This study investigates trends in perinatal mortality rates in Fukushima Prefecture and four neighboring prefectures (Miyagi, Gunma, Tochigi, and Ibaraki) before and after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011. Beginning in 2012, perinatal mortality rates deviate upwards from the trend in preceding years; the monthly data show significant peaks in May 2012 and March 2013. It is unlikely ...

The Great East Japan Earthquake hit Fukushima Prefecture on March 11, 2011, just over 3 years ago and it continues to affect our lives. In Fukushima, many people are confirmed dead or still missing due to the earthquake and/or tsunami. Additional "disaster-related deaths" have been attributed to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) accident. Mortality among the institutionalized elde...

To clarify the chronologic genetic diversity of coxsackievirus A16 (CV-A16) strains associated with hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) epidemics in a restricted area and their genetic relation with those isolated in other areas, we investigated the genetic diversity of the 129 CV-A16 strains associated with HFMD epidemics in Fukushima, Japan, from 1983 to 2003, and compared their genetic rela...

We summarize the inspections of radiocesium concentration levels in rice produced in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, for 3 years from the nuclear accident in 2011. In 2011, three types of verifications, preliminary survey, main inspection, and emergency survey, revealed that rice with radiocesium concentration levels over 500 Bq/kg (the provisional regulation level until March 2012 in Japan) was i...

The Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, besides further studying the appropriateness of the initial response and post-countermeasures against the severe Fukushima nuclear accident, has now increased the importance of the epidemiological study in comprehensive health risk management and radiation protection; lessons learnt from the Chernobyl accident should be also implemented. Theref...

The Fukushima Daiichi disaster 11 March, 2011 is considered the largest nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster and has been rated at level 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale. As different radioactive materials have different effects to human body, it is important to know the types of nuclides and their levels of concentration from the recorded mixture of radiations to take n...

After the high magnitude earthquake and the subsequent tsunami in Japan on March 11, 2011, the residents of Fukushima Prefecture suffered not only from tremendous physical injury caused by the earthquake and tsunami but also from the effects of radiation contamination after a hydrogen explosion at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on March 12, 2011. The complex Fukushima disaster is cha...

Plate Boundaries and Natural Hazards, Geophysical Monograph 219, First Edition. Edited by João C. Duarte and Wouter P. Schellart. © 2016 American Geophysical Union. Published 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. “With firm geological foundations and major earthquakes rare, Fukushima is a safe and secure place to do business.” Fukushima Prefecture Website [Cyranoski, 2011] Promise and Paradox: Why Im...