Tag: Japan

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Is Assassinated

Milton Quintanilla – July 8, 2022

Hospital officials in Japan have confirmed that former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe died after he was shot during a campaign speech in Western Japan Friday morning.

Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, was shot twice from behind while speaking to a crowd on the streets of Nara on Friday. Abe was delivering a campaign speech ahead of an election for the parliament’s upper house this Sunday.

Video footage posted to social media shows Abe speaking when a loud bang erupted, and smoke began to rise from behind the former Prime Minister. The first shot, however, missed the former prime minister, who paused and turned around only to get shot at again seconds later. The second shot struck Abe in the chest, causing him to collapse to the ground. His security then tackled and arrested the gunman, later identified as 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami. According to the Japanese outlet NHK World News, a police officer retrieved a gun at the scene that is believed to be homemade.

Yamagami, who served in the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) for three years, reportedly told police that he was dissatisfied with the former prime minister and sought to assassinate him.

According to Fox News, Abe was left unconscious and in cardiac arrest after being shot. He was taken to a hospital for treatment but later succumbed to his injuries.

Doctor Fukushima Hidetada of Nara Medical University told NHK World News that a team of more than twenty doctors spent four hours trying to save Abe’s life.

“We tried to resuscitate him, but, unfortunately, he died at 5:03 pm,” he said.

https://www.christianheadlines.com

Major M7.4 earthquake hits near the coast of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan

– March 16, 2022

A major earthquake registered by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) as M7.4 hit near the coast of Fukushima Prefecture at 14:36 UTC (23:36 JTC) on March 16, 2022. The agency is reporting a depth of 60 km (37 miles). USGS is reporting M7.3 at a depth of 33 km (20 miles), EMSC M7.2 at a depth of 80 km (49 miles). The quake was preceded by M6.4 at 14:34 UTC at a depth of 56 km (35 miles).

The epicenter was located about 66 km (41 miles) ENE of Namie (population 21 866), Fukushima and 96 km (59 miles) SE of Sendai (population 1 063 103), Miyagi, Japan.

There are about 1.8 million people living within 100 km (62 miles).

JMA has issued a Tsunami Advisory for the Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures, with waves up to 1 m (3.3 feet) expected. A Tsunami Forecast is in effect for most of Japan’s eastern coastal areas.

2 046 000 people are estimated to have felt very strong shaking, 3 200 000 strong and 7 379 000 moderate.

The USGS issued a Green alert for shaking-related fatalities. There is a low likelihood of casualties.

A Yellow alert was issued for economic losses. Some damage is possible and the impact should be relatively localized. Estimated economic losses are less than 1% of GDP of Japan. Past events with this alert level have required a local or regional level response.

Overall, the population in this region resides in structures that are resistant to earthquake shaking, though vulnerable structures exist. The predominant vulnerable building types are heavy wood frame and reinforced/confined masonry construction.

Recent earthquakes in this area have caused secondary hazards such as tsunamis, landslides and fires that might have contributed to losses.

Updates

The earthquake has left 4 people dead and more than 160 injured. (Mainichi)

The quake caused power outages in northeastern and eastern Japan, affecting a total of more than 2.2 million households, including some 700 000 in Tokyo. Power was later restored to most of the affected citizens.

The country’s nuclear regulator said data show no abnormalities with reactors and facilities at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, although the cooling system for the spent fuel pools at the No. 2 and No. 5 reactors temporarily stopped. Cooling systems for spent fuel pools at the Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant and the Onagawa nuclear plant in Miyagi were also affected before recovering.

A Tohoku Shinkansen bullet train derailed between Fukushima Station and Shiroishizao Station, but all 78 passengers and crew members aboard were unharmed, according to East Japan Railway Co.

Relatively small tsunami waves were observed at Ishinomaki port in Miyagi and other locations.

https://watchers.news

DEVELOPING: A bird flu outbreak is now spreading across Europe and Asia

ETH – November 15, 2021

Several outbreaks of severe bird flu in Europe and Asia have been reported in recent days to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), in a sign the virus is spreading quickly again.

According to Reuters, The spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, has put the poultry industry on alert after previous outbreaks led to the culling of tens of millions of birds. Outbreaks also often lead to trade restrictions.

According to the Daily Sabah, It is also attracting the attention of epidemiologists as the virus can be transmitted to humans. China has reported 21 human infections with the H5N6 subtype of avian influenza so far this year, more than in the whole of 2020.

South Korea reported an outbreak at a farm of around 770,000 poultry in Chungcheongbuk-do, the OIE said on Monday, citing a report from the South Korean authorities.

All animals were slaughtered. Also in Asia, Japan reported its first outbreak of the 2021 winter season, at a poultry farm in the northeast of the country, the OIE said, confirming a statement last week by Japan’s agriculture ministry. The serotype in this outbreak was H5N8. In Europe, Norway reported an H5N1 bird flu outbreak in the Rogaland region in a flock of 7,000 birds, the OIE said.

https://endtimeheadlines.org

China threatens to begin World War III

Bob Unruh – July 19, 2021

“When we liberate Taiwan, if Japan dares to intervene by force, even if it only deploys one soldier, one plane and one ship, we will not only return reciprocal fire but also start a full-scale war against Japan,” the statement threatens.

“We will use nuclear bombs continuously until Japan declares unconditional surrender for the second time. What we want to target is Japan’s ability to endure a war. As long as Japan realizes that it cannot afford to pay the price of war, it will not dare to rashly send troops to the Taiwan Strait.

“In 1964, when our first atomic bomb was successfully detonated, we promised the world that we would not use atomic bombs against non-nuclear countries and that we would not be the first to use them. Nearly 60 years have passed. Although the strength of our nuclear deterrent has been somewhat affected this decision has been a success, and has safeguarded our peace when we built our country.”

But it warned the international “situation” now is changing and “our country is in the midst of a major change that has not been seen in a century and all political policies, tactics and strategies must be adjusted and changed in the midst of such a major change.”

The video threatens, “In order to protect the peaceful rise of our country, it is necessary to make limited adjustments to our nuclear policy. We solemnly put forward the ‘Japan exception theory.’ In modern history Japan has taken the initiative to harm the Chinese people many times, including the first Sino-Japanese war in 1894-1895, when it took over Taiwan and made us pay more than 230 million taels of silver in reparations. And the world invasion of China of 1931-1945, when more than 35 million Chinese were killed and wounded.”

https://www.wnd.com

Anticipating War With China, The U.S. Air Force Is Fanning Out Across The Pacific

David Axe – June 7, 2021

For years, the U.S. Air Force concentrated its warplanes at just two bases in the western Pacific: for fighters, Kadena Air Force Base in Japan’s Okinawa prefecture; and for bombers and big support planes, Guam’s Andersen Air Force Base.

Beijing eyed these mega-bases and devised a simple strategy for suppressing U.S. air power in the region. Build a couple thousand non-nuclear ballistic missiles and, in wartime, lob them at the bases until their runways, aprons, hangars, fuel tanks and warehouses are nothing but craters.

After years of build-up, the Chinese rocket force possesses around 1,300 ground-launched missiles with sufficient range to hit Kadena and Andersen from mainland China.

The USAF is keenly aware of the threat. It has its own plan for dodging the missile barrages. The idea is to spread out hundreds of warplanes across potentially dozens of smaller bases—thus diluting the striking power of China’s rocket force.

The Air Force won’t say exactly which bases are part of its plan, but it’s possible to make educated guesses. American territories and small island countries offer the most dependable facilities. Arguably the most important bases—in the Philippines—are accessible only at the whim of that country’s mercurial president.

The emerging map of the USAF’s expanding base network also reveals where the service has potential airfield gaps, most glaringly in the Philippine Sea east of Taiwan. In that gap, the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Fleet might lend its sister service a helping hand—and deploy some of its 10 aircraft carriers and big-deck assault ships.

The Air Force maintains a master list of what Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, the head of Pacific Air Forces, described as “every single piece of concrete” in the Pacific region.

https://www.forbes.com

Japan Decides To Dump One Million Tons Of Radioactive Fukushima Water Into The Pacific; IAEA Approves

Tyler Durden – April 12, 2021

We live in a bizarre world: one where the the Keystone XL pipeline must be shut in case of a hypothetical (and extremely unlikely) leak, but where Japan is allowed to dump over one million tons of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean. Actually, it’s either bizarre or simply exposing just how profoundly hypocritical, self-serving and corrupt the ESG/Green/Greta Thunberg theater truly is.

Last week we wrote that ten years after the Fukushima disaster, Japan had finally come “clean”, and admitted that it is “unavoidable” that it would have to dump radioactive Fukushima water in the Pacific Ocean. Fast forward to today when moments ago Kyodo confirmed what we already knew: the Japanese government decided to release treated radioactive water accumulating at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea, having determined “it poses no safety concerns to humans or the environment” despite worries of local fishermen and neighboring countries.

So an oil pipeline whose odds of leaking are virtually zero must be shuttered immediately, but a million tons of radioactive water is “safe” and can be released into the Pacific Ocean, from where it will eventually finds its way into billions of humans around the globe.

But wait, the insanity gets better: Japan’s decision to release all this radioactivity into the ocean was backed by none other than the “scientists” at the International Atomic Energy Agency, with Director General Rafael Grossi saying it is “scientifically sound” and in line with standard practice in the nuclear industry around the world.

So… the IAEA has a standard practice of what exploded nuclear power plants do with their fallout water? And how often has this particular standard practice been invoked we wonder?

Between this and the covid debacle, one can almost see why nobody trusts the world’s so-called  scientists any more.

https://www.zerohedge.com

Dumping Fukushima’s Water into the Ocean What could possibly go wrong?

Robert Hunziker – November 1, 2020

For nearly a decade the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant has been streaming radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean. As it happens, TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Co.) struggles to control it. Yet, the bulk of the radioactive water is stored in more than 1,000 water tanks.

Assuredly, Japan’s government has made an informal decision to dump Fukushima Daiichi’s radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean. A formal announcement could come as early as this year. Currently, 1.2 million tonnes of radioactive water is stored.

The problem: TEPCO is running out of storage space.

Government of Japan’s solution: Dump it into the Pacific Ocean.

Third-party expert solutions: Build more storage tanks.

Environmental groups insist there is no reason why additional storage tanks cannot be constructed outside the perimeter of the plant. They accuse the government of seeking the cheapest and quickest solution to the problem. All along, authorities have promised the site will be safe in 40 years. Really, only 40 years!

According to IAEA’s Director General Grossi, who visited Fukushima in February 2020, dumping radioactive water that is mainly contaminated with tritium meets global standards of practice. (Source: Michael Jacob in Tokyo, What! Is Japan Really Planning to Dump Radioactive Water From Fukushima Into the Ocean? Sweden-Science-Innovation, June 10, 2020)

https://www.counterpunch.org

Japan expected to dump over 1 MILLION TONS of radioactive Fukushima water into Pacific, fishermen fear ‘catastrophic impact’

RT – 0ctober 16, 2020

The Japanese government is planning to release more than one million tons of contaminated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean, angering fishermen, local media have reported.

Japan has debated what to do with the rapidly increasing store of radioactive wastewater for years, and now the decision to release it into the ocean could be confirmed by the end of the month.

Currently, Japan houses the water in more than 1,000 tanks, but with 170 additional tons of the radioactive by-product being produced every day, storage space is quickly running out.

It is estimated that all tanks will have reached maximum capacity by the summer of 2022 and Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said on Friday that the decision was one they could “not keep delaying,” Kyodo News reported.

The water is used to cool the Fukushima nuclear reactor core, which went into meltdown after the catastrophic 2011 earthquake and tsunami that struck the plant.

The government previously considered building more tanks to house the additional water, or attempting to evaporate the water into the atmosphere, but an advisory panel recommended releasing it into the ocean as the most efficient solution. However, the release process is not expected to begin until 2022 and is likely to take 30 years to complete.

The prospect of an ocean release has reignited concerns among local fishermen who fear it could destroy their industry.

“We are terrified that if even one fish is found to have exceeded the [radiation] safety standards after the treated water is released, people’s trust in us will plummet,” Kyodo News quoted a local fisherman as saying.

https://www.rt.com

SARS-like coronavirus spreads from China to Japan as epidemic fears grow

Anders Anglesey – January 16, 2020

Japanese officials have confirmed its first case of the new coronavirus in the country as epidemic fears grow.

A government official said today that a Japanese man in his 30s, who travelled to Wuhan in eastern China, tested positive for the virus.

The SARS-like virus has struck down dozens in China since the outbreak was first recorded in December.

It is believed an outbreak of pneumonia caused the fresh coronavirus strain.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned the virus could spread further and has told hospitals across the world to be alert.

Maria Van Kerkhove, acting head of the WHO’s emerging diseases unit, said: “From the information that we have it is possible that there is limited human-to-human transmission, potentially among families, but it is very clear right now that we have no sustained human-to-human transmission.

She added: “It is still early days, we don’t have a clear clinical picture.”

Coronaviruses are infections that can cause colds to more-serious illnesses like SARS.

In all, 41 cases of pneumonia have been reported in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, which preliminary lab tests cited by state media showed could be from a new type of coronavirus.

One of the patients has died, a 61-year-old man who had bought goods from a wholesale seafood market in Wuhan.

https://www.dailystar.co.uk