Tagged: Japan

Two weeks ago marked the second anniversary of the nuclear disaster and subsequent evacuation of Fukushima, Japan defying the government-mandated evacuation orders and living by himself inside “The Zone” is 53 year-old Naoto Matsumara, a fifth generation rice farmer who returned to Fukushima not long after the disaster first unfolded. Vice Japan’s Ivan Kovac is director and editor of “Alone in the Zone”, a documentary that follows Naoto on his mission to care for the pets and livestock abandoned after the 2011 tsunami and subsequent nuclear meltdown.

The dream of “being discovered” is on parade at a casting call in Novosibirsk, one of several Siberian cities that supply the pre-adolescent, doe-eyed, “Russian look” models most desired by the Japanese fashion market. Ashley Arbaugh scours rural beauty pageants for girls, typically poor, mostly looking for a way out, and sends them off to Tokyo. That journey, marked by deceit and exploitation, is the subject of “Girl Model”, a documentary feature by David Redmon and Ashley Sabin. Together, David and Ashley have produced, directed and edited seven documentary feature films. Their latest, “Girl Model,” makes its broadcast premiere on PBS’s acclaimed POV series on Sunday.

Paul Schubert and his wife decided to buy a new car last summer — a really fuel-efficient one. After a lot of research, they settled on a Toyota Prius. But there was a problem: They couldn't find one.

The tsunami that devastated Japan in March had dried up supplies of the Prius, which is made in Japan, and a dealer told them they would have to wait — "about four months," Schubert says. "And we thought, well, it'd be, probably, end of November, early December before we were going to have a car."

The Schuberts still had a working car.

The earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11, 2011, lasted for many terrifying minutes. But the multiple nuclear meltdowns that followed created an emergency that lasted for weeks and a legacy that will last for decades.

Here's how the event unfolded. The tsunami knocked out power to the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. As a result, the cooling systems failed and three reactors melted down. Steam laced with radioactive material poured into the air. Water contaminated with radiation also flowed into the sea.