SHIOGAMI, Japan — It was a bitterly cold afternoon, and there were moments when the hospitality tent was almost ripped from the ground by fierce gusts of wind.

But the fishermen of the Urato Islands were not going to let the weather spoil what for them was a huge step in the recovery of their community — the handover of a fleet of boats donated by the U.S. charity, Operation Blessing International.

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After a brief ceremony, they took the boats for a spin, in circles around the small windswept bay, children lining up to take a ride.

There were plenty of smiles, but none broader than that of 37-year-old Yoshimasa Koizumi, the architect of the recovery here.

"We'll soon be able to support ourselves again," he predicted.

Koizumi is not your archetypal fishermen. For starters he's a good deal younger, and he arrived on the Urato Islands only in 2011, shortly before the tsunami struck. His was a rare move, since most migration had been away from these areas, leaving a barely viable and elderly community, just 400 strong.

But he was attracted by the pristine environment of the islands and joined the oyster business, taking delivery of a boat just one day before the tsunami struck. That boat was swept away, together with most of the local fishing fleet.

The islands, which sit close to the city of Sendai, acted as a sort of shock absorber, which was good news for some of the mainland coastal districts but not for the islands, which were devastated. Incredibly, nobody on the islands died.

A simple request
When, soon after, Koizumi was asked what he most needed, he replied: "Wi-Fi and a laptop. I just need the Internet."

The tech-savvy oyster farmer then began a Web-based campaign, the Children of the Sea, using the Internet and Twitter to rebuild the local oyster industry. Under the scheme, supporters were offered 10,000 yen ($105) shares to help the rebuilding of the industry. He soon had 14,000 shareholders and also attracted the attention of Operation Blessing.

Shareholders are really donors. They don't make a profit, but they are kept abreast of the recovery -- and also receive oysters as a kind of dividend.

Koizumi says that other, mostly elderly, fishermen were a little puzzled at first, and not at all sure about all that Internet stuff. But they soon rallied round as the shares were snapped up.

The islands benefit from sitting astride nutritious areas for raising oysters regarded as among the best in Japan. In fact, the oysters harvested there are so good they serve as "seeders" for other areas, making them not only critical to the local economy but important to the greater Japanese oyster industry. And Koizumi is confident Urato Islands oysters will soon be profitable again, thanks in part to the help of the many donors.

Government help has been slower, and like 200,000 other tsunami survivors Koizumi is still living in a temporary home.

"I never expected I'd still be living like this after two years," he said.

Much of the coastline here is now a vast, wind-swept wasteland. Rebuilding has hardly started, bogged down in bureaucracy. According to a study late last year by the Board of Audit of Japan, half the $150 billion tsunami relief fund has yet to be allocated.

Millions of tons of debris have been cleared and sorted, but it will take years to dispose of it.

"Some places are picking up, but there's still a lot more that needs to be done" said Don Thomson, the director of Japan operations for Operation Blessing.

For his part, Koizumi said he believes that communities themselves need to take the lead, demonstrating the can-do attitude that has provided inspiration to his neighbors.

"Rather than just wait for government aid, we have to do it ourselves," he said.

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TOKYO — Japan marked the second anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that swept through northern Japan, damaging more than one million homes and killing almost 19,000 people.

A moment of silence was observed at 2:46 p.m. local time on Monday at various locations where the scars of the disasters still remain.

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While most of the debris has been cleared, progress has been extremely slow in redeveloping areas affected following the tsunami-triggered explosion at Fukushima Daicihi nuclear power plant.

More than 320,000 people remain displaced, many of them living in temporary housing units provided by the government.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who took office in December, vowed to accelerate the speed of the reconstruction efforts and his government has already expanded the relief budget to $266 billion to subsidize many of these projects.

"Our ancestors have overcome many difficulties and each time emerged stronger," Abe said.

Meanwhile, thousands of anti-nuclear protesters marched in Tokyo. "People and the media are starting to forget Fukushima and what happened there," one 32-year-old mother of two at the demonstration told Reuters.

This fall, the operators of the plant will begin extracting fuel rods from one of the less-damaged reactor units to mark the start of decommissioning the nuclear facility. But without a clear plan to carry out the removal for the rest of the reactors, the process is expected to take at least 40 years to complete.

Reuters contributed to this report.

This story was originally published on Mon Mar 11, 2013 8:26 AM EDT

TOKYO — Journalists have been given a rare glimpse inside Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which was crippled in the 9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that hit the country two years ago. 

The tour of the plant ahead of the March 11 anniversary  of the disaster — which killed nearly 19,000 people and forced about 160,000 from their homes — sheds light on the colossal effort to decommission the nuclear reactors. The process is expected to take up to 40 years.

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Inside the facility, rows of large tanks store contaminated water used to cool the reactors. Temperatures in the plant have been kept stable — between 59 to 95 Fahrenheit — by continuously injecting cooling water. 

According to a briefing by plant operator TEPCO, each container holds up to 1,100 tons of water and fills up in two-and-a-half days.  There are 930 of these tanks, and already 75 percent have been filled, according to officials.  Although TEPCO plans to increase capacity by an additional 771,600 tons, they are running out of space.

The process is also yielding roughly 440 tons of water every day, raising the issue of what to do with the contaminated liquid. Officials hope that this water purification system will remove nuclear particles when completed.

TEPCO expects the water’s contamination levels to be reduced to low enough levels  to release it into the ocean. It is not clear how they will be able to overcome the public discontent over this plan, however.  For example, local fishing cooperatives are adamantly against the proposal. In February, a fish with a record level of cesium, 5,100 times the government safety standard, was found near the plant's port.

But the most important task in decommissioning the reactors is the removal of the fuel rods, a process that will begin in November. Work is already under way to build a protective cover for the rods. 

There is still no plan to remove fuel rods for the other reactor units, which are much more damaged.

Although the government's aim is to finish decommissioning the plant in 30 to 40 years, the plan also relies on  technological advances, an assumption that presents a profound challenge  as Japan struggles to contain this daunting nuclear crisis.

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TOKYO — A member of one of Japan's infamous "yakuza" organized crime syndicates has been arrested for illegally sending men to work at a construction company helping to clean-up the area around the tsunami-hit Fukushima nuclear power plant, police said Thursday.

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Yoshinori Arai, 40, who allegedly belongs to the Sumiyoshikai crime group, was detained after he sent three workers to do decontamination work without proper permits in November, according to Yamagata police.

The Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported the three men aged in their 50s were paid about $164 to $186 a day, mainly for cutting grass and other decontamination work.  A third of the pay went to Arai, according to the report.

Police said they were also investigating a similar case involving 10 other workers allegedly sent to the area in December.

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TOKYO — Love was in the air in a Tokyo park as normally staid Japanese husbands gathered to scream out their feelings for their wives, promising gratitude and extra tight hugs.

With modesty and reticence traditionally valued over outspokenness, expressing deeper feelings such as love has long been hard in Japan.

That's why dozens of Japanese men gather once a year ahead of Jan. 31, which in Japanese is a play on the words for "beloved wife," to let their feelings fly.

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Declarations at the Tuesday night event ranged from a simple "I'll love you forever" to expressions of gratitude for homemade boxed lunches.

"I'm sorry that I've gained weight over the last seven years," a suit-clad man yelled. "But that's because the meals you cook are so delicious."

The event, now in its fifth year, was thought up by Kiyotaka Yamana with the support of a local flower shop to urge Japanese men to show their affection in more explicit ways.

"The economy is getting better in Japan, and I see a lot of Japanese married couples getting more active in deepening their relationships," Yamana said.

Yamana founded the Japan Aisaika Organization, which promotes a culture of "Aisaika" or "adoring husbands." The group's website says it created Beloved Wives Day to urge Japanese husbands to "get home by 8 p.m. and say thanks to their wives for all they do."

At Tuesday's event, wives in the audience laughed and clapped, especially when one man got down on his knees to offer his wife a bouquet.

"He's very fabulous and manly today," said Yuko Todo, 33, after husband Takeshi's performance. "It just reminded me how macho he used to be — I'd forgotten that in the eight years we've been married. My heart pounded."

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Three Americans were among dozens of foreign nationals kidnapped by heavily armed militants who attacked a gas field in Algeria on Wednesday, U.S. officials said.

A militant group claimed the raid was launched in retaliation for France's military intervention in neighboring Mali, Reuters reported, citing local media.

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The hostage situation, described as a "terrorist attack" by State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland, was unfolding at a gas operation at In Amenas — a joint venture including oil giant BP, the Norwegian oil firm Statoil and the Algerian state company Sonatrach.

BP said in a statement that the site was "attacked and occupied by a group of unidentified armed people."

Reuters said that according to regional media reports, the raiders killed three people, including a Briton and a French national, but there was no way to confirm the account. Reuters did not report the citizenship of the third person.

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, which operates across borders in the Sahara desert, claimed it had captured the workers in retaliation for France's intervention in Mali, Reuters reported, citing regional news agencies.

France has been using Algeria's air space for attacks against al-Qaida linked militants in Mali since last week.

Western government officials had not yet linked Wednesday's attack to the conflict in Algeria's southern neighbor. Algeria and neighboring Mali are former colonies of France.

"The Algerian authorities will not respond to the demands of the terrorists and will not negotiate,'' Interior Minister Daho Ould Kablia was quoted as saying by Algeria's official APS news agency.

One of the kidnappers, reportedly contacted by Mauritania's news agency ANI, warned that any attempt to free the hostages would come to a "tragic end." The militants had placed mines around the site of the kidnapping, according to that unconfirmed report.

The U.S. government is in contact with Algerian authorities, the British Embassy in Algiers, BP's security office in London and the Diplomatic Security office in Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a briefing on Wednesday.

French President Francois Hollande said he was also in contact with Algiers and other governments about the attack.

A picture of who was being held hostage — with various reports that the total number was 41 — remains incomplete, but citizens of at least six countries are in the group.

There are three Americans in the group, a senior U.S. official told NBC. An earlier report had put the number at seven.

The State Department’s Nuland confirmed that Americans were among the hostages, but she would not release names, numbers and other details "in order to protect their safety."

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference that 13 Norwegian citizens were among the hostages. Three Algerian Statoil employees and one Canadian were in the hostage group, the company said. Statoil is a minority shareholder in the venture.

One Irish national was abducted, an Irish government official said, and British Prime Minister David Cameron said "several" British citizens were among the hostages.

A spokesman for the Japanese government said it had set up a task force to investigate reports of Japanese hostages.

A reporter for Japan's NHK television managed to call a Japanese worker in Algeria, Reuters reported. The worker said he got a phone call from a colleague at the gas field.

"It was around 6 a.m. this morning. He said that he had been hearing gunshots for about 20 minutes," the worker said. "I wasn't able to get through to him since."

The U.S. government issued an emergency message to Americans in the country through the embassy in Algiers, warning them to avoid large gatherings, protests or demonstrations.

"U.S. citizens should review their personal security plans, remain aware of their surroundings, including local events, and monitor local news stations for updates," it read, in part. "Maintain a high level of vigilance and take appropriate steps to enhance your personal security and follow instructions of local authorities.

The Amenas gas field is about 800 miles southeast of Algiers and about 35 miles west of the Libyan border.

Oil major BP said it believed the operation had been shut down after the attack, which took place at about 5 a.m. local time. The company said the field had been producing about 160,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day — more than 10 percent of the country's overall gas output, Reuters reported.

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Jim Miklaszewski, Courtney Kube, Ian Johnston, Arata Yamamoto and Alastair Jamieson of NBC News, and Reuters, contributed to this report.