Qualla: The Koriyama Explosion: A Morning That Shattered Sakura-dori https://qualla.com/k-riyama-explosion en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:40 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: The Koriyama Explosion: A Morning That Shattered Sakura-dori https://qualla.com/k-riyama-explosion The Koriyama Explosion: A Morning That Shattered Sakura-dori: Introduction https://qualla.com/k-riyama-explosion/ Neighbors had smelled gas the day before. On the evening of July 29, 2020, residents along Sakura-dori in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, noticed something acrid in the air near the On-Yasai restaurant, a shabu-shabu spot that had been closed for renovations. Nobody called it in. The gas kept leaking through the night, seeping from corroded propane cylinders into the sealed building, filling the empty dining room and kitchen with an invisible payload. At 8:57 the next morning, a single renovation worker arrived, walked in, and flipped the power switch. The spark found the gas.

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]]> Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/x/n/e/u/k-riyama-explosion-wp/xneu-the-koriyama-explosion-a-morning-that-shattered-sa-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full The Koriyama Explosion: A Morning That Shattered Sakura-dori: Eight Fifty-Seven on Sakura-dori https://qualla.com/k-riyama-explosion/ The explosion obliterated the On-Yasai restaurant instantly. The blast wave ripped outward along Sakura-dori, one of the main commercial corridors in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture's largest city by economic output and a transportation hub of roughly 320,000 people. Windows shatt...

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]]> Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/x/n/e/u/k-riyama-explosion-wp/xneu-the-koriyama-explosion-a-morning-that-shattered-sa-eight-fifty-seven-on-sakura-dori.mp3 0:06 2 full The Koriyama Explosion: A Morning That Shattered Sakura-dori: The Pipes That Spoke Too Late https://qualla.com/k-riyama-explosion/ The cause traced back to something mundane: corrosion. In June 2020, the restaurant's gas supplier had inspected the propane system and discovered deterioration in the gas pipes. They informed the restaurant's owners and recommended immediate replacement. The owners, noting that ...

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]]> Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/x/n/e/u/k-riyama-explosion-wp/xneu-the-koriyama-explosion-a-morning-that-shattered-sa-the-pipes-that-spoke-too-late.mp3 0:06 3 full The Koriyama Explosion: A Morning That Shattered Sakura-dori: A City Already Tested https://qualla.com/k-riyama-explosion/ Koriyama sits in the Nakadori region of central Fukushima, roughly 60 kilometers west of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The city had already endured the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and the anxiety of the nuclear crisis that followed. By 2020, Koriyama had rebuilt its reputation ...

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]]> Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/x/n/e/u/k-riyama-explosion-wp/xneu-the-koriyama-explosion-a-morning-that-shattered-sa-a-city-already-tested.mp3 0:06 4 full The Koriyama Explosion: A Morning That Shattered Sakura-dori: What Remained https://qualla.com/k-riyama-explosion/ The site of the On-Yasai restaurant was reduced to rubble. Photographs from the scene showed the complete structural collapse of the building, with debris scattered across the sidewalk and road. Emergency crews spent hours treating the injured and securing the surrounding structu...

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]]> Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/x/n/e/u/k-riyama-explosion-wp/xneu-the-koriyama-explosion-a-morning-that-shattered-sa-what-remained.mp3 0:06 5 full