This special section is designed to provide readers with the Internet's most comprehensive, archival coverage of Japan's tragic earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima nuclear crisis.

Life and Death Read More

May 16, 2012
Fukushima farmer runs cattle sanctuary within no-entry zone
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May 15, 2012
Cattle farmer in no-entry zone battles muzzling of information
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May 12, 2012
Lifting of evacuation order allows son to pay respects to dead mother
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May 09, 2012
Overseas bloggers get the real story out from quake-hit region
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May 09, 2012
Tokyo students take poignant trip to disaster area
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May 08, 2012
Rare tornado drives Fukushima evacuees from homes again
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May 07, 2012
For anti-nuclear activists, the culmination of decades of protesting
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April 28, 2012
Children's book about Fukushima pets in no-entry zone gains acclaim
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April 27, 2012
Reporter writes personal tale in search for loved ones
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April 24, 2012
Owner of volleyball that crossed an ocean identified
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April 23, 2012
Woman in no-entry zone expresses concern about lifting ban
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April 23, 2012
Soccer ball found in Alaska to return to tsunami victim
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April 20, 2012
Photographers find love in the ruins of Rikuzentakata
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April 18, 2012
Lonely tsunami survivor makes a friend in Australia
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April 15, 2012
A-bomb survivors to write letters to Fukushima students
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April 14, 2012
PHOTO/ Cherry blossoms appear in Tohoku region
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April 13, 2012
Survey: Signs of depression in 21% of new mothers in Miyagi
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April 12, 2012
College filmmaker’s pilgrimage remembers March 11 survivors
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April 10, 2012
ATHLETES OVERCOMING: Kesennuma swimmer motivated by disaster
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April 05, 2012
Ex-nuclear engineer helping to decontaminate farmland
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Quake and Tsunami Read More

May 16, 2012
Miyagi schoolchildren turn cameras on disaster survivors
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May 01, 2012
Tsunami-fearing city looks to animals for warning signs
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April 26, 2012
NISA to raise seismic motion projections for Niigata nuke plant
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April 23, 2012
Asahi Shimbun photographer honored for post-tsunami image
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April 19, 2012
Projection: Major Tokyo earthquake would kill 9,700
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April 16, 2012
Researchers estimate 10,000 deaths in major Tokyo quake
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April 16, 2012
Long, slow seismic shocks pose a threat to high-rises
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April 12, 2012
Fraudulent deals add to plight of disaster victims
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April 09, 2012
JR companies review tsunami risk, take precautions
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April 01, 2012
New study projects massive tsunami along Pacific coastline
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Recovery Read More

May 13, 2012
Craft beer with tsunami-surviving yeast helps rebuild Iwate
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May 12, 2012
Fukushima schools hold outdoor meets
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May 11, 2012
Tsunami-hit city back in full bloom for Mother's Day
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April 30, 2012
'Doburoku' maker from Iitate brews again
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April 29, 2012
Fukushima Prefecture to restore destroyed coastal forests
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April 29, 2012
Children build xylophone from tsunami debris to overcome PTSD
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April 26, 2012
Visitors return to renowned cherry tree in Fukushima
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April 18, 2012
Can debris from the Great East Japan Earthquake be reused?
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April 17, 2012
Carp streamers fly, in memory of lost family members
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April 13, 2012
Saplings of 'miracle pine tree' now 5 centimeters tall
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April 08, 2012
Movie about Fukushima that nearly never got made has its Tokyo premiere
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April 03, 2012
Small rural rail company marks reopening of track wiped out by tsunami
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April 01, 2012
Mother's yearlong struggle to recover from tsunami injuries
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Fukushima nuclear crisisRead More

Diet panel to tackle question: Did TEPCO want to...
Masataka Shimizu, president of Tokyo Electric Power Co. at the time of the nuclear accident, left, and Naoto Kan, then prime minister (Asahi Shimbun file photos)
May 16, 2012
A Diet committee will try to determine who is telling the truth about a key phase in the Fukushima nuclear disaster: politicians or executives of Tokyo Electric Power Co.
COMMENTARY/ Fukushima probe must clarify whether...
May 16, 2012
Did Tokyo Electric Power Co. ask government officials to allow all company workers to evacuate the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant at a critical stage of last year’s...

AnalysisRead More

Cesium levels in animals around Chernobyl fail to...
Wild deer and many other animals inhabit the no-entry zone around the Chernobyl accident site in Gomel Province, Belarus. (Photo by Kengo Hiyoshi)
March 28, 2012
Wildlife in an animal sanctuary in Belarus, close to the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986, continues to show high levels of accumulated radioactive cesium,...

OpinionRead More

INTERVIEW: Shigeatsu Hatakeyama: Healthy forests...
Shigeatsu Hatakeyama says, “Fish have returned to the sea, which I considered dead. Now, a large school of sardines swims deep into the bay from time to time.” (Photo by Masaru Komiyaji)
April 03, 2012
A 68-year-old oyster farmer working in the sea off Kesennuma, a coastal city in Miyagi Prefecture devastated by the March 11 tsunami last year, has been chosen by the United...
FUKUSHIMA LESSONS: Government admits failures in Fukushima crisis
June 08, 2011
FUKUSHIMA LESSONS: Government admits failures in Fukushima crisis
Masataka Shimizu, president of Tokyo Electric Power Co. at the time of the nuclear accident, left, and Naoto Kan, then prime minister (Asahi Shimbun file photos)
Masami Yoshizawa, with the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in the background (Munesuke Yamamoto)
A girl commutes to a temporary school building on a bus. (Provided by Eiji Tsuchiya)
Khaled Toukan, chairman of the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (Shingo Kuzutani)
Tokyo Electric Power Co. Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata speaks at the Diet's Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission on May 14. (Shiro Nishihata)
The company's nameplate at TEPCO Headquarters (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Cattle farmer Masami Yoshizawa says, "I want to tell people on the outside via the Web and other means that there's a way to let radiation-tainted cattle live." He made the remark in Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, on April 30. (Masakazu Honda)
Oi Mayor Shinobu Tokioka (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
The Oi nuclear power plant in Oi, Fukui Prefecture, is seen from Obama city, foreground, on the opposite side of the bay. (Reo Takahashi)
Eugene Melnikov’s daughter, Anna, sits on a bed in a Tokyo hospital on May 10. (Provided by Eugene Melnikov)
A worker packs bottles of Fukuko Beer at the Sekinoichi Shuzo brewery in Ichinoseki, Iwate Prefecture, on April 24. (Daichu Saito)
Swimmer Ai Shibata emphasizes the appeal of Tokyo at an IOC-related meeting in Moscow on April 14. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Fumio Sudo (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
The Asahi Shimbun
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda speaks in Tokyo on May 11. (Pool)
Children throw balls into a basket at Mikawadai Elementary School in Fukushima Prefecture on May 12. (Jun Kaneko)
Kenji Nakajima and his wife pray for his late mother in Minami-Soma's Odaka district, Fukushima Prefecture, on May 11. (Jun Kaneko)
The “pine of hope” on Matsukawaura beach in Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, that withstood last year’s tsunami (Hiroshi Kawai)
Members of a citizens group hand over boxes containing about 320,000 signatures calling for a referendum on nuclear power plants to Tokyo officials on May 10. (Ryo Kato)
Yoetsu Miura and his wife prepare carnations in Natori, Miyagi Prefecture, to be shipped for Mother’s Day. (Kengo Hiyoshi)
Senior high school students on April 7, 2011, help remove sludge as volunteer workers in an area devastated by the tsunami spawned by the Great East Japan Earthquake. A number of senior high school textbooks to be used from next academic year will touch upon the activity of volunteer workers after the disaster. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Shigeo Kawahara gives his 100th lecture about nuclear power plants on March 30 in Sapporo. (Fumiko Yoshigaki)
The Asahi Shimbun
The Asahi Shimbun
The Asahi Shimbun
Kyushu Electric Power Co.'s Hatchobaru geothermal power station in Kokonoe, Oita Prefecture, is the largest geothermal power plant in Japan. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s head office in Tokyo (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Tunisian blogger Slim Amamou takes a photo at tsunami-stricken Higashi-Matsushima, Miyagi Prefecture, in March. (Shigeki Tosa)
Students from Tokyo tour Minami-Sanriku's coastal area on May 8 where rubble remains. (Kengo Hiyoshi)
Naomi Hirose (Provided by TEPCO)
Chubu Electric Power Co. reactivated its aging thermal power plant in Taketoyo, Aichi Prefecture, this fiscal year. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Freelance director Kyoko Miyake discusses her documentary "Beyond the Wave" at the Asian Side of the Doc forum in Tokyo on March 20. (The Asahi Shimbun)
Oji Paper Co.'s nonwoven zeolite fabric that can absorb radioactive cesium (Provided by Oji Paper Co.)
Junior high school students head for school on May 8 beside homes destroyed by a tornado two days earlier in the Hojo district of Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture. (Shiro Nishihata)
Members of the energy strategy council established by the Osaka prefectural and municipal governments discuss ways to save power on May 4. (The Asahi Shimbun)
After 3 months, rescued tsunami baby is happy and healthy
June 14, 2011
After 3 months, rescued tsunami baby is happy and healthy
Takeichi Saito and friends gather in Iwanai, Hokkaido, celebrate the halt of the Tomari nuclear plant with a countdown on May 5. (Yasuhiro Sugimoto)
A shop near JR Shinbashi Station in Tokyo sells produce harvested in Fukushima Prefecture with labels saying radioactive cesium is lower than 10 becquerels. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
A display shows the No. 3 reactor at the Tomari nuclear power plant was taken offline on May 5. (Pool)
People take part in an anti-nuclear energy demonstration in Tokyo's Minato Ward on May 5. (The Asahi Shimbun)
The No. 3 reactor at the Tomari nuclear power plant in Hokkaido is scheduled to go offline late on May 5. (Yasuhiro Sugimoto)
An explosion blew off the roof of the No. 3 reactor of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Protestors fill a road in front of the Prime Minister's Official Residence in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on the night of April 13, around the time the government concluded that it is appropriate to restart the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at the Oi nuclear power plant. (Mari Endo)
In this file photo taken on March 23, 2011, South Korean environmentalists stage a protest aboard a boat to express opposition to the construction of a new nuclear reactor in South Korea. (AP Photo)
Hokkaido Electric Power Co.'s Tomari nuclear power plant (The Asahi Shimbun)
Work continues in a disaster-stricken part of Sendai to raise the foundation of residential land. (Nobuyoshi Nakamura)
Rengo Co. developed this radiation-shielding sheet. (Provided by Rengo Co.)
Hokkaido Electric Power Co.'s Tomari nuclear power plant (The Asahi Shimbun)
A broken measurement facility at the Semipalatinsk test site (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Yukihiro Fukada looks at the Oi nuclear power plant on the opposite side of the Tomari district of Obama, Fukui Prefecture. (Reo Takahashi)
Fukushima Prefecture officials test radiation levels of taranome wild vegetables. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
A Ferris wheel stands in an amusement park in Prypyat, 3 kilometers from Chernobyl, Ukraine, on April 19. The Chernobyl nuclear plant accident occurred immediately before the planned opening of the amusement park. (Provided by Akira Nogami)
The Asahi Shimbun
The Asahi Shimbun
Naoyuki Yada, associate professor at the Kanagawa Institute of Technology, monitors cats for warning signs of a large earthquake in Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture. (Yuki Yamamoto)
The Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Chieko Sasaki shows off some of her "doburoku" in front of the traditional warehouse she is using as a brewery. (Hiroshi Kawai)
Heads of local governments seeking to end Japan's reliance on nuclear power at a news conference in Tokyo on April 28 (Hiroki Endo)