Web Radio Interview From "Old Town" Tokyo In The Works

by Armand Vaquer


The Visit Japan article on The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan has caught the attention of the Tokyo-Edo Radio Project.

I am currently discussing a proposed interview with Hans Karlsson of Tokyo-Edo Radio Project and working on setting up a "warm-up" interview session before we do the actual interview.

The Tokyo-Edo Radio Project is based in Asakusa, Tokyo. According to Karlsson, "We have a radio show at http://tokyoedoradio.org/, covering Tokyo, including tourism issues."

Once things are finalized, an announcement will be made on the date and time so you can tune in. From what I gather from their website, the program can be accessed from there or via iTunes. I will report on any additional access information once it is received.

Will Japan's Travel Industry Get The Hint?

by Armand Vaquer

Above, Haruo Nakajima. Could he and his alter ego be the ones who revives Japan's tourism industry?

It is amazing how things can go viral over the Internet.

A few days ago, I posted a blog "Can Godzilla Save The Japanese Tourism Industry?" at Monster Island News, Godzilla 2012 and Armand's Rancho Del Cielo blogs. I posed the question in this way:

Getting up this evening from much-needed sleep (I have to work the graveyard shift in Burbank again tonight), I found an email about a Twitter Tweet from Tom Baker of The Daily Yomiuri:

Can Godzilla help save Japan's tourism industry? Monster expert @ArmandV comments on an editorial from @DailyYomiuri.

I think Godzilla would be a great help in saving Japan's tourism industry. He's as internationally recognizable as Mickey Mouse. Of course, the tourism industry would need the cooperation from Godzilla's owner, Toho Co., Ltd., but ads featuring the King of the Monsters promoting Japan tourism could do the trick. Also, taking on Haruo Nakajima, the original Godzilla suit actor, as a goodwill ambassador in a advertising campaign for Japan tourism would be a plus. Given his age (he's 82), his participation would have to be limited a bit. But seeing the crowds gather around him on Hollywood Blvd. (see photo below from his daughter Sonoe) convinced me that he could be useful. And, I think he'd have a ball!

Above, Haruo Nakajima drew a crowd on Hollywood Blvd. last month. Photo courtesy of Sonoe Nakajima.

As I said before, the Japanese tourism industry needs to think "outside of the box" to get travelers over to Japan. It's worth a try!

Checking Google, I found that a number of websites have picked up on the posts. They range from other bloggers to travel websites. Maybe the Japanese travel professionals and tourism bureaus (especially the Japan National Tourism Organization) will get the hint?

Wouldn't be cool to see Godzilla and Haruo Nakajima featured in promotions for Japan travel? They would certainly catch a lot of attention!

Both Godzilla and Haruo Nakajima are valuable resources that could and should be tapped. We'll see what develops.

Can Godzilla Save The Japanese Tourism Industry?

by Armand Vaquer

Above, Haruo Nakajima (right) during his Godzilla days. Can Godzilla and Nakajima help save the Japanese tourism industry?

Getting up this evening from much-needed sleep (I have to work the graveyard shift in Burbank again tonight), I found an email about a Twitter Tweet from Tom Baker of The Daily Yomiuri:

Can Godzilla help save Japan's tourism industry? Monster expert @ArmandV comments on an editorial from @DailyYomiuri.

I think Godzilla would be a great help in saving Japan's tourism industry. He's as internationally recognizable as Mickey Mouse. Of course, the tourism industry would need the cooperation from Godzilla's owner, Toho Co., Ltd., but ads featuring the King of the Monsters promoting Japan tourism could do the trick. Also, taking on Haruo Nakajima, the original Godzilla suit actor, as a goodwill ambassador in a advertising campaign for Japan tourism would be a plus. Given his age (he's 82), his participation would have to be limited a bit. But seeing the crowds gather around him on Hollywood Blvd. (see photo below from his daughter Sonoe) convinced me that he could be useful. And, I think he'd have a ball!

Above, Haruo Nakajima drew a crowd on Hollywood Blvd. last month. Photo courtesy of Sonoe Nakajima.

As I said before, the Japanese tourism industry needs to think "outside of the box" to get travelers over to Japan. It's worth a try!

5 Years Since "Gamera The Brave"

by Armand Vaquer

Above, the Tokyo premiere of "Gamera The Brave." I am in the center waiting to get into the theater. This is a screen capture from the Region 2 DVD.

Following the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake, my concern and concentration was on Matsushima Bay and Sendai, which were hit hard by the quake and tsunami.

Despite my focus on Sendai and Matsushima, it dawned on me recently that it was five years ago last month that I visited both Sendai and Matsushima Bay in Tohoku. The visit was a highlight of that trip.

Above, at the premiere of "Gamera The Brave," I am at the souvenir table in this screen capture from the Region 2 DVD.

The other highlight of that April 2006 trip to Japan was attending the premiere of Gamera The Brave at the Piccadilly Theaters in the Yurakucho Mullion Building in Tokyo. The Japanese Region 2 DVD has a separate disc containing extras, including the Tokyo premiere. I am in a couple of shots in the premiere footage.

Gamera The Brave was an enjoyable little movie and greatly underrated. It brought Gamera back to his "friend of the children" roots and it was tailored to younger audiences. But it was scripted in such a way that it wouldn't make adult viewers cringe in their seats. It also had good special effects (on a par with Godzilla x Mothra x Mechagodzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)). The kid actors did a good job.

The premiere was packed to capacity. Unfortunately, the movie failed to wow them at the box office during its run. Had it been even a modest hit, Kadokawa Pictures would have been able to make sequels. The movie deserved better.

Tokyo Shock released the DVD in the U.S. It is probably now out-of-print. But if one should find a copy, I recommend watching the Japanese language version with English subtitles. The dubbed version is atrocious. At least the viewer is given a choice.

Sure has been a fast five years!

The Toho Studios Godzilla Statue

Text and photos by Armand Vaquer



Last October, I posted a blog on Hibiya's Godzilla Statue. This is a companion blog on the Godzilla statue that now stands at the entrance to Toho Studios.

Back in 2004, Godzilla Final Wars was announced as the last Toho-produced Godzilla movie for at least a decade due to dwindling boxoffice receipts.

After Godzilla Final Wars was released, Toho made some major changes to their studios in the Setaygaya ward of Tokyo in the ensuing years.

Out were some old soundstages, administrative buildings (including a 1950s era snack bar) and the famous big pool, where Godzilla's water scenes were shot.

New and modern soundstages were erected along with new administrative facilities. Part of the modernization of Toho Studios was a new front gate with a giant mural of one of Toho's most revered movies, Seven Samurai.

Along with the Seven Samurai mural, the new main gate now has a man-sized statue of Toho's biggest star, Godzilla.

I visited the main gate at Toho Studios last December during my trip to Japan for promoting The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan.

Above, Armand with the Godzilla statue at Toho Studios.

The statue is taller than me (I'm 5'11") and its design is of the Heisei series Godzilla. I'd hazard a guess that it stands about seven feet tall.

Above, Godzilla's tail gouges a wall behind him. The main gate and the bottom portion of the "Seven Samurai" mural are in the background.

Toho Studios does not provide tours of their facilities, but fans can go to Setagaya to view the statue, the Seven Samurai mural and the studios on the outside.


Information on how to reach Toho Studios is provided in The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan.

Monster Japan Travel Guide Pre-Vacation Season Sale

Summertime is approaching and before you know it, it'll be here! That means VACATION time!

Starting now through May 31, The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan will be available from me at 20% off the $15.00 cover price. Saving you $3.00 per copy!

Right, Miki Hayashi with "The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan." Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Orders postmarked from now through May 31 are only $12.00 plus $2.00 shipping & handling per copy.

Go to the "About The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan" page for ordering information. The above sale price supercedes the listed price on the page from now to May 31. The pre-vacation sale only applies to direct orders from me and not through ComiXpress.

Now's the time to take advantage of this offer!

Tohoku Earthquake: Minimal Effect For Kaiju Tourists

by Armand Vaquer


The full effects of the Tohoku Earthquake of March 11, 2011 on the Japanese tourism industry won't be known for some time. Fortunately, its effects on monster fan tourists will be minimal.

Left, "The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan" will show tourists the way to monster locations.

The damage from the quake and the resulting tsunami was mainly confined to the northeastern section of Honshu (Japan's main island) where very few monster movie locations could be found. In the Tohuku region, the biggest city is Sendai, which was the location for Gamera 2 and briefly, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II. Both of those movies primarily featured Sendai Station, which still stands.

The main locale for daikaiju eiga movies was primarily Tokyo, which suffered minimal damage. The subways and trains are still running and life is rebounding back to normalcy, with the exception of possible rolling blackouts due to the hits two nuclear power plants took.

According to Breaking Travel News.com:

While painstaking rescue and recovery efforts continue in the severely struck Tohoku region, the capital city Tokyo has been recovering from a strong shock, and western Japan is unharmed.

Both Narita and Haneda airports have been reopened, although public transportation in and around Tokyo is not running at full capacity due to power shortages. Other popular destinations such as Kyoto, Osaka, Sapporo, Kanazawa and Hiroshima, didn’t receive any impact from the earthquake.

They also add:

Hokkaido, Kansai, Chugoku, Shikoku and Kyushu are unharmed, and tourism facilities and transportation service are operating as usual.

Some potential Japan travelers may be frightened by the hysterical fear-mongering of the U.S. media over the nuclear power plants. But those, too, are far north of Tokyo and won't present a problem for tourists. Just don't go into those affected areas and you'll be fine.

Persons wanting to visit Japan in the upcoming months can feel free to do so without fear. As stated above, Tokyo came out of this okay (as did neighboring Yokohama) and such locations as Mt. Fuji-Hakone, Atami, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Sasebo, Mt. Aso and Nagasaki were untouched by the quake and tsunami.

Whether you're planning a trip to Japan on your own or with a tour, the Tohoku Earthquake won't mar your enjoyment of the country. Go in confidence!

Tokyo Int'l Anime Fair Cancelled

Source: Tom Baker, The Daily Yomiuri

The Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami has caused the cancellation of the Tokyo International Anime Fair.

The organizers issued a statement, which reads in part:

Due to the extreme circumstances, Tokyo International Anime Fair Executive Committee has decided to cancel the Fair this year. We’ve reached this conclusion considering the safety of all participants and visitors because power supplies are uncertain and traffic accessibility is unclear.

The fair was scheduled for March 26-27, 2011.

For more information, go here.

'They've lost control': French claim Japan is hiding full scale of nuclear disaster as emergency teams desperately fire water cannon at reactors from

By David Derbyshire


-Workers battling nuclear meltdown evacuated today after radiation levels increased
-Police water cannon commandeered to spray complex
-Attempts to dump water on reactors by helicopter fail
-6.0 magnitude aftershock off Chiba, east of Tokyo, causes further tremors today
-In Europe, 500 bone marrow transplant centres put on standby to treat victims from Japan
-The plant rocked by second fire in No 4 unit and two more explosions, bringing the total to four
-France’s Nuclear Safety Authority ranks crisis second only in gravity to Chernobyl in 1986

Damaged: This dramatic pictures shows for the first time the damage wreaked upon the Fukushima plant which was today shrouded in smoke and steam bellowing from the damaged third and fourth reactors


Japan's stricken nuclear power plant was abandoned today, as soaring radiation forced emergency workers to flee for their lives and authorities were reduced to spraying reactors with water cannon from afar.

All 50 emergency workers who had been fighting to keep overheating reactors cool were pulled back 500 yards from the complex as radiation levels became too dangerous.

And in an extraordinary attack, the French government accused the Japanese of losing control of the situation and hiding the full scale of the disaster.

Military helicopters made a failed attempt to drop water on the reactors from above, amid desperate efforts to cool nuclear fuel. Police water cannons usually used in riot control were even requested to spray the site from long range.

The emergency teams had been pumping sea water into reactors using fire engines, but those efforts are thought to have stopped as the workers were pulled out.

Fears of 'an apocalypse' were raised by European officials as radiation levels soared . In another attack, French Industry Minister Eric Besson said:'Let's not beat about the bush. They have visibly lost the essential of control (of the situation). That is our analysis, in any case, it's not what they are saying.'

In a sign of mounting panic, Cabinet Secretary Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano has already warned that the long-range cooling efforts may not work.

He said: 'It's not so simple that everything will be resolved by pouring in water. We are trying to avoid creating other problems.' The emergency workers are reportedly preparing to return to the complex.

Destroyed: Damage after an earthquake and tsunami at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, is seen in this satellite image taken 9:35 am local time (0035 GMT)

Crisis: A cloud of white smoke can be seen rising from the nuclear power plant today as workers battling to control the chaos were evacuated after soaring radiation levels

Desperate measures: A Japanese military helicopter scoops water from the Pacific, which it later attempted to drop on overheating reactors


More than 140,000 residents within 19 miles of the plant were ordered to stay indoors - in addition to the 180,000 already evacuated from the immediate area. Terrified families clogged roads as they tried to flee.

And The French government urged its nationals living in Tokyo to leave the country or head to southern Japan due to the risk of radiation from an earthquake-crippled nuclear power plant to the north of the capital.

The French embassy in Tokyo said in a statement that its advisory applied with immediate effect to those French nationals who were not obliged to remain in the city. It added that it had asked Air France to mobilise planes currently in Asia to evacuate French citizens, and two were already on their way.

On Tuesday, a fire broke out in the same reactor's fuel storage pond - an area where used nuclear fuel is kept cool - causing radioactivity to be released into the atmosphere. TEPCO said the new blaze erupted because the initial fire had not been fully extinguished.

The turn of events caused European energy commissioner Guenther Oettinger to warn that Tokyo had almost lost control of events. ‘There is talk of an apocalypse and I think the word is particularly well chosen,’ he told the European Parliament.

But just before 4am this morning the Japanese government said that the fire which had raged for around seven hours had been brought under control.

The Japanese government later ordered emergency workers to withdraw from its stricken nuclear power complex today amid a surge in radiation.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the workers, who have been dousing the reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant with seawater in a frantic effort to stabilise their temperatures, had no choice but to pull back from the most dangerous areas.

Screening: A woman is checked with a Geiger counter at a public welfare centre in Hitachi City, Ibaraki

Extreme measures: There are temporaryradiation cleaning shelter, set up by across the affected area including Nihonmatsu city in Fukushima

Potentially exposed: Women, one holding her dog, are scanned for radiation at a temporary evacuation centre for residents living near the Fukushima plant


'The workers cannot carry out even minimal work at the plant now,' Mr Edano said, as smoke billowed above the crippled complex. 'Because of the radiation risk we are on stand-by.'

Mr Edano warned that helicopters drafted in to tackle the nuclear spills may not work. He said: 'It's not so simple that everything will be resolved by pouring in water. We are trying to avoid creating other problems,' he said.

'We are actually supplying water from the ground, but supplying water from above involves pumping lots of water and that involves risk. We also have to consider the safety of the helicopters above,' he said.


Testing: Workers in protective white suits screen worried evacuees at a radiation contamination centre yesterday


Life and death: A woman reacts to news that a relative has died, left, and a baby is checked for signs of radiation, right


The alarm spread worldwide. In Europe, some 500 bone marrow transplant centres were put on standby to treat any victims from Japan. And in India, officials demanded that imported Japanese goods be screened for radiation contamination.

The plant was yesterday rocked by a fire and two more explosions - bringing the total to four. One damaged the concrete and steel walls protecting reactor 2 – as concerns grew that the casing could split and potentially send out a cloud of dangerous radiation.

Aftershocks continue to hit the country, and a 6.0 magnitude tremor struck in the Pacific just off Chiba prefecture, east of Tokyo, today, raised concerns that further damage would be caused to the already-weakened container walls of four reactors at the Fukushima plant.

Hajimi Motujuku, a spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), said the outer housing of the containment vessel at the No 4 unit at the complex caught fire.

Bustle: Passengers wait to leave at the Tokyo International Airport, some on any plane they can

Chaos: Smoke and steam billows from the damaged third and fourth reactors at the Fukushima plant, while right, hundreds of drivers desperate to flee the region pile on to the roads

At risk: Evacuees from the 18-mile radius around the plant are screened for radiation exposure at a testing centre yesterday


Efforts to cool overheating reactors were temporarily suspended after the levels were deemed dangerous to human health.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the workers, who were dousing the reactors with seawater in a frantic effort to stabilize their temperatures, had no choice except to withdraw.

'The workers cannot carry out even minimal work at the plant now,' Edano said. 'Because of the radiation risk we are on standby.' Radiation levels had gone down later in the day but it was not immediately clear if the workers had been allowed back in.

Meanwhile, France’s Nuclear Safety Authority said the disaster now equated to a six on the seven-point international scale for nuclear accidents, ranking the crisis second only in gravity to Chernobyl in 1986.


The authority’s chief Andre-Claude Lacoste said: ‘It is very clear that we are at a level six. We are clearly in a catastrophe.’

In desperation, Tokyo Electric Power, which is responsible for the Fukushima plant, asked U.S. helicopters to drop water on to the building in an attempt to cool a reactor, as radiation levels are too high for people to approach it.

Levels at the site peaked at a dangerous 400 millisieverts yesterday – four times the level that can trigger cancer. However, they had fallen again by the end of the day. Japan ordered a 30-mile no fly zone over the exclusion zone to stop the spread of radiation.


Source:dailymail

Exodus from a nuclear nightmare: Thousands flee as they question whether Japan's government is telling them truth about reactors

By RICHARD SHEARS

Exodus: Hundreds of vehicles snake out of the shadow of the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant


Hundreds of vehicles sped out of the shadow of the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant yesterday.

Those inside the cars and trucks were fleeing for their lives, terrified about what might happen next and reluctant to believe anything their government was telling them.

‘We knew it was close by, but they told us over and over again that it was safe, safe, safe,’ said 70-year-old evacuee Fumiko Watanabe.

‘People are worried that we aren’t being told how dangerous this stuff is and what really happened.’

Meanwhile scores of terrified residents began to flee Tokyo as the power plant threatened to send a cloud of radioactive dust across Japan.

Even in Yamagata city itself, some 60 miles from the plant, residents were fearful of contamination.


Bustle: Passengers wait to leave at the Tokyo International Airport, some on any plane they can


As smoke billowed from the nuclear facility, 56-year-old shopkeeper Takeo Obata said: ‘When the winds blow from the south-east you can smell the sea air.

‘So if we can smell the sea, don’t you think we will be able to smell that poisonous air? What are these people doing to us?’

Japan’s prime minister Naoto Kan was also furious. He was not told immediately about the latest explosion yesterday in one of the reactors, and is reported to have asked the plant’s operators, Tokyo Electric,


Screening: Evacuees are screened for radiation exposure at a testing center as fallout fears spread


Aftershocks rocked the north-east region again yesterday, raising concerns that further damage would be caused to the already-weakened container walls of four reactors.

Two 20ft holes have been blasted in the wall of reactor number four’s outer building after the last explosion.

‘I can’t believe them now. Not at all. We can see the damage to our houses, but radiation? We have no idea what is happening. I am so scared.’

Others had only one objective – to escape the area around the plant. ‘I don’t care where I end up,’ said one driver as he joined a massive queue for petrol on the road to Tokyo. ‘I just want to get as far away from this place as I can.’


Life and death: A baby is checked for signs of radiation, left, as others get checked in Koriyama City, near Fukushima, right, right


As residents were evacuated from the area around the Fukushima plant, they were screened for radiation exposure.

Experts in white and yellow protective suits passed geiger counters over thousands – even young babies – who had fled from their homes to camp in huge evacuation centres.

Some declared that they could no longer believe what their government was telling them. ‘We want the truth,’ said Yoshiaki Kawata, a 64-year-old farmer who lives in a hillside village in neighbouring Yamagata prefecture.


Heartbreak: Women wail together after hearing the death of family members at an evacuation center in Kesennuma


Tragic: A woman reacts to news that a loved one has died, left, and a picture of family members sits atop the rubble of a destroyed home, right


Officials of Tokyo Electric sat side by side in the capital and struggled to answer penetrating questions about the level of danger before government spokesman Yukio Edano admitted that dangerous levels of radioactive substances had been spilled into the atmosphere.

Although the government said the real danger zone was within 19 miles of the plant, the radiation announcement caused panic among those within a radius of 100 miles. This was followed by the warning that anyone inside the radius had to stay indoors.

Should they venture outside, they were ordered to shower and throw away their clothes when they returned.

That order meant some 140,000 were trapped indoors in and around Fukushima. But many were already asking how long they will have to stay there.


Sea change: Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant before the tsunami hit, left, and how it is now, right


‘I left my parents behind,’ said a man who was fleeing in his car with his wife. ‘They didn’t want to leave their home and now they can’t go whether they want to or not.

‘The government needs to tell us how long this is going to last.’

Authorities told residents not to use their own vehicles, said Koji Watanabe, a 60-year-old taxi driver.

But with military vehicles focused on children, the elderly and the disabled, he got fed up waiting and decided to leave in his car.

He and his wife, who has lung cancer, did not have enough fuel to travel far.
Many petrol stations are closed, and those that are open have long queues.





EXCLUSIVE!!!! Anxious Foreigners Flee Japan Nuclear Crisis 2011-03-15



source: dailymail

Japan's apocalypse now: Rescuers pick their way through a wasteland of bodies, wreckage and people washing in rivers

By Daily Mail Reporter


-70-year-old woman found alive in house that had been washed away by the tsunami
-Japan injects £60.8bn into money markets after Nikkei plunges by more than 10 per cent
-Bread, tinned goods and batteries growing scarce as Japanese panic buy amid nuclear crisis
-Fears for hundreds of Britons believed missing. FO expresses 'serious concern' for at least 50


Wiped out: Rescue workers are dwarfed by the scale of the rubble as they pick their way through the shattered city of Otsuchi


With millions of people without electricity, thousands missing and warnings of an imminent second earthquake, the task for Japanese authorities is too daunting to imagine.

Some 3,000 people have now been confirmed dead since last week’s earthquake and subsequent tsunami but officials believe the death toll could rise into the tens of thousands, with a further 2,000 bodies washing up on the shores of north-east Japan yesterday.

Bodies wrapped in blue tarpaulins were laid on military stretchers and lined up for collection while panic-buying has begun in Japan amid fears of a second quake and growing concern about nuclear leaks.

And tonight there were fresh fears over the possibility of a full-scale nuclear disaster as the operator of stricken Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant said a fire has broken out again at its No. 4 reactor unit.

United in death: The bodies of victims at a village destroyed by the tsunami in Rikuzentakata (left) and the wreckage of Toyota Yaris at the port of Sendai

Firefighting: Ships try to extinguish a blaze at oil refinery tanks in Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture, which has been burning since Friday's earthquake and tsunami

Rescue: Japanese relief workers carry a man who survived being buried alive for five days in Ishimaki (left) and a truck dangles from a collapsed bridge in Ishinomaki, northern Japan

Precarious: A house perches on top of a bridge in Ishinomaki after being swept away by the tsunami


Tokyo Electric Power Co. spokesman Hajimi Motujuku says the blaze erupted early Wednesday in the outer housing of the reactor's containment vessel.

The bad news came as survivors continue to struggle to find food and water as supplies run low. There have been major power outages since the double disaster, many planned to preserve resources.

As the stock market plunges and the government warns it is receiving just a fraction of the emergency aid it needs, it is unclear how Japan can even begin to tackle the destruction.

The level of desolation is on an epic-scale with many towns completely destroyed. A shattered infrastructure makes it almost impossible to move heavy lifting equipment and rescue crews have struggled to reach the worst hit areas.

The death toll from last week's earthquake and tsunami jumped today as police confirmed the number killed had topped 3,300, although that grim news was overshadowed by a deepening nuclear crisis. Officials have said previously that at least 10,000 people may have died in Miyagi province alone.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed that radiation had been released into the atmosphere after yet another explosion at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, inside Number 2 reactor.

Eerie: Cars drive along one of the few passable roads in the devastated Minamisanriku where 10,000 people are feared dead

People carry the body of a victim through debris in Kesennuma, Miyagi, northern Japan

Squatting amid the ruins: A woman cooks for her family in front of their devastated house in Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture (left) while an older survivor swaddles herself in blankets and gloves at makeshift shelter at Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture


Explosions had already occurred in the Number 1 and Number 3 reactors. Number 4 reactor is also on fire and there are fears for those who have not yet made it outside the 12-mile exclusion zone.

Rescuers have pulled a 70-year-old woman from her the wreckage of her home , four days after it was demolished in the Japanese quake.

The rescue of the elderly Sai Abe and a younger man pulled from rubble elsewhere in the region were rare good news following Friday's disaster.

Mrs Abe's son said he had tried to save his mother but could not get her to flee her home in the port town of Otsuchi. His relief at her rescue, he said, was tempered by the fact that his father is still missing.

'I couldn't lift her up, and she couldn't escape because her legs are bad,' Hiromi Abe said. 'My feelings are complicated, because I haven't found my father.'

Ship out of water: A boat dumped in the street in Hishonomaki, Miyagi, after being swept inshore by the tsunami

Heart of the wasteland: Japanese survivors of Friday's earthquake and tsunami walk under umbrellas through the leveled city of Minamisanriku

Swept away: A house drifts in the middle of the Pacific Ocean after being hit by the tsunami (left) while people are forced to wash their clothes by a river at Otsuchi, northeastern Japan

Vanished: An astounding aerial view of the tsunami-devastated town of Rikuzentakata shows the full scale of the damage. Very little remains

Match stick city: Heavy machines crawl through the rubble in Rikuzentakata (left) while a rescue crew surveys the damage in Ofunato, northeastern Japan

Mrs Abe was suffering from hypothermia and sent to a hospital, but appeared to have no life-threatening injuries.

Another survivor, described as being in his 20s, was pulled from a building further down the coast in the city of Ishimaki after rescue workers heard him calling for help.

Conditions for those still alive in the rubble worsened as a cold front arrived today, further pushing down temperatures. Snow is forecast over the next few days
Millions of people spent a fourth night with little food, water or heating in near-freezing temperatures as they dealt with the loss of homes and loved ones. Asia's richest country has not seen such hardship since the Second World War.

Hajime Sato, a government official in Iwate prefecture, one of the hardest-hit, said deliveries of supplies were only 10 per cent of what is needed. Body bags and coffins were running so short that the government may turn to foreign funeral homes for help, he said.

Indonesian geologist Hery Harjono, who dealt with the 2004 Asian tsunami, said it would be ‘a miracle really if it turns out to be less than 10,000’ dead.

The 2004 tsunami killed 230,000 people - but only 184,000 bodies were found.

The impact of the earthquake and tsunami dragged down stock markets. The benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average plunged for a second day today, nosediving more than 10 per cent to close at 8,605.15 while the broader Topix lost more than 8 per cent.

To reduce the damage, Japan's central bank made two cash injections totalling 8 trillion yen (£60.8 billion) into the money markets today.

Initial estimates put repair costs in the tens of billions of dollars, costs that are likely to add to a massive public debt which , at 200 per cent of gross domestic product, is the biggest among industrialised nations.

The pulverised coast has been hit by hundreds of aftershocks since Friday, the latest a 6.2 magnitude quake which was followed by a fresh tsunami scare yesterday.

As sirens wailed, soldiers abandoned their search operations and told people on the devastated shoreline to run to higher ground.

The warning turned out to be a false alarm.

‘It’s a scene from hell, absolutely nightmarish,’ said Patrick Fuller, of the International Red Cross Federation.

‘The situation here is just beyond belief. Almost everything has been flattened.’

Pictures released by NASA shows the Japanese city of Ishinomaki (left) after the tsunami and in 2008 (right). Water is dark blue, plant-covered land is red, exposed earth is tan, and the city is silver.

Japan Red Cross president Tadateru Konoe added: ‘After my long career in the Red Cross where I have seen many disasters and catastrophes, this is the worst I have ever seen.’

The Japanese government and aid agencies are struggling to ferry food, water and medicines to survivors after panic-buying stripped shelves bare in the few shops left standing.

Far outside the disaster zone, stores are running out of necessities, raising government fears that hoarding may impede the delivery of emergency food aid to those who really need it.

‘The situation is hysterical,’ said Tomonao Matsuo, spokesman for instant noodle maker Nissin Foods, which donated a million items including its Cup Noodles for disaster relief. ‘People feel safer just by buying Cup Noodles.’

The company is trying to boost production, despite earthquake damage which closed down its facilities in Ibaraki prefecture until today.

The frenzied buying is compounding supply problems from damaged and congested roads, stalled factories, reduced train service and other disruptions caused by Friday's magnitude 9.0 earthquake off Japan's north-east coast and the major tsunami it generated.

Officials have been overwhelmed by the scale of the crisis, with millions of people spending a fourth night without electricity, water, food or heat in near-freezing temperatures.

A ship is seen perched on top of a house in the tsunami devastated remains of Otsuchi, Iwate prefecture

Details of the scale of the disaster (left) while destroyed houses are seen in the river at a devastated area hit by earthquake and tsunami in Kesennuma (right)

Ghost town: A once thriving industrial town off the coast in notheast Japan that has now been decimated by the tsunami wave that washed over the region


Officials estimate that 430,000 people are living in emergency shelters or with relatives.

The government has sent 120,000 blankets, 120,000 bottles of water and 29,000 gallons of petrol plus food to the affected areas.

The stock market plunged over the likelihood of huge losses by Japanese industries including big names such as Toyota and Honda following the 9.0 magnitude quake on Friday.

Almost 2million households are without power in the freezing north and about 1.4million have no running water while drivers are waiting in queues for five hours for rationed petrol.

Grim: The Japanese army search for bodies in Higashimatsushima City, in Miyagi, the state where up to 10,000 people may have died

Clean up: Police walk in file down a hillside today into a coastal town in northeast Japan that has been flattened by the tsunami wave


Experts are now warning a second huge quake - almost as powerful as the first - could hit the country, triggering another tsunami.

The director of the Australian Seismological Centre, Dr Kevin McCue, told the Sydney Morning Herald that there had been more than 100 smaller quakes since Friday, and a larger aftershock was likely.

'Normally they happen within days.

'The rule of thumb is that you would expect the main aftershock to be one magnitude smaller than the main shock, so you would be expecting a 7.9.

'That's a monster again in its own right that is capable of producing a tsunami and more damage.'

In a rare piece of good news, a 70-year-old woman has been found alive four days after the devastating earthquake and tsunami in north-eastern Japan.

Osaka fire department spokesman Yuko Kotani said the woman was found inside her house which had been washed away by the tsunami in Iwate prefecture.

Her rescuers, from Osaka in western Japan, had been sent to the area for disaster relief.

Ms Kotani said the woman was conscious but suffering from hypothermia and was being treated in hospital. She would not give the woman's name.



Source:dailymail