Fukushima worker part of Japan's World Cup champions team
Japan's unlikely and heroic victory over a bigger and more powerful US team in the women's World Cup Final on Sunday buoyed spirits in a country devastated by the nuclear disaster, tsunami and earthquake. The albeit likely temporary respite was in part provided by a former Fukushima nuclear plant worker, Karina Maruyama, who propelled the team into the semifinals with the winning goal against Germany. In the final, Japan came back twice to tie the game in regular time and over-time, then won in a dramatic shootout. Prior to the Germany match, Japan's Coach Norio Sasaki showed the team video footage of the devastated Fukushima-Daiichi reactors, spurring their motivation. Said one fan who cheered for Japan: "After 9/11 we were all a little American, since Fukushima we are all a little Japanese." (Photo from the Bangkok Post).
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The Mainichi Daily News reports that Japan's federal Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yukio Edano, has announced that the victorious Japanese women's World Cup soccer team will be given the People's Honor Award by the Japanse Prime Minister "for inspiring people in Japan with their dedication and attitude not to give up until the very end and for encouraging people to face great difficulties such as the (March 11) catastrophe," including the ongoing Fukushima Daiichi triple nuclear meltdown disaster.