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April 25, 2011. Soldiers deployed to find missing bodies in Japan; PM under political pressure after electoral defeats

SOURCE: Altegrity Risk International

The Japanese government deployed nearly 25,000 soldiers to search for the bodies of the 12,000 people missing since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, reports indicated on April 25th. Police, coast guard, and U.S. servicemen also took part in the search, which took place in inland and coastal areas of Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures. Some 438 bodies were found in two previous searches, bringing the official death toll to 14,340. In other news, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan found himself under serious political pressure after his Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) won only three out of the 10 elections held on April 23rd-24th. The DPJ losses came two weeks after the party suffered serious defeats in governorship and prefectural elections.