May 12–September 11

Date Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster and TEPCO Government Response Other Developments
May 12      
May 13   The government agrees on a framework for using public funds to support TEPCO’s payment of compensation relating to the nuclear disaster.  
May 14   The Reconstruction Design Council presents its report with interim recommendations.  
May 15 It is announced that the Unit 1 reactor underwent meltdown 16 hours after the March 11 earthquake.   Planned evacuations begin in Iitate and Kawamata in Fukushima Prefecture.
May 16 It emerges that Unit 2 and 3 reactors may also have experienced a meltdown.    
May 17 A revised schedule for bringing the nuclear disaster under control is announced. The earlier idea of a “water tomb” solution is abandoned; the goal of achieving a cold shutdown within a six to nine months remains in place. The government announces a schedule for resolving the nuclear disaster; the plan calls for temporary housing to be available by the first half of August.  
May 18   Without consulting his cabinet, Prime Minister Kan announces at a press conference that the government will consider a legislation to separate responsibility for the generation and distribution of electricity. Over 100,000 people are said to have lost their jobs as a result of the earthquake and tsunami.
May 19      
May 20 TEPCO’s earnings report for March 2011 indicates a loss of over ¥1 trillion; President Shimizu Masataka announces he will step down and be replaced by Managing Director Nishizawa Toshio. A law is enacted allowing elections scheduled in the disaster areas to be postponed.  
May 21 Outdoor radiation levels of 1,000 millisieverts per hour, the highest so far, are detected at the south side of the Unit 3 reactor building. Prime Minister Kan, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak visit a disaster area in the northeast of Japan.  
May 22   The leaders of Japan, China, and South Korea agree to work together to enhance nuclear safety and disaster prevention.  
May 23     A fact-finding mission from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) arrives in Japan to investigate the nuclear disaster.
May 24 Meltdowns are confirmed to have occurred 60 hours and 101 hours after the earthquake at the Unit 3 and Unit 2 reactors, respectively. A decision is taken to set up an investigative committee to study the Fukushima nuclear disaster.  
May 25      
May 26   The G8 Summit begins in Deauville, France. Japanese and US leaders agree to postpone Prime Minister Kan’s trip to the United States until September.  
May 27   Final day of the G8 Summit; leaders issue a joint declaration, including a call for improving the safety of nuclear energy. The IAEA fact-finding mission visits the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.
May 28      
May 29   The Reconstruction Design Council agrees on proposal of special reconstruction zones.  
May 30      
May 31 Operation begins of a device to cool the spent fuel pool of the Unit 2 reactor using recycled water. At a meeting of governors from around the country, Prime Minister Kan states that all nuclear reactors in Japan except those at the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station should resume operations.  
June 1   A vote of no-confidence is submitted by three opposition parties. The IAEA submits its report to the prime minister’s office.
June 2   Prime Minister Kan survives the no-confidence motion by indicating that he will step down, but in an evening press conference he rejects the idea of resigning right away.  
June 3      
June 4 High radiation levels of up to 4,000 millisieverts per hour are detected in the Unit 1 reactor.   Crown Prince Naruhito and his wife visit disaster areas in Miyagi Prefecture.
June 5      
June 6     The German government decides to phase out its nuclear power plants.
June 7   The government submits a report to the IAEA recognizing the inadequacy of disaster prevention at Japan’s nuclear power plants.  
June 8   Prime Minister Kan marks one year in office. The government’s current-account surplus for April declines by 70% compared to the same month the previous year. The trade deficit for the period May 1–20 exceeds ¥1 trillion.
June 9     Novelist Murakami Haruki delivers a speech in Spain denouncing the use of nuclear power.
June 10      
June 11   Prime Minister Kan visits affected areas in Iwate Prefecture.  
June 12      
June 13 A total of eight nuclear power plant workers in Fukushima have been exposed to radiation levels exceeding the 250-millisievert limit. A water purification system is installed to purify contaminated water. The Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare announces that radiation levels in tap water do not pose health risk. Italian voters overwhelmingly reject nuclear power in a national plebiscite.
June 14     A Fukushima daily farmer takes his own life. His suicide note reads: “If only this nuclear disaster had never happened.”
June 15      
June 16      
June 17      
June 18   Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry Kaieda Banri says it is safe for nuclear power plants to resume operations.  
June 19      
June 20   A basic reconstruction law is enacted, amid mounting criticism of the fact it has taken 102 days since the disaster to enact the law.  
June 21 The water purification system temporarily shuts down due to malfunction. The government and opposition parties agree a 50-day extension of the Diet session. The same evening, Prime Minister Kan changes his proposal to 70 days.  
June 22   Decision is made to extend ordinary Diet session by 70 days.  
June 23      
June 24   Matsumoto Ryū is appointed minister in charge of reconstruction.  
June 25   The Reconstruction Design Council submits a report to Prime Minister Kan.  
June 26      
June 27 TEPCO begins cooling with recycled water in the Unit 1–3 reactors. Prime Minister Kan announces three conditions for his resignation, and his special advisor, Hosono Gōshi as minister in charge of handling the nuclear disaster.  
June 28 TEPCO holds its annual general shareholders meeting. First meeting of the government’s Headquarters for Reconstruction.  
June 29 New leakage of recycled coolant water occurs at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry Kaieda visits Saga Prefecture to request that the Genkai Nuclear Power Station resume operations. Local authorities seem likely to grant approval.  
June 30 Work on installing a temporary tide barrier is completed.    
July 1     Summertime electricity saving begins. The government calls for saving of 15% from TEPCO users and 22% from Tōhoku Electric Power Company users.
July 2      
July 3      
July 4      
July 5   Minister for Reconstruction Matsumoto Ryū, resigns after just nine days in office in the wake of insensitive remarks made to governors of prefectures affected by the earthquake and tsunami. His replacement is Hirano Tatsuo, senior vice minister at the cabinet office.  
July 6   Prime Minister Kan announces that “stress tests” will be conducted as a prerequisite for restarting nuclear power stations. Kyūshū Electric Power Company is discovered to have encouraged its employees to send emails in support of nuclear power to a televised public hearing.
July 7      
July 8      
July 9      
July 10      
July 11   Japan marks four months since the earthquake and tsunami.  
July 12      
July 13   Prime Minister Kan announces a policy of reducing Japan’s dependence on nuclear power.  
July 14   Prime Minister Kan states the move from nuclear power represents his own personal view, not government policy.  
July 15      
July 16      
July 17      
July 18      
July 19 TEPCO announces the latest schedule for resolving the nuclear disaster. Step 1 has been achieved and the target of a “cold shutdown” by January 2012 remains in place.    
July 20      
July 21      
July 22      
July 23      
July 24      
July 25   The Diet approves the second supplementary budget.  
July 26      
July 27      
July 28      
July 29      
July 30     Record rainfall in Fukushima and Niigata Prefectures leaves two people dead and a further four missing.
July 31      
August 1 The highest radiation level so far (over 10 sieverts per hour) is detected in the exhaust pipe between the Unit 1 and 2 reactors of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.    
August 2      
August 3      
August 4      
August 5      
August 6      
August 7      
August 8      
August 9     The Nikkei average falls to ¥8,656, dipping below the ¥9,000 mark for the first time in five months.
August 10 Work begins on assembling the steel framework for the cover at the Unit 1 reactor.    
August 11   Japan marks five months since the earthquake and tsunami.  
August 12      
August 13      
August 14      
August 15      
August 16      
August 17 The Hokkaidō Electric Power Company resumes operations at its Tomari Nuclear Power Station. This is the first nuclear power plant to be put back on line since the nuclear disaster in Fukushima.    
August 18      
August 19     The yen reaches a postwar high of 75.95 against the US dollar.
August 20   The government admits that residents evacuated from a 3km radius of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station may not be able to return home for an extended period of time.  
August 21      
August 22      
August 23      
August 24     Credit rating agency Moody’s downgrades Japan’s debt rating.
August 25      
August 26   Prime Minister Kan Naoto announces his resignation. Residents evacuated from within a 3km radius of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station are allowed to return home for short visits.
August 27      
August 28      
August 29   Noda Yoshihiko is elected as new leader of the Democratic Party of Japan.  
August 30   Noda Yoshihiko becomes Japan’s sixth prime minister in the past five years.  
August 31      
September 1   Disaster Prevention Day (held annually to mark the 1923 Great Kantō Earthquake).  
September 2   The cabinet of new Prime Minister Noda is launched. The ministers in charge of reconstruction and the nuclear crisis remain the same as in the previous cabinet. Typhoon Talas makes landfall in Japan, causing extensive damage across western Honshū over the next four days. Fifty people are confirmed dead, with another 54 still missing.
September 3      
September 4      
September 5      
September 6      
September 7      
September 8      
September 9      
September 10      
September 11   Japan marks six months since the earthquake and tsunami.  

(Originally written in Japanese.)