"Do you mind if I put something in your garbage can?"

NHK reported this morning that there are about 2 Million tons of tsuami related waste that is yet to be disposed of. About 150 tons have been committed to be delivered to various prefectures, although some are awaiting radiation checks, etc. Depending on the material, it is due for burning or dumping.

On the news, they showed some of the waste material being delivered by truck to Western Japan. A crowd of protesters delayed the truck for 11 hours, with clashes between protesters and police. With the uncertainty about the safety of the material, it is understandable why there may be some fear on the part of citizens. For sure it is an issue that all nuclear power using countries should discuss in advance of a major problem like the East Japan earthquake and tsunami. A good dialog between friends would be useful here.

Youth Ambassadors to visit San Francisco Consulate

As part of the Youth Ambassador’s trip to Okayama and other parts of Japan, they have been invited by the Consul General of Japan at San Francisco to have a pre-trip Japan orientation at the Consulate. Besides hearing all the good things about Japan, they will learn what the Consulate does and what its mission is. They will be traveling to the SF Consulate on the tour’s departure day, returning to SFO to catch a SFO to Haneda (‘downtown’ Tokyo airport) flight. They will stay over night near the airport and fly to Okayama early the next morning. We are honored by the invitation of the Consulate.

Good view of Eclipse in Okayama

Local yummy eclipse cake from Okayama (sold all May)May 21 eclipse as seen from OkayamaA near-annular image of the eclipsed sun from Okayama shows they had a good view. Although not perfectly centered, there was still an annular ring around it as seen in the Okayama according to the local Sanyo Shimbun newspaper. In the ‘Okayama Events’ section, they had a story about the eclipse pastery with red-bean center (manju) being sold in the town. See the light edge around the center browned part!

More pre-Olympic Sports: US Women's Soccer

Team from affected area playing in the US prior to the tsunami. Image from National Sports Center blog.This week there was an interesting article in the Chicago Tribune about observations made by the US women’s soccer team after visiting Japan. They visited some of the devastated areas in Northeast Japan, leaving some sports equipment for children there. They also found out more about the development and strong growth of women’s soccer in Japan, specifically how the teams seek to control the ball. To me, it is a situation of brain vs brawn and more dependent teamwork. Emphasizing what is refered to as “small-sided soccer”, the strategy ranges over a smaller physical area in team play as opposed to a full field individual play. This may result in a re-thinking of youth soccer training in the US. Read the article here. - Bob Green

US Post Office to Ban Shipment of Certain Electronic Devices in Overseas Mail May 16

The US Postal Service has announced that they will not longer allow international shipment of devices such as video cameras, portable radio scanners, gps devices, games, laptop computers, tablets, Bluetooth devices… There is some evidence that device relatd fires involved at least two cargo planes which had fatal crashes in recent years. USPS says they are attempting to follow international rules addressing such kinds of devices. Of course the major shipping companies have not made those restrictions so if you don’t mind how much it costs, you can still get your Christmas present to your overseas soldier family member.

You can read more about this new process on the FastCompany web site. If you are currently exporting electronic devices to countries overseas, be sure to look into this. If you are sending a present to Japan, better take this issue into consideration.