FEATURE: Remote Japanese island draws scrutiny over nuclear waste, rare earth plans

TOKYO - Japan's easternmost island, Minamitori Island, is drawing attention as the site of test mining for rare earth elements from the surrounding seabed and as a potential final disposal site for high-level radioactive waste from nuclear power plants.

The tiny atoll, part of Tokyo's Ogasawara village, lies isolated in the Pacific Ocean with no civilian residents and few villagers ever having visited.