Above The Fray

Most recent stories in Above The Fray

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  NPR

  

  Now Postponed, The Olympic Torch Relay Was To Bring Hope To Ravaged Fukushima

  NPR - Kat Lonsdorf

  Takayuki Ueno looks out over an empty field along the coast in Fukushima, Japan, and points toward the ocean. "There used to be houses here, and trees," he says, and then points in another direction. "And over there, too." The wind whips across the open space. A small, new graveyard sits in an …

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  NPR

  

  'A Reminder That Nature Is Strong': In Japan, A 1,000-Year-Old Cherry Tree Blooms

  NPR - Kat Lonsdorf

  As winter turned to spring in the town of Miharu, Japan, a small group of workers pounded posts into the ground to lay a grand pathway at the base of a giant cherry tree. It was the same path they've laid every year, wide enough to give thousands of tourists a chance to walk up and marvel at the …

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  NPR

  

  How 2 Towns That Host Fukushima Power Plant Recover After 2011 Nuclear Disaster

  NPR - Kat Lonsdorf

  Two Japanese towns that host the Fukushima nuclear power plant stood to gain a lot from the promises of nuclear power. But after one of the worst nuclear disasters, it's clear how much they've lost. AILSA CHANG, HOST: How do you reopen a nuclear exclusion zone? That is a question Japan has been …

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  NPR

  

  

  What Recovery Looks Like In Japan Almost A Decade After Fukushima Nuclear Disaster

  NPR - Kat Lonsdorf

  Japan has poured billions of dollars into recovery from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. NPR discusses what the recovery looks like nearly a decade after it happened. AILSA CHANG, HOST: It took less than one hour for the tsunami that devastated Japan in 2011 to reach shore. It took days for the …

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  NPR

  

  After 2011 Disaster, Fukushima Embraced Solar Power. The Rest Of Japan Has Not

  NPR - Kat Lonsdorf

  Atop a small hill on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu sits a small solar farm with big, broad panels lined up in rows, tilting to catch the sun. Lush vegetation creeps over the edges of the surrounding fence. In the center of the panels, there's a tall marble gravestone, with an inscription …

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  NPR

  

  In Rural Fukushima, 'The Border Between Monkeys And Humans Has Blurred'

  NPR - Kat Lonsdorf

  Shuichi Kanno rips tape off the top of a large cardboard box at his house in the mountains in Fukushima prefecture in Japan. He opens the box and rustles around to pull out pack after pack of long, thin Roman candle fireworks. The words "Animal Exterminating Firework" are written in Japanese on the …