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Fukushima nuclear plant chief feared catastrophe for eastern Japan

TOKYO, Japan - Pool photo taken Nov. 12, 2011, shows Masao Yoshida, chief of the disaster-struck Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant of Tokyo Electric Power Co., speaking to reporters at the plant in Fukushima Prefecture. According to government documents obtained by Kyodo News on Aug. 30, 2014, Yoshida said in testimony before his death that he had feared catastrophic damage to eastern Japan while he was struggling to contain the crisis in March 2011. The government will release his 400-page testimony in September.

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Sendai-based drum group performs in Berlin

BERLIN, Germany - Sendai-based Japanese drumming group Kamo Tsunamura Daiko performs on Nov. 30, 2011, at the Berlin Philharmonie in the German capital as part of celebrations for the 150th anniversary of Japan-Germany friendship, impressing a 650-strong audience with the powerful sounds of ''taiko'' drums as well as traditional dances.

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Japanese astronaut Furukawa in Houston

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa in Houston, Texas, gives a press conference through a TV conference system as members of the media gather to hear him at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Tokyo office on Nov. 30, 2011.

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BMW's Active Hybrid 5

TOKYO, Japan - Photo shows Active Hybrid 5, a car unveiled by German automaker BMW AG at the Tokyo Motor Show in Tokyo on Nov. 30, 2011.

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Japanese astronaut Furukawa in Houston

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa (on screen) in Houston, Texas, gives a press conference through a TV conference system as members of the media gather to hear him at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Tokyo office on Nov. 30, 2011.

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Melted nuclear fuel eroded reactor container by up to 65 cm

TOKYO, Japan - Junichi Matsumoto, an official of Tokyo Electric Power Co., speaks during a press conference in Tokyo on Nov. 30, 2011. The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant said that the concrete base of the No. 1 reactor container was eroded by up to 65 centimeters when the fuel inside melted, although the steel container itself was left intact.

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Volkswagen's plug-in hybrid car

TOKYO, Japan - Photo shows Cross Coupe (L), a plug-in hybrid car unveiled by German automaker Volkswagen AG at the Tokyo Motor Show in Tokyo on Nov. 30, 2011.

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Japanese PM Noda, Macedonian PM Gruevski hold talks

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda (R) and Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski shake hands at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on Nov. 30, 2011, before holding talks. Japan and Macedonia agreed to enhance tourism, business and student exchanges.

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Daimler's fuel cell car

TOKYO, Japan - Photo shows a fuel cell car displayed by German automaker Daimler AG at the Tokyo Motor Show in Tokyo on Nov. 30, 2011.

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BOJ chief Shirakawa at press conference

TOKYO, Japan - Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa speaks at a press conference at the BOJ head office in Tokyo on Nov. 30, 2011, on the ongoing debt crisis in Europe. Shirakawa said that six major central banks including those of Japan, the United States and Europe will collaborate on helping European financial institutions raise U.S. dollar funds to stabilize markets amid worries about the global financial system.

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Kobe, Arsenal 1-1 in women's soccer charity match

TOKYO, Japan - Players of Japanese women's league champions INAC Kobe Leonessa and English counterparts Arsenal Ladies shake hands following a charity soccer match at National Stadium in Tokyo on Nov. 30, 2011, to help reconstruction efforts in Japan following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. The game ended 1-1.

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Fukushima Gov. Sato

FUKUSHIMA, Japan - Fukushima Gov. Yuhei Sato speaks during a press conference in Fukushima, northeastern Japan, on Nov. 30, 2011. Sato said the Fukushima prefectural government will seek the decommissioning of all 10 nuclear reactors in the prefecture in its reconstruction plan to be compiled by the year-end.

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7-year-old duo to perform in Japan's year-end song festival

TOKYO, Japan - Mana Ashida (R) and Fuku Suzuki attend a press conference at head office of NHK, Japan Broadcasting Corp., in Tokyo, on Nov. 30, 2011, as the public broadcaster announced the lineup of performers for the 62nd ''Kohaku Uta Gassen,'' year-end song festival, including the duo of Ashida and Suzuki. They are both 7 years old, making them the program's youngest ever performers, according to NHK.

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S. Korea's Lee meets with U.S. Secretary of State Clinton

BUSAN, South Korea - South Korean President Lee Myung Bak (R) and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton shake hands in Busan, South Korea, on Nov. 30, 2011, before their talks. Lee and Clinton attended the opening ceremony of a ministerial-level forum in the port city on the effectiveness of development aid.

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New faces in Japan's 2011 year-end song festival

TOKYO, Japan - Singers selected for the first time to perform at the 62nd ''Kohaku Uta Gassen'' year-end song festival of NHK, Japan Broadcasting Corp., pose for photos at the head office of NHK in Tokyo on Nov. 30, 2011, as the public broadcaster announced the lineup of performers for the program. They are (from L front) Fuku Suzuki and Mana Ashida and (from L back) Girls' Generation's SeoHyun, Jessica, YuRi, Tiffany, TaeYeon and SooYoung, Sayaka Kanda, KARA's GYU RI, HARA and NICOLE, and Inawashirokos' Michihiko Yanai, Toshimi Watanabe, who is holding a fan with member Takashi Yamaguchi's picture on it, and Shinji Matsuda. Solo singer Ringo Sheena, who will also appear for the first time on the show, was not present for the photo.

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7-year-old duo to perform in Japan's year-end song festival

TOKYO, Japan - Mana Ashida (R) and Fuku Suzuki attend a press conference at head office of NHK, Japan Broadcasting Corp., in Tokyo, on Nov. 30, 2011, as the public broadcaster announced the lineup of performers for the 62nd ''Kohaku Uta Gassen,'' year-end song festival, including the duo of Ashida and Suzuki. They are both 7 years old, making them the program's youngest ever performers, according to NHK.

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PM Noda, LDP chief Tanigaki in parliamentary debate

TOKYO, Japan - Combined photos show Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda (L) and Sadakazu Tanigaki, chief of the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party, during their first one-on-one debate as party leaders in parliament on Nov. 30, 2011, in Tokyo.

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Akutagawa Prize novelists Kawakami, Abe

TOKYO, Japan - Combined file photos show novelists Mieko Kawakami (L) and Kazushige Abe, who are both winners of the prestigious Akutagawa literary prize. It was learned Nov. 30, 2011, that Kawakami and Abe have tied the knot.

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Top defense bureaucrat Nakae

NAHA, Japan - Vice Defense Minister Kimito Nakae speaks to reporters in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, on Nov. 30, 2011, after holding talks with Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima. Nakae, the top bureaucrat at the Defense Ministry, apologized to the governor over an indiscreet comment made by then chief of the Okinawa Defense Bureau Satoshi Tanaka.

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Top defense bureaucrat Nakae, Okinawa Gov. Nakaima talk

NAHA, Japan - Vice Defense Minister Kimito Nakae (L) and Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima hold talks in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, on Nov. 30, 2011. Nakae, the top bureaucrat at the Defense Ministry, apologized to the governor over an indiscreet comment made by then chief of the Okinawa Defense Bureau Satoshi Tanaka.

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Audi's A1 Samurai Blue unveiled at Tokyo Motor Show

TOKYO, Japan - Audi AG's A1 Samurai Blue passenger car is unveiled on Nov. 30, 2011, at the Tokyo Motor Show held at Tokyo Big Sight. The car is painted blue and white -- the colors of the Japanese national soccer team uniform for men and women -- accentuated by the red of the Japanese flag. The German automaker became a sponsor of the Japan Football Association in May 2011.

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BOJ Deputy Governor Nishimura

KYOTO, Japan - Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Kiyohiko Nishimura attends a meeting with business leaders at a hotel in Kyoto on Nov. 30, 2011. Nishimura said during a press conference after the meeting that he believes the intervention in the currency market by the Japanese government and the BOJ on Oct. 31 was effective.

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Honda's EV-STER unveiled at Tokyo Motor Show

TOKYO, Japan - Honda Motor Co.'s small electric sports car, the EV-STER, is unveiled on Nov. 30, 2011, at the Tokyo Motor Show, which opened to the press the same day at Tokyo Big Sight. The motor show will be open to the public from Dec. 3 through 11.

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Retrial granted in 1986 Fukui girl murder case

NANTO, Japan - Shoji Maekawa, who served out a 7-year prison term for killing a junior high school girl, speaks during a press conference in Nanto, Toyama Prefecture, on Nov. 30, 2011, after the Kanazawa branch of the Nagoya High Court decided the same day to open a retrial into the 1986 murder case in Fukui Prefecture.

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Kisenosato promoted to sumo's second-highest rank

FUKUOKA, Japan - Kisenosato (R) attends a press conference with his stablemaster Naruto in the city of Fukuoka, southwestern Japan, on Nov. 30, 2011, after being formally notified by messengers from the Japan Sumo Association that he is to be promoted to sumo's second-highest rank of ozeki.

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Fukushima Univ. to waive tuition for disaster-hit students

FUKUSHIMA, Japan - Fukushima University President Osamu Nittono (L), at a press conference in the city of Fukushima, northeastern Japan, on Nov. 30, 2011, said the university will waive tuition and enrollment fees for students severely affected by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and ensuing nuclear disaster, from the next academic year starting in April 2012.

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Kisenosato promoted to sumo's second-highest rank

FUKUOKA, Japan - Kisenosato (2nd from L) receives notice that he is to be promoted to sumo's second-highest rank of ozeki from messengers (R) from the Japan Sumo Association in a ceremony in the city of Fukuoka, southwestern Japan, on Nov. 30, 2011. The man beside Kisenosato is his stablemaster Naruto.

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S. Korean President Lee

BUSAN, South Korea - South Korean President Lee Myung Bak speaks in the opening ceremony of a ministerial-level forum on the effectiveness of aid to developing economies in the South Korean city of Busan on Nov. 30, 2011.

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Retrial granted in 1986 Fukui girl murder case

KANAZAWA, Japan - A lawyer (far R) for Shoji Maekawa holds a banner that reads, ''A retrial (for Maekawa) to start,'' outside the Kanazawa Branch of the Nagoya High Court in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Nov. 30, 2011. The branch granted a retrial of the 1986 murder of a junior high school girl in Fukui Prefecture, for which the 46-year-old man served out a seven-year jail term.

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Fuji Heavy's Subaru BRZ unveiled at Tokyo Motor Show

TOKYO, Japan - Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd's Subaru BRZ is unveiled on Nov. 30, 2011, at the Tokyo Motor Show, which opened to the press the same day before being opened to the public from Dec. 3 through 11. The rear-wheel drive sports car was co-developed with Toyota Motor Corp.

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Noda apologizes to Okinawa for defense official's indiscreet remark

TOKYO, Japan - Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda offers an apology while being questioned by reporters at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on Nov. 30, 2011, about a senior Defense Ministry official's indiscreet comment. He apologized to people in Okinawa for Satoshi Tanaka's comment made in connection with the government's plan to relocate a key U.S. base, for which he was sacked from the post of chief of the Okinawa Defense Bureau the previous day.

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Tokyo Motor Show opens to press

TOKYO, Japan - The Tokyo Motor Show opens to the press at Tokyo Big Sight in Koto Ward in the Japanese capital on Nov. 30, 2011. Japanese automakers unveiled a bevy of electric cars and other green vehicles, reflecting consumers' shift toward conserving resources after the limiting of power supplies in the wake of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. The motor show will be open to the public on Dec. 3-11.

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U.S., S. Korean foreign chiefs in Busan

BUSAN, South Korea - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (R) and South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Kim Sung Hwan shake hands prior to holding talks in Busan, South Korea, on Nov. 30, 2011.

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Honda's Brio prototype for Asian markets

BANGKOK, Thailand - Takanobu Ito (2nd from R), president of Honda Motor Co., unveils a prototype of the Brio subcompact targeting Asian markets in Bangkok on Nov. 30, 2010. Honda plans to start selling the car in Thailand and India in 2011.