![Cherry blossom petals fall on a Japan Self-Defense Force member standing in the compound of the Defense Ministry where PAC-3 Patriot missile units are deployed for North Korea’s rocket launch, expected to take place sometime between April 12-16, in Tokyo, Wednesday, April 11, 2012. North Korean space officials said Tuesday that all assembly and preparations for this week’s planned satellite launch have been completed, and denied it is a cover for a missile test. [Shizuo Kambayashi / AP via msnbc]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2bzkxP6v71qakqyfo1_1280.jpg)
Kesennuma, Japan: The sun rises over an area devastated by the March 2011 tsunami in Miyagi prefecture. (Reuters via Guardian)
Sunflowers planted by local elemenary school children grow in the tsunami hit field in in Natori, in Miyagi prefecture, July 15. Japan has campaign to grow sunflowers to help decontaminate radioactive soil, in response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster that followed March’s massive quake and tsunami. (Yoshikazu Tsuno)
“This has the potential to set the nuclear industry back globally. We need to ensure the anti-nuclear chaps and chapesses do not gain ground on this. We need to occupy the territory and hold it. We really need to show the safety of nuclear.”
Internal emails seen by Guardian show how British government officials launched a PR campaign to ensure the accident at the Fukushima nuclear facility in Japan did not derail plans for new nuclear power stations in the UK. The emails seen by the Guardian show how the business and energy departments worked closely behind the scenes with the multinational companies EDF Energy, Areva and Westinghouse to try to ensure the accident did not derail their plans for a new generation of nuclear stations in the UK. (read more)
A long-exposure picture shows Japanese cranes sleeping in their winter roost on a river lit by a nearly full moon. (By Kimimasa Mayama)
Life Goes On: Natori, Japan: A cherry blossom tree flowers in an area devastated by the tsunami and earthquake. (Yasuyoshi Chiba)
Hay Fever: plumes of pollen from cedar trees being carried by a gust of wind in Hanamaki city, Iwate prefecture, Japan on April 12. The pollen from cedar trees is the major cause of hay fever in Japan, a malady that affects 29.8 per cent of the Japanese population each spring. (Everett Kennedy Brown )
Tepco to compensate Japan's nuclear plant victims
The Japanese government has ordered the operator of the nuclear plant damaged by last month’s quake and tsunami to pay compensation to affected families.
About 48,000 families who lived within 30km (18 miles) of the Fukushima Daiichi plant will be eligible.
The compensation is described as provisional, with payouts - expected to be 1 million yen ($12,000, £7,331) per family - beginning on 28 April.
JP Morgan has estimated Tepco may face claims of up to 2 trillion yen, nearly $24bn (£15bn) by the end of this year.
I don’t think anyone needs proof that the Japanese are really good at getting back on their feet, which is one thing I really admire about them but here’s some photos of the recovery inaction. This combination picture shows tsunami destruction and debris covering the road in Ofunato city, Iwate prefecture on March 14, three-days after the tsunami disaster (above) and after the road was cleaned of debris, on April 15 (below). (Toshifumi Kitamura)
This remarkable series of images taken last month depicts local reporter Toya Chiba being swept away while taking pictures at the mouth of the Owatari River during the Japanese tsunami. According to Reuters, Chiba managed to survive in the rush of water by grabbing a dangling rope and climbing onto a coal heap around 30 feet high, after being swept away for about 100 feet, Kyodo News reports. (via msnbc)
This picture was taken on March 11 as the tsunami hit Minamisanriku in northern Japan. Survivors cling to an antenna mast and handrails on the roof of the Government Disaster Readiness Centre, as the tsunami sweeps in. All but nine of the 30 people who were on the roof were swept away by the huge wave. (AP)
Ishinomaki, Japan: Tsunami survivors draw the word Ganbaro or ‘hang in there’ on a billboard lit up with car headlights. (Yasuyoshi Chiba)
Too Close to Fukushima: Inside the Exclusion Zone, a cat is left behind inside a house. (Time)
Shadows: A man stands in front of Kadonowaki Elementary School, damaged in the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. (CARLOS BARRIA / REUTERS)
Update: Tsunami warnings lifted in northeast Japan - NHK television - @REUTERSFLASH
