NHK -- Jul 20
The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant says the metal scaffolding right below the damaged No.3 reactor appears to have gone missing after the 2011 disaster.
Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, started a full-scale robotic probe into the containment vessel on Wednesday.
In the 2011 accident, most of the nuclear fuel in the No.3 reactor is believed to have melted and fallen to the bottom of the containment vessel that covers the reactor. The nuclear fuel is thought to lie within 6-meter-deep water that was injected for cooling.
TEPCO and the Japanese government plan to remove the nuclear fuel debris as part of decommissioning of the reactor. They are trying to locate the debris.
They used a new underwater robot equipped with cameras for Wednesday's probe. It is 30 centimeters long and 13 centimeters wide.
東京電力は１９日、福島第１原発３号機の水中ロボット調査に関する記者会見を開いた。原子炉格納容器内の撮影に成功し、複数の構造物の損傷や脱落を確認したと明らかにした。３号機格納容器内の具体的な状況が分かるのは初めて。
Sep 19
A woman fleeing from a molester in Katsushika Ward was attacked a second time after she fled to a koban police box only to find it unmanned, police have revealed, reports NHK (Sept. 17). (tokyoreporter.com) Sep 19
The key inflation gauge went negative again last month, driven down by government discounts meant to boost consumer spending and help the pandemic-hit travel industry. (Japan Times) Sep 19
A member of the House of Representatives has tested positive for the novel coronavirus and was admitted to a hospital, the Lower House’s secretariat said Friday, the first confirmed infection of a Japanese lawmaker.
(Japan Times) Sep 19
An international research team including a Japanese scientist on Thursday won the Ig Nobel Acoustics prize after showing that an alligator’s pitch rises after it inhales helium-enriched air. (Japan Times) Sep 19
The former chairman of Japan Life Co, a now-bankrupt company, was arrested Friday along with 13 others on suspicion of running a "rental owner" investment scam involving clothing, jewelry and other goods it claimed had health benefits, police said.
(Japan Today) Sep 19
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has confirmed 220 new coronavirus cases on Friday.
(NHK) Sep 19
The Japanese government has decided to set up a system to exempt athletes competing at next year's Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games from entry restrictions currently placed on 159 countries and regions due to the novel coronavirus that forced the games' postponement, sources familiar with the matter said Friday.
(Kyodo) Sep 19
Japan's new prime minister will pursue economic structural reforms through a mixed bag of policies that target specific industries, rather than a grand strategy to reshape society and boost long-term growth.
(Japan Today) Sep 18
A Tokyo court ruled Thursday that the 39-year-old second daughter of executed AUM Shinrikyo cult founder Shoko Asahara can take possession of his cremated remains, sources familiar with the matter said, in the latest development in a long-running family row over his ashes.
(Kyodo) Sep 18
Tourism businesses in Japan are starting to sell travel packages to and from Tokyo under the government's "Go To Travel" campaign to stimulate domestic tourism.
(NHK)