Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IDN By Taro Ichikawa IDN-InDepth NewsFeature DALIAN (IDN) – The partner cities of Dalian in Northern China and Kitakyushu in Western Japan have distinguished themselves as dedicated proponents of pollution control and clean environment. Back in the 1960s and 1970s the two cities were severely polluted by heavy industry [...]
JAPAN: Workers Bear Brunt of Nuke Clean-up
June 26, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Suvendrini Kakuchi TOKYO, Jun 24, 2011 (IPS) – Twenty-eight-year-old Yushi Sato washes cars for a living, but they are no ordinary cars. Every day, Sato hoses down vehicles contaminated with radiation from the Fukushima Nuclear Power plant that was damaged by the earthquake and tsunami that hit [...]
JAPAN: Anti-Nuke Policy to Bring Severe Economic Fallout
June 21, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Suvendrini Kakuchi TOKYO, Jun 21, 2011 (IPS) – Three months after the devastating Mar. 11 earthquake that caused an accident at the Fukushima power plant, energy experts warn of economic fallout if nuclear energy is snuffed out too quickly, much to the dismay of an increasingly angry [...]
Recalling Hiroshima Encounters in Times of Fukushima Crisis
May 2, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IDN By Ramesh Jaura IDN-InDepth NewsReport BERLIN/HIROSHIMA (IDN) – Images of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, following an unprecedented nine magnitude earthquake and resultant tsunami, inevitably evoke memories of my two encounters with Hiroshima. A gentle monument in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park is festooned with thousands of paper cranes [...]
Japan, the Forgotten Protectionist Threat
April 18, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy By Ian Fletcher Everyone’s worried about China today on the trade front. And they should be. But let’s not forget that China is only the most brazen player of one-way free trade out there. We ran a $273 billion deficit with China in 2010, but we also ran an $80 [...]
JAPAN: Difficult Shift From Aid Donor to Recipient
April 13, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Suvendrini Kakuchi TOKYO, Apr 13, 2011 (IPS) – April has traditionally being the time for ‘hanami’ or cherry blossom festivals here when millions of Japanese hold parties under the pink flowering trees in parks and streets lit up gaily by lanterns. But, one month after the earthquake [...]
‘No Safe Levels’ of Radiation in Japan
April 5, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Dahr Jamail* TOKYO, Apr 4, 2011 (IPS/Al Jazeera) – In a nuclear crisis that is becoming increasingly serious, Japan’s Nuclear Safety Agency confirmed that radioactive iodine-131 in seawater samples taken near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex that was seriously damaged by the recent tsunami off [...]
JAPAN: Disaster Highlights Economic Vulnerability
April 1, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS Analysis by Suvendrini Kakuchi TOKYO, Mar 31, 2011 (IPS) – As authorities struggle to control dangerous radioactive material spilling from the quake ravaged Fukushima nuclear power reactors, a more difficult question has begun to unsettle Japan: is the country’s post-war prosperity as invincible as was believed till now? [...]
JAPAN: Working Poor Hardest Hit By Disaster
March 29, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Suvendrini Kakuchi TOKYO, Mar 29, 2011 (IPS) – When the massive Tohoku quake struck on Mar. 11, Yayoko Shinohara, owner of a small grocery store on the main shopping street of the now devastated Namie town, grabbed the day’s earnings and escaped to safety with her husband. [...]
Fukushima Disaster Impacts India
March 24, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IDN IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis MUMBAI (IDN) – Uncertainty looms large over India’s ambitious civilian nuclear programme as a consequence of the triple disasters that have struck Japan. For one, the civilian nuclear agreement, which New Delhi and Tokyo were negotiating, is certain to be indefinitely delayed. Also, operationalisation of [...]
