Cherry blossoms a poignant reminder of Japan's fragility

Cherry blossoms a poignant reminder of Japan's fragility 'Humans, like the flowers, are transient,' says one quake survivor' TOKYO — The cherry trees will soon blossom in Japan. For the Japanese, it will be a particularly poignant sight. Even in normal times, the flowers are a cause for rejoicing tinged with sadness, because they fall at the moment of their greatest beauty. They are the embodiment of a notion that is central to Japanese culture — "hakanasa," a hard-to-translate word that conveys the fragility, or evanescence, of life. For Japan, this sense of transience is also...

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A burial in the rain for Japan tsunami victims

A burial in the rain for Japan tsunami victimsKESENNUMA, Japan - Ten flimsy wooden coffins were laid on two sturdy rails at a hastily prepared cemetery of mostly mud as Keseunnuma began burying its dead from the tsunami that ripped apart the Japanese coastal city. Desperate municipalities such as Kesennuma have been digging mass graves, unthinkable in a nation where the deceased are almost always cremated and their ashes placed in stone family tombs near Buddhist temples. Local regulations often prohibit burial of bodies. The number of dead in Kesennuma was 551 as of Saturday, far too many for local crematoriums that can typically manage...

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Death toll tops 10,000 but nuke crisis hampers search

                   Death toll tops 10,000 but nuke crisis hampers search  The official death toll from the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami topped 10,000 on Friday, while around 240,000 people continue to seek shelter in some 1,900 evacuation centers. According to the National Police Agency, more than 27,000 people had been confirmed dead or missing as of noon Friday, comprising 10,035 deaths and 17,443 unaccounted for. The full extent of loss of life is still unclear, as search efforts in Fukushima Prefecture have been hampered by the crisis...

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Major record labels join for Japan relief album

The world's four leading record labels have lent hit tracks to an album released on Friday to raise funds for the Japanese Red Cross Society following this month's earthquake and tsunami. What started off as an initiative by Universal Music, the world's biggest record company, has turned into an industry-wide collaboration. The result is the 38-track "Songs for Japan." Universal said it was handling the servicing of the digital album, while Sony Music would produce a physical version provisionally set to hit stores on April 4. Featured on the album, available on the iTunes Store for $9.99, are artists including John Lennon ("Imagine"),...

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Engineers toil to pump out Japan plant

07:30 JST March 27: Japanese engineers struggled on Sunday to pump radioactive water from a crippled nuclear power station after radiation levels soared in seawater near the plant more than two weeks after it was battered by a huge earthquake and a tsunami. Tests on Friday showed iodine 131 levels in seawater 30 km (19 miles) from the coastal nuclear complex had spiked 1,250 times higher than normal but it was not considered a threat to marine life or food safety, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said. "Ocean currents will disperse radiation particles and so it will be very diluted by the time it gets consumed by fish and seaweed,"...

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