earthquake

The life of a remarkable man, who used his wealth to help people in many meaningful ways.

Today, March 11, is the 2nd year anniversary of the earthquake that devastated the north-eastern coast of Honshu, the main island of Japan. I would write many things about it, but I'd like to focus on some ways you can help the victims of the earthquake, besides the usual places such as the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders, that you may not have been aware of.

It's been quite a year.

This month in the Japan Times, I talk about setsuden (cutting down on electricity consumption) and suzumi (keeping cool).

This is a follow up to my previous post about above-safety limits levels of radioactive elements (namely, cesium) found on tea grown in Kanagawa prefecture. There seems to be some confusion over how tea is tested, due to some misleading news reports. (Note: I have updated this post several times to reflect new events.)

This month's Japan Times article by me is about organic and natural farmers and retailers in the Kanto region of Japan (that's the area that includes Tokyo), including the thorny subject of how they are dealing with radioactive substance contamination on their crops. Because of space constraints I had to leave a lot out of course (that's the nature of newspaper articles) so here are some supplemental things.

I've talked about the awesomeness of konbini, or Japanese convenience stores, before. Actually, almost everyone who has been to Japan raves about the awesomeness of konbini.

Regarding the radiation contamination detected on tea leaves grown in Kanagawa prefecture.

An update on what's going on in Japan, especially in the Tokyo-Kanto area, plus a closeup look at one particular type of company that keeps modern Japan going.

There is an ongoing crisis of confidence regarding the safety of vegetables from a farming area that mainly serves the Tokyo metropolitan area. I went to my favorite produce seller in Yokohama to see how they are dealing with it.