Japan Nuclear Crisis

TOKYO — A man died on his second day working at Japan’s tsunami-wrecked nuclear power plant Saturday, and the plant operator said harmful levels of radiation were not detected in his body.

The contract worker in his 60s was the first person to die at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in northeastern Japan since the March 11 quake and tsunami damaged the facility, causing a string of fires, explosions and radiation leaks in the world’s second-worst nuclear accident.

The worker was carrying equipment when he collapsed and died later in hospital, said Naoyuki Matsumoto, spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power Co. The company does not know the cause of his death, Matsumoto said.

The man had been wearing a radiation protection suit, mask and gloves while working at the plant’s waste disposal building, which stores radioactive-contaminated water that has leaked from the tsunami-crippled reactors.

Two Fukushima workers had died March 11 from the tsunami itself, when waves swept into the plant and heavily damaged buildings and equipment. TEPCO said the workers, both in their early 20s, were found in the basement of a turbine building.

The quake and tsunami are believed to have killed more than 24,500 people. Police said Friday that 15,019 were dead and 9,506 were still listed as missing.

Radiation leaks at the Fukushima plant have forced 80,000 people living within a 12-mile (20-kilometer) radius of the nuclear facility to leave their homes.

The nuclear crisis prompted the government to evaluate all of Japan’s 54 reactors for quake and tsunami vulnerability, and Prime Minister Naoto Kan asked that one plant in central Japan halt operations while its defenses were improved.

Chubu Electric said its Hamaoka nuclear plant in Shizuoka was completely shut down Saturday on the premier’s request. The company will build a large seawall and other safety structures – work expected to take a few years.

Japanese Economy at a major Change

The Bank of Japan has had to make some difficult decisions in their new economic condition but Finance Minister, Yoshihiko Noda, supports and defends all of the bank’s choices. Even though the new policies may be criticized for not being as effective as they should be, Noda is standing behind them completely.

The new stimulus package is worth 920 billion yen, 11 billion US dollars, and will be financed by reserve funds. The government’s plan is to end deflation and contain the value of the yen as quickly as April 2011.

The latest policy step includes consumption boosting, creating more jobs, and extending low interest rates to banks. To create more jobs, Japan wants to hire more high school and college graduates and create more internships for them as well. To help make their country more economically friendly and to boost consumption, they are planning to give government incentives for products that are energy efficient and good for the economy.

Japan’s economy is weak right now with the yen going to a fifteen year high against the dollar making their exports decline drastically. Since Japan is largely an export based country, this is a recipe for disaster. The government is hoping the stimulus plan will help recover the economy as swiftly as possible. They realize that this same thing is happening globally and that it is hard on all governments, not just theirs.

One of the major problems facing the Japanese government is that many of their agencies are requesting budgets that are higher than the government had originally planned on. The fiscal year 2011 budget has now reached 96 yen even after a requested budget cut. Japan’s weak economy cannot handle this at this time and it is the government’s main goal to get their country out of debt quickly. There are meetings in place the next few weeks to further discuss the economic future of Japan.

Love of Pakistan in Tokyo

On Tuesday , 23rd March 2010 Pakistani community celebrates PAKISTAN DAY . Pakistani ambassador “Noor Muhammad Jadani ” and three other candidates presented speeches and vision. Participants were not as much , as were before but still was passion and love for the country. National Anthem was player first , after this , national songs were presented. Pakistani Visited from various cities and make that event live.

Photographs of event

Pakistan Day at Tokyo