(JAPAN)TEPCO president makes kneeling apology to nuclear crisis evacuees [View All]

[AsahinaKimi]

TEPCO President Masataka Shimizu, second from right, and other TEPCO staff kneel in apology (*DOGEZA) in front of a nuclear crisis evacuee in Nihonmatsu, Fukushima Prefecture, on May 4. (Mainichi)

NIHONMATSU, Fukushima -- Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) President Masataka Shimizu was on his knees here on May 4, apologizing to residents of towns forced to evacuate by the Fukushima nuclear crisis.

Shimizu visited the municipal disaster response sections of the Fukushima prefectural towns of Namie and Hirono and the village of Katsurao -- all forced to relocate due to the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant.

At Namie's temporary municipal office, town Mayor Tamotsu Baba roundly criticized TEPCO, telling Shimizu the utility "did not promptly tell us about the nuclear accident after it happened," among other comments. The TEPCO president was also assailed on his way out by one 50-year-old woman angry at delays in search efforts in the disaster areas.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110505p2a00m0na003000c.html
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*Dogeza:(literally to "sit down on the ground") is to sit directly on the ground and to prostrate oneself, bowing while sitting. An element of Japanese manners, it is used to show deference to the most highly-revered high-class person, as a deep apology, and to express the desire for a favor from said person.

(example) Formal Dogeza