Composite of two images: Ishinomaki in 2011 and 2016. LEFT: Tsunami survivors look over the tsunami-devastated area of Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture, about 270km north of Tokyo, northern Japan, on 13 March 2011. Kimimasa Mayama / EPA ////// RIGHT: The same outlook tsunami survivors stood and watched from above, pictured just before the five-year anniversary of the tsunami and earthquake, on January 26, 2016. Kimimasa Mayama / EPA.
Composite of two images: Ishinomaki in 2011 and 2016. LEFT: Tsunami survivors look over the tsunami-devastated area of Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture, about 270km north of Tokyo, northern Japan, on 13 March 2011. Kimimasa Mayama / EPA ////// RIGHT: The same outlook tsunami survivors stood and watched from above, pictured just before the five-year anniversary of the tsunami and earthquake, on January 26, 2016. Kimimasa Mayama / EPA.
Composite of two images: Ishinomaki in 2011 and 2016. LEFT: Tsunami survivors look over the tsunami-devastated area of Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture, about 270km north of Tokyo, northern Japan, on 13 March 2011. Kimimasa Mayama / EPA ////// RIGHT: The same outlook tsunami survivors stood and watched from above, pictured just before the five-year anniversary of the tsunami and earthquake, on January 26, 2016. Kimimasa Mayama / EPA.
Composite of two images: Ishinomaki in 2011 and 2016. LEFT: Tsunami survivors look over the tsunami-devastated area of Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture, about 270km north of Tokyo, northern Japan, on 1

Seven years on, how far has Japan come after its earthquake and tsunami?


  • English
  • Arabic

It's a rather unremarkable milestone, the seven-year anniversary; somewhere after the first big commemoration and still a few years before the next.

But as the clock ticks over to 2.46pm on Sunday, heads will be bowed and hands clasped across Japan, as the country takes stock of all that has changed in Tohoku.

March 11 marks seven years since the magnitude 9.0 undersea megathrust earthquake struck off the north-east coast of Japan, triggering a devastating tsunami.

As of March 1, 2018, the death toll stands at 15,895 across 12 prefectures. Sixty-two victims remain unidentified, and 2,539 people remain unaccounted for. Tens of thousands still remain in temporary housing.

In the immediate aftermath, the northeast coast of Japan was a war zone. Buildings were stacked sideways on top of each other, huge barges had found their resting places on rows of houses, and debris, silt and rubbish clogged every edifice.

I still remember the whirring overhead each morning. It was loud and came without warning; a macabre alarm to wake us from our makeshift volunteers village in the middle of a school field. Every day those helicopters went out across the devastated landscape, searching the piles of rubble for bodies that stretched across the horizon. At that point it was three weeks since the tsunami.

_______________

Read more:

Air radiation in Fukushima returns to almost pre-disaster levels

Japan disaster spawns an industry

Fukushima: a place still trying to move on from nuclear disaster six years ago

_______________

I was studying and living in Tokyo at the time but missed the disaster due to a well-timed holiday in Thailand. As foreign nationals were being evacuated, with a possible nuclear meltdown to rival the likes of Chernobyl looming, I returned - the NZ Embassy exhibiting an apt "she'll be right" attitude (that's 'everything will be fine' for the uninitiated).

We spent three weeks cooking, cleaning and generally trying to help victims across the Tohoku region. Futile attempt it may have been, witnessing the camaraderie and the determination to rebuild of the Japanese people.

When I returned for the five-year anniversary, I was floored at the progress; not least because I'd come from Christchurch - a city similarly attempt to rebuild in the wake of a major earthquake - where the recovery is a far sight more stilted.

From speaking to those still on the ground there recently, it's the same story. Tohoku will be great again, they say. And soon.

Any semblance of the devastation that befell Ishinomaki, a city in Miyagi prefecture which was once devastated, has been scrubbed from every surface. People have returned. Homes have been rebuilt. The condemned seafront is busy with activity, as construction begins on a memorial national park. Life goes on.

A boy and his father take a moment at the remains of the Okawa Elementary School destroyed by the tsunami in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture. Kimisama Mayama / EPA.
A boy and his father take a moment at the remains of the Okawa Elementary School destroyed by the tsunami in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture. Kimisama Mayama / EPA.

The Japanese barely let the dust settle before they set about rebuilding, and rebuilding better. In Minamisanriku, the hills near the township are being spliced away and the dirt transported to the coastline, where endless convoys of giant trucks are going about raising the land by over 10 metres.

Nearby in Fukushima prefecture, life has also returned. But it's far from normal.

Each day, thousands of Japanese workers are out in force in the evacuation zone, scrupulously scrubbing buildings to scrape away the top layers of radiated dirt from grounds, rooves, rainwater gutters - they all need combed for radioactive material.

The dirt is bagged, and the bags transported to "temporary" catchment areas — namely, the Fukushima countryside. Thousands of bags litter the landscape - roadside, in fields, beside buildings.

From here they will be transported to an "interim" holding place, which since October, has been a facility in Futaba, which will eventually cover 1,600 hectares of land.

From there, the contaminated debris is earmarked to move to a final disposal site, but where that will be no one knows. The Japanese government has pledged to move the contaminated debris by March 2045 - the problem is, it has yet to find a local government willing to accept it.

The government plans to open up small areas of the exclusion zone for residents to return in 2023. However, Greenpeace Japan believe the high levels of radiation around the stricken reactor will pose a threat for perhaps another 100 years. 
And yet, 2017 marked the year when the widely-condemned Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) was approved to restart two reactors at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa - the world's biggest power plant.

It will be the firm's first return to nuclear power generation since the meltdown, as the company struggles to decommission Fukushima Daiichi. That is expected to take four decades.

The tsunami-crippled Disaster Prevention Center is surrounded by banking construction in Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, 10 March 2018, the eve of the seventh anniversary of the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami. Kimisama Mayama / EPA.
The tsunami-crippled Disaster Prevention Center is surrounded by banking construction in Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, 10 March 2018, the eve of the seventh anniversary of the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami. Kimisama Mayama / EPA.

Understandably, tourists remain sceptical to return.

Even domestically, things are hard, as the rest of Japan steer clear of Fukushima-grown produce and meats — a serious blow to a prefecture whose economy is buoyed on agriculture.

A small breakthrough came in late February when Thailand became the first country to receive a shipment of fresh fish from Fukushima since March 2011.

But as another year ticks over after the disaster, one question for Japan remains: what do we do with these remnants of the disaster that dot the countryside? Preserve or demolish?

In Ishinomaki, the Okawa Elementary School where 84 people died, will be preserved. Arahama Elementary School in Sendai - a building which survived the tsunami but which was broadcast across the world with images of people getting evacuated from its roof - has been developed as somewhat of a relic of the disaster and reopened to the public.

In Minamisanriku, the future of the mangled wreckage of the former disaster management centre, which issued the last warnings of the impending 16-metre waves and has been left as a makeshift memorial, is unclear.

It's at these sites that people will gather at 2.46pm on Sunday.

Roadworkers will down tools, shop attendants will form rows, and residents will line broken seawalls and tsunami evacuation areas.

And after a minute's silence, they'll get back to rebuilding their community.

Life goes on.

ALL THE RESULTS

Bantamweight

Siyovush Gulmomdov (TJK) bt Rey Nacionales (PHI) by decision.

Lightweight

Alexandru Chitoran (ROU) bt Hussein Fakhir Abed (SYR) by submission.

Catch 74kg

Omar Hussein (JOR) bt Tohir Zhuraev (TJK) by decision.

Strawweight (Female)

Seo Ye-dam (KOR) bt Weronika Zygmunt (POL) by decision.

Featherweight

Kaan Ofli (TUR) bt Walid Laidi (ALG) by TKO.

Lightweight

Abdulla Al Bousheiri (KUW) bt Leandro Martins (BRA) by TKO.

Welterweight

Ahmad Labban (LEB) bt Sofiane Benchohra (ALG) by TKO.

Bantamweight

Jaures Dea (CAM) v Nawras Abzakh (JOR) no contest.

Lightweight

Mohammed Yahya (UAE) bt Glen Ranillo (PHI) by TKO round 1.

Lightweight

Alan Omer (GER) bt Aidan Aguilera (AUS) by TKO round 1.

Welterweight

Mounir Lazzez (TUN) bt Sasha Palatkinov (HKG) by TKO round 1.

Featherweight title bout

Romando Dy (PHI) v Lee Do-gyeom (KOR) by KO round 1.

The%20Kitchen
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3EDaniel%20Kaluuya%2C%20Kibwe%20Tavares%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3EKane%20Robinson%2C%20Jedaiah%20Bannerman%2C%20Hope%20Ikpoku%20Jnr%2C%20Fiona%20Marr%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
WISH
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirectors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Chris%20Buck%2C%20Fawn%20Veerasunthorn%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ariana%20DeBose%2C%20Chris%20Pine%2C%20Alan%20Tudyk%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
SHOW COURTS ORDER OF PLAY

Centre Court (4pm UAE/12pm GMT)
Victoria Azarenka (BLR) v Heather Watson (GBR)
Rafael Nadal (ESP x4) v Karen Khachanov (RUS x30)
Andy Murray (GBR x1) v Fabio Fognini (ITA x28)

Court 1 (4pm UAE)
Steve Johnson (USA x26) v Marin Cilic (CRO x7)
Johanna Konta (GBR x6) v Maria Sakkari (GRE)
Naomi Osaka (JPN) v Venus Williams (USA x10)

Court 2 (2.30pm UAE)
Aljaz Bedene (GBR) v Gilles Muller (LUX x16)
Peng Shuai (CHN) v Simona Halep (ROM x2)
Jelena Ostapenko (LAT x13) v Camila Giorgi (ITA)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA x12) v Sam Querrey (USA x24)

Court 3 (2.30pm UAE)
Kei Nishikori (JPN x9) v Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP x18)
Carina Witthoeft (GER) v Elina Svitolina (UKR x4)

Court 12 (2.30pm UAE)
Dominika Cibulkova (SVK x8) v Ana Konjuh (CRO x27)
Kevin Anderson (RSA) v Ruben Bemelmans (BEL)

Court 18 (2.30pm UAE)
Caroline Garcia (FRA x21) v Madison Brengle (USA)
Benoit Paire (FRA) v Jerzy Janowicz (POL)

TOUR RESULTS AND FIXTURES

 

June 3: NZ Provincial Barbarians 7 Lions 13
June 7: Blues 22 Lions 16
June 10: Crusaders 3 Lions 12
June 13: Highlanders 23 Lions 22
June 17: Maori All Blacks 10 Lions 32
June 20: Chiefs 6 Lions 34
June 24: New Zealand 30 Lions 15
June 27: Hurricanes 31 Lions 31
July 1: New Zealand 21 Lions 24
July 8: New Zealand v Lions

HAJJAN
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Abu%20Bakr%20Shawky%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cbr%3EStarring%3A%20Omar%20Alatawi%2C%20Tulin%20Essam%2C%20Ibrahim%20Al-Hasawi%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Our legal consultants

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

BULKWHIZ PROFILE

Date started: February 2017

Founders: Amira Rashad (CEO), Yusuf Saber (CTO), Mahmoud Sayedahmed (adviser), Reda Bouraoui (adviser)

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: E-commerce 

Size: 50 employees

Funding: approximately $6m

Investors: Beco Capital, Enabling Future and Wain in the UAE; China's MSA Capital; 500 Startups; Faith Capital and Savour Ventures in Kuwait

Honeymoonish
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Elie%20El%20Samaan%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENour%20Al%20Ghandour%2C%20Mahmoud%20Boushahri%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The Greatest Royal Rumble card as it stands

50-man Royal Rumble - names entered so far include Braun Strowman, Daniel Bryan, Kurt Angle, Big Show, Kane, Chris Jericho, The New Day and Elias

Universal Championship Brock Lesnar (champion) v Roman Reigns in a steel cage match

WWE World Heavyweight Championship AJ Styles (champion) v Shinsuke Nakamura

Intercontinental Championship Seth Rollins (champion) v The Miz v Finn Balor v Samoa Joe

United States Championship Jeff Hardy (champion) v Jinder Mahal

SmackDown Tag Team Championship The Bludgeon Brothers (champions) v The Usos

Raw Tag Team Championship (currently vacant) Cesaro and Sheamus v Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt

Casket match The Undertaker v Chris Jericho

Singles match John Cena v Triple H

Cruiserweight Championship Cedric Alexander v tba

 

THE APPRENTICE

Director: Ali Abbasi

Starring: Sebastian Stan, Maria Bakalova, Jeremy Strong

Rating: 3/5

The Year Earth Changed

Directed by:Tom Beard

Narrated by: Sir David Attenborough

Stars: 4

Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha

Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar

Director: Neeraj Pandey

Rating: 2.5/5

INDIA'S%20TOP%20INFLUENCERS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBhuvan%20Bam%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Fbhuvan.bam22%2F%3Fhl%3Den%22%20target%3D%22_self%22%3EInstagram%3C%2Fa%3E%20followers%3A%2016.1%20million%3Cbr%3EBhuvan%20Bam%20is%20a%2029-year-old%20comedian%20and%20actor%20from%20Delhi%2C%20who%20started%20out%20with%20YouTube%20channel%2C%20%E2%80%9CBB%20Ki%20Vines%E2%80%9D%20in%202015%2C%20which%20propelled%20the%20social%20media%20star%20into%20the%20limelight%20and%20made%20him%20sought-after%20among%20brands.%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EKusha%20Kapila%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Fkushakapila%2F%3Fhl%3Den%22%20target%3D%22_self%22%3EInstagram%3C%2Fa%3E%20followers%3A%203.1%20million%3Cbr%3EKusha%20Kapila%20is%20a%20fashion%20editor%20and%20actress%2C%20who%20has%20collaborated%20with%20brands%20including%20Google.%20She%20focuses%20on%20sharing%20light-hearted%20content%20and%20insights%20into%20her%20life%20as%20a%20rising%20celebrity.%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EDiipa%20Khosla%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Fdiipakhosla%2F%3Fhl%3Den%22%20target%3D%22_self%22%3EInstagram%3C%2Fa%3E%20followers%3A%201.8%20million%3Cbr%3EDiipa%20Khosla%20started%20out%20as%20a%20social%20media%20manager%20before%20branching%20out%20to%20become%20one%20of%20India's%20biggest%20fashion%20influencers%2C%20with%20collaborations%20including%20MAC%20Cosmetics.%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EKomal%20Pandey%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Fkomalpandeyofficial%2F%3Fhl%3Den%22%20target%3D%22_self%22%3EInstagram%3C%2Fa%3E%20followers%3A%201.8%20million%3Cbr%3EKomal%20Pandey%20is%20a%20fashion%20influencer%20who%20has%20partnered%20with%20more%20than%20100%20brands%2C%20including%20Olay%20and%20smartphone%20brand%20Vivo%20India.%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENikhil%20Sharma%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Fnikkkhil%2F%3Fhl%3Den%22%20target%3D%22_self%22%3EInstagram%3C%2Fa%3E%20followers%3A%201.4%20million%3Cbr%3ENikhil%20Sharma%20from%20Mumbai%20began%20his%20online%20career%20through%20vlogs%20about%20his%20motorcycle%20trips.%20He%20has%20become%20a%20lifestyle%20influencer%20and%20has%20created%20his%20own%20clothing%20line.%3Cbr%3E%3Cem%3ESource%3A%20Hireinfluence%2C%20various%3C%2Fem%3E%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Singham Again

Director: Rohit Shetty

Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone

Rating: 3/5

Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode

Directors: Raj & DK

Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon

Rating: 4/5

How the UAE gratuity payment is calculated now

Employees leaving an organisation are entitled to an end-of-service gratuity after completing at least one year of service.

The tenure is calculated on the number of days worked and does not include lengthy leave periods, such as a sabbatical. If you have worked for a company between one and five years, you are paid 21 days of pay based on your final basic salary. After five years, however, you are entitled to 30 days of pay. The total lump sum you receive is based on the duration of your employment.

1. For those who have worked between one and five years, on a basic salary of Dh10,000 (calculation based on 30 days):

a. Dh10,000 ÷ 30 = Dh333.33. Your daily wage is Dh333.33

b. Dh333.33 x 21 = Dh7,000. So 21 days salary equates to Dh7,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service. Multiply this figure for every year of service up to five years.

2. For those who have worked more than five years

c. 333.33 x 30 = Dh10,000. So 30 days’ salary is Dh10,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service.

Note: The maximum figure cannot exceed two years total salary figure.

Rafael Nadal's record at the MWTC

2009 Finalist

2010 Champion

Jan 2011 Champion

Dec 2011 Semi-finalist

Dec 2012 Did not play

Dec 2013 Semi-finalist

2015 Semi-finalist

Jan 2016 Champion

Dec 2016 Champion

2017 Did not play

 

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

My Country: A Syrian Memoir

Kassem Eid, Bloomsbury

Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai

16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership

Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.

Zones

A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The biog

First Job: Abu Dhabi Department of Petroleum in 1974  
Current role: Chairperson of Al Maskari Holding since 2008
Career high: Regularly cited on Forbes list of 100 most powerful Arab Businesswomen
Achievement: Helped establish Al Maskari Medical Centre in 1969 in Abu Dhabi’s Western Region
Future plan: Will now concentrate on her charitable work

Sreesanth's India bowling career

Tests 27, Wickets 87, Average 37.59, Best 5-40

ODIs 53, Wickets 75, Average 33.44, Best 6-55

T20Is 10, Wickets 7, Average 41.14, Best 2-12

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg

Rating: 4/5

'Gold'

Director:Anthony Hayes

Stars:Zaf Efron, Anthony Hayes

Rating:3/5

MATCH DETAILS

Juventus 2 (Bonucci 36, Ronaldo 90 6)

Genoa 1 (Kouame 40)

Tips for taking the metro

- set out well ahead of time

- make sure you have at least Dh15 on you Nol card, as there could be big queues for top-up machines

- enter the right cabin. The train may be too busy to move between carriages once you're on

- don't carry too much luggage and tuck it under a seat to make room for fellow passengers

ATP WORLD No 1

2004 Roger Federer

2005 Roger Federer

2006 Roger Federer

2007 Roger Federer

2008 Rafael Nadal

2009 Roger Federer

2010 Rafael Nadal

2011 Novak Djokovic

2012 Novak Djokovic

2013 Rafael Nadal

2014 Novak Djokovic

2015 Novak Djokovic

2016 Andy Murray

2017 Rafael Nadal

2018 Novak Djokovic

2019 Rafael Nadal

FIXTURES (all times UAE)

Sunday
Brescia v Lazio (3.30pm)
SPAL v Verona (6pm)
Genoa v Sassuolo (9pm)
AS Roma v Torino (11.45pm)

Monday
Bologna v Fiorentina (3.30pm)
AC Milan v Sampdoria (6pm)
Juventus v Cagliari (6pm)
Atalanta v Parma (6pm)
Lecce v Udinese (9pm)
Napoli v Inter Milan (11.45pm)

The Gandhi Murder
  • 71 - Years since the death of MK Gandhi, also christened India's Father of the Nation
  • 34 - Nationalities featured in the film The Gandhi Murder
  • 7 - million dollars, the film's budget 
Biog

Mr Kandhari is legally authorised to conduct marriages in the gurdwara

He has officiated weddings of Sikhs and people of different faiths from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Russia, the US and Canada

Father of two sons, grandfather of six

Plays golf once a week

Enjoys trying new holiday destinations with his wife and family

Walks for an hour every morning

Completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Loyola College, Chennai, India

2019 is a milestone because he completes 50 years in business