Ever since the Japan Earthquake-Tsunami of March 11, Tokyo Electric Power company (TEPCO) has remained rather quiet about how things are going at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

The Japanese are not known for their desire to lose “face”, so to make admissions of fault sometimes take longer than we’re used to here in the West, but at times, you have to wonder about the person who ends up giving the apology is the one to do so.  In this case, it is the general manage of the plant. Masao Yoshida,  who is shown int he below YouTube video apologizing to the people of Fukushima, and explaining where they are in their clean-up of the nuclear waste.  While I understand this was the man in charge at the time of the disaster, he was certainly not the man who designed the power station or made the decisions on how much it could withstand.  I’m also not sure there was much he could have done to stop a combination of an earthquake and tsunami that actually shifted the entire planet on its axis.  Yes, it’s good to finally get some insight as to what is happening there, but I don’t think we can put too much blame on this guy.

In general, things are not good.  While repairs and containment continue, the residents of the region are moving out in droves – and who can blame them – the economy is devastated and radiation is showing up in the food chain now.  No matter what they do at the plant at this point, damage has been done that will impact the entire country for years to come.  Having people show up on video to apologize is just the way of the Japanese, but it seems pretty useless.  I was in Tokyo in 2001 during the anniversary of the surrender to the United States, and despite nearly 60 years having passed at that point, I was shocked to see the prime minister issuing the annual apology for the war and the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Um … okay, apology accepted … I think we can move on now.

Still, with only a little over five months having passed since March 11, this video at least gives us some insights, but at the same time makes you realize just how much is still left to do.

Please remember you can help by checking out the Japan Earthquake-Tsunami Relief. It has been over a month since the tragic events of March 11th, but they still need our help.

While aftershocks are to expected in the wake of a major quake, to be having ones that register 6.0 on the scale five months later has to be a bit unnerving.

News came this evening that the Fukushima region was rocked by another major aftershock to the Japan Earthquake-Tsunami of March 11.  Luckily no tsunami warnings were issued this time, and Tokyo Electric Power company (TEPCO) said that no further damage was detected at the reactor.

One has to wonder, however, when, if ever, this country is going to catch a break.  It was announced earlier this week that the population fell again for this past year recorded through March 31.  Not even counting the deaths due to the disaster, the count for the year came in at 1,212,094, while births totaled 1,065,909.  The economy was already in shaky ground, and the continuing decline in the population is not going to help matters for the future.  At the current rate, it is estimated that the population of the country will drop from 126 million to 90 million by 2050.

While there have been plans to help motivate people to have more children including a moths stipend to be paid to families for each child under 16, it has failed to materialize to the full amount promised, and now with the disaster, the government has said there will be no increase to the allowance.

Now there is a new wrinkle: A fear of radiation.  Women across the nation have been saying they are now afraid to get pregnant due to the potential for lingering side-effects from the radiation.  While health officials have said there shouldn’t be issues, try telling that to an expectant mother.

Five months may have passed since the initial disaster, but with every aftershock the nation of Japan is reminded that this tragedy will remain with them for decades to come.

Please remember you can help by checking out the Japan Earthquake-Tsunami Relief. It has been over a month since the tragic events of March 11th, but they still need our help.

Tokyo Electric Power company (TEPCO) has  confirmed that a new water filtration system put in place at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant failed after only five hours of use.  It was originally estimated to have been workable for up to a month.

After the Japan Earthquake-Tsunami back on March 11th, TEPCO has had to pump water continuously onto the reactors in an effort to cool them.  The problem is that this has now contaminated all of that water and there is no where to put it all.  A new filtration system was brought in to handle the waste, and original estimates said that it would last a month before becoming to clogged with contaminates.  The system lasted only five hours before failing, suggesting that the situation is far worse than was first envisioned.

The situation has been made worse by the amount of standing water currently in the buildings, and if a solution is not found soon, several locations will begin overflowing out into the environment.  If the filtration system can’t be brought back online, the only alternative that may be left is to dump thousands of tons of the water into the ocean, something TEPCO has already had to do once before in the early days of the disaster.

With all of the other issues in the world going on, it’s easy to forget about this one, but it is still very much a reality, and still appears to be far from being solved.

Please remember you can help by checking out the Japan Earthquake-Tsunami Relief. It has been over a month since the tragic events of March 11th, but they still need our help.