To reduce radiation across Japan’s northern Fukushima region after the 2011 nuclear disaster, authorities scraped a layer of contaminated soil from swathes of land.Now, as young farmers seek to bring life back to the region once known for its delicious fruit, authorities are deliberating what to do with the mass of removed soil — enough to fill more than 10 baseball stadiums.Here are some key things to know:- Why was the soil removed? -On March 11, 2011, Japan’s strongest earthquake on record triggered a huge tsunami that hit the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, causing a devastating meltdown.Topsoil was collected as part of large-scale decontamination efforts that also included blasting buildings and roads with high-pressure jets of water.Almost all areas of Fukushima have gradually been declared safe, but many evacuees have been reluctant to return because they remain worried about radiation, or have fully resettled elsewhere.Fukushima has, however, welcomed new residents such as 25-year-old kiwi farmer Takuya Haraguchi.”I want people to become interested in and learn about what Fukushima is really like these days,” he told AFP.- Where is the soil being stored? -A vast quantity of soil — 14 million cubic metres — is being stored at interim storage facilities near the Fukushima Daiichi plant.The government has promised residents of Fukushima region that it will find permanent storage for the soil elsewhere in the country by 2045.For now, the huge mounds are kept inside guarded grounds, protected by layers of clean soil and a manmade sheet to prevent runoff into the environment.- What will Japan do with it? – The government wants to use the soil for building road and railway embankments among other projects.It has vowed to do this outside Fukushima to avoid further burdening the region, where the crippled nuclear plant generated electricity not for local residents, but for Tokyo and its surrounding urban areas.So far few takers have been found in other parts of Japan, and some local officials suggest that realistically, a portion of the soil may need to stay in Fukushima.The prime minister’s office recently said it would symbolically recycle some of the soil to show it is safe, with reports saying it will be used in flower beds.- How safe is the soil? -Around 75 percent of the stored soil has a radioactivity level equivalent to or less than one X-ray per year for people who directly stand on or work with it, according to the environment ministry.Asphalt, farm soil or layers of other materials should be used to seal in the radioactivity, said Akira Asakawa, a ministry official working on the Fukushima soil project.In a test, the government has constructed roads and fields in Fukushima by using the contaminated soil as filling material.Those locations did not show elevated levels of radioactivity, and there was no runoff of radioactive material to surrounding areas, Asakawa said.- What pushback has there been? -In 2022, local communities reacted angrily to plans floated by the national government to bring the Fukushima soil to a popular park in Tokyo and other areas near the capital.That plan has not moved forward and other locations have not yet been secured, despite public sympathy for the people of Fukushima.The environment ministry says it will step up efforts to explain the safety of its plan to the public from this year. 

Nintendo hopes to match the runaway success of the Switch when its levelled-up new console hits shelves Thursday, with strong early sales expected despite the gadget’s high price.Featuring a bigger screen and more processing power, the Switch 2 is an upgrade to its predecessor, which has sold 152 million units since launching in 2017 — making it the third best-selling video game console of all time.But despite buzz among fans and robust demand for pre-orders, headwinds for Nintendo include uncertainty over US trade tariffs and whether enough people are willing to shell out.The Switch 2 “is priced relatively high” compared to the original device, company president Shuntaro Furukawa said at a financial results briefing in May.”So even if there is momentum around the launch, we know it will not be easy to keep that momentum going over the long term,” he warned.Sales of the Switch, which can connect to a TV or be played on the go, were boosted by the popularity of games like “Animal Crossing” as a pandemic lockdown pastime.The Japanese company forecasts it will shift 15 million Switch 2 consoles in the current financial year, roughly equal to the original in the same period after its release.The new device costs $449.99 in the United States, over a third more than the Switch. A Japan-only version is cheaper, at 49,980 yen ($350).New Switch 2 games such as “Donkey Kong Bonanza” and “Mario Kart World” — which allows players to go exploring off-grid — are also more expensive than existing Switch titles.Most original Switch games can be played on the Switch 2, and some Switch blockbusters such as “Zelda: Breath of the Wild” will have enhanced editions released for the new incarnation.- ‘Super excited’ -“People were a bit shocked by the price of ‘Mario Kart World’, the first $80 game that we’ve ever seen,” said Krysta Yang of the Nintendo-focused Kit & Krysta Podcast.While the company is “going to have to do some work” to convince more casual gamers that it’s worth upgrading, Nintendo fans are “super excited”, she told AFP.The Switch 2 will have eight times the memory of the first Switch, and its controllers, which attach with magnets, can also be used like a desktop computer mouse.Although the new console is not radically different, “a lot of people (are) saying, ‘this is what I wanted, I wanted a more powerful Switch — don’t mess with a good thing’,” said Yang, a former Nintendo employee.New functions allowing users to chat as they play online and temporarily share games with friends could also be a big draw, said David Gibson of MST Financial.”It’s a way to appeal to an audience which has got used much more to the idea of streaming games and watching games, as well as playing games,” he told AFP, predicting that the Switch 2 will break records in terms of early sales.And success is crucial for Nintendo.While the “Super Mario” maker is diversifying into theme parks and hit movies, around 90 percent of its revenue still comes from the Switch business, analysts say.- Tariff trouble? -Nintendo delayed pre-orders for the Switch 2 in the United States by two weeks as it assessed the impact from President Donald Trump’s global assault on free trade.But its pre-orders have since sold out in the US market and elsewhere, with the company boasting of particularly high demand in Japan.Furukawa said in May that Nintendo’s financial projections are based on the assumption of US tariffs of 10 percent on products produced in Japan, Vietnam, and Cambodia, and 145 percent on China.”Hardware for North America is mainly produced in Vietnam,” he added.Trump’s hefty so-called “reciprocal” tariff of 46 percent on goods from Vietnam is on pause, while those on China have been slashed.Tariff uncertainty could in fact push consumers to buy a Switch 2 sooner, because they are worried that the price could go up, Yang said.Charlotte Massicault, director of multimedia and gaming at the French retail giant Fnac Darty, told AFP that pre-sale demand has been “well above what we imagined”.”For us, this will be a record in terms of first-day sales for a games console,” she said.The Switch 2 is “less of a family-focused product, and more of a ‘gamer’ product” compared to the Switch, she said.”That’s what Nintendo wanted, and it works.”