already flooding the ocean with radiation, but this would be on a massive scale.

Here’s why it’s so bad: TEPCo is already pumping 550 tons of water per day to cool three of its damaged reactors. About 80,000 tons of highly radioactive water has already accumulated in the buildings.  Now add the flooding from the storms. TEPCo says it has found 200 to 500 tons of rainwater entering every day into the basements of reactor buildings.

International

Typhoon Roke, still offshore, already killed two, causing millions to evacuate

Typhoon Roke is about to hit land, near Tokyo, but has already killed two people, and two people are missing.

A man was killed trying to fix a drain on his roof, and another man was killed when he went to look at a rising river.  A 4th grade boy, and an 84 year old man are missing.

Roke’s wind and rain are causing major damage on land, even though the center of the storm is still offshore.  Currently it’s near Cape Muroto in Kochi Prefecture.

In Gifu and Hyogo prefectures, an evacuation advisory covers about 110,000 people.  In the southern Kyushu prefecture of Miyazaki, nearly 40,000 people have been advised to leave due to risk of mudslides.

In Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, more than one million people have been told to evacuate due to the rising water levels of the Tenpaku and Shonai rivers.

 

International

Roke now a Typhoon, heading towards Honshu

Tropical storm Roke stalled long enough over the warm water near Okinawa, to build into a Typhoon.  Japan’s Meteorological Agency says Roke will track northeast over the seas south of the island of Kyushu, before heading for Honshu, then Hokkaido.

Already parts of Kyushu have been hit with massive rain. Since Thursday about 1,000 millimeters (39 inches) have fallen on the southern island.

Typhoon Roke was moving at 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) per hour as of Monday noon, packing winds of up to 144 kilometers (89.4 miles) per hour.  It’s expected to pick up speed.