A crowd of Japanese people observe a moment of silence while facing the sea at 2:46 p.m. — the exact time a 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck off Japan’s coast two years ago. Across the country today, several events and rallies commemorated the devastating crisis that killed almost 19,000 people and stranded 315,000 evacuees. (PHOTO: REUTERS/Kyodo)

Japan has 22 million pets compared to just 17 million children under age 15. With fewer children to dote on, many Japanese couples and single adults are lavishing attention on their animals, pampering them with everything from spa treatments to Chanel attire, and sparking a boom for the pet industry.

They buy premium doggie garments from labels such as Chanel, Dior, Hermès, and Gucci — a poodle pullover can cost $250, according to Britain’s Guardian. They frequent restaurants which allow pets to sit at the table with their owners and lap up organic meals. They indulge in doggie yoga classes and hot-spring resorts where lapdogs can get one-on-one swimming lessons, bubble baths, and pressure-point massages.

For some pets, the pampering doesn’t end with death. Some temples lay deceased dogs to rest with full Buddhist rites, at $8,000 a pop for a deluxe funeral and cremation.

Why childless Japanese are choosing pets over parenthood

Say goodbye to warm beer: A Japanese brewing giant is topping off beer mugs with frozen beer foam, dispensed like soft-serve ice cream. The manufacturer says the frozen foam can keep a stein of beer cold for 30 minutes. Check it out

Thousands of paper cranes, memorializing the victims of Japan’s 2011 tsunami, line the walls of the emergency operation center at the Daiichi nuclear plant in Fukushima. In case you missed it, a look back at a year in photos, as the country commemorates the anniversary of the disaster. 

Japan’s Ghost Island. There used to be people here. Now there are none.

jtotheizzoe:

Tohoku Tsunami Created Icebergs In Antarctica, the first proof of a tsunami affecting ice sheets a hemisphere away.

(via NASA)

(via jtotheizzoe)

Pockets of extremely high radiation have been discovered near a ventilation chimney at Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant. The radiation has reached a level of at least 10 sieverts per hour — the highest level the Geiger counters available can measure and more than 40 times the maximum radiation exposure that’s allowed for the plant’s workers on an annual basis. A single dose of 10 sieverts per hour will kill a person.

Photo: REUTERS/Tokyo Electric Power Co

A Japanese couple finalizes their divorce by smashing their wedding rings with a gavel. Japan’s divorce ceremonies have slowly grown in popularity since 2009, but they have reportedly tripled in the wake of the March earthquake. These unusual celebrations publicly mark a relationship’s termination before the couple officially files for divorce. Ex-grooms and ex-brides have said it’s more satisfying than just signing a paper.

If they can do it, can’t we?

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet this week approved a plan to close all of the country’s 17 nuclear reactors by 2022, and replace them completely with alternative energy sources that neither increase greenhouse gas emissions nor hobble economic growth.

Photo: CC BY Paul J Everett

Meet Masanobu Shishikura, a 41-year-old geologist who predicted the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. He and his colleagues told the government that northeastern Japan was overdue for a huge wave, but the Trade Ministry dismissed the evidence, and the Tokyo Electric Power Co. did nothing to beef up defenses at Fukushima.

Photo: Screen shot, wsj.com