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Kazuaki Nagata

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Kazuaki Nagata
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 6, 2011
Utilities have monopoly on power
Tokyo Electric Power Co. wants to raise electricity rates by more than 10 percent to help offset massive compensation claims related to the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant meltdowns, according to recent media reports.
BUSINESS
Sep 1, 2011
Toshiba, Hitachi, Sony to create top global LCD firm
Sony Corp., Toshiba Corp., Hitachi Ltd. and Innovation Network Corporation of Japan announced Wednesday a plan to merge their operations and create the biggest company in the global market for small and medium-size liquid crystal displays, which are used in products such as smartphones and tablet computers....
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2011
Panel confirms fix was in at nuclear public meetings
An independent investigation panel has confirmed that the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency asked utilities in at least three cases to mobilize their employees for government-sponsored symposiums on nuclear power and express supportive or neutral opinions.
JAPAN
Aug 24, 2011
Crisis probe has quizzed 126 people
Some 126 people have appeared before the independent panel investigating the causes of the Fukushima nuclear crisis, testifying for a total of almost 300 hours, but it will take more time and effort to identify the root reasons for the accident, panel leader Yotaro Hatamura said Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 19, 2011
Reformist bureaucrat gets shuffled off to sidelines
When the Democratic Party of Japan won the 2009 election and ousted the Liberal Democratic Party-led government, Shigeaki Koga, a veteran reformist at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, had high hopes that the bureaucracy would finally change for the better.
JAPAN
Aug 19, 2011
No NISA penalties for now: new head
The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, as a regulatory body, may be responsible for the meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant but the newly appointed agency chief ruled out Thursday taking any penalties, including salary cuts, before an independent panel's investigation is over.
JAPAN
Aug 18, 2011
Tepco: Radiation release plunged
Radioactive materials released from the crippled No. 1, 2 and 3 reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant are roughly one 10 millionth of contamination spewed at the beginning of the accident in March, based on readings taken in the past two weeks, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Aug 16, 2011
Venture to push 'anime' in LA
Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, a semipublic body tasked with enhancing the value of the nation's businesses, announced Monday it will establish a new firm to remake existing domestic "soft" content, including movies, "anime" (animation), TV dramas and songs, to sell them to Hollywood, aiming...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2011
Nuclear power debate heating up
The Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant accident has sparked an unprecedented public debate on the nation's energy policy, and prominent figures are weighing in.
JAPAN
Aug 6, 2011
Next nuclear watchdog needs teeth: Hosono
Goshi Hosono, state minister in charge of preventing further atomic power plant accidents, revealed Friday a proposal to fold nuclear-related functions now scattered among different ministries into a new authority.
JAPAN
Aug 5, 2011
Tepco makes little headway in decontaminating water
Tokyo Electric Power Co. continues to struggle with cleaning up the more than 120,000 tons of radioactive water flooding the Fukushima No. 1 power plant, as the utility has hardly been able to reduce the overall amount of the water in the past several weeks.
JAPAN
Jul 30, 2011
Utility says NISA sought 'plants' to talk up MOX bid
Chubu Electric Power Co. said Friday it was asked by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency to set up supportive or neutral questions from the audience at a 2007 symposium about a plan to use a controversial fuel mix at the Hamaoka nuclear plant.
JAPAN
Jul 30, 2011
Symposium fiasco forces reclusive NISA chief to surface
After being harshly criticized for failing to appear before the media to explain an attempt to manipulate a 2007 "pluthermal" symposium, Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency Director General Nobuaki Terasaka held a hastily arranged news conference Friday night.
BUSINESS
Jul 29, 2011
Tepco's cost structure drawing scrutiny by monitoring panel
A government panel said Thursday it will thoroughly check Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s cost structure and how it has been reflected in electricity bills to see if its rates are appropriate.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Jul 21, 2011
Plugging reactors no longer stated goal for Tepco
The government and Tokyo Electric Power Co. are boasting success in achieving the first stage in the road map to stabilize the reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant, but experts said big challenges remain as the utility moves to the second phase, the goal of which is to achieve a cold shutdown...
JAPAN
Jul 20, 2011
Tepco plans for cold shutdown by January
The government and Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Tuesday they have successfully achieved consistent and stable cooling of the reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 plant and will by mid-January reduce the amount of radioactive materials being released.
JAPAN
Jul 16, 2011
Reactor stress tests heavy on redundancies
The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency on Friday submitted the outline of a two-stage stress test for the nation's reactors, focusing on four categories, including earthquakes, tsunami, loss of power sources and loss of cooling systems for fuel rods.
JAPAN
Jul 14, 2011
NISA slaps Tepco over worker overexposures
The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency on Wednesday issued an improvement order to Tokyo Electric Power Co. over its failure to manage radiation levels for workers at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, citing the exposure of six workers at the site to levels in excess of the 250 millisieverts per year...
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2011
Tepco simulates wave strikes
The tsunami that crippled the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant on March 11 reached a height of 13.1 meters and the waves that hit the nearby No. 2 plant were up to 9.1 meters, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Friday based on the results of simulations.
JAPAN
Jul 8, 2011
Water treatment, cooling systems finally working
After suffering numerous problems, the newly installed treatment system for decontaminating radioactive water at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant and another system designed to recirculate that water to cool the reactors are finally working.
U.S. tourist arrested after bringing a handgun into Japan
Hyogo police believe the handgun a U.S. tourist inadvertently brought into Japan slipped through security procedures at Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture.
3D printer used to construct train station building in Japan
A train station building (front) is assembled from parts printed using 3D printer technology, in Arida, Wakayama Prefecture, on Wednesday.
Japan’s leader didn’t read the job description
Prime Minister and ruling Liberal Democratic Party leader Shigeru Ishiba is facing a political funding scandal that has damaged his reputation and sparked speculation that internal efforts to remove him are underway.
Japan promises 'bold and speedy' response to Trump’s surprise 24% tariffs
U.S. President Donald Trump unveils new U.S. tariffs at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
Tokyo’s KK Line to close for decadelong overhaul as public greenway
People enjoy running and yoga on Tokyo Expressway’s KK Line, a 2-kilometer elevated expressway cutting through the capital’s commercial Ginza district, when it was opened as a pedestrian space in May last year.
Haruki Murakami TV adaptation revisits 30 years of watershed moments
Though Haruki Murakami's trademark whiff of offbeat existentialism is threaded throughout NHK's "After the Quake," the final episode — conceived as a sequel to the story "Super-Frog Saves Tokyo" — is the most stylized, featuring an anthropomorphic talking frog (voiced by Non) and his erstwhile associate Katagiri (Koichi Sato).
Nintendo to launch the Switch 2 on June 5
The controllers for the Switch 2 will attach to the console magnetically rather than sliding on rails as with the original device.
A new human trafficking trend emerges from Myanmar scam centers
Victims of scam centers who were tricked or trafficked into working in Myanmar gather at a compound inside KK Park, a fraud center on the country's border with Thailand, after a multinational crackdown in February.
Meiji says sayonara to bottled milk, a staple of Japan's bathhouses
Meiji bottled milk lined up in a fridge at Kosugiyu, a bathhouse in Tokyo. The sticker urges patrons to enjoy the milk one last time before it’s gone.
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan
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