Paper lanterns are lit to commemorate the victims of an earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in 2011. More than 2,000 candles with messages will be on display until March 11. EPA
Lit candles are arranged to spell out "memory" and "connecting future" at the Great East Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Disaster Memorial Museum in Futaba, Fukushima Prefecture. AFP
Candles spell out "memory" and "connecting future" at the Great East Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Disaster Memorial Museum to mark the 10th anniversary of a 9.0-magnitude earthquake that caused a tsunami and nuclear disaster, killing about 16,000 people. AFP
Residents of Hisanohama change Gohei, strips of paper used in a Shinto ritual, on a traditional Japanese gate in front of a memorial for the victims of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Reuters
Paper lanterns are lit to mark the 10th anniversary of a devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan. EPA
More than 2,000 candles have been used in a display to commemorate those killed by an earthquake and tsunami in Japan in 2011. EPA
A paper lantern bearing the Japanese character for "bonds" forms part of a display to mark the 10th anniversary of a devastating earthquake and tsunami. EPA
A stray dog looks back at the destruction left by a tsunami that struck the Odaka area of Minamisoma, a city inside the evacuation zone around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors. Part of the area is still a no-go zone. AP
People visit a memorial for the victims of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in Namie, Japan. Ceremonies to mark the 10th anniversary of the disaster are expected to be scaled back because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Getty
A woman visits a memorial for the victims of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in Namie, Japan. The magnitude-9.0 earthquake was one of the most powerful ever recorded. Getty
Top, a ship washed inland to the city of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, by the tsunami that struck Japan in 2011; below, the same area nearly 10 years later. AFP
Top, the town of Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, was damaged by the tsunami on March 11, 2011; below, and the same area 10 years. AFP
Top, the effects of the 2011 tsunami on the port town of Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture; below, the same area nearly 10 years later. AFP
Top, a flooded street in an area of Tagajo, Miyagi Prefecture, hit by the tsunami in 2011; below, the same area about 10 years later. AFP
Left, a road is littered with vehicles in Tagajo, Miyagi Prefecture, after a devastating tsunami in 2011; right, the same area 10 years later. AFP
Police in Miyagi Prefecture offer silent prayers for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in 2011 before searching for evidence of people still missing. AFP
A child and her father look at a candle at the Great East Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Disaster Memorial Museum in Futaba, Japan. The magnitude-9.0 earthquake shifted the Earth on its axis by estimates of up to 25 centimetres. Getty
Ukedo beach in Namie, Japan. Ceremonies to mark the 10th anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake, tsunami and triple nuclear meltdown are expected to be scaled back because of the pandemic. Getty
From top to bottom, an area east of Natori, Miyagi Prefecture, in 2010; flooded fields and destroyed homes after the 2011 tsunami struck; the area in August 2020. AP
From top to bottom, Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, in 2006; eight days after the tsunami struck; the same area in April 2020. AP
From top to bottom, Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, in 2006; eight days after the tsunami swept through; the same area in April 2020. AP
From top to bottom, Sendai Airport in Natori, Miyagi Prefecture, in 2010; a day after the 2011 tsunami struck; the same area in August 2020. AP
In a recent episode of the Netflix documentary series Unsolved Mysteries, residents of Japan's Tohoku region describe their encounters with spirits in the wake of one of the greatest tragedies to befall the island nation. On this day 10 years ago, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake – the strongest ever recorded in Japan – and a resulting tsunami killed nearly 20,000 people in the areas surrounding the country's eastern coast, displacing hundreds of thousands of others and destroying livelihoods, property and infrastructure.
Tsunami Spirits is a gripping 48-minute documentary that is interspersed with spine-chilling re-enactments of "ghost sightings". It is thought-provoking, as you hear both sides of an oft-made argument: do spirits really exist or are they simply paranormal sightings made by those undergoing trauma? But for the most part, it is a melancholic story of a largely rural part of Japan that has been left depressed and, yes, haunted by the March 11, 2011 disaster.
One, however, doesn't have to believe in ghosts to be haunted by the tragedy. Its economic, environmental and psychological after-effects can be seen and felt across the region to this day. But the deepest, most far-reaching and perhaps longest-lasting impact is how it has greatly dimmed the Japanese public's view of nuclear energy – which, in turn, could undermine the government's efforts to achieve carbon-neutrality by 2050.
The now-defunct Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant serves as a painful reminder of the disaster. How it came to be destroyed by the tsunami is a long and complicated story, but in a nutshell, the flooded facility lost power, resulting in a meltdown in three of its reactors. Radiation levels spiked in the following few days after one of the reactors’ walls was damaged by a blast, forcing the evacuation of more than 160,000 people. Widespread anger, initially directed at Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) for its mismanagement and poor communication, evolved into an anti-nuclear movement that forced the government to shut down all the country’s 54 nuclear reactors.
These closures have led to unintended and unpleasant consequences, including a gradual rise in air pollution, as Japan turned to coal and liquefied petroleum gas for its power. They have also hurt the average citizen’s pocket, with electricity rates going up nearly 40 per cent in subsequent years. Nuclear power is cheaper than other sources and had greatly benefited an energy resource-poor country like Japan for decades. The relatively less space taken up by nuclear power plants, compared to solar and wind farms, had been a bonus to the mountainous and thickly forested chain of islands.
But the most profound impact of the closures is on Japan's climate fight.
As part of its commitment to the 2015 Paris climate accord, the government is banking on nuclear energy for it to reach its carbon-neutrality goal in three decades' time. But Tokyo's shorter-term pledge, to cut emissions by 26 per cent by 2030, has already hit a snag: nuclear energy currently accounts for just six per cent of Japan's energy mix, falling well short of the 22 per cent requirement (before the Fukushima tragedy, nuclear had accounted for 30 per cent of the mix). Grassroots opposition to the reopening of the country's nuclear plants is strong: almost 40 per cent of those consistently polled want all plants shut down permanently. Local governments, which have jurisdiction over these plants, are wary of reopening them. Courts, meanwhile, are turning down appeals to do so.
Tokyo can only sway minds by winning back the public trust
The likelihood of missing the 2030 target is already raising questions about whether the 2050 goal is feasible. As the world’s fifth-largest greenhouse gas emitter, Japan’s energy future is critical in the global efforts to tackle climate change. But clearly, public opinion has put the government in an extremely difficult position.
There may be a temptation for those who follow Japan's post-war history to suggest that Tokyo can win over a reticent public on nuclear matters. It took only a decade after the US dropped atom bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing more than 200,000 people, for Japan's first research reactor to hit first criticality, which is the normal operating condition of a reactor.
Bloomberg’s Stephen Stapczynski has written in depth about how the Japanese and US governments worked with Japan’s largest corporations and media outlets to shape public opinion in favour of nuclear energy. Within 15 years, government enacted a law making nuclear energy development a strategic priority. And between 1970 and 2010, it installed 54 reactors.
It would be a mistake for nuclear proponents to hope that such a campaign in Japancould be repeated at such speed. That the Fukushima disaster was an accident and not the result of an attack by an external enemy makes the comparison irrelevant to begin with. But even if one was to do it, the mood is decisively more sombre today than it was in the 1950s for a variety of reasons. That Japan is earthquake-prone is also a source of concern; just last month Fukushima was hit by a magnitude 7.1 earthquake.
The disaster killed almost 20,000 people. Reuters
Tokyo can only sway minds by winning back the public trust. For this, it will need to work much harder at information-sharing and transparency. According to a Bloomberg report, the ministry of economy has still to confirm to the country’s influential chamber of commerce its plans to build new reactors – a necessary step towards increasing nuclear production by 2050. Could the announcement of commissioning next-generation reactors with updated technologies not help improve confidence?
Much is desired, too, by way of clarity from key government-run companies. Tepco, which continues to be viewed with scepticism, has conceded that its website can be better presented so that the information it puts out can be more easily understood. A tendency to bury data and downplay bad news, as it has done in the past, will only further raise public suspicions.
What happened in and around Fukushima on that fateful day 10 years ago was no doubt incredibly tragic and the Japanese public will be haunted by it for many, many years to come. This makes Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's task of rebuilding the country's nuclear industry that much more difficult – something even Shinzo Abe, his predecessor, failed to complete with considerably more political capital. Worryingly for Mr Suga – and the country's nuclear proponents – the clock is ticking.
Chitrabhanu Kadalayil is an assistant comment editor at The National
Company profile
Name: The Concept
Founders: Yadhushan Mahendran, Maria Sobh and Muhammad Rijal
Based: Abu Dhabi
Founded: 2017
Number of employees: 7
Sector: Aviation and space industry
Funding: $250,000
Future plans: Looking to raise $1 million investment to boost expansion and develop new products
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
Two conveyor lines treat more than 350,000 tonnes of waste per year
25 staff on site
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
Ibrahim's play list
Completed an electrical diploma at the Adnoc Technical Institute
Works as a public relations officer with Adnoc
Apart from the piano, he plays the accordion, oud and guitar
His favourite composer is Johann Sebastian Bach
Also enjoys listening to Mozart
Likes all genres of music including Arabic music and jazz
Enjoys rock groups Scorpions and Metallica
Other musicians he likes are Syrian-American pianist Malek Jandali and Lebanese oud player Rabih Abou Khalil
