27/04 Big tank may be set up under Fukushima plant to store tainted water

In this March 11, 2011 photo released Monday, April 11, 2011 by Tokyo Electric Power Co.,(TEPCO), the access road at the compound of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant is flooded as tsunami hit the facility following a massive earthquake in Okuma town, Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan. (AP Photo/Tokyo Electric Power Co.,)

In this March 11, 2011 photo released Monday, April 11, 2011 by Tokyo Electric Power Co.,(TEPCO), tsunami approach to the access road at the compound of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant following a massive earthquake in Okuma town, Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan. (AP Photo/Tokyo Electric Power Co.,)

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Prime Minister Naoto Kan is considering setting up a big underground tank in the compound of the radiation-spewing Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to prevent contaminated water from spilling into the sea, a fishery official said Wednesday.

"There is bedrock 46 meters underground. The government has found that no tainted water will seep below (the bedrock) and is considering building a tank there," Ikuhiro Hattori, who heads the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives Associations, quoted Kan as saying.

Hattori talked to the press after he and other executives of the federation held talks with Kan, during which they lodged a protest against the government for allowing the nuclear plant's operator to release a large amount of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean in early April.

Hattori told Kan the release of radioactive water without any prior consultation is "hard-to-forgive" and asked him to make sure that fishermen receive enough compensation for losses they incurred in the wake of the crisis at the nuclear plant -- which was triggered by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Kan apologized to the executives and promised that the government will be responsible for upcoming damages with the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co.

The utility unveiled a plan to dump "water containing relatively low levels of radioactive materials" into the sea at the last minute on April 4.

In this undated file photo released by Tokyo Electric Power Co., the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant reactors stand in line intact in Okuma town in Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan. (AP Photo/Tokyo Electric Power Co.,)

The company known as TEPCO said it was necessary to make space to store more highly radioactive water that has been hindering efforts to bring the plant's overheating reactors under control.

(Mainichi Japan) April 27, 2011

27/04 Planned evacuation of rest home residents in Fukushima village called into question (E-J)

Residents are pictured at Iitate Home in the Fukushima Prefecture village of Iitate. (Mainichi)

IITATE, Fukushima -- Controversy has arisen over the planned relocation of patients at a rest home in the Fukushima Prefecture village of Iitate, which is part of an expanded evacuation zone that the government designated in its handling of the crisis at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant.

The facility, Iitate Home, is the only special home for the elderly in the village. The village and facility have asked the government to exempt rest home residents from evacuations that are to be carried out by the end of May, saying that the evacuation would put the residents under great strain. However, opponents argue that people in the home should not only be evacuated, but given priority during evacuations.

Based on an evaluation of the accumulated amount of radiation in Iitate, the government has ordered that the village be evacuated by late May. However, authorities are still struggling to take care of the weak people who need comprehensive care. In a separate case, dozens of people at a hospital in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, died from physical deterioration after they were evacuated in the wake of the crisis at the nuclear power plant.

The Iitate Home has 107 residents, including many elderly residents with dementia. Two patients are terminally ill and 30 are bedridden.

"Considering the risks associated with moving the patients, it would be safer for them to remain in the village," said Iitate Mayor Norio Kanno.

Masami Sanbei, head of Iitate Home, added that indoor radiation levels were not excessively high.

"The level of radiation inside the facility is low, and residents don't normally go outside to begin with," he said.

An 88-year-old man whose wife is in the facility agreed that it would be better for her to stay in the village.

"After the earthquake, I took my wife to our eldest son's home in Saitama Prefecture, but her health deteriorated because she wasn't able to adapt to the new environment, so she returned to the village. Understandably this facility is better for her," he said.

Hachiro Sato, a member of the Iitate Municipal Assembly, has a different opinion.

"There is still a danger that the nuclear power plant accident will get worse. When something happens, the weak people who can't evacuate quickly should be given priority and be evacuated," Sato said.

A government team set up to provide support to people affected by the nuclear plant crisis says it is now considering where the residents would be evacuated to, and if they should be evacuated at all.

Keiko Tamura, a professor at Niigata University whose research includes disaster-related welfare, said it would probably be better to evacuate residents in stages based on their physical health. She said it was also important to ensure the health of workers.

"If residents remain at the facility, adequate care also needs to be taken to protect the health of the workers who are caring for them. It's a difficult issue, but the only option is for specialists to make a final decision on whether each person should be moved from a medical standpoint," she said.

Click here for the original Japanese story

(Mainichi Japan) April 27, 2011

福島第１原発：特養ホームの入所者避難で議論　飯舘村

車いすに座り、テレビを眺める入所者たち＝福島県飯舘村の「いいたてホーム」で２０１１年４月２５日、小泉大士撮影

　福島第１原発の事故で「計画的避難区域」に指定された福島県飯舘（いいたて）村で、唯一の特別養護老人ホームの入所者避難を巡って議論が起きている。村や施設側が入所者の負担が大きいとして避難対象から外すよう国に求めているのに対し、村民の一部からは「入所者こそ優先的に避難させるべきだ」との批判が上がる。認知症高齢者らの移動を巡っては、同県大熊町にある双葉病院の入院患者ら約４４０人が、原発事故直後に病院側の支援が不十分なまま避難させられ、避難中やその後に相次いで衰弱死する問題も発生。全村避難まで１カ月を切り、全面的介護が必要な弱者をどう処遇すべきかという難題に直面している。

　施設は同村伊丹沢にある「いいたてホーム」。社会福祉法人「いいたて福祉会」が運営し、理事長は菅野典雄村長。入所者は男女１０７人で、認知症のみられる高齢者が多い。終末期にある人が２人、寝たきりの入所者も３０人いる。

　同村は累積放射線量の高さから、５月下旬までの全村避難を国から指示された。しかし、菅野村長は「入所者を移動させるリスクを考えると、村にとどまる方が安全」と考える。三瓶（さんぺい）政美施設長も「施設内は（屋内なので）放射線量が低いし、そもそも入所者は外に出ない」と言う。

　７９歳の妻を「いいたてホーム」に入所させている佐々木市郎さん（８８）は「震災後、妻を連れて埼玉県の長男の家に避難したが、環境の変化で妻が体調を崩してしまい、村に戻った。妻にとっては、この施設にいる方がいいはずだ」と話す。

　だが、佐藤八郎村議は「福島第１原発の事故の状況が悪化する危険性は残っている。何かあった時、すぐに避難できない弱者こそ、他の村民より優先して避難させるべきだ」と指摘する。

　村と避難先などを調整する国の「原子力被災者生活支援チーム」は「入所者をどこに避難させるか、避難させないかも含め調整中」としている。【和田武士、小泉大士、桐野耕一】

　◇国が最終判断

　田村圭子新潟大教授（災害福祉）の話　入所者で避難できる人は、症状に応じて段階的に避難させた方が良い。もし、入所者が施設に残る場合は、介護に関わる職員の健康状態も十分注意が必要だ。難しい問題だが、医学的見地から一人一人の入所者の移動の可否を専門家がみたうえで国が最終判断するしかない。

英訳

• 【福島第１原発】苦渋の９０人放置　南西４キロの双葉病院
• 【飯舘村で】放射性物質：飯舘村、避難基準超す　日本にＩＡＥＡ勧告　３月３１日
• 【飯舘村で】福島第１原発：収穫できないコマツナ満開に　飯舘村
• 【福島第１原発】２０キロ圏外に「計画的避難区域」指定
• 【福島第１原発】警戒区域　公益目的に限り一時立ち入り許可
• 【福島第１原発】汚染予測を公表　累積線量が浪江町で高い値

毎日新聞　2011年4月27日　10時51分（最終更新　4月27日　12時44分）

27/04 Son reopens sake shop that missing father protected from tsunami

Toyoki Sugawara stands in front of a temporary building for his family's reopened sake business in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, on April 25, 2011. (Mainichi)

KESENNUMA, Miyagi -- A man here whose father disappeared in the March 11 tsunami while protecting the supplies of sake in the family's shop has reopened business at a new temporary location.

Toyoki Sugawara, 37, is the fourth generation to run the shop, which has been in business for over 90 years.

"My father protected this sake. My family and I are going to do our best to continue this business, working toward the day we can return it to the land it began on," says Toyoki.

On the day of the earthquake, Toyoki was inside the shop, which doubled as a house, when he heard an emergency radio network broadcast: "A large tsunami warning is in effect. Please evacuate to high ground."

His father, 62-year-old Toyokazu Sugawara, said to him and his 35-year-old brother Hideki, "Take one of the cars to high ground."

From the family's three cars, the brothers took one which the family had just recently bought and fled to high ground. Afterwards, the shop was struck by the tsunami.

Toyokazu had closed all six of the shops' shutters. However, the muddy waters still rushed in via the entrance of an attached storehouse, and in mere moments the waters were up to Toyokazu's waist. From the second floor, his wife Ayako, 61, descended the stairs and called for her husband. She reached out her right hand, but the moment she grabbed a hold of Toyokazu's outstretched hand, he was swallowed by the waters. They had risen in an instant.

"Run!" Ayako heard the yells of her parents-in-law, Toyotaro, 91, and Noriko, 89. She fled, heading past the second floor living room they had been in to the roof.

The next day, Toyoki and Hideki, who had spent the night on high ground, returned to the shop, which was still filled with water. On the rooftop, they saw a towel-wrapped clothes drying pole being moved around. It was Ayako, trying to signal to a helicopter that was flying overhead. The two brothers cried tears of joy in seeing she was safe.

However, Toyotaro and Noriko had passed away on the second floor, and Toyokazu had disappeared. The damage to the shop was severe, and Toyoki couldn't rally himself to try to reopen. However, regular patrons of the shop began asking when it would start again, and a construction company that had built the current shop during his father's generation offered to lend land for a temporary new building. Furthermore, although the shop had been flooded to the second floor, the stores of sake had not been carried off thanks to Toyokazu closing the shutters. Toyoki decided to reopen.

On April 23, Toyoki opened the shop for business at a temporary site consisting of a tent and prefabricated building. Having carefully cleaned off the mud that was stuck to around 300 bottles of sake and shochu liquor in the shop, Toyoki is selling them for 1,000 yen a bottle as he carries on the family business.

Click here for the original Japanese story

(Mainichi Japan) April 27, 2011

東日本大震災：「父が守った酒」再起誓う４代目　気仙沼

仮設店舗で酒店を再開した菅原豊樹さん＝宮城県気仙沼市で２０１１年４月２５日午後０時６分、小林努撮影

　東日本大震災の大津波で２階までつかった宮城県気仙沼市本浜町の「すがとよ酒店」が仮店舗で営業を始めた。９０年以上続く老舗の酒を津波から守った３代目の菅原豊和さん（６２）は今も行方不明。４代目店主の長男豊樹さん（３７）は「父が守った酒。創業の地に戻るまで、何とか家族で頑張りたい」と再起を誓う。【小林努】

　あの日、激しく揺れた。防災無線は「大津波警報です。高台に避難してください」。店舗兼住宅にいた菅原さんは豊樹さんと次男英樹さん（３５）に言った。「車を高台に上げろ」。３台ある車のうち、１台は買ったばかりだった。兄弟が車で高台に向かった後、津波が店を襲った。

　菅原さんは店の６カ所のシャッターをすべて閉めた。しかし、濁流は棟続きの倉庫の出入り口からどんどん流れ込んだ。見る間に菅原さんの腰にまで達した。「お父さん」。２階に避難した妻文子さん（６１）が階段を下りて右手を差し出した。菅原さんが伸ばした手を文子さんがつかんだ瞬間、菅原さんは濁流にのまれた。

　またたく間に増水した。文子さんは父豊太郎さん（９１）、母のり子さん（８９）の「逃げて」との叫び声で、一緒にいた２階の居間から屋上へ上がった。

　高台で一夜を過ごした豊樹さん、英樹さん兄弟がまだ水につかった店に戻ると、屋上でタオルをつけた物干しざおが動いているのが見えた。文子さんが、上空を飛ぶヘリコプターに救助を求めていた。無事に、２人とも泣いた。だが、豊太郎さんとのり子さんは２階でこときれていた。

　３代目は見つからず、店も損傷が激しい。豊樹さんは再開する気持ちになかなかなれなかった。それでも、お得意さんは「いつ店を始めるの」と声をかけてくれる。菅原さんの代に店を建てた建築会社は「仮店舗用の土地を貸そうか」と言ってくれた。２階まで浸水しながら、店の酒が流出しなかったのは、菅原さんが店のシャッターを閉めたからだ。豊樹さんは考え直した。「３代が守り抜いた店。自分も守らなければ」

　プレハブにテントの仮店舗は２３日にオープン。残っていた日本酒と焼酎約３００本についた泥を丁寧にふき、豊樹さんは１本１０００円で店に並べた。

英訳

• 福島第１原発：特養ホームの入所者避難で議論　飯舘村
• 大阪高裁：大麻所持の男に執行猶予　震災ボランティア考慮
• 倒産：栃木・湯西川の老舗高級ホテル　風評被害が追い打ち
• 東日本大震災：四十九日慰霊法要の準備　大槌町の住職
• 東日本大震災：「り災証明書」発行始まる　大槌と陸前高田

毎日新聞　2011年4月27日　12時16分（最終更新　4月27日　12時45分）

27/04 Tearful widow's plea part of 350-person protest in front of TEPCO headquarters

Mitsuyo Tarukawa, center front, makes a tearful plea while holding a picture of her dead husband during a protest in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, on April 26. (Mainichi)

Around 350 Fukushima Prefecture farmers and other people gathered in front of the headquarters of the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) in Tokyo on April 26, demanding apologies and compensation for the ongoing nuclear crisis. Amongst them was a woman clutching a picture of her dead husband, who took his own life last month after the nuclear crisis hit.

"Stop the nuclear power plants. That's what my husband wanted," the woman, 61-year-old Mitsuyo Tarukawa, pleaded amongst tears.

"I believe his death was a protest against TEPCO. He had worked so hard to till his land" said Mitsuyo as she and around 20 farmer representatives met with a TEPCO official in charge of compensation payments in a separate building during the demonstration.

Mitsuyo's husband Kiyoshi Tarukawa, 64 at the time of his death, had kept chemical use to a minimum in raising his crops and had supplied cabbages for school lunches. He also had experienced visiting elementary schools for food education.

One of two cows brought in for a protest is pictured in the back of a truck in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, on April 26. (Mainichi)

However, that was all changed by the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant. Mitsuyo remembers her husband staring at the news as the hydrogen explosions in the reactor buildings were reported and muttering, "Fukushima's farmers are finished."

On March 23, the national government announced a halt on market shipments of some types of Fukushima-grown vegetables. The next morning, Kiyoshi hanged himself next to his home. He left no suicide note.

The April 26 protest was primarily organized by Tokyo-based Nouminren, the Japan Farmers Movement. In addition to the Fukushima farmers, farmers from Chiba, Ibaraki, and other areas in the Kanto region who have suffered losses because of radiation worries participated in the protest, bringing two cows with them by truck. Shouts of "Bring the company president out here!" and "Give us back our towns!" could be heard at the protest.

When asked by protestors how much compensation money they could expect, the TEPCO official only repeated, "We still need to deliberate on that."

As she prepared to leave, Mitsuyo said, "I conveyed by husband's feelings. Now what I want is a sincere response."

Click here for the original Japanese story

(Mainichi Japan) April 27, 2011

福島第１原発：福島の農民ら３５０人　東電へ抗議

夫の遺影を抱え、東電本店前を歩く樽川美津代さん（左から２人目）＝東京都千代田区で２０１１年４月２６日、阿部周一撮影

牛も参加した農家の抗議行動＝東京都千代田区で２０１１年４月２６日、阿部周一撮影

　もう犠牲者を増やさないで－－。福島第１原発事故で避難や出荷停止に追い込まれた福島県の農家ら約３５０人が２６日、東京都千代田区の東京電力本店前で、謝罪と賠償を求めて抗議活動をした。原発災害を苦に先月、自ら命を絶った福島県須賀川市の専業農家、樽川清志さん（当時６４歳）の妻美津代さん（６１）も遺影を胸に参加。「原発を止めて。それが夫の願い」と涙ながらに訴えた。

　「東電への抗議の死だったと思うんです。土作りに人一倍力を入れていたから……」。デモの途中、別棟で農家代表ら約２０人と面会した東電の補償担当社員に、美津代さんは言った。

　清志さんは減農薬農業を手がけ、丹精込めて栽培したキャベツを学校給食用に納めていた。小学校で食育の出前授業をしたこともあった。だが、原発事故がすべてを変えた。原子炉建屋の水素爆発を報じるニュースを食い入るように見つめ、「福島の農業はもうおしまいだ」とつぶやく夫の姿を、美津代さんは覚えている。

　３月２３日、政府は福島県産野菜の出荷停止を発表。翌朝、清志さんは自宅そばで首をつった。遺書はなかった。

　抗議活動は「農民運動全国連合会」（東京）が主催し、千葉や茨城など、風評被害に悩む関東地方の農家も牛２頭をトラックに乗せて参加した。「社長を出せ」「古里を返せ」。損害賠償の見通しを尋ねる参加者に、東電側は「持ち帰り検討させていただく」と繰り返した。美津代さんは「夫の思いは伝えた。誠意ある答えがほしい」と、オフィス街を後にした。【阿部周一】

英訳

• 福島第１原発：東電に地震発生後の記録報告命令…保安院
• 福島第１原発：高級ブランド牛の被ばく検査　飯舘村
• 福島第１原発：収穫できないコマツナ満開に　飯舘村
• 福島第１原発：苦渋の９０人放置　南西４キロの双葉病院
• 福島第１原発：「東電と意思疎通不足」事故初期段階

毎日新聞　2011年4月26日　19時16分（最終更新　4月26日　19時51分）

27/04 Stairs along concrete wall in village saved many lives from killer tsunami (E-J)

A photograph shows stairs along a concrete wall local residents ran up at the time of tsunami in the Hongo district of the town of Toni in Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture. (Mainichi)

TONI, Iwate -- Stairs along a concrete wall at the foot of a hill in this fishing community saved the lives of many residents from the deadly tsunami that was triggered by the March 11 earthquake that destroyed scores of homes.

When tsunami threatened to engulf the entire community, many local residents quickly ran up the stairs attached to the concrete wall built at the foot of a hill and managed to survive. The wall was built behind Ryonoshin Kasai's home in the Hongo district of the town of Toni in the city of Kamaishi, in 1976. "Without the stairs, there was no escape for us. I am glad I had them built," said 74-year-old Kasai, pointing to the stairs attached to the wall about eight meters high.

Kasai's home was built on high ground, on a leveled hill, near a fishing port after the 1933 Showa Sanriku Earthquake/Tsunami devastated the region. When tsunami hit the region on March 11, more than a dozen fearful local residents and firefighters gathered in front of Kasai's home, but the water came up close to the ground before long.

"Go up the hill!" Kasai shouted, urging the local residents to run up the stairs. In the end, his home was flooded only up to the floorboards. But he said, "I feel scared when I imagine the tsunami was bigger." All local residents but one survived.

In 1976, the Iwate Prefectural Government designated the hill at the back of Kasai's home as a "steep slope danger zone" that could collapse at any time and built the concrete wall. The prefectural government constructed the stairs after receiving a request from Kasai, who said the stairs would be needed "to go up the hill."

"When I made the request, I didn't have tsunami in mind. But we had a narrow escape from death this time," he said.

"The stairs were useful as an evacuation route," said Koji Kawasaki, associate professor of river engineering at the Graduate School of Nagoya University, who conducted research in the area.

There are other cases of similar evacuation routes built as part of measures against tsunami. In Kushimoto, Wakayama Prefecture, which could be hit by major tsunami triggered by Nankai and Tonankai earthquakes in the future, people at a kindergarten on low-lying ground by the sea would have found it difficult to evacuate. In 2005, the prefectural government set up stairs so that people could walk up along a wall to evacuate to the top of the cliff.

When a tsunami warning was issued following the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, children at the kindergarten were able to walk up the stairs quickly to evacuate. Kazuko Maeji, head of the kindergarten, said, "Even children could run up the stairs. In case of an emergency, I thought it would certainly be reassuring."

Click here for the original Japanese story

(Mainichi Japan) April 27, 2011

東日本大震災：コンクリート壁の階段で住民が難を逃れる

津波の際、住民が避難するためコンクリート壁を上った階段＝岩手県釜石市唐丹町で、五十嵐和大撮影

　東日本大震災で大津波に襲われ、多くの住宅が流失した岩手県釜石市唐丹（とうに）町本郷地区で、裏山のコンクリート壁に取り付けた階段が避難路の役割を果たし、住民の多くが難を逃れた。今後の津波防災への一つの教訓となりそうだ。【五十嵐和大】

　「これがなければ逃げ場は無かった。造っておいてよかった」。本郷地区に住む葛西良之進さん（７４）は、自宅裏の高さ約８メートルの壁に備え付けられた階段を指さした。

　葛西さんの自宅は本郷地区が壊滅的被害に遭った昭和三陸地震津波（１９３３年）の後、漁港近くの裏山を切り崩して造成された高台に建つ。３月１１日の津波では、危険を感じた周辺住民や消防団員ら十数人が葛西さんの自宅前にいったん避難したが、間もなく地面近くまで水が上がってきた。

　「裏山さ逃げろ」。葛西さんはとっさに叫び、階段を使って壁に上るよう住民を促した。結果的に自宅への津波被害は床下浸水で済んだが「もっと大きな津波だったらと思うと恐ろしい」と振り返った。地区の死者は１人だった。

　岩手県は７６年、葛西さん方の裏山を「急傾斜地崩壊危険区域」に指定し、コンクリートの壁を建設。その際、「山に入るため」という葛西さんの要望で階段が設置された経緯がある。葛西さんは「津波のことまで考えて要望したわけではないが、命拾いした」と振り返った。現地を調査した名古屋大大学院の川崎浩司准教授（河川工学）は「避難路に有効だった」と評価している。

　◇

　同様の避難路を津波対策で整備した例もある。南海地震、東南海地震による大津波が想定される和歌山県串本町。海岸近くの低地に建つ町立出雲幼稚園は、背後に崖があって高台への避難が難しい場所だ。県は０５年度、壁に沿って崖の上に避難するための階段を設置した。

　３月１１日の東日本大震災で大津波警報が出た際は、この階段を使って幼稚園に残っていた園児をいち早く避難させることができた。前地和子園長は「子供でもすぐに駆け上がることができ、いざという時には心強いと思った」と効果を実感している。

英訳

• 【検証】３家族の３．１１　生死を分けたものは……
• 【被災地で尋ねました】いま、あなたの宝物は何ですか？
• 【写真特集】日は昇る　被災地の朝
• 【東日本大震災　図説集】各地の被災状況、原発の仕組みや避難区域など
• 【安否やサポート情報】被災地の内外をつなぐ「希望新聞」ウェブ版

毎日新聞　2011年4月23日　11時17分（最終更新　4月23日　12時24分）

27/04 Oyster farmers in Iwate set to relay beds in bid to resume business (E-J)

Yukinobu Yamane cleans up rubble on the beach in Miyako, Iwate Prefecture, in preparation to resume his oyster-growing business. (Mainichi)

MIYAKO, Iwate -- Local oyster growers are preparing to restore their business after their beds were destroyed by a massive tsunami triggered by the March 11 killer quake.

"It'll take several years before I can ship oysters, but I'm sure I'll resume my business," says one of them, 54-year-old Yukinobu Yamane.

The tsunami swept away farming beds for about 10,000 hanamikaki oysters in Miyako Bay shortly before they were set to be shipped. The farmers also lost their fishing boats to the tsunami.

The oyster farmers had planned to ship their products for a special excursion and oyster-tasting train that was to be operated on the Sanriku Railway's North Rias Line on April 21.

There is no prospect that seven other oyster farmers in Miyako can resume their business because they have lost the equipment and boats necessary to install and maintain oyster beds.

Farmers in Miyagi Prefecture that raised alevin oysters were also hit by the disaster. Still, the farmers are preparing to rebuild oyster beds using materials and equipment that remain following the disaster

On April 25, two workers from a restaurant that serve oysters produced by Yamane visited the beach near his farm to help clean up rubble.

"Many of our customers enjoy eating the oysters he produces. We'd like him to resume his business as soon as possible," one of them said.

Yamane and six other farmers raise Japanese oysters -- which are usually harvested by January -- for the cherry-blossom viewing period in spring and ship them as hanamikaki, which literally means "flower-viewing oysters."

Hanamikaki grow to twice the size of ordinary oysters because they absorb a larger amount of nutrition in preparation to lay eggs in summer. Yamane and others developed hanamikaki as a local specialty.

Click here for the original Japanese story

(Mainichi Japan) April 27, 2011

東日本大震災：「花見かき」消さぬ　宮古湾で養殖場全滅

花見かきの養殖再開を目指して海岸の清掃に励む山根幸伸さん＝岩手県宮古市の堀内海岸で２０１１年４月２５日、鬼山親芳撮影

　例年なら今の桜の時期に出回る岩手県宮古湾特産の大粒カキ「花見かき」が、東日本大震災による津波で全滅した。種ガキを生産する宮城県も被災したため復活は容易ではないが、宮古市の山根幸伸さん（５４）ら生産者は再起に向けて歩みを始めた。

　津波は湾の奥にあった養殖棚を押し流し、採取直前だったカキ約１万粒を奪った。来春に採るカキや再来年用の種ガキも失い、漁船も流失した。予定では、今月２１日に三陸鉄道北リアス線に走らせる恒例の「花見かき列車」で提供するのを皮切りに、出荷を始めるはずだった。

　生産者は山根さんら７人。種ガキを購入している宮城県石巻市などの養殖場が被災し、養殖棚を整備する資材や船もないため、今後の見通しはまったく立たない。それでも、いつからでも養殖が再開できるよう、残った資材などを活用して養殖施設の準備だけは進める。

　２５日は山根さんのカキを季節限定のメニューに加えてきた盛岡市のレストラン関係者２人が駆け付け、海岸清掃を手伝った。２人は「おいしいとお客さんからとても喜ばれている。一日も早く立ち上がって」とエール。山根さんは「出荷するのに数年掛かるが、必ず復活する」と力を込めた。

　「花見かき」は通常なら１月ごろで出荷を終えるマガキを、桜の花見時期まで育て続ける。夏の産卵に備えて栄養分がたっぷり吸収され、実が２倍近くまで大きくなる。「カキは春が旬」と山根さんらが宮古の特産として開発した。【鬼山親芳】

英訳

• 福島第１原発：特養ホームの入所者避難で議論　飯舘村
• 大阪高裁：大麻所持の男に執行猶予　震災ボランティア考慮
• 倒産：栃木・湯西川の老舗高級ホテル　風評被害が追い打ち
• 東日本大震災：四十九日慰霊法要の準備　大槌町の住職
• 東日本大震災：「り災証明書」発行始まる　大槌と陸前高田

毎日新聞　2011年4月27日　12時08分（最終更新　4月27日　13時02分）