INCREDIBLE new ‘before and after’ images show the almighty clear-up operation that has got Japan back on its feet just under a year after the devastating tsunami.
On Friday 11 March last year, waves up to 130ft high hit small towns along the north-east coast of the country.
Powerful video footage shows ports being engulfed by a surge of dirty water and debris as locals ran or drove for their lives.
Read the rest of the story: Japan: One year on.

Some 100 officers from the Miyagi Prefectural Police force conducted an intensive search Monday for remains near an elementary school in Ishinomaki that lost 70 of its 108 students to the quake and tsunami on March 11.
Nine of the 13 teachers and administrative staff at Okawa Elementary School also died, and four students and a teacher are still listed as missing, along with 45 other residents of the Okawa district.
Police searched the Fuji River, which runs in front of the school, and have dammed up the waterway for about 1.3 …

Operators at Japan’s earthquake and tsunami-ravaged Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant ushered journalists clad in protective clothing through the plant on Monday, just weeks ahead of the first anniversary of the March 11 disasters.
Reporters from about 30 Japanese and foreign media organizations entered the wrecked facility by bus and were allowed to leave the vehicle once. All carried respiration masks and radiation detectors, as they heard the plant’s director apologize to nearby residents forced to flee their homes last year to avoid radiation contamination.
“We’re deeply sorry about (the) great inconvenience we …

Six months ago, Shinsuke Shimada, a comic who hosted several big primetime shows on Japanese TV, admitted ties to organized crime and resigned from showbiz. His abrupt departure caused a media sensation as it shone a harsh light on the mobs influence on the industry, and new ordinances went into effect in Tokyo and Okinawa in October making it a crime to pay off the yakuza — Japans mafia — or profit from dealing with them.But if anyone expected these “startling” events to bring significant changes, theyve since been disappointed.”The …

Japan’s nuclear safety chief said Wednesday the country’s regulations are flawed, outdated and below global standards, and he apologized for their failure when a tsunami crippled one plant last year.
Haruki Madarame admitted Japanese safety requirements such as for tsunami and power losses were too loose and many officials have looked the other way and tried to avoid changes.
“I must admit that the nuclear safety guidelines that we have issued until now have various flaws,” he said. “We’ve even said that we don’t need to consider risks for massive tsunamis and …

The AKB48 pop group and actor Tomohiro Sekiguchi have been named goodwill ambassadors for events commemorating the 40th anniversary of bilateral relations between Japan and China.
Hiromasa Yonekura, chairman of the Keidanren business association and head of the commemoration planning committee, appointed them Monday.
Read the rest of the story: AKB48, Sekiguchi goodwill envoys | The Japan Times Online.

Japan on Monday approved a fresh $8.9 billion in aid for the operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant as the company said it expected to lose a similar amount this year.
The decision means TEPCO stays solvent, but continues to run up costs as it struggles to clean up the mess left behind by reactor meltdowns and meet claims for compensation following the March 11 quake disaster and resulting nuclear crisis.
The 690 billion yen aid package was announced after Tokyo Electric Power revised up its estimate of what it would need …

Underworld organizations are stepping up their attacks on enterprises in the wake of efforts by prefectural governments to enforce bylaws that prevent businesses from distributing profits to gangsters and keep gangsters from participating in public works projects.
These bylaws are also making it more difficult for gangs to collect protection fees from enterprises. In the past, gangsters threatened businesses mainly by firing bullets at their buildings. Following the enforcement of the anti-gang bylaws, company presidents and executives themselves are being targeted. The crimes are premeditated, with few clues, if any, …

ONAGAWA, Japan — At age 39, Yoshiaki Suda, the new mayor of this town that was destroyed by last March’s tsunami, oversees a community where the votes, money and influence lie among its large population of graying residents. But for Onagawa to have a future, he must rebuild it in such a way as to make it attractive to those of his generation and younger.Connect With Us on TwitterFollow @nytimesworld for international breaking news and headlines.Twitter List: Reporters and EditorsEnlarge This Image The New York TimesA tsunami destroyed all 15 …

Korehira Watanabe is one of the last 30 remaining swordsmiths in Japan having spent 40 years honing his craft. His life ambition has been to re-create a type of sword called Koto, that dates back to the Heian and Kamakura periods that spanned from 794 AD to 1333 AD, even though there is no written guide or formula for creating the sword. The challenge to hand-craft a sword without any blueprint has been an obsession of Watanabe’s since he was a child.
While there is no set formula to re-create the …