For English information relating to the Great East Japan Earthquake, please see the website of the Prime Minister of Japan and his Cabinet. The address is http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/incident/index.html. English translations of press conferences given by the Chief Cabinet Secretary are available, as well as information on the Road to Recovery and food safety following the accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant.

（総理官邸からの英語での情報発信について）

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has written to municipalities across Japan, requesting their cooperation in disposing of some of the estimated 22 million tons of debris generated by the earthquake and tsunami last year.   While the request relates to waste from Iwate and Miyagi prefectures, and not Fukushima Prefecture, most local governments have still been reluctant to accept the waste due to concern over radiation contamination. In response, the government recently offered to conduct radiation tests on the debris for disposal to ease residents’ contamination fears, as well as to cover all the disposal costs.

（野田総理大臣は約2200万トンの瓦礫の一部について処理の受け入れを全国の自治体に要請）

A Nuclear Safety Commission panel has endorsed a draft to revise nuclear disaster management guidelines to increase the area in which priority measures would be taken in the event of a serious nuclear accident. The new guidelines would  expand the safety zone  around nuclear power plants from the current radius of 8 – 10km to 30km.

（原子力安全委員会が新しいガイドライン案を承認）

For English information relating to the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11th, please see the website of the Prime Minister of Japan and his Cabinet. The address is;  http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/incident/index.html

English translations of press conferences given by the Chief Cabinet Secretary are available, as well as information on the Road to Recovery and food safety following the accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant.

（総理官邸からの英語での情報発信について）

Environment Minister Goshi Hosono has offered financial support to any local government willing to accept and dispose of disaster debris from Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures.

Municipalities outside the Tohoku area have been reluctant to accept debris from these prefectures due to fears that much of the waste may have been contaminated by the fallout from the Fukushima nuclear accident.

As well as covering all the disposal expenses, the government will conduct radiation tests on debris to ease residents’ contamination fears.

（岩手や宮城の瓦礫処理受け入れに環境庁が財政支援をしてきたが、現状として消極的な自治体も）

Meanwhile, a group of about 30 residents of Kanagawa Prefecture have begun a service to test food for radiation. The devices they use measure the levels of radioactive substances such as cesium and iodine in food, and were bought using donations. Testing is carried out at the group’s offices in Yokohama and Sagamihara. The cost is ¥3,000 – ¥5,000 per sample and results will be posted back in around 10 days. Reservations can be made online at;  http://www.ycrms.net

（神奈川県の30の市民グループによる、食品の放射線テストのサービスを開始－横浜市民測定所－）

For English information relating to the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11th, please see the website of the Prime Minister of Japan and his Cabinet. The address is;  http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/incident/index.html

English translations of press conferences given by the Chief Cabinet Secretary are available, as well as information on the Road to Recovery and food safety following the accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant.

（総理官邸からの英語での情報発信について）

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry will apply new, tougher limits on radioactive cesium in food, drinking water, milk, and baby foods starting in April. While the science ministry’s Radiation Council approved the revisions, it said the new regulatory limits for milk and baby food items are too strict.

（４月から食品、飲料水、ミルク、ベビーフードに含まれる放射能性セシウムのより厳しい基準を適用へ）

Meanwhile, it has been reported that the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry plans to study the water, bottom mud and organisms in Tokyo Bay from April. Enquiries from residents concerned about the safety of eating fish from the bay etc, are on the rise and the ministry is hoping to get a clearer picture of the situation.

（文部科学省は４月から東京湾の水質や底泥、生き物について調査へ）

Factory owners in disaster hit regions have been given a boost recently after receiving hundreds of donations of machinery from across the country. Various chambers of commerce and industry took part in a nationwide project to send idle equipment to the damaged areas.

（被災地の工場経営者は、全国からの機械の寄付といった大きな後押しを受けている）

For English information relating to the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11th, please see the website of the Prime Minister of Japan and his Cabinet. The address is;  http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/incident/index.html

English translations of press conferences given by the Chief Cabinet Secretary are available, as well as information on the Road to Recovery and food safety following the accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant.

（総理官邸からの英語での情報発信について）

The Japanese government hopes to decontaminate the evacuation and no-entry zones around the Daiichi plant, making them safe enough for residents to return to. It has designated 16 public facilities such as schools and assembly halls in Fukushima Prefecture for decontamination by next month. That’s in addition to the 4 municipal offices it cleaned up in December. Once decontaminated, the facilities will be used as bases for cleaning up radioactive substances.

（日本政府は福島第一原発周辺の避難勧告地域・立ち入り禁止区域の除染を希望）

A non-profit organization called SafeCast has been measuring radiation levels all over Japan and sharing their data online. Their aim is to provide reliable information and data so that people can make informed decisions based on fact rather than speculation. They started taking measurements in April last year and have now collected over two million measurements. Their data and other information relating to the nuclear accident can be found in English at; http://blog.safecast.org/

（NGO「SafeCast」が日本語と英語で日本全国の放射線量を測定し公表）

Environmental radioactivity levels are also continuing to be monitored daily by the government and are listed by prefecture at; http://www.mext.go.jp/english

（文部科学省が放射能レベルのモニター情報について情報発信）

For English information relating to the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11th, please see the website of the Prime Minister of Japan and his Cabinet. The address is;  http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/incident/index.html

English translations of press conferences given by the Chief Cabinet Secretary are available, as well as information on the Road to Recovery.

（総理官邸からの英語での情報発信について）

Data released by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry shows that women have been finding it harder to get jobs than men in the three prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima, which were hit hardest by the disaster.　Roughly 40 percent more females than males received jobless benefits in November compared with almost equal numbers for both sexes before the disaster. This could be attributed to many of the available jobs being in the traditionally male fields of construction or civil engineering, as the region rebuilds itself. The slow recovery of the area’s fishing industry, which employed many women before the disaster, is also causing problems for job seekers.

（厚生労働省の調査では岩手・宮城・福島で男性より女性の就職が困難な状況に）

Since the March disaster, seismic activity has been intensifying in the southern Kanto region, with quakes with a magnitude of 3 and above occurring at five times the usual frequency. The risk of the area including Tokyo being hit by a major earthquake in the next four years is 70% according to a study compiled by a team of researchers at the University of Tokyo’s Earthquake Research Institute.

（東大地震研究所の調査では東京が向こう４年間で巨大地震に巻き込まれる確率は70%と推定されている）

For English information on how to prepare for earthquakes and what to do if an earthquake strikes please see the The Tokyo Fire Department website at; http://www.tfd.metro.tokyo.jp/eng/earthquakes.html

（東京消防庁の地震への備えに関する英語版サイト）

For English information relating to the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11th, please see the website of the Prime Minister of Japan and his Cabinet. The address is http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/incident/index.html. English translations of press conferences given by the Chief Cabinet Secretary are available, as well as information on the Road to Recovery and food safety following the accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant.

（東日本大震災に関する首相官邸からの情報）

The Japanese government also publishes an English online magazine called ‘Highlighting JAPAN’, which introduces the current situation in Japan. Previous editions have included features and interviews related to the Great East Japan Earthquake.

For details of the current edition, please go to http://www.gov-online.go.jp/eng.

（内閣府によるオンラインマガジン’Highlighting JAPAN’）

After the Fukushima accident, the government is reviewing the country’s energy policy and plans to launch a new energy policy by the summer. The new policy is likely to feature a reduction in Japan’s reliance on nuclear power generation, though no decision has been made yet on alternative energy sources.

（福島第一原発の事故によって、日本政府は今夏までにエネルギー政策を見直す）

The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry will establish an online database of food and other goods this year to enable efficient aid distribution in the event of a disaster. After the March earthquake and tsunami, problems and delays were experienced in securing much-needed supplies and it is thought the database will help the government respond to shortages quickly.

（経済産業省は災害時に援助物資を円滑配布するためのデータベースを構築します。）