tokyo is japan's largest city. as the capital, it is the focus of most legal, pitical, and economic activities in the nation. most large corporations have their headquarters here. everything tends to concentrate in tokyo. 32 million people, or one out of every four japanese live within a 30-mile radius. while tokyo casts a large shadow, it covers only three percent of the total land mass of japan. land prices here have skyrocketed. a booming economy in the 1980s and early 1990s saw profits go into r, contributing to a bubble of inflated values. affordable housing was in short supply. more and more people began moving out to the suburbs to fulfill their dream of owning a home. by the mid-90s, japan hit an economic slump and the asian econic crisis of 1997 hit. the bubble burst and land prices began to decline, but not by much. housing prices in tokyo are falling, but they're still at very high levels compared to the u.s. the average cost of housing in the greater tokyo metropolitan area is about $320,000. so, um...

in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. delegates at the nuclear security summit will issue a joint communique tuesday afternoon to call on each country to commit to the safe management of nuclear substances and urge for cooperation to retrieve those that are unaccounted. leaders of 53 nations and representatives from international organizations are gathered in seoul for a second day. they will address the threat of nuclear terrorism such as preventing groups from getting their hands on nuclear materials. each country will report on how it controls such substances. the participants will talk about safety at nuclear power plants, in light of the accident last year at the fukushima daiichi plant in japan. they will call for reducing the production of highly enriched uranium which could be used to build nuclear weapons. >>> on the sidelines of the summit, obama and medvedev agreed on monday to ask north korea to cancel a planned rocket launch. obama told reporters that the north's plan is a violation of a u.n. security council

let's see how it's trading in tokyo. we go to the tokyo stock exchange for that. good morning. what can you tell us at the opening this thursday? >> good morning to you. the trend does continue as kathryn was mentioning and as you touched on there, the dow was trading lower. durable goods rose but at a slower pace than expected. that coupled with concerns about slowing growth in china, led to a decline in industrial and energy related stocks. we'll keep track of those. let's look at the opening levels this thursday morning. you can see what i'm talking about there. they are trading marginally lower. continuing the declines we saw. investors are focusing on japan in the fiscal year that ends this week. a little bit of bookkeeping or window dressing, moves by japanese companies come into stock plays as well. many companies repatrioting funds as well. it may affect currency markets. gold and oil prices declined there. as i mentioned, energy related stocks are trading lower n. japan, the added concern for energy companies to come up with sources other than iranian oil. it stipulate

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us.

the other is gunma, near tokyo. the company aims to start operations in july and then sell the energy to power companies. softbank says its station in kyoto will generate enough electricity to support 1,000 households annually. the gunm facility wl bble power 640 households. the schedule to build two other plants in toke oshima prefecture in western japan is not yet decided. it's expected those facilities together will be able to power over 1500 households. >>> and share prices are actually in the negative now here in tokyo this tuesday morning. the nikkei now in the negative by but less than 1 point at 9697. the broader topix also in the negativet 832. earlier markets were up. market sources say investors were buying shares after the overnight release of better than expected u.s. economic data. however, some institutional investors are selling to lock in profits. >>> and taking a look at currencies, the dollar is high against the yen in tokyo trading this tuesday. the dollar/yen at 81.46 to 48 euro/yen at 107.69 to

in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. >>> prime minister another another is expected to outline a new vision for defending nuclear power plants. sources close to the japanese government say he will lay out his plan at the upcoming nuclear security summit in seoul. noda is expected to stress the importance of preparing for any contingency based on lessons from the fukushima accident. sources close to the prime minister say he will underscore the necessity for an immediate response where the cause is a natural disaster or terrorism. they say the prime minister will emphasize the need for trained emergency response teams and proper equipment. noda's expected to promise to increase the number of security guards at nuclear facilities, and strengthen inspections. the sources say noda will introduce new steps to protect not only reactors but also outdoor facilities, such as the seawater pumps used to cool them. >>> japan and the united states have agreed to share information and coordinate closely in dea

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. tokyo. do join us again. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

let's she how tokyo stocks are reacting to all of this. the tokyo stock exchange has just opened. ramin mellegard is standing by to give us the latest levels. ramin, very good morning to you. how are markets being affected? >> very good morning to you, ai, and pretty negative start here following on from the case hi case-shiller home price index. let's have a look at the hoping levels for the nikkei and topix, down over 100 points, still above 10,000 though but down over 100 points for the nikkei and down 10 points for the topix. the nikkei closed yesterday, however, at its highest point since the march 11th, the day the disaster struck japan actually last year, and yesterday a very large percentage of stocks on the first section of the nikkei 225 traded at their highest levels this year. so still yesterday was very positive. we're seeing a little bit of a pullback today. domestic and foreign buyers also flocking in to buy japanese stocks. now, looking forward, of course, a lot of high dividends may be paid out so investors also trying to lock in some of those stocks before the fi

the emperor left the hospital in tokyo sunday afternoon. the medical supervisor said water is collecting in the emperor's chest, and he shows a lack of appetite, but he says the emperor's condition is improving. he said the emperor will undergo rehabilitation, including strolling the grounds of the imperial palace and using a treadmill. the imperial doctor said the emperor should not conduct official duties until at least the end of march, but he added that the emperor can attend a memorial event for the anniversary of the tohoku's disasters if his attendance was brief. doctors said it was necessary for him to decrease official duties. he pointed to his age of 78 and the effects of a drug he has been taking since a prostate operation in 2003. >>> it is cold and rainy this morning in tokyo, and the rain is really coming down on us. >> we have a lot of rain and it could intensify over the course of today. the reason, we have a developing low pressure system moving across the pacific side so it is going to be particularly cold along the pacifi

tokyo had a day off yesterday while the u.s. saw some of these developments in the issue of sanctions on iran. >> ai, very good morning to you. as you said there, the markets were closed yesterday, tuesday, but let's have a look at the opening levels here this wednesday morning for the nikkei and the topix. now, as you said, we're going to keep track of oil related stocks especially after the u.s. said it's going to exempt japan and ten other countries from sanctions against iran. crude oil prices have also fallen. we did check wti, west texas intermediate crude prices were down about 2.3%, its biggest decline in around three months. also overnight the energy and industrial sectors were the biggest weight or saw a lot of selling there for the u.s. indexes as well, and also we're going to keep track of china related stocks here today, especially in the heavy industry sector following on from the story with the slowing growth in china, so stocks like komatsu and also trading houses like itobu. not necessarily because of the china

the latest with residents in the metropolitan tokyo area. analysts say the epicenter was off chiba prefecture. they haven't issued a tsunami advisory or warning. the quake hit at 9:05 p.m. local time. it registered magnitude 6.1 at a depth of ten kilometers. people in chiba and neighboring prefek churz felt the tremor of 5 plus on the japanese scale of 7. no problems have so for been reported with the train lines or the airports in the tokyo area. tokyo electric power company says the earthquake did not damage fukushima daiichi and fukushima daini. earlier on wednesday, a smaller earthquake shook people in northeastern japan. it caused no damage. >>> china's government says it wants to slow down the economy and focus on stability. national peoples congress closed its annual session in beijing on wednesday. the country's parliament approved the budget and policy plans for the coming year. they included half point reduction in the annual growth target. that announcement has gotten worldwide attention because china has been a key driver of the

. >> on wall street and tokyo. the dow jones industrial average rose overnight closing in at a four-year high. the nikkei has risen for three straight sessions. let's go to ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. ramin, good morning. blue chips and tech stocks are higher. how are stocks this friday? >> reporter: we may see a bit of a break from that right now. looking at the nikkei and topix trading lower. you mentioned key levels for the dow and nasdaq. the dow holding above 13,000. the nasdaq above 3,000. the standard & poor's 500 closing above a key level not seen in four years. 1,400. the dow there. keeping above 13,000. that is strong. let's have a look at the opening levels in tokyo this friday morning. you can see what i'm talking about there. the nikkei and the topix just lower. the nikkei closing higher just two days in a row now. especially after the stress tests of american banks this week. a note of caution coming from asian indexes which we noted yesterday. caution about the path of growth in chin

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. tokyo. thanks for joining us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> on march 11th, a mega earthquake and unprecedented tsunami led to a triple nuclear meltdown. no one was prepared for such

. >>> tokyo share prices are rising. they're taking their cue from an overnight gain over in new york. the nikkei average up by 1%. 9672 currently. the topix up about the same amount, currently 831. sources say that u.s. job figures released wednesday were better than most analysts had expected. this raised expectations for a u.s. economic recovery. japan's record-high current account deficit for january, that's weakening the yen prompting investors to buy export-related issues. let's take a look at currencies. on the tokyo foreign exchange, the dollar is gaining ground against the yen. the dollar/yen at 81.25. your owe/yen, 106.76 to 81 yen. taking are selling their yen. here's a look at the latest long-term interest rates. this is the yield on the benchmark ten-year japanese government bond. >>> apple has launched a new ipad tablet computer. it has a sharper screen and faster data processing than prior versions. >> today, we're announcing the new ipad. and it is amazing. >> the company says the tablet's display has bee

tokyo gas shows areas where gas supply is halted. automaker honda shows roads on which traffic is available. google plans to enhance the website information by tying up also with other utilities. these include power generation firms and water supply bureaus. >>> floods wreaked havoc across many southeast asian countries last year. vietnam was no exception. with that in mind, a traditional japanese technique for managing rivers is ting attention. it dates back more than 500 years. baskets filled with stones are used to strengthen river banks and prevent flooding. after a few local modifications, the method was introduced in central vietnam and as nhk world reports, it has some unforeseen benefits. >> reporter: introducing gabians to vietnam was the brain wave of a visiting japanese developmental official. he was inspired by vietnam's ubiquitous bamboo baskets. bamboo is in ready supply in vietnam. that makes it ideal for making gabians. instead of steel one normally uses these days in japan. >> translator: bamboo is very good for prev

tokyo at 11 for our sat high. the americas, we had a much calmer day on thursday compared to what we had on wednesday. yet again another round of very severe activity especially many the mid western states. we have a potent winter weather system moving towards the great lakes dumping heavy snow which could pile up as much as 25 centimeters in some areas. winds are very strong up there. so blowing snow could reduce visibility. very dangerous for driving conditions. wherever you see this that's heavy snow. and wintry mix precipitation where you see this purple. out towards this area the red is the bull's-eye for the critical risk of tornado touch downs. not ruled out yet. tennessee, kentucky, alabama and mississippi you're going to have to be aware of all these tornado outbreaks yet again. damaging winds, large hail, heavy rain are threats for friday. lots happening here. los angeles at 21. lots of sunshine. winds are going to be strong. santa ana winds are kicking in for you there. oklahoma city windy conditions at

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do stay with us.

i'm michio kijima in tokyo. thank you for watching. bye-bye.

in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. >>> the united states, japan, and the european union say they will file complaints against china with the world trade organization. they claim that china is unfairly restricting exports of rare earth metals. the three parties announced the coordinated action on tuesday. the u.s. has been asking china to revise its export restrictions while investigations continue. but little has changed. china produces more than 90% of the world's rare earths. the materials are used in a variety of high-tech products. the u.s. is preparing to resume its own production. the three parties plan to negotiate with china in accordance with the wto procedures. if they cannot solve the issue through the talks, they will request dispute settlement consultation. u.s. president barack obama indicated he would take a firm stance toward china. assistants -- stance towards china. >> we prefer dialogue, and that is especially true when it comes to key trading partners like china, but when it

he studied political science and ran his own small business in tokyo. a cushy full-time job and a life in the city he gave up to move to the tsunami-devastated town. did you fundamentally change after the disaster? i think so, he says. i now act not only with my head but with my haureart. his heart was moving because of the tsunami and the suffering of a ravaged region. it's not just him. these people are part of anye mu integration and renewed volunteerism among the young returning to the rural communities. i'm japanese too says this 27-year-old. she volunteers on the weekend. she doesn't know anyone here but wants to help. a year after the disaster the town looks like the tsunami and the earthquake struck just yesterday. 75% of the population left here seeing no reason to rebuild, no economic future for this place. the people left behind say without young people coming in, this town will die. this is a third generation fisherman. what happens to ogatsu if you don't have this interface with young people coming in? even before the quake our town was los

tokyo at 11 for our sat high. the americas, we had a much calmer day on thursday compared to what we had on wednesday. yet again another round of very severe activity especially many the mid western states. we have a potent winter weather system moving towards the great lakes dumping heavy snow which could pile up as much as 25 centimeters in some areas. winds are very strong up there. so blowing snow could reduce visibility. very dangerous for driving conditions. wherever you see this that's heavy snow. and wintry mix precipitation where you see this purple. out towards this area the red is the bull's-eye for the critical risk of tornado touch downs. not ruled out yet. tennessee, kentucky, alabama and mississippi you're going to have to be aware of all these tornado outbreaks yet again. damaging winds, large hail, heavy rain are threats for friday. lots happening here. los angeles at 21. lots of sunshine. winds are going to be strong. santa ana winds are kicking in for you there. oklahoma city windy conditions at

i'm michio kijima in tokyo. members of japan's forces are trying to come up with a strategy to deal with an upcoming rocket launch by north korea. sdf chief of staff general shigeru iwasaki is considering deploying troops to combat falling debris. north korean officials announced last week they will launch a rocket carrying a satellite between april 12th and 16th. the rocket is expected to fly over japan's southern island chain of sakishima, southwest of okinawa's main island. they will are looking to intersect debris if fragments are on track to fall onto japanese territory. general iwasaki says north korea will fire the rocket from a site facing the yellow sea. and he notes the launch area is farther from japan than the one used in 2009. he says that makes it more difficult to respond. >> translator: if we have to shoot down or destroy a ballistic missile, we would do so with an aegis defense system vessel or with an antiaircraft artillery unit. we are including these options as we study how to respond. >> sel

i'm michio kijima in tokyo. thank you so much for watching. bye-bye.

rina nakano, nhk world, tokyo. >> all right. wednesday's athletics versus mariners game begins at 7:00 p.m. japan time. >>> people in washington have spent recent weeks enjoying their famous cherry trees. thousands of them line the potomac river. they were a gift from japan exactly 100 years ago. first lady michelle obama just added another one. the cherry trees are a landmark in the u.s. capital. every spring people descend on the river banks to appreciate this symbol of japanese culture. they presented 3,000 cherry trees to the u.s. capital as a token of friendship. obama took part in a commemorative event to mark the anniversary. it was held near the planting of the first planting held by first lady helen taft. >> so many years these trees have served as a symbol of the great friendship between the united states and japan, and as a reminder of our shared hopes, dreams and aspirations. >> the first lady said that on this historic anniversary the american people don't just admire the tree's beauty but also their resilience. ♪

we go to the ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. good morning, ramin. >> reporter: good morning, ai. we saw u.s. stocks ending mixed. the dow higher for a fourth day in a row. we saw the nasdaq trading a touch lower. investors waiting on the sidelines ahead of the fmoc meeting in the u.s. federal open market comttee meeting. we will keep track of that. let's have a look at the opening levels this tuesday morning and the nikkei and topix trading higher. we did see the nikkei trading lower yesterday on the back of the definite numbers out of china. that held the gains we saw across asia. the nikkei did trade above 10,000 yesterday and on friday. we still have not managed to close above that level. we are getting close, but let's see if we can do that today. oil and gas and conruction an machinery and stocks traded lower yesterday on the back of the trade deficit out of china. investors trying to gauge the impact of slower growth for the world's second biggest economy. we are keeping track of those today. eurozone debt issues not too f

in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. the bodies of 45 women and children were found in homes in syria monday. the city was a rebel strong hold, but government forces bombarded it nearly a month and regained control march 1st. human rights activists say government troops kept firing at civilians after seizing the city. they say the death toll is rising. rebels shot these images showing bodies of 45 women and children in a room. the opposition forces appealed to the u.n. security council to respond urgently. they say civilians continue to be killed in homs. syria's state-run television showed images of several bodies with hands tied behind their back. it blames terrorist gangs for the killings. the u.s. secretary of state and russia's foreign minister called for an immediate end to the violence in syria. hillary clinton and lavrov met monday in new york. the talks came after former u.n. chief and special envoy to syria failed to persuade president assad to halt the crackdown. they want a u.n. president to pressure assad. >

in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. united nations and arab league special envoy kofi annan made a ceasefire and other proposals during a recent visit to the country. the former u.n. secretary general made the proposals when he met the syrian president on march 10th and 11th in attempt to end the country's violent crackdown on anti-government protesters. u.n. sources say he called for two hour ceasefire daily to make humanitarian assistance possible and for syria to accept a u.n. team to monitor the ceasefire. he also reportedly proposed a ban on use of heavy firearms. syria has so far agreed to accept u.n. experts. >>> syria's u.n. ambassador stressed his country's cooperation. >> mr. kofi annan assured the members of the security council that the syrian government that they are engaged with him. >> whether they will allow the ideas to be implemented remains to be seen. western nations are pushing for a new resolution to support annan's efforts. they are expected to step up negotiations russia and china, which twice ve

a national ceremony is expected to begin in tokyo in about 20 minutes. the earthquake and tsunami led to a nuclear meltdown and the world's worst nuclear disaster since chernobyl a quarter of a century earlier. you may remember these pictures was fukushima daiichi plant, one of many explosions there in the days after the tsunami struck it and knocked out power. no one was quite sure how bad it would get. >> information is coming in every few minutes in bits and pieces. we need to tell you about those nuclear power plants we talked about. word tonight about a second damaged radiation venting into the atmosphere and fears of a radioactive meltdown akin to the three mile island. most experts say it's unlikely but they're watching it closely. the evacuation zone is expanded six miles outside the first damaged plant. >> a reflirminder there from la year. what's happening now to the tense of thousands of people who were forced from their homes? a year on surely they must be asking when can they go home? >> reporter: there's no answer about when they can go hom

i'm michio kijima in tokyo. north korean leaders say they are trying to be transparent about their plans of sending a satellite into space. they are vowing to invite foreign journalists and experts to watch next month's launch. but some diplomats aren't convinced maintaining this is all a cover for a missile test. nhk world's hiroshi takana in beijing starts off our coverage. >> reporter: foreign journalists and experts can expect a view like this. the state-run korean central news agency reports they'll watch the launch from the command center in pyongyang. they quote the space agency official as saying their guests will see with their own eyes the rocket and satellite on the launch pad. north korean officials do not usually grant foreigners such access. they say they are trying to be more transparent. they insist the launch is for peaceful, scientific purposes. the officials at the space agency say the satellite is equipped with cameras that will take pictures of weather patterns and the natural resources. the

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for joining us. >> "california's gold" is produced in association with kcet los angeles,

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. tokyo. thanks for joining us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> on march 11, an earthquake led to a nuclear meltdown. no one was prepared for the disaster. based on firsthand accounts, the fukushima nuclear crisis examines the initial response of government officials, tepco empl

tokyo will turn wet on friday. meanwhile, wet and -- i should say dry and windy in the central portions of northern china. the sandwich is a yellow sand is expected to cover eastern china including the beijing area on friday. and southwestern japan on saturday. that could cause low visibility. down towards the philippines, still unstable. the risk of flooding and landslides are very high here. temperaturewise getting up to 32 degrees in manila and scorching hot in bangkok with 37 degrees. warmer than average in shanghai with 19 degrees. and tokyo 16 degrees for the high on thursday. heading over to the americas, heavy precipitation have been pounding much of the central u.s. all the way up to eastern canada. parts of the southern plains in the lower mississippi valley have been experiencing the brunt of it. we've been hearing reports of large hail, damaging winds, and even tornadoes. because the system is moving very slowly, the same situation here will continue throughout wednesday. out towards the west, there is

a memorial service was held at tokyo's kasumigaseki station. families of the victims and other participants, including transport minister takeshi maeda, offered flowers. >> translator: i offer flowers every year in the hope that people's memory do not fade away. >> japan's supreme court has finalized death sentences for 13 members of the cult for the sarin attack and other crimes. >>> japan and canada are expected to announce a plan to negotiate a bilateral economic partnership agreement. the two sides will likely give the final go ahead to the talks when japanese prime minister yoshihiko noda meets canadian prime minister stephen harper in tokyo later this month. japan is looking for an abolition of tariffs on its cars. it also wants a stable supply of canadian coal and natural gas. canada would be able to expand exports of wheat and other farm products to japan. the proposed epa negotiations would be the first for japan with another member of the group of eight industrialized countries. >>> the u.s. soldier accused of a shooting rampage in af

. >> it's not just tokyo markets. even on wall street, the dow jones industrial ended higher for a sixth day in a row. as well as receding concerns about eurozone debt issues. let's see how stocks here are trading. for that we'll go at the tokyo stock exchange. stocks look poised to continue their upward trend. how is the nikkei starting off this morning? >> let's look at the nikkei and the topix this thursday morning. you can see the levels for yourself. and we can see there the nikkei actually up quite a bit. and currently 10,130, up 79 points. the growing optimism. and we've seen that in gains in both the dow and the nikkei. the dow closed above for two days in a row. we've seen the nikkei closing above 10,000 for the first time since july last year. let's see if it can close above 10,000 again. focus on upcoming corporate earnings for japan and the sentiments surveyed for large and small manufacturers. which is due out in april. which is the beginning of the new fiscal year. the main reason for that renewed focus

tokyo area, this is not only tokyo but quite a big area from chiba, shizuoka, those places, it went down to 79% and went up to -- in week time to 100%. so these infrastructure recovery was pretty quick. even quicker than a lot of people thought.was, as you can dama damage. as for human life and also jobs, 81,000 people lost their lives -- jobs, i'm sorry. 51,000 acres were inundated. 21,000 ships were lost. so there a lot of damage. we are trying to recover it by putting lot of budget now into this. and government is saying in four years time we will recover 95% of all those land that was inundated. but the serious issue here is still this nuclear issue. i will put this into perspective. in iaea, international atomic energy agency, they have a scale called international nuclear events scale which is from the lowest one to highest seven. seven is the most serious accident. one is the most minor. and three miles, 30 years ago is classified as number five level. this fukushima together with chernobyl is seven, the most serious. however, there is a great difference between two because in fuk

joining me now from tokyo gas. his company is responsible for providing chiba university with the co2. thank you for joining us. >> you're welcome. >> thank you. so we saw how co2 from the creation of hydrogen helps grow these tomatoes. anything else? >> okay, we consider that the capture of co2 from the hydrogen station could be utilized for a wide variety of vegetables and foods. and to capture co2, we use in the industrial field such as dry ice. >> mass marketing of this hydrogen fuel cell technology seems to be far out in the future. what will happen when these cars become mainstream. >> the popularization of this car started in 2015. in the future, this system, we have introduced today is not simply taken as environmentally friendly system but also taken as a system that has positive impact. >> so eco-friendly and good for the industry. thank you for joining us. >> pleasure. >> so currently there are 16 hydrogen pump stations in japan. but by 2015, industry officials hope that number will increase to about 100

prime minister are attending a memorial service here in tokyo. let's go live now to national theatre. >>> communities in northeast japan spent the last minute doing the same thing, taking time to remember. people there marked the moment in different ways, however. let's go back to minoritakow to find out what happened now. minori? >> reporter: yes, gene. a siren waled at exactly 2:46 p.m. on this hill where i'm standing, we saw many people praying, putting their hands together, looking toward the ocean. the tsunami left many people victims in this town. and today, the temperature is much warmer than it was last year. there is no snow like it was on march 11 last year, but one survivor said that the sun today gives her hope that the future will be brighter for everyone across the disaster-hit areas. people here are determined to make a better future now that one year has passed. gene? >> all right, thanks, minori. catherine kobayashi at an event. how did people there mark the moment? >> reporter: gene, people are packed into this stadium by the th

i happened to be in tokyo in 1995 during the kobe earthquake. and japan was really completely unprepared for that kind of emergency. you remember the time the governor of that prefecture wanted to keep the self-defense forces out of the prefecture because of his own pacifist tendencies. there were no regulations in place to allow the self-defense forces to control highways or otherwise take emergency actions. and that, along with the sarin gas attacks of the next year, i think, were a major impetus in japan to putting in place emergency legislation, a process that began by prime minister hashimoto and things continued under prime minister koizumi and has continued to this day. so japan was much better equipped, the emergency response much better. the self-defense forces did a tremendous job. we focused a lot on the 22,000 americans or more than 120,000 self-defense forces mobilized overnight to go up to the stricken area, and they did a tremendous job. not just the self-defense forces. people may criticize tepco, but the workers on the ground, h