(No place for) Amateurs

Thomas van Asselt

Japan

Inhoudsopgave

Inhoudsopgave

3

Voorwoord

4

Japan: een Introductie

6

Aardbeving

10

Tsunami

16

Fukushima

22

Brad’s view on Yokosuka

30

2012

38

Noodhulp

42

Colofon

48

Japan

Thomas van Asselt:

In No Place for Amateurs wordt verslag gedaan rond de gebeurtenissen in Japan, maart 2011. Het land werd getroffen door een aardbeving, tsunami en een nucleaire ramp. Deze publicatie is samengesteld met verslagen van amateur journalisten. Bewust en onbewust publiceerden individuen wereldwijd getuigenverslagen, verhalen en meningen over de rampen in Japan.

De verslagen hebben gemeen dat zij alle afkomstig zijn van het internet. Het internet kent geen kwaliteits- en waarheidscontrole.

Zo ook deze publicatie niet. Het zijn de opvattingen van individuen voor wie geen plek is in de professionele journalistiek.

4

Voorwoord

Emily Badger:

The rise of the internet is frequently accompanied by fears of the decline in quality journalism, as organisations like WikiLeaks have blurred old rules around the standards of a responsible fourth estate and as cell phone-wielding citizens have collapsed old distinctions about exactly who counts as a journalist.

If everyone gets to be a reporter on the internet, the logic goes, then hardly anyone is a true professional, with the professional’s trained code of conduct for handling sources, content and publishing platforms.

Twitter, after all, has no ombudsman, and citizen journalists have no style books, and the internet has no editor.

5

Japan:

een introductie Probeer NOOIT om ook te BUIGEN zoals de Japanners. Je slaat bijna altijd een gek figuur en in het slechtste geval kom je zelfs beledigend over.

De aard en de diepte van de buiging hangen immers af van zovele voorwaarden en omstandigheden dat het voor ons onbegonnen werk is om het te proberen of om het aan te leren. Een bescheiden knikje met het hoofd is meestal meer dan voldoende om beleefd te zijn.

Een Japanner heeft een speciaal soort portefeuille voor NAAMKAARTJES. VERGEET JE NAAMKAARTJE NIET. Het is de gewoonte om bij elke eerste kennismaking met zakenrelaties, plaatselijke gidsen, e.d. je naamkaartje af te geven. Een visitekaartje wordt ofwel met beide handen, ofwel met de rechterhand alleen afgegeven.

Je spreekt een Japanner steeds aan met de FAMILIENAAM. De voornaam wordt enkel gebruikt door mensen die heel familiair met mekaar omgaan. Voeg achter de familienaam het achtervoegsel “SAN” toe, wat “MIJNHEER” of “MEVROUW” betekent of het achtervoegsel “SENSEI”. Dit laatste wil “MEESTER” zeggen. het bijvoegen van “san” of “sensei” opent vele deuren.

Spreek zeker NOOIT een OUDERE JAPANNER aan met de VOORNAAM. Dit zou pas een zware BELEDIGING zijn.

Kom je in contact met iemand die een HOGE TITEL draagt, dan gebruik je best die titel. Bijvoorbeeld: een directeur van een groot bedrijf noem je gemakshalve “MISTER PRESIDENT”. Dit wordt altijd geapprecieerd. Zo wordt er ook vaak gebruik gemaakt van “titels” wanneer men iemands naam niet kent: “OMAWARI-SAN” of “Mijnheer de Politieagent”, “SUSHIYA-SAN” of “Mijnheer Sushishop”. Vreemdelingen en toeristen worden door de Japanners vaak aangesproken met “Gajin-SAN”.

Beschouw dit zeker niet als een uiting van “racisme”. Dit is zeker niet de bedoeling.

Een Japanner heeft een grondige HEKEL aan LICHAMELIJK CONTACT. Ga dus nooit te dicht bij een Japanner of bij de gids staan.

Opgelet bij het stellen van VRAGEN. Het ANTWOORD VAN EEN JAPANNER kan zeer onduidelijk en vaag zijn. Ja is niet altijd ja, neen is niet altijd neen. Alles hangt bij voorbeeld af van de manier waarop een vraag gesteld wordt. Een negatieve vraag met neen beantwoorden, kan betekenen dat het antwoord ja is. Bovendien moet je er rekening mee houden dat een Japanner zijn bezoeker of zijn gesprekspartner niet rechtstreeks wil ontgoochelen. Hij zal dus luidop “ja” of “misschien” of “ik weet het nog niet” zeggen terwijl hij in zichzelf “neen” denkt.

Rechtstreekse vragen kan je beter niet stellen. Een Japanner weet er geen blijf mee wanneer hij een “onaangenaam” antwoord moet geven. Hij wil dan liever “vaag” blijven.

Japan

LAND Vroegere naam: Japan (Nihon Koku of Nippon Koku; letterlijk, Bron van het Zonneland of Land van de Rijzende Zon) Verkorte vorm: Japan Inwoners: Japanners Taal: Japans Hoofdstad: Tokyo.

Today my meisen purple roses in the snow.

With black hat, black gloves and black boots.

This is my first time with boots with kimono, it’s weird!

AARDRIJKSKUNDIGE GEGEVENS Oppervlakte: in totaal 377 835 km²; landoppervlakte: 374 744 km² Bergachtige eilanden met ontelbare slapende en actieve vulkanen. Er zijn vier belangrijke “hoofd”-eilanden: HOK-KAIDO, HONSHU, , and KYUSHU) en ontelbare kleinere eilandjes van noord tot zuid, allemaal tengevolge van aardbevingen.

Het hoogste punt is de FUJIBERG (3776 meters).

Not sure why I made this blog, but it seemed fun to make one and write about my kimono adventures.

Maybe my little sister will learn some English reading it.

Er zijn ontelbare snelstromende rivieren die dan ook vrij vaak onbevaarbaar zijn, maar die wel zorgen voor de water-voorziening voor hydro-elektrische centrales.

Klimaat: Overwegend regenachtig en dus een vrij hoge vochtigheidsgraad. Warme zomers en lange koude winters in het noorden; hete en vochtige zomers en korte winters in het centrum; lange, hete en vochtige zomers en zachte winters in het zuidwesten

SAMENLEVING BEVOLKING: 124 711 551 in juli 1993; ongeveer 80 % leeft in stedelijke gebieden.

Zeer hoge bevolkingsdichtheid: 329,5 inwoners per km² voor de totale oppervlakte en 1523 inwoners per km² voor de bewoonbare oppervlakte. Meer dan 50 percent van de bevolking leeft op slechts 2 % van de oppervlakte van het land.

BEVOLKINGSGROEPEN 99,4 percent Japanners en 0,6 percent anderen, vooral Koreanen en wat Chinezen. Er zijn ook nog wat autochtone Jappanse minderheidsgroepen, zoals de Ainu en de Hisabetsu buraku.

Pionieren in het kerkplantingswerk in centraal Tokio, het hart van Japan.

Eline en Boo strijden voor het Christelijk geloof in Japen.

Japan, het land van mysterieuze schoonheid in het Verre Oosten, economisch zwaargewicht, opgepoetst en vol handige technische gadgets. Maar onder deze glimmende laag van traditioneel lakwerk en neon gaat een bevolking van 127 miljoen Japanners gebukt onder onmenselijke werkdruk, sociale dwang en psychologische problemen. Het aantal zelfmoorden rijst de pan uit. Materialisme, conformisme en andere religies zoals het boedhisme en shinto vormen grote belemmeringen voor de groei van de christelijke kerk. Minder dan 1% van de bevolking is christen. Er is vrijheid van godsdienst in Japan, maar tegelijkertijd geldt

Tip van Patochan! het adagium: ‘een spijker die uitsteekt moet platgeslagen worden’. Als een minderheidsgroep staan christenen bloot aan extreme druk in familieverband en op het werk. Als volk is Japan nog lang niet bereikt met het Evangelie, maar in de levens van jonge professionals is de kerk nagenoeg afwezig. Als toekomstig leiders in de zakenwereld, politiek, media en kunst zijn deze twintigers en dertigers invloedrijk in het vormgeven van de hedendaagse Japanse cultuur. Geert en Eline de Boo werken als GZB zendelingen onder deze strategische groep en pionieren in het kerkplantingswerk in centraal Tokio, het hart van Japan.

TAAL: Japans met de nadruk op het Engels als tweede taal

8

Japanners hebben, zoals bijna ieder mens, het niet zo op ongemakkelijke situaties. En wat mij betreft staat het geven van fooi hoog op het lijstje van dit soort momenten. Gelukkig hoef je in een restaurant nooit te twijfelen bij het afrekenen, want fooi geven is niet gebruikelijk.

Sterker nog het is ongewenst.

een introductie

Speciaalbier cultuur groeit in Japan In Azië groeit de verkoop en populariteit van speciaalbier. Dit jaar wordt voor de vijfde keer een speciaalbierfestival gehouden. Op 31 oktober a.s. vindt van 12.00 tot 18.00 uur het Nippon Craft Beer Festival plaats. Vanuit heel Japan komen circa 50 brouwerijen met hun verschillende bieren het publiek enthousiast maken. Het is maar één dag dus dan moet je tempo maken als je alles wilt zien.

Het festival vindt plaats in de Azumabashi’s Sumida Riverside Hall.

Ikebana is de kunst van het bloemschikken. Ik ben niet zo dol op bloemen tenzij ze volgens de art of Ikebana geschikt zijn. Werkelijk, wauw! De kunst van het minimale organische.

De grote vier speciaalbierbrouwers in Japan zijn: Harvest Moon, Echigo, Ginga Kogen, Yokohama en August. Uiteraard allemaal aanwezig.

CHO Harajuku, Tokyo WINTER, 2011, GUYS Kjeld Duits STUDENT, 25 Coat – Matalan Pants – Comme des Garçons Sneakers – Reebok

J-pop is hetzelfde als Japanse pop. Je hebt ook J-Rock, Japanese rock dus. Het klinkt zo Westers en tegelijkertijd ook zo cultuurgebonden.

Het is leuk als je open staat voor niet-Engelstalige songs want heus, er valt daar wat te ontdekken. Dus niet alle typische Japanse muziek is harpmuziek en fluitmuziek. Of karaoke.

Uchiyama’s vijf bevindingen over Japan.

Oude gewoontes en cultuurinvloeden blijven lang bewaard en ook heden ten dage nog in gebruik. Het zijn deze oude gewoontes en tradities die het moderne Japan en de Japanners toch een zeker uniek karakter geven. Het geloof van sommige Japanners in hun eigen unieke karakter gaat echter nog iets verder. Van oudsher geloofden ze namelijk dat zij het uitverkoren volk waren, uitverkoren door de kami, maar die theorie wordt door weinigen buiten Japan ondersteund.

1. Het is een zeldzaam schoon land. Stations, treinen, trottoirs, openbare gebouwen, wegen, straten, openbare toiletten, alles is er schoon.

2. Het is een zeer veilig land.

Je kunt er rustig met een open tas lopen met alle spullen, als portemonnee en mobiele telefoon, er in. In Japan is het niet ongewoon om met veel contant geld op zak te lopen, misschien omdat dit min of meer noodzakelijk is vanwege de geringe pinfaciliteiten in de winkels, maar vooral omdat de kans op diefstal minimaal is.

3. Het is een hygiënisch land. Veel Japanners gaan minimaal 1 x per dag in bad. Als het enigszins kan gaat men wel 2 of 3 x per dag. Men kent van oudsher een uitgebreide badcultuur. Als men verkouden is, doet men een mondkapje voor. Japan kent geen risicogebieden.

9

4. De mensen zijn zeer vriendelijk en hulpvaardig. Als je als buitenlander ergens een tijdje staat omdat je iets niet begrijpt, komt er binnen de kortste keren iemand op je af om te vragen of ze kunnen helpen.

Weet hij of zij het ook niet, dan wordt er iemand bijgehaald.

5. Men is zeer secuur en alles rijdt op tijd. De treinen en bussen rijden stipt op tijd, men ziet dit als een teken van respect tegenover de passagier. Een machinist of buschauffeur houdt de klok scherp in de gaten en op de seconde nauwkeurig rijdt hij weg. Als je lange tijd in Japan gewoond hebt en je keert terug naar Nederland, moet je constateren dat onze maatschappij voor een deel behoorlijk verziekt is.

Animé en manga. Big love for me.

Animé zijn Japanse tekenfilms en manga Japanse strips. Daar komt het eigenlijk op neer. Je hebt manga’s en animés voor kinderen, tienerjongens, tienermeisjes, volwassenen, homosexuelen, huisvrouwen. Elke manga/animé zijn publiek.

Aardbeving Japan bezit ongeveer 10 % van de actieve vulkanen inde wereld. In 1990 waren dat er 40, terwijl er bovendien ook nog 148 slapende vulkanen op de eilanden zijn.

Japan ligt trouwens in een zone waarin de aardkorst een extreme instabiliteit vertoont. Jaarlijks worden er minstens 1500 aardbevingen geregistreerd waarvan de magnitude niet zelden 4 tot 6 op de schaal van Richter bedraagt. Aardschokken en trillingen komen bijna dagelijks voor, ergens in dit grote land met lichte trillingen tot gevolg voor gebouwen.

De opheffingen van de bodem, die Japan hebben doen ontstaan, zetten zich nog steeds voort in de vorm van talrijke aardbevingen. Het record wordt wel behaald door Gifoe, ten noordwesten van Nagaoja, waar ieder jaar ongeveer een 1000-tal seismische bevingen voorkomen, waarvan er nagenoeg een 500 zijn die sterk genoeg zijn om door de mens gevoeld te worden. Deze aardschokken, waarbij soms zeer sterke, brengen voortdurend verandering in de topografie mee, want de horizontale bewegingen die op de verticale volgen, veroorzaken barsten in de bodem en dwars over wegen en akkers.

In de laatste duizend jaar heeft Japan meer dan 227 grote aardbevingen gehad. De belangrijkste aardbeving van de 20ste eeuw greep plaats in 1923 en werd de “Grote Kanto-aardbeving” genoemd. Meer dan 130 000 mensen verloren daarbij het leven en Tokyo werd grotendeels verwoest.

De oevers van de Baai van Tokio kwamen zelfs meer dan 70 m omhoog.

In januari 1995 teisterde een zware aardbeving de stad Kobe. Deze aardbeving, die de naam “zuidelijke hyogo-aardbeving” of “grote hanshinaardbeving” kreeg, kostte in totaal 5500 mensenlevens en 415 000 gewonden. Meer dan 100 000 huizen werden volledig vernield en 185 000 woningen werden gedeeltelijk beschadigd. Het meest sensationele beeld was wel de instorting van de grote stadssnelweg, waarvan men overtuigd was dat hij volledig aardbevingbestendig was. Ook sensationeel waren de rechtstreekse beelden vanuit kantoren en openbare gebouwen die door de televisie werden uitgezonden.

Ook treden er vaak aardbevingen en aardschokken op de zeebodem op met als gevolg dat de Japanse kusten steeds op hun hoede moeten zijn voor een “TSUNAMI” of “vloedgolf”, die met zijn watermuren van vaak meer dan 30 meter hoog nog meer verwoestend is dan een aardbeving.

Japan An Amazing Story about Twitter and the Japan Earthquake Every once in a while, I have an “aha” moment where I’m blown away by an unsuspected use or combination of technologies.

Prior to yesterday, the last such moment was when I heard my son shouting in French while playing alone in his room on a new game console: “Cachetoi derriere le rocher … tire, tire, tire!” (“Hide beind the rock, shoot, shoot, shoot”). Had he gone crazy, I thought? Then it clicked. I knew the console was Internet connected. I knew it had a bluetooth headset.

I knew it supported multi-player games. And I knew he spoke French. It had just never occurred to me that it would all come together such that he’d end up playing videogames with kids in France and talking to them while so doing.

Yesterday, I had a similar moment while I was talking to a friend with family in Japan. We discussed the recent earthquake and she told me the following story.

We were on Twitter that night and suddenly the Japanese Twittersphere lit up with tweets about the earthquake. So we called our family and got through to them while the earthquake was still in progress. As it got stronger the line got cut, but were nevertheless really happy that we spoke as, after that, we couldn’t get through on the phone lines for at least 12 hours.”

This blew me away. Think about that. Someone can tweet about an earthquake as it hits, you can get the tweet 5000 miles away and call your friend while the earthquake’s still happening. In fact, once I really started to think about it, I realized that you can actually call your friend before the earthquake arrives if he is far enough from the epicenter.

The Japanese Earthquake: How to Stay Safe When Traveling.

On March 11th, an earthquake of 8.8 magnitude hit the north of Japan closest to the city of Sendai.

The damage, injuires and loss of life are extensive, with death toll numbers expected to reach 10,000 and property damage in the billions of dollars.

The initial earthquake was followed by numeorous aftershocks, tsunamis and serious damage to the country’s infrastructure, including an important nuclear plant.

Although locals are always the hardest hit by natural disasters or political uprisings, it can be even more confusing and terrifying for tourists, who find themselves unexpectedly trapped in an emergency situation far from home without contacts, knowledge of the language or customs, or knowing how to protect themselves in a disaster. These tips are not meant to frighten anyone away from global travel (after all, disasters and protests happen at home as well), but will hopefully provide some help with preparation and maintaining a calm state of mind, which can go a long way toward alleviating the stress of a seemingly unmanageable situation.

1) Arm Yourself with Information Before You Leave Home: when traveling to a foreign country, especially one with geographical or climatic instability such as Japan or Iceland, do as much research as possible before booking your trip. Check, for example, that you will not be arriving at your tropical paradise destination in the middle of cyclone season, or that you are aware of what the locals do when an earthquake or tsunami hits.

2) Carry Emergency Supplies: always have the following in your backpack or carry-on: a first aid kit, snacks, a bottle of water, sufficient cash in a hard currency such as U.S. dollars or Euros (it’s doubtful that you will be able to get to a working ATM in an emergency), copies of your passport and visas, phone numbers and email addresses, a cell phone or hand-held device and chargers, prescription medicines, toiletries.

3) Safety First: when disaster strikes, quickly and calmly get yourself out of harm’s way as soon as possible. In a natural disaster such as a hurricane or tsunami, get to high ground or a hurricane shelter. In political turmoil, go to a hotel or private home as far away from the protests as possible. Listen to local authorities; they are the experts on the situation.

4) Keep a Level Head: if, despite your best efforts, you find yourself in an emergency situation, stay calm. The worst thing to do in either a natural disaster or political uprising is to panic. Many unnecessary problems are caused by the over-reaction of frightened tourists since they tend to rush and overwhelm local resources, especially transportation and communication hubs and spread fear and anger to other tourists and locals.

12

Aardbeving Will the Japan Earthquake/Tsunami Trump Charlie Sheen in U.S. Media?

Black American Opinion Today’s earthquake tragedy in Japan is an eye opening reminder of how sensitive the scales of life and death can be despite all of our futile attempts to micro manage this speck of space we occupy from a universal view. As we hope and pray for the welfare of the Japanese people and the future of that region one can likewise hope that in America the media might calibrate their scales a bit and better channel what they call “news worthy” or “breaking news”. Let’s face it we live in a country that by some official standard is considers a major player in the global power game.

Yet it is laughable to note that this same world power (America) with its media giants (CNN, Fox News, and three majors) that gave bastard births to media whore-junkies like Lady GaGa, Kim Kardashian and its latest baby-daddy creation Charlie Sheen.

It’s an absolute disgrace that Lady GaGa ranks #1 as the most followed person on Twitter in the US while President Obama and Kim Kardashian are battling for position on Twitter depending on which day the wind blows up the skirt of Kim’s Channel dress in New York, during fashion week. Come on are we really serious as a nation or are we just playing games with ourselves while the rest of the world kicks our U.S. ass.

‘Oil prices drop in wake of Japan tsunami’ After consecutive weeks of above-$100 oil, the price of a barrel of crude dropped $4 to around $97 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Lower demand due to the earthquake, tsunami, and subsequent nuclear crisis in Japan brought prices tumbling, according to various reports.

Oil prices dropped sharply Tuesday, declining $4 drop to near $97 a barrel on lower demand in Japan due to the big earthquake and subsequent in that country.

Concerns that Japan’s economy – the largest in the world – could remain at a standstill could send prices down even further. Japan is also the third largest consumer of oil products in the world.

However, the production halt at some of Japan’s nuclear plants may boost demand for other fuels, such as liquefied natural gas and diesel.

‘Impact aardbeving Japan op pc-markt beperkt’

De Japanse Ziel

De aardbeving in Japan heeft weinig effect op de levering van pc’s, tablets en andere computerapparaten. De industrie zal slechts kort last hebben van stagnatie in de levering van componenten.

Wel zal het nog enkele weken duren voordat de werkelijke schade en consequenties van de natuurramp in Japan duidelijk worden. Toch verwacht zegt analistenbureau Canalys dat het effect op de pc-markt klein is. De marktonderzoeker verwacht dat de huidige politieke onrust in Noord-Afrika en het Midden-Oosten meer impact heeft op de ict-industrie. “In die regio’s is de markt vrijwel stil komen te staan. Het is onduidelijk hoelang die situatie nog voortduurt.”

Canalys ziet enorme groei dit jaar wat betreft tablets, met vanzelfsprekend de iPad als grote winnaar. De notebook en netbook hebben het moeilijk. Wat betreft notebooks is er nog enige groei te behalen in de zakelijke markt. Daar worden nog steeds oudere systemen vervangen, met name door de overschakeling op Windows 7.

Het aantal notebooks dat echter nog op voorraad ligt in West-Europa is enorm en houdt leveringen van nieuwere systemen tegen.

Toen ik gisteravond in het maanlicht een wandeling door het parkje tegenover mijn huis maakte was het bijzonder stil op straat. Er heerste een stilte die eigenlijk heel goed hoorbaar was.

De gebeurtenissen in Japan lijken te leiden tot een bepaalde collectieve energie. Een energie gekenmerkt door ontzagwekkende verslagenheid overal ter wereld. De schokkende beelden die we via de media allen tot ons kregen spraken voor zichzelf. Vrijwel voorbij het voorstellingsvermogen of het ons deed herinneren aan scènes uit films als Apocalypse, Armageddon en 2012.

Inmiddels toont de wereld haar sympathie voor Japan na die verschrikkelijke aardbeving en de allesverwoestende tsunami.

Daarnaast vraag ik me af hoe Japan de komende dagen en weken omgaat met een catastrofe van deze omvang. Een land dat ervaring heeft met tyfoons en aardbevingen en over het algemeen beschikt over een goed georganiseerde gezondheidszorg en degelijke gestructureerde hulpverlening. Ook is het een redelijk welvarend land met weinig extreme armoede en een groot besef van het maatschappelijk belang. Zou dit sociale fabrieksmechanisme de redding zijn na deze natuurramp? Dit hebben we na de aardbeving bij Kobe in 1995 ook mogen zien. Om over de grote Japanse voorraden op allerlei gebied nog maar te zwijgen.

13

Japan Asia » Japan » Nikko March 14th 2011 by CharlesAndSandra, Japan 2011

During the earthquake

Sandra: We have been a little remiss in updating the blog. A lot has been happening the last few days.Tomorrow we will leave Tokyo for Kyoto and before we do we wanted to fill you in what has been going on.

Last Thursday afternoon [Wednesday, in North America], Charles and I went out to see a manmade island in Tokyo harbor. called Odaiba. On the way back we had to take a monorail into town which gave us a really good view of the city. The downtown skyline stretched out before me and all I could see was a vast jumble of buildings, all sizes and shapes, new and old, all packed tightly together. I said to Charles, “If there is ever an earthquake here all these buildings will collapse onto each other and the rubble will be piled so high they will never be able to dig anybody out.” Well the following day an earthquake hit Japan, but the epicenter was not in Tokyo.

Friday,

the day the quake struck, we were about 100 miles north of Tokyo, visiting a small mountain town called Nikko.

Nikko which dates back to the middle of the 8th century, is a UN World Heritage Site and one of Japan’s major attractions.

Everyone that I know who has been there has said that we could not leave Japan without seeing them. So we went, planning to return to Tokyo that evening.

We did not return to Tokyo that day. On Friday afternoon at about 3pm we were walking back to town planning on catching the 3:59 train back to the city.

Something didn’t feel right.

I was standing next to a parked car and it suddenly started to tremble and then shake.

Charles and I looked at each other and he said to me “We are having an earthquake.”

The people on the street around us stopped in their tracks. All the traffic stopped dead. People sat down in the street so they wouldn’t fall over. People started streaming

out of the surrounding buildings. I watched as buildings started to sway. The ground under me kept shaking, then it started to sway, and then to roll. I watched the faces of the people around me. We all had the same expression. It was a combination of fear, and shock. This can’t be happening, right? Will it get stronger, because if it does we won’t be able to stand. And when is it going to stop? Well, after what seemed like a very long time, it stopped and we walked to the train station.

Everything around us seemed to be intact. Nikko is in the mountains and “almost never gets earthquakes”.

We got on the train and waited.

3:59 came and went. Not a good sign. In Japan, if they say the train is leaving at 3:59 they don’t mean 4:01.

Announcements were made in Japanese and everyone left the train. The station was closed. We all congregated outside. More announcements.

English speaking tourists seemed to find each other.

“Do you understand what they are saying? What’s going on?” Cell phones came out, but they didn’t work. I’m told that the epicenter of the quake is in a coastal city called Sendai about 100 miles north of here. The quake is now rated as 9 on the Richter scale. When will the trains start running? is Tokyo still standing?

I’m standing next to an elderly Asian couple from Australia. He says he has to get back to Tokyo for a conference. He says that whenever he asks what is going on the station personnel speak to him in Japanese. “Why can’t they just speak English?”

I look around and one fellow traveler from Malaysia is reading the latest news reports from his smart phone. Boy, are we out of it. Our North American cell phones don’t work in Japan and we have been using Skype from our netbook, but we left it back in Tokyo.

The guy from Malaysia gives me a big smile. “I was supposed to be in Sendai today but I decided to stop in Nikko instead”, he says.”If I had gone, where would I be now? Hey, life is good.”

14

Charles has admirers . . .

We’re secure for the night.

News slowly trickles in over the Internet -- it’s a bad one. Preliminary estimates are that 400 people are dead, and another 500 missing. And there’s some trouble with nuclear power reactors located south of Sendai.

The trains do start running Saturday afternoon. We leave Sunday morning, and get back to Tokyo.

We missed some excitement.

The Tokyo subway system stopped running on Friday night, and tens of thousands of commuters were stranded.

Some walked home, some stayed in 24-hour coffee shops, some slept in the lobby of our Tokyo hotel.

Everything seems normal. The death toll, as of Monday night, is estimated at 10,000 -- the worst disaster since WW II. The earthquake didn’t do much damage, but the tsunami was horrendous. 500,000 people have been evacuated in and around Sendai and the reactors. The guys running the reactors have averted really serious trouble (Three Mile Island and Chernobyl trouble), at the cost of wrecking the reactor cores by cooling them with salt water. One reactor crane operator is dead, and a dozen or so are injured.

We’re going to continue our trip.

Kyoto (our next stop) is south from Tokyo. We expect it to be a much quieter city.

We owe write-ups of Mt Fuji and Odiba -- they’ll be coming.

The photos here are a tiny part of what we saw in Nikko.

We hope you enjoy them.

Aardbeving

A Delta Pilot’s Japan Earthquake Story

J.D. I’m currently still in one piece, writing from my room in the Narita crew hotel.

It’s 8am. This is my inaugural trans-pacific trip as a brand new, recently checked out, international 767 Captain and it has been interesting, to say the least, so far.

I’ve crossed the Atlantic three times so far so the ocean crossing procedures were familiar.

Everything was going fine until 100 miles out from Tokyo,

and in the descent for arrival. The first indication of any trouble was that Japan air traffic control started putting everyone into holding patterns. At first we thought it was usual congestion on arrival. Then we got a company data link message advising about the earthquake, followed by another stating Narita airport was temporarily closed for inspection and expected to open shortly (the company is always so positive).

From our perspective things were obviously looking a little different. The Japanese controller’s anxiety level seemed quite high and he said expect “indefinite” holding time. No one would commit to a time frame on that so I got my copilot and relief pilot busy looking at divert stations and our fuel situation, which, after an ocean crossing is typically low.

It wasn’t long, maybe ten minutes, before the first pilots started requesting diversions to other airports. Air Canada, American, United, etc. all reporting minimal fuel situations. I still had enough fuel for 1.5 to 2.0 hours of holding. Needless to say, the diverts started complicating the situation.

Japan air traffic control then announced Narita was closed indefinitely due to damage. Planes immediately started requesting arrivals into Haneada, near Tokyo, a half dozen JAL and western planes got clearance in that direction but then air traffic control (ATC) announced Haenada had just closed. Uh oh! Now instead of just holding, we all had to start looking at more distant alternatives like Osaka, or Nagoya.

One bad thing about a large airliner is that you can’t

just be-pop into any little airport. We generally need lots of runway. With more planes piling in from both east and west, all needing a place to land and several now fuel critical ATC was getting over-whelmed. In the scramble, and without waiting for my fuel to get critical, I got my flight a clearance to head for Nagoya, fuel situation still okay. So far so good. A few minutes into heading that way, I was “ordered” by ATC to reverse course. Nagoya was saturated with traffic and unable to handle more planes (read- airport full). Ditto for Osaka.

With that statement, my situation went instantly from fuel okay, to fuel minimal, considering we might have to divert a much farther distance. Multiply my situation by a dozen other aircraft all in the same boat, all making requests, demands and threats to ATC for clearances somewhere. Air Canada and then someone else went to “emergency” fuel situation.

Planes started to heading for air force bases. The nearest to Tokyo was Yokoda AFB. I threw my hat in the ring for that initially. The answer - Yokoda closed! No more space.

By now it was a three ring circus in the cockpit, my copilot on the radios, me flying and making decisions and the relief copilot buried in the air charts trying to figure out where to go that was within range while data link messages were flying back and forth between us and company dispatch in Atlanta. I picked Misawa AFB at the north end of Honshu Island. We could get there with minimal fuel remaining. ATC was happy to get rid of us so we cleared out of the maelstrom of the Tokyo region.

We heard ATC try to send planes toward Sendai, a small regional airport on the coast which was later the one I think that got flooded by a tsunami.

We could still make it and not be going into a fuel critical situation ... if we had no other fuel delays.

Suddenly ATC comes up and gives us a vector to a fix well short of Chitose and tells us to standby for holding instructions. Nightmare realized. Situation rapidly

15

deteriorating. After initially holding near Tokyo, starting a divert to Nagoya, reversing course back to Tokyo then to re-diverting north toward Misawa, all that happy fuel reserve that I had was vaporizing fast. My subsequent conversation, paraphrased of course...., went something like this: “Sapparo Control - Delta XX requesting immediate clearance direct to Chitose, minimum fuel, unable hold.”

“Negative Ghost-Rider, the Pattern is full” (every aviation story needs a top gun quote) “Sapparo Control - make that - Delta XX declaring emergency, low fuel, proceeding direct Chitose” “Roger Delta XX, understood, you are cleared direct to Chitose, contact Chitose approach....etc....”

Enough was enough, I had decided to preempt actually running critically low on fuel while in another indefinite holding pattern, especially after bypassing Misawa As it was - we landed Chitose, safe, with at least 30 minutes of fuel remaining before reaching a “true” fuel emergency situation. That’s always a good feeling, being safe. They taxied us off to some remote parking area where we shut down and watched a half dozen or more other airplanes come streaming in. In the end, Delta had two 747s, my 767 and another 767 and a 777 all on the ramp at Chitose. We saw two American airlines planes, a United and two Air Canada as well. Not to mention several extra Al Nippon and Japan Air Lines planes.

Post-script - 9 hours later, Japan air lines finally got around to getting a boarding ladder to the plane where we were able to get off and clear customs. - that however, is another interesting story.

By the way - while writing this - I have felt four additional tremors that shook the hotel slightly - all in 45 minutes.

Cheers.

J.D.

Tsunami Sachie is the mother of one year and four month old Kouka.

This is her story: “Kouka was having a nap in the house when the earthquake occurred. I took Kouka right away and ran out side, but the earth was shaking for quite a long time.”

“The ocean was quickly overflowing… and the tsunami was approaching toward us. As I saw the size of the tsunami, I instinctively realized I wouldn’t survive if I stayed inside. So I carried Kouka again, and ran up the hill as fast as I could. When I reached the top of the hill, I saw my house was washed away by tsunami.”

‘I was in trouble’ “It was snowing that day and was very cold. I stayed the night outside with 13 other neighbors… I had no more diapers for Kouka. But one of the neighbors had a toilet sheet for her pet, and she gave it to me. So I used it on top of Kouka’s diaper.”

Food was in short supply, too. “When an elderly person saw and found Kouka hungry, she gave me a candy,” adds Sachie. “I chewed and broke this candy and gave it to Kouka.”

“When the dawn came, fire department officers came to rescue us. We were frightened that tsunami might come again, so we moved on quickly.

I took off the sandals I was wearing, and walked down the railway sleeper with my socks. Kouka, on my back was marching with me saying, ‘one two, one two’ as I walked.”

“We walked all the way until we could see the rescue bus, and I think it was about 4 o’clock that afternoon when I finally arrived [at the] shelter.”

‘I am so grateful’ Upon their arrival, Sachie received milk and diapers provided by World Vision for Kouka to use. They were also offered hot soup. Thanks to donations, World Vision has delivered some 130,000 diapers to babies affected by the recent quake and tsunami.

“We adults, can bear without meals and clothes for a couple of days.

But it is really difficult for small children without milk and diapers. So it was very helpful that diapers were supplied in this shelter. Thank you very much. I lost my house, possessions and everything else, but I am so grateful that everyone is helping us.”

Japan

Japanese Earthquake/Tsunami/Fukashima Plant Explosion Something that I’m sure that has crossed someone’s line of vision in the past few days is the devastating footage from the Japanese Tsunami/ Earthquake. It is suspected that 1000’s are dead and they’ve just found a few bodies under the debris. And now the Fukashima plant threatens radioactivity to Japan. As you see the Japanese people patiently queueing, it made me think how selfish and rude some people- and I can admit, me sometimes- can be. We get angry if we have to wait in a long queue for something stupid like a lottery ticket when these people are waiting to see if there’s a possibility of them dying of cancer due to radiation. I also would like to say that we-and I’m guilty for this too- for complaining about the weather in our country and Japan gets this terrrifying tsunami and it makes us reflect about how we are so priviledged that it wasn’t us losing our family to a natural disaster. To the population to Sendai and many other places that were hit, my thoughts are with you.

Tsunami advice, Enoshima Beach, Kanagawa Thinking of friends and their families in Japan following today’s earthquakes and tsunamis. I’m republishing this photo of a sign on the beach just south of Tokyo. At the time I found it novel and amusing, but today’s events show how serious it really is.

CRYING BABIES I can remember that so many children were crying. They would cry non-stop. If the parents were in shock, then children are just confused. And they are disrupted. There is not way they can make sense of what is going on. They want their normalcy. They want a family member they may not be able to have. They want sleep. And yet, they are denied it. Instead, they look around and see adults crying. And they are confused. And so they just cry and cry and cry.

18

Tsunami

There’s something biblical about the images of the tsunami There’s something biblical about the images of the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan early this morning (as well as the shock effects felt in Hawaii and the US west coast). I am not making light of it because it is a horrifying tragedy – all you had to do was wake up to the morning news and see those images to understand that.

Occasionally at speaking events, I’ll test the audience with the first note of a sound (like the first strains of Monday Night Football) and it is amazing how quickly most get it right away. What is even more interesting the feelings that are associated with it. Like hearing an old song or smelling freshly baked cinnamon rolls.

But that’s my point. The images themselves demonstrate how much we bring to the table when we receive any kind of communication, whether it’s a video image of a tide of water sweeping across Japan farmlands or a simple marketing message. We bring ourselves into it.

When something does that – and a marketing message or a brand promise can – it becomes part of ourselves (because we recognize something about it that taps into our storage of memory) and is more than just memorable.

We own it and it has an emotional, which is just what those tsunami images had.

So much of marketing today does not tap into the emotional recalls that we have stored in ourselves. That’s why so many messages go right through us.

Swedish couple have honeymoon from hell Stefan and Erika Svanstrom left Stockholm, Sweden, on December 6 and were immediately stranded in Munich, Germany, due to one of Europe’s worst snowstorms.

Travelling with their baby daughter, they flew on to Cairns in Australia which was then struck by one of the most ferocious cyclones in the nation’s history.

From there, the couple, in their 20s, were forced to shelter for 24 hours on the cement floor of a shopping centre with 2500 others.

“Trees were being knocked over and big branches were scattered across the streets,” Mr Svanstrom told Sweden’s Expressen newspaper. “We escaped by the skin of our teeth.”

They then headed south to Brisbane but the city was experiencing massive flooding, so they crossed the country to Perth where they narrowly escaped raging bush fires.

“We could not visit the city since it was completely blocked off, so instead we travelled around before going to Japan.”

But days after the Svanstroms arrived, Tokyo was rocked by Japan’s largest earthquake since records began.

“The trembling was horrible and we saw roof tiles fly off the buildings,” Mr Svantrom said. “It was like the buildings were swaying back and forth.”

The family returned to Stockholm on March 29 after a much calmer visit to their last destination China.

But Mr Svanstrom – who also survived the devastating Boxing Day tsunami that hit southeast Asia in 2004 – said the marriage was still going strong.

He added: “I know marriages have to endure some trials, but I think we have been through most of them.

“We’ve certainly experienced more than our fair share of catastrophes, but the most important thing is that we’re together and happy.

Mrs Svanstrom added: “To say we were unlucky with the weather doesn’t really cover it! It’s so absurd that now we can only laugh.”

The couple then flew to Christchurch, New Zealand, arriving just after a massive magnitude 6.3 earthquake devastated the city on February 22.

Mrs Svanstrom said: “When we got there the whole town was a war zone.

19

Japan

Yisris’ Photostream

20

Tsunami

Please feel free to use my photo(s) for your work.

I won’t need any permision to use in advance.

However, I would be happy if you let me know where my photos are used later.

21

Fukushima The plant The Fukushima Daiichi power station operates six boiling water reactors all completed during the 1970s. Details of the reactors vary but the concept is the same: the core consists of a pill-shaped pressure vessel filled with several hundred fuel assemblies. Each fuel assembly is in turn filled with about a hundred fuel rods. A fuel rod is a long, narrow tube of zirconium alloy filled with pellets of uranium which has been enriched to around 3-5% of the energy-producing isotope U-235. (In the case of unit 3, Plutonium-239 is also an active part of the fuel).

When enough fuel is brought together at the core, a chain reaction begins that generates heat, and ultimately power. The core of a modern reactor can hum along for a year or more before the fuel needs to be changed.

The accident The key to the crisis is water. In addition to the uranium fuel rods, the fuel assemblies have channels which carry highly purified water between the fuel. The water acts as both a moderator for the nuclear reactions and a coolant for the reactor core. On top of it all, it makes the electricity: as it is heated by the reactor, it turns into steam that drives the power turbines. Once the water passes through the turbines it is cooled and reinjected into the core to do it all again.

It all goes great unless the water stops flowing, and that’s exactly what it appears has happened in the wake of a massive magnitude 9.0 earthquake that shook the region on 11 March. Diesel generators designed to keep feeding water to Fukushima Unit 1 apparently shutdown about an hour after the quake. Yesterday, the water supply to Unit 3 was interrupted. In both cases, the cores began to heat up.

Japan Promoting the safety of vegetables from the ‘hot’ areas.

Fukushima Nuclear a proof of Japan’s technological prowess A proof of Japan’s ambition A proof of Japanese intelligence

Promoting the safety of vegetables from the “hot” areas To find out how this vegetable crisis was being dealt with on the retail level, earlier this week I went back to the department store with the impeccable produce section that I profiled last year, Takashimaya in Yokohama. As I mentioned back then, this branch has the highest foot traffic and sales in the entire Takashimaya chain, and their food hall is the star of the store.

Greatness, ambition and intelligence has now collapsed Fukushima Nuclear now, has become something else

The Takashimaya produce department is run more or less like a store within the store. Rather than just assign employees from the general pool as is done normally in a Japanese corporation, people with actual experience as greengrocers run the department. (The same goes for the fish department.

The meat department is divided between an internally-run butcher shop and counter space assigned to and run by Maihan, a venerable butcher shop based in Nihonbashi, Tokyo.)

Fukushima Nuclear now the proof of the weakness of faith Japan now the proof of negligence Japan now the proof of evidence of Japanese ignorance

On the morning that I went to the produce department to interview the greengrocers and take photos, NHK television (the Japanese national broadcaster, equivalent to the BBC in the UK) also had a camera crew there to film the setting up of a special section featuring safe vegetables from those 5 prefectures, with a focus on products from Gunma prefecture. (NHK showed about 10 seconds of footage on the evening news that day as part of an overall report on the vegetable crisis.) Representatives from Gunma were there, some dressed in jaunty green happi (a happi is a lightweight kimono-type jacket worn by sellers at outdoor festivals and so on). The setup and the posters were colorful and cheerful, but there was a deadly earnest seriousness in the atmosphere.

Fukushima Nuclear is because Fukushima Nuclear is due

Fukushima Nuclear is a blunder Fukushima Nuclear is an error of super power countries

Effect of Radiation on Human Body 1 Hair loss may occur quickly and may loss in clumps when exposed to radiation of 200 rems or higher.

2 Brain cells may not reproduce but this won’t damage directly when not exposed in 5,000 rems or greater.

3 Thyroid gland may destroy as this is susceptible to radioactive iodine. A large amount of radioactive may destroy all parts of this gland.

4 Reduction of lymphocyte cell count on blood, leaving victims to be more susceptible to infections. This may occur when a person is exposed in about 100 rem, early symptoms would have flu but may unnoticed unless blood count procedure may done. This also cause of leukemia and lymphoma.

5 In an exposure of 1,000 to 5,000 rems may cause a damage to small blood vessels and cause heart failure and direct death.

6 In 200 rems, radiation may damage intestine lining that cause nausea , bloody vomiting and diarrhea.

7 Radiation sickness victims that have been exposed in as low as 200 rem may become sterile.

Belgen die sinds 11 maart zijn teruggekeerd uit Japan, kunnen zich gratis laten testen op radioactiviteit. Dat hebben het Federaal Agentschap voor Nucleaire Controle en het Studiecentrum voor Kernenergie maandag bekendgemaakt.

24

Fukushima

Nucliair Power: Image Damage Max Gladwell AvangionQ: The military is already getting ready to convert coal to liquid on a massive scale: http://www.washingtonwatch.com/bills/show/110_SN_154.html.

The Montana governor is lobbying hard for investment. The reason it’s not been done yet is that it’s only been economically viable until recently.

I could be off by a bit, but I’ve heard it can be done at a rate of about $60/ barrel. The Nazis did it during WWII, so it’s not technical. It’s called Fisher Tropsch: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fischer-Tropsch.

With what is happening in Japan, are you concerned with Nuclear power here in the states?

The Montana governor claims diesel can be produced for $1/gallon: http://www.futurepundit.com/archives/003199.html.

So with oil at $130/barrel, it’s not about cost. As the Saudi Arabia of coal, it’s not about supply. The only thing standing in the way will be carbon policy that makes it uneconomic…and that, in turn, makes low-carbon alternatives like wind, solar, and nuclear more economic.

Opinion by ladylanis09, Posted on 4/7/2011 the us is strong and we will defeat all that trys to hurt us.

Opinion by carkey, Posted on 4/1/2011 I am somewhat concerned...I heard on the news this morning that radiation levels have shown up in our milk. I worry about more coming here.

Opinion by hlsailes21, Posted on 3/19/2011 no im concerned because god is going to take care of the country. God is in control of everthing so we dont worry about the diasters that are happening Opinion by Queencleo, Posted on 3/19/2011 I’ve always been worried. Nuclear plants are run by people and people make mistakes. I don’t like natural gas either... very unsafe.

Opinion by Crafty45, Posted on 3/19/2011 I Totally Agree with you. We've had Nuclear Power Plants for DECADES and DECADES. Currently over 140 here in the United States and MANY MORE, overseas - and they've operated for Decades safely.

We also have our U.S. NAVY Ships powered by Nuclear - and we certainly wouldn't be trusting the Lives of our Children and other Family Members, if they were in ANY KIND of Danger. The Ships have been operating (using NO FUEL) for several generations of our Sailors, and operating SAFELY! There is NEVER going to be anything that can be built that is going to be Guaranteed 100% SAFE. The Nuclear Power plants are built to withstand 7.5 Earthquakes. BUT - Who in the World would EVER dream that an Earthquake of 9.0 would ever occur?

My solution – pit nuclear against Godzilla. When Godzilla first appeared in 1954 – with the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki still fresh in the Japanese consciousness, Godzilla was conceived as a monster created by nuclear detonations and a metaphor for nuclear weapons in general. I’d brand nuclear as the only thing on earth that can stand up to Godzilla.

How’s that for a benefit?

Yet, we Continue to put up with DIFFICULT to Mine and EXTREMELY Polluting COAL MINES which have Killed Thousands of our Miners over the years. Why aren't we ever worried about THAT? And the Pollution that Coal causes is just Massive!

Opinion by Queencleo, Posted on 3/19/2011 I’ve always been worried. Nuclear plants are run by people and people make mistakes. I don’t like natural gas either... very unsafe.

The Japanese government has declared a 12 mile radius around the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant an exclusion zone; the area has been mostly evacuated.

25

Japan Denny speaks to Barack Obama Everything in Life interests me!

Nurturing our spirits without rigid expectations and harsh condemnation is the positive way to grow in wisdom - and a bar of chocolate in hand along with a side dish of humor is also helpful. :) B.A. degree in Journalism from LSU: Geaux TIGERS!

One thing is clear: the official word from the Japanese government to all their diplomats is to lie. Right now, in the middle of all this devastation, they are lying to President Obama and other world governments.

Japanese deception about nuclear meltdowns

At least 5 nuclear reactors overheating, rushing toward meltdown

Mr. Obama, contact your “Lie to Me” guys over at the CIA and get them to run the tapes, pointing out the facial micro-expressions proving the shame, lies and deception on the face of this ambassador. You have a serious problem here, Mr. President, as nuclear containment is no longer possible. Take precautions for America now. Don’t wait for the Japanese to tell you yet another lie before you make a decision or act. It could be too late. This is no time for taking your time to decide or it could backfire on you.

Today it was also verified there are now as many as five nuclear reactors in trouble, reaching crisis levels. The 8.9 earthquake and then the 23 foot high tsunami created catastrophic damage as evidenced from the videos and photos that overwhelm the mind. Over 125 aftershocks earthquakes have occurred within the past two days as this nation sits upon the deadliest place on Earth, The Ring of Fire.

Evacuate American troops from Japan

History of Japanese government deception created war

Mr. Obama, it’s time to emergency evacuate our 50,000 American troops. Two reasons: one, our American troops are spread too thin as it is around the world. We cannot afford to lose them to another earthquake we all know will come. We cannot afford the health care that will be necessary from the ugly cancers they will develop - and many of them have their families with them too so it goes beyond just the 50,000 number. These radiation clouds are far worse than the Japanese government wants to admit, already affecting everyone in the country.

Remember when Japan’s ambassador during W.W. II was in the office with President Roosevelt assuring him “all was well between their countries” and then a phone call came into the White House confirming the Japanese just bombed Pearl Harbor? The Japanese are addicted to the practice of “saving face” to the exclusion of common sense and decency. Their pride matters more than anything. Have they learned nothing since W.W. II?

The second reason is real estate: As what’s left of Japan tries to recover they are going to need places to house the thousands, and perhaps millions, who will end up homeless. Military bases are the perfect places to handle large populations as they are already set up to do so efficiently. It could be a staging area for clean-up too.

Conflicting reports about impending nuclear meltdowns There are conflicting reports from Japan about the veracity of statements concerning the containment of the nuclear reactors. What kind of hubris does it take to build dozens of nuclear reactors on an island nation that is located on top of not one, not two, but three continental plates that continually chafe creating earthquakes on a regular basis? It was only a matter of time before a disaster of this proportion would happen.

Evacuate all Americans from Japan Bring home our diplomats, intelligence people, any American business people and their families. The worst is not yet over for Japan. It is also the responsible thing for all foreign nationals to leave so we don’t use up what little food, gas and other resources the Japanese people will need in the coming months.

Containment wall of nuclear reactor destroyed Today it was verified that the containment wall on one of the nuclear reactors is destroyed. The Japanese claim they threw their Hail, Mary Pass and pumped in salt water to try and cool down the reactor. It isn’t in the manuals to use salt water but hey it’s water so why not try it? The alternative is a huge gas cloud filled with invisible radiation that will poison the population for 100 miles around. I would have tried the same desperate measure with the idea to pump in the appropriate water later after it stabilizes.

Bring our troops home. And, as you bring them home, get them checked out medically and monitor them for the next two years on a month by month basis to check for radiation exposure issues.

Japan disaster could become American disaster Mr. Obama, you did the right thing and got Americans out of Libya before going public on your new policy toward Gadafi. Do the right thing now and get all our Americans evacuated out of Japan. It’s time. Japan’s disaster can become America’s disaster if we do not get out in front of this impending mess.

Japan refuses help from atomic energy agencies Japanese officials have been too proud to accept help from America, 50 other countries and nuclear agencies with this impending greater disaster. They are more worried about their stupid pride instead of taking into account the safety of their country as well as the surrounding countries of China, Taiwan.

26

Fukushima Japan’s Fukushima Reactor Meltdown – What is Your Government Not Telling You? The mainstream media is reporting that one of the reactors at the Fukushima Plant at Japan is melting down. I guess it is a good thing that we have this conflict over in Libya to take our minds off the radiation; otherwise we might be scared stupid. But then stupid must assuredly be what those in power think we are.

Since the earthquake and tsunami that facilitated the failure at the nuclear power plant, those who purport to be in charge of informing us have inundated us with a thousand little assertions that all contradict one another, in an effort to keep us in a state of uncertainty, when the situation on its face dictates that the consequences of the disaster are dire and destined to be worldwide.

ones who brought them into the nuclear age. Face it; we need that Japanese skilled labor to produce the parts we need for everything from our automobiles to our televisions.

I think we are about to find out just how much of our country has been purchased by the Japanese in the last forty years.

As for the American unemployed, well you folks are just going to have to move over a little further. And as for the middle class, you are going to have to give on this one too, as the Japanese people have proven that they are far better workers than you, and should by right, in examining the situation from a world view, be given your jobs, homes, and all other property that by rights should have been theirs all along.

Do you think it can’t happen? Wanna bet?

It might be interesting to note that radiation from Japan is now showing up in rainwater on the U.S. west coast. But not to worry, it’s not going to get in the plant life, and then animal life, hence in our food chain. That stuff only happens in movies. Do not fear what the government is telling you, but rather fear what they are not.

We are literally watching the whole island of Japan being slowly but surely made uninhabitable by the radiation. And why won’t they just come out and tell us this? Because the next question would have to be, “Where are 140 million Japanese going to be relocated?”

I have to believe that the lion’s share is going to wind up here in the good old U.S.A. And why not, as we are a nation of plenty and we owe the Japanese people if you think about it, as we are the

Responses to Japan’s Fukushima Reactor Meltdown – What is Your Government Not Telling You? Kathleen says: March 29, 2011 at 6:29 am

Tom says: March 29, 2011 at 12:01 pm

Iodine-131 has been detected in Massachusetts, Florida, and in my state of Pennsylvania.

We were told that the half-like of Iodine-131 is about 8 days. PA state Government said that the Iodine-131 is ONLY in the rainwater collected.. and NOT in the drinking water tested.(diluted enough to become undetectable.) Well, as you said, rainwater hits the crops the animals, and, in fact probably hit me when I was out and about in the rain last week. I do not completely understand what a “meltdown” means, but, I imagine that if the cores get hot enough there may be risk of explosion(even though we are told this is not a Chernobyl(yet.)

And, yes, it is hard to find media coverage of the meltdown in Japan, at least enough coverage to have kept me informed enough not to go out and walk in the rain. I realize that a media source does not want to be responsible for putting out information that may create panic and cause people to stay home and disrupt the economy. Hence, my conclusion is that people need to use the internet to find people and organizations who are keeping a close eye on the Japan story.

It is my own responsibility to try and find out the facts. Another issue with the horrific Japan disaster is that the world’s economy will suffer as Japan tries to raise money for it’s rebuilding. Japan is the 2nd largest holder of US Treasuries and Assets, as you have indicated Japan owns a lot of America.

If Japan sells it’s treasuries, or even stops buying US Treasuries,this could cause US interest rates to rise and derail any recovery that the US is experiencing. The dollar would fall if our treasuries auctions begin to fail. So, our own FED will have to buy up the treasuries to take up the slack, resulting in more Quantiative Easing or QE3.

most states in the u.s. monitor their air quality with a network of stations and volunteers utilizing automated data networks and manual instrumentation. all nuclear plants contain monitoring equipment (both inside and outside the facility, usually) and the private sector often assists with the task of operating and maintaining this equipment, sometimes managing it entirely themselves. Utility companies will often work as consultants to the state and still others run their own independent operations altogether. this is done constantly, all the time, no matter if a reactor is in crisis somewhere in the world or not. and their equipment is good. it can detect even the slightest spikes in radionuclides. do any of you freaking out about this know anything about radioactive particles? let’s start with a simple one – how much radioactive iodine-131 do you need to be exposed to (whether you eat it, drink it, breathe it, or let it sit on your skin) before you need to start popping ki pills and get the hell out of dodge? the highest radiation levels in the u.s. as a result of what is ongoing at the fukushima plant were recorded last week, on the island of oahu in hawaii, by the epa. their report indicates 1.35 picocuries per cubic meter. that means for every 3-foot, 3-dimensional, cube-shaped chunk of air in that area of the world, 1.35 picocuries was detected by the epa’s instrumentation (a curie is a unit of radioactivity). pico- is a prefix which the absolute layman should just assume means “very very small” – the most common unit of curie used in considering the health of the everyday world, from medicine to nuclear engineering, is the microcurie – twice as large as a picocurie, and still extremely small. for the radiation levels in hawaii to be dangerous, you’d have to multiply the amount of radiation being detected by roughly 30 million times (over 40,000,000 picocuries) and expose someone continuously to those levels for an hour or two. even at 300,000 times the radiation, it would take days of constant exposure to those levels for it to harm you. that’s how itty bitty the radiation level being detected is. and that’s the worst of it. a few days later in hawaii, the epa reports the iodine-131 levels had dropped to just .18 picocuries. why didn’t it keep going up, if the reactors are continuing to leak crap from their containment vessels? because it’s such a small amount – the wind could take those clouds of radionuclides anywhere. most of the radiation heading west from fukushima prefecture is going to disperse in the air and land in the sea where it will kill nothing because it’ll be spread over too much area. the half-life on iodine-131 is 8 days, meaning it takes about two weeks for one particle to fully decay (lose all of its radioactive energy). which is why ki pills (which prevent your thyroid from absorbing radioactive iodine) are distributed in 14-day packs. that stuff’s not good for you so you should only take it when dosed with harmful levels of radiation and not for more than two weeks. you risk killing your thyroid and yourself after 14 days. seattle is reporting about .01 picocuries – infinitely smaller than the already-tiny amount recorded in hawaii. and the further west you go, the less radiation you find. what that means is the radiation being found in north carolina or anywhere else is what they say it is – trace amounts. the fear card is being played by many in the mainstream media and the blogosphere, because it is easy to control the thoughts of the masses whilst gripped by irrationality. and i suppose you think you’re not ever exposed to radiation unless there’s a freak giant earthquake in japan and the backup generators at the nuke plant get wiped out by a tsunami? wrong. your cell phone and the sun expose you to infinitely more radiation every day. those full-body scanners at our airports and other such acts of patriotism for the security of the homeland have more carcinogenic potential than the fukushima mess has produced in the past 2 and a half weeks. i’m not saying something bad, radioactivity-wise, couldn’t happen at some point in the near future and that officials aren’t being tight-lipped and vague about those possibilities if not downright lying about how bad it is, but right now, even tokyo isn’t necessarily in serious danger. every day that goes by without a criticality event or some sort of meltdown followed up with the widespread release of radionuclides, we get closer to defueling the reactors. one thing to keep is mind is that when it comes to nuclear incidents such as fukushima, time is on our side – the longer we prevent total failure of the reactor cores, the better the likely outcome will be. scared stupid, indeed. calm down. it’s a major nuclear catastrophe for sure, a nightmare for any nuclear engineer but this isn’t even remotely

Angelicrisis says: March 29, 2011 at 7:01 am Once again. Another great article. Im feeling a lot more inclined to comment lately just because things are getting that out of hand, and I have to vent. It truley is human nature to make things more difficult then they have to be.. From an enviromental and agricultural aspect, you would think money and greed would not take precedene over preserving human life, or life in general for that matter. For the people that don’t know what social conditioning is, I feel very sorry for. People aren’t putting 2 + 2 together. There are too many “distractions” on a global scale going on. and the true”elite” (if that is what you want to call them), have one of the greatest nations citizen in a very uncomfortable and vulnerable position due to their greed and inhuman pathoses.

Why is it once again we as humans have to make things more difficult then they have to be?

Pat Henrick says: March 29, 2011 at 7:29 am Iodine 131 (low levels they say) being found in rainwater in Northeast Ohio reprted by Dr. Gerald Mastoff of Case Western University.

Sam in NC says: March 29, 2011 at 8:08 am Radiation has been found in the water in North Carolina, where my son and I live. The state govt. says that it’s not harmfull. So now they expect us to believe radiation is not harmfull ? Well, I guess I’ll drink some Draino with my lunch, since I’ so stupid to have thought radiation is harmfull.

Anton says: March 29, 2011 at 7:12 pm the same type of problem the soviets experienced at chernobyl. even if a couple of the cores fully melted down and you believe the very worst rumors about the state of the containment vessels, most of the radioactive material isn’t going to get out of the facility let alone japan. the bulk of the elements released will be too heavy – they won’t get far. cesium is the scary one, you don’t want that floating around your local park but no significant levels have been found anywhere in the u.s. yet (meaning even less than the iodine). so for now, the radiation levels found in the states are miniscule, and every passing day gets us closer to defueling all the cores and ending this crisis. and at that time, there will be lessons learned, commissions formed, reports published, and a ton of radioactive garbage to discard. twitter will trend the triumphs of tepco. and the free world will carry on in chains.

Rachel Cohen says: March 29, 2011 at 6:54 pm Tom, I am not trying to disparage your honesty, but common sense tells me that the situation in Japan is completely unique and chaotic and thus cannot be predictable. And let’s not forget they are beginning to talk about plutonium fuel rods being exposed.

I am both by no means a nuclear physicist, but if there is a five mile circle around that plant that is releasing massive amounts of radiation, two and a half miles of the circle is out in the ocean. Ocean currents are flowing through those two and a half miles of radiated water carrying its radioactive content with the currents that flow around the world. And fish do move all over the ocean, and bigger fish eat smaller fish.

What I am saying is I respect your education, but for God’s sake man, look at the situation prima facie. Who is monitoring and accounting for every aspect of every source of poisoning? No matter what else, the fact remains 58 billion human being corrupting dollars are weighing in the balance when it is being decided what information will be released and what will not.

Three Mile Island was one reactor. Chernobyl was one reactor. What if the radiation gets so high at the Fukushima Plant that those trying keep it under control have to leave the area or die? And thereafter the rest of the reactors go into meltdown? I have to say in the situation we are in we must err on the side of caution.

As I said earlier the radiation levels, which can be different from one minute to the next and have different reading to the extreme in the space of a mile, are just one of the potential dangers. Do you really think they are being on the level with us in reference to the effects that plant is having in radiating the sea?

You seem to be of the highest intelligence, thus I’m glad you are on our side. But I do not trust any data coming from any government or industry source. I’m not a fool. I hope you are right and I’m so wrong that I’m left to apologize, but I know it will be a long, long time before all of the facts are in.

Pat Henrick says: March 30, 2011 at 6:54 am I was trained not to trust the government and big business. They have not earned any trust.

Whalla says: March 29, 2011 at 3:01 pm Well Tom, I guess it is true. You just can’t fix stupid. Thanks for the effort, but some just don’t want to educate themselves. As a nuclear worker, I understand what you are trying to inform others about. Unfortunately, some will blow a few words up just to cause chaos and distort reality. The same people who are hoarding and eating the iodine pills will also choose the body scan over the pat down at the airport. Thank you for putting some real facts out.

27

Who can we trust if not the government? Why can people not just say the truth and stop lying? I’m have to admit that I’m really a little scared right now. This is a catastrophe. I’m in Los Angeles right now. I’m only here for a few months. Usually I live in Germany. Do you think it would be better for me if I went back to Germany right away instead of staying here (because of the radiation) ?

I would be very thankful for answers.

Henry Shivley - OR says: March 29, 2011 at 7:19 pm Anton, Tom, who has commented on this story, seems to be highly educated in this field. Considering Rachel’s last comment, I would be interested to hear what he has to say, in reference to your dilemma.

So what says you, Tom?

Henry Shivley - OR says: March 30, 2011 at 6:37 pm Tom, It is being reported that radiation has been found in milk in Spokane, Washington. It is said to be a “minute” amount, but in looking at my conversion charts I can find no cross reference for “minute” in any number.

Remember, what we are facing is not just one cloud drifting over. There has to be a constant flow which is growing more radioactive day by day in direct correlation with rising levels at the power plant.

Tom, you sound like you know what you are talking about and I think you will agree that whatever the situation is right now, it could get a hell of a lot worse in a space of hours or even minutes.

The fact that the oceans are being radiated was acknowledged in the mainstream media today. Hopefully someone will discover some kind of formula for tracking the radiation through the currents as it is entering the food chain.

Remember, big fish eats a little fish, that are eaten by birds, that are eaten by a bobcat, that excretes on the berry seed, that produces the plant, bearing the nuclear berry we will eat.

Thank you for all your work, Tom, and I promise you it will be appreciated if you let the people on this site know of any further changes in the situation.

Japan

How to Measure Radiation in Japan In the wake of the recent tragedy in Japan, Southern Californians have been hyper alert to any news regarding dangerous levels of nuclear radiation drifting over from Fukushima. At this time, official statements from the California Department of Public Health and the EPA are assuaging the population that there is nothing to fear. While there has been some detection of radiation in the air, the current levels recorded are “thousands of times below any conservative level of concern”. But despite these reassurances, according to the LA Times, this hasn’t prevented potassium iodide pills from selling out at numerous health stores (even though public officials have issued a warning that the pills are unnecessary and could even be harmful).

For scale, Munroe says: “1 Sievert will make you sick, many more will kill you, however, even small doses cumulatively increase cancer risk.” (FYI, all humans safely absorb small amounts daily.) Here are a range of Munroe’s stats pulled to demonstrate the varying proportional degrees of danger—daily actions next to common medical practices next to Fukushima, and finally, compared to Chernobyle:

You absorb 0.05 microsieverts just by sleeping next to someone.

You absorb 0.1 microsieverts every time you eat a banana (many foods are naturally radioactive, and bananas are especially so, due to the radioactive potassium-40 they possess).

You absorb 5 microsieverts whenever you get a dental or hand x-ray.

You absorb 40 microsieverts on a flight from NYC to LA. You absorb 3 millisieverts from a mammogram.

The Japanese absorbed just slightly more than a mammogram (3.6 millisieverts) in a one day period at two sites 50 km NW of Fukushima on 3/16 and 3/17. Other areas near Fukushima saw barely-elevated doses.

You absorb 5.8 millisieverts in a chest CT scan.

US radiation workers absorb 50 millisieverts in one year.

The lowest one-year dose linked to increased cancer risk is 100 millisieverts.

Finally, 1000 millisieverts = 1 sievert. With this in mind…

It takes 8 sieverts to cause a fatality.

10 minutes next to the Chernobyl reactor core after the explosion and meltdown resulted in 50 sieverts.

Radiation Monitor - http://safecast.org

28

Fukushima

Geiger Counter

Tokyo Hackerspace Tokyo Hackerspace is a Japan-based open community with widely varied DIY interests, listed as: "technology, building things, gardening, cooking, science, sewing, digital art, gaming, and more".

In the immediate aftermath of the quake, the group employed their knowledge of electronics and hacking to devise an innovative way to salvage power.

By looting the large number of wrecked cars of their batteries, they were able to construct chargers capable of powering multiple cell phones, as well as successfully run wifi routers.

The group also managed to obtain two Geiger counters, and are currently publicly demonstrating how to use them. They allow one of the counters to go out on loan so that individuals can check their living spaces for possible radiation.

iPhone extension to measure radiation and locate GPS position.

29

Brad’s view on Yokosuka Name: Joined: Hometown: Currently: I am: Occupation: Email:

Brad July 2007 Embarrass, MN Yokosuka, Japan Male and Single US Navy i_love_japan_27 [at] yahoo.com

Enjoying life in Japan with my Canon Rebel XSI... amateur photographer, love sightseeing and hiking so taking pictures is a great hobby.

Thanks for viewing. Enjoy!!!

Japan

Mirror that fell in my apartment after the quake.

Brad’s view on Yokosuka

I suffered almost NO damage from the earthquake. Please keep the thousands of people up north in your thoughts and prayers and donate to the Japanese Red Cross to help these amazing people in their time of need.

keitai earthquake alerts 4

news announcement

Japan

Empty store shelves after the quake.

Damage near Daiei in Yokohama

Brad’s view on Yokosuka

empty shelves 2

Damage near Daiei in Yokohama

Japan

potassium iodide pills Dispensed to all US Navy personnel in the area as a precaution. DO NOT take these pills unless directed by public officials- they have severe side effects!

One naval ship goes to sea while another sits at anchor the evening of the earthquake. Picture taken from my apartment building roof.

Brad’s view on Yokosuka

TEPCO Yokohama office. Assholes.

2012 Question: “Why does God allow natural disasters, i.e. earthquakes, hurricanes, and tsunamis?”

Answer: Why does God allow earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes, tsunamis, typhoons, cyclones, mudslides, and other natural disasters? Tragedies such as the 2004 tsunami in Asia, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the 2008 cyclone in Myanmar, and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti cause many people to question God’s goodness. It is distressing that natural disasters are often termed “acts of God” while no “credit” is given to God for years, decades, or even centuries of peaceful weather. God created the whole universe and the laws of nature (Genesis 1:1). Most natural disasters are a result of these laws at work. Hurricanes, typhoons, and tornados are the results of divergent weather patterns colliding. Earthquakes are the result of the earth’s plate structure shifting. A tsunami is caused by an underwater earthquake.

The Bible proclaims that Jesus Christ holds all of nature together (Colossians 1:16-17). Could God prevent natural disasters? Absolutely! Does God sometimes influence the weather? Yes, as we see in Deuteronomy 11:17 and James 5:17. Numbers 16:30-34 shows us that God sometimes causes natural disasters as a judgment against sin. The book of Revelation describes many events which could definitely be described as natural disasters (Revelation chapters 6, 8, and 16). Is every natural disaster a punishment from God? Absolutely not.

In much the same way that God allows evil people to commit evil acts, God allows the earth to reflect the consequences sin has had on creation.

Romans 8:19-21 tells us, “The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” The fall of humanity into sin had effects on everything, including the world we inhabit. Everything in creation is subject to “frustration” and “decay.” Sin is the ultimate cause of natural disasters just as it is the cause of death, disease, and suffering.

Japan

Would A Nuclear Meltdown In Japan Mean The End Of The World As We Know It? Would a nuclear meltdown of all 6 reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex in Japan mean the end of the world as we know it? Of course not. But it would be a complete and total nightmare. Back in 1986, the Chernobyl meltdown spread nuclear radiation all over the northern hemisphere. According to some estimates, over a million deaths can be attributed to that disaster. Unfortunately, now we are facing a situation that could develop into the equivalent of “many Chernobyls”. Radiation levels are rising all over northern Japan and millions of Japanese are trying to figure out what to do.

Should those living in Tokyo stay where they are or should they go? Many Japanese are already voting with their feet. Right now there is a mass exodus of people out of the city of Tokyo. But if everyone in region wanted to flee, where would they all go? The truth is that there are over 30 million people in and around Tokyo. There is no way that they can all go some place else.

If something is not done quickly, this is going to turn into an unprecedented nightmare. Unfortunately, the authorities that are handling this in Japan don’t seem to have any answers. One anonymous senior nuclear industry executive told The Times Of India that Japanese power industry managers are “basically in a fullscale panic” and that “they don’t know what to do”.

The biggest problem at the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex right now is the spent fuel rods. The spent fuel rods remain extremely hot and extremely radioactive for years after they are done being used in a nuclear reactor. In order to keep them cool, they are kept in huge pools of water. In the Fukushima Dai-ichi com-

plex, someone decided that it would be a good idea to locate these spent fuel rod pools near the top of the buildings where the nuclear reactors are housed.

Posted below is a video which explains all this in great detail. Rachel Maddow is perhaps the most liberal news anchor in all of television, and a lot of what she says is complete and utter nonsense, but in this instance she does a really good job of breaking down exactly what spent fuel rods are and why they are a bigger threat right now than the nuclear reactors are....

If these spent fuel rods are not submerged in water they will degrade very, very rapidly and if hundreds of them are allowed to degrade that would be a complete nightmare.

A recent article by Paul Joseph Watson noted that there are approximately 600,000 spent fuel rods being stored at the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex....

The Fukushima Daiichi plant has seven pools dedicated to spent fuel rods. These are located at the top of six reactor buildings – or were until explosions and fires ravaged the plant. On the ground level there is a common pool in a separate building that was critically damaged by the tsunami. Each reactor building pool holds 3,450 fuel rod assemblies and the common pool holds 6,291 fuel rod assemblies. Each assembly holds sixty-three fuel rods. In short, the Fukushima Daiichi plant contains over 600,000 spent fuel rods – a massive amount of radiation that will soon be released into the atmosphere.

Each of these 600,000 spent fuel rods is a potential “dirty bomb”.

Are you concerned yet?

40

What is even more frightening for those of us that live in the United States is that the jet stream takes air from over Japan and transports it directly to the west coast of the United States.

The following YouTube video demonstrates this very clearly....

Everyone agrees that radiation from the nuclear disaster in Japan will reach the United States.

The debate is over whether or not it will be enough to be harmful to human health.

Hopefully we will not be facing high levels of radiation in the United States, but it is always good to be prepared.

So what should one do if the worst happens?

Well, I would recommend checking out an article entitled “How To Survive Nuclear Armageddon” by Tom Horn. It contains a wealth of information on how to deal with nuclear fallout.

Right about now there are lots of people in Japan that wish they had that type of information.

If the worst case scenario plays out and all 6 of the nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex melt down it will not be the end of the world, but it would be an unprecedented disaster.

Let us hope and pray that such a thing does not happen. But right now the nuclear crisis in Japan is getting worse by the day.

So what do you all think about the unfolding nuclear nightmare in Japan? Please feel free to leave a comment with your opinion below....

2012

It is worth highlighting Lafadz God is formed by itself where the cars will be exported via the Naval disebuah tsunami that washed away the field near the Port of Tokyo and Streaming Video is taken by the crew of NHK-Japan via helicopter when monitoring the condition of Japan's last Easter and Earthquake Tsunami. Surely crew from NHK did not understand the invention and only the Muslims who believe just above this Divine message.

Japan Nuclear Radiation Sign: World Will End 2012?

WTC + Japan earthquake = the end of the world!

Is the uncontrollable nuclear radiation leak crisis in Japan a sign that the world will end in 2012? We don’t have a specific answer. The Bible says no one really knows when the world will end except the Father God and the Lord God Jesus Christ.

But if you look at the situation in Japan, the nuclear radiation crisis is a human tragedy. Asia can be hit by nuclear radiation. Africa can be reached by the nuclear atomic radiation. Nuclear radioactive materials can travel to Europe and beyond.

Nuclear radiation can travel by air or water, sparing no living organism in the planet. Is this the end of the world? This is already a proven fact as what happened to the Chernobyl Nuclear Tragedy. Let’s pray that God would intervene and that the world will not end in 2012.

Pnyx 2011-03-16 07:31 AM Some contries use different systems regarding dates, but it doesn't really matter in this case i'll just post both.

World Trade Center + Japan Earthquake = The end of the world in 2012!

11-09-2001 + 11-03-2011 = 22-12-2012 09-11-2001 + 03-11-2011 = 12-22-2012 Do you guys there's something wierd about this too?

MusicLvr...

Resolved Question:

Aturbus 2011-03-16 07:34 AM

Will this crap in Japan end the world?

You counted wrong. 2011 + 2001 = 4012.

kel

Alexzia3...

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

2011-03-16 07:35 AM

What happened there wont end the world, but it might be one of the warning signs... :-)

there is 3 things wierd....

1 this thread has been made like 20 times 2 2011 + 2001 = 4012 3 earthquake is natural disaster a suicide bombing is not

Just think about it: - Fish are dying in thousands - So are birds - Polution is growing greatly - Etc. Just a thought, but its probably just another natural event.

Dont worry, I'm not....

41

Noodhulp The widespread damage from Japan’s deadly earthquake and tsunami will create economic and financial aftershocks for dozens of specific companies and industries. But the overall impact on Japan’s beleaguered economy may be relatively small.

Ironically, the influx of insurance claims to repair and rebuild could even provide a short-term economic stimulus.

The human toll is still being assessed after the 8.9 magnitude earthquake triggered a deadly 23-foot tsunami that swept away people, cars, houses, boats and planes. Dozens of people were killed, hundreds more are feared dead and tens of thousands have evacuated their homes.

More must-see stories The quake was centered in the northeast city of Sendai, a rice-growing region that is also home to auto and chip manufacturing plants.

The quake brought Tokyo, Japans’ financial center, to a virtual standstill Friday, overloading the city’s phone system and paralyzing a transit system that left millions of passengers stranded. Millions of homes across Japan were without power.

Tokyo Gas Company shut off supplies to more than 35,000 households and facilities in the Kanto area in eastern Japan. In Chiba prefecture, east of Tokyo, a major fire broke out at Cosmo Oil Company’s refinery, shutting down all operations. Tokyo Disneyland was closed Saturday and was undecided about opening on Sunday. There were no initial reports of injuries to visitors or staff.

Many companies were busy assessing damages. Nestle shut down operations at its Kasumigaura factory and Nippon Paper Group suspended production in Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures. Chemical manufacturer Asahi Kasei Corp. shut down and evacuated workers due to a power outage. Drug maker GlaxoSmithKline suspended operations at its manufacturing plant. A spokeswoman said that “minor damage” to the plant would require suspension of production for “a few days.”

Japan Karel Buntinx Beroep: Nadenken over Breeze.be en de echte wereld Woonplaats: Beringen Bio: Geboren: voor jullie jongelui lang geleden (1951), christen sedert 1979, mede- verantwoordelijke Evangelische gemeente in Beringen

Japan, het land van de rijzende zon In het “Land van de Rijzende Zon” is de zon op dit ogenblik ver te zoeken. Er is verwoesting, vergiftiging, dood, honger en dreiging… en niemand weet hoe het zal aflopen. Het land waarvan de cultuur op een unieke manier het denken en het leven van een heel volk heeft volgepompt met Shintoïstische afgoden en Boedistische tempelrituelen was en is voor veel Westerlingen altijd een verleidelijke oude dame geweest.

Niet in het minst omwille van haar vaak onnavolgbare duale karakteristieken waarin uitersten niet tegenover mekaar staan, maar gewoon naast mekaar: traditionele geheimzinnigheid naast hoog technologische innovaties, Zen-rust naast ongelooflijk intense arbeidsethiek en –intensiteit, religieuze symbolen in elk huis en toch 80 % van de mensen die verklaren geen persoonlijke geloofsovertuiging te hebben, unieke hoogstaande ceativiteit als ikebana of kalligrafie naast ordinaire Yakuza-bendes en half veredelde prostitutie.

In dit land heeft het Evangelie van Jezus amper voet in huis gekregen. Slechts 1.56% van de 127 miljoen inwoners noemt zichzelf Christen, omgerekend zijn dat zowat 197.500 mensen.

Procentueel weinig, maar het zijn wel 197.500 individuele christenen. Hoeveel heeft Vlaanderen er ?

Gilbert Gottfried fired by Aflac for posting Japan earthquake jokes on Twitter

Rampenspoed

En misschien is het goed dat we ons realiseren dat het land op een heel speciaal moment in zijn geschiedenis door deze rampspoed getroffen is. Economisch is het een moeilijk moment voor ‘Nippon’. Het land kampt met een onvoorstelbare schuldenlast van meer dan 200% van het BNP. In Europa komen landen al in de problemen van zodra de 100% in zicht komt. De nucleaire crisis die het land nu treft, kan wel eens de druppel zijn die de emmer doet overlopen. Een financiële meltdown dreigt. Japan int dit jaar ongeveer 41 miljard Yen aan belastingen. Daarvan zal men 21 miljard Yen spenderen aan “debt service”. Interesten zeg maar. En dat terwijl de rentevoeten in Japan rond de 1% liggen en daarmee tot de laagste van de wereld horen. As je denkt dat Japan dan ook maar 41 miljard Yen per jaar uitgeeft omdat ze dat maar innen aan belastingen, denk dan maar snel iets anders. Het totale budget van de overheid bedraagt immers 92 miljard Yen.

Jezus is het antwoord Ook moreel en spiritueel staat Japan op een kruispunt. Jongeren zijn opvallend rebels aan het worden, extreme asociale secten duiken overal op en de gezinsstructuren staan onder zware druk. Het gevolg is dat veel Japaners op zoek zijn naar antwoorden. En de opeenvolgende rampen die hen deze maand overvielen, kunnen daar alleen maar toe bijdragen. Wel, voor hen allemaal is Jezus het antwoord. Hij wil ook met dit volk tot verzoening komen. Elke dodelijke ramp is tegelijkertijd een barmhartige roep van God naar de levenden om tot berouw te komen.

Dat was immers ook Jezus’ verbijsterende stelling toen Hij geconfronteerd werd met het nieuws dat de toren van Siloam ingestort was en 18 mensen daarbij waren omgekomen. “Wel,” zeiden Zijn uitdagers, “Wat nu Jezus ?”. Hij antwoordde: “Die achttien, op wie de toren in Siloam viel en die daardoor gedood werden, denkt u dat zij meer schuld hebben gehad dan alle andere mensen die in Jeruzalem wonen? Ik zeg u: Nee, maar als u zich niet bekeert, zult u allen evenzo omkomen” (Luk 13, 4-5). Het doel van elke dodelijke ramp, maar ook van alle pleziertjes die dit leven biedt is hetzelfde: “Heb berouw over uw zonden”. Plezier zegt: “God is zoals dit, alleen maar intenser. Dus maak geen afgod van dit plezier, ik wijs alleen maar naar

“Japan is really advanced. They don’t go to the beach. The beach comes to them.” @RealGilbert tweets.

“I just split up with my girlfriend, but like the Japanese say, ‘They’ll be another one floating by any minute now.”

Gilbert Gottfried tweets, which he later removed along with all of his Japan earthquake jokes.

44

Noodhulp

Gwen Stefani donates $1 million

William Hamilton

New York City, New York, United States WEAR DIOR; NOT WAR! The large earthquake triggered a tsunami warning for countries all around the Pacific ocean.

The Fashion Industry is doing all it can to bring relief to the people of Japan. One may text the REDCROSS at 90999 for a ten dollar donation that will simply be added to your cell phone bill...UNICEF is taking donations to help the misplaced children of this disaster as well.

As far as Fashion goes; Lady Gaga has made Bracelets that say WE PRAY FOR JAPAN in both English and Japanese, for Five dollars, the entertainer has reportedly raised 2.5 million in the first 48 hours of distribution on the Bracelet...say what you will about Gaga, but I give it to her for this one...I am not a Gaga fan, but will buy the Bracelet purely for the statement, and the whole five dollars goes to relief efforts.

Text...buy the Bracelet...call UNICEF do what you can...if finances are difficult...

PLEASE...offer a prayer, this always works.

Local Japan Emergency dials: 171 + 1 + line phone number to leave a message 171 + 2 + line phone number to listen to the message Phone numbers to consult about missing persons: (Japanese language) Iwate: 0120-801-471 Miyagi: 022-221-2000 Fukushima: 0120-510-186 / 090-8424-4207 / 090-8424-4208

Singer Gwen Stefani has without a doubt wanted to do something to help in the relief and recovery efforts for the Japanese victims, following the devastating quake and tsunami that have hit Japan on March 11.

The “No Doubt’ singer has donated $1 million to Save the Children’s Japan EarthquakeTsunami Children in Emergency Fund in hopes to provide assistance to the victims of the twin disaster in Japan.

With her donation is a note that explained how Stefani has loved and respected Japan and its culture.

“I’ve been inspired by Japan for many years and have a true love, appreciation and respect for the Japanese people and culture. The disaster in Japan is beyond heartbreaking and I want to do anything I can do to help,” Stefani was quoted as saying by the Los Angeles Times.

The singer and mother of two sons - - Kingston James and Mcgregor Rossdale - - has first toured Japan in 1996, according to USA Today and the East Asian country’s culture has been a source of influence and inspiration to her song. The singer’s clothing line called, Harajuku Lovers can also be traced from culture of the Harajuku district.

Stefani has even written and recorded a song called “Harajuku Girls” for her 2004 debut solo album, “Love.Angel.Music.Baby.”

“I would never be able to make a gesture like this without the love and support of all the fans over all these years,” the singer said in her note according to USA Today.

Gwen Stefani who’s been married to British rock musician Gavin Rossdale since 2002, joins the list of celebrities who have stepped up efforts to aid the relief and recovery initiatives in Japan.

She came next to Sandra Bullock who also donated the same staggering amount for Japan victims’ recovery.

50 Cent on Twitter: "Its all good Till b*tches see there christian louboutins floating down da street shit gone get crazy."

Lady Gaga is one of the first celebrities in the world to raise her paws for the Japan earthquake by releasing a wristband for sale in her Internet store. All profits earned from it will be used to aid the victims and to rebuild buildings.

"Look this is very serious people I had to evacuate all my hoe's from LA,Hawaii and Japan. I had to do it. Lol" "Wave will hit 8am them crazy white boys gonna try to go surfing."

Fans and supporters can now buy Lady Gaga Japan Earthquake Wristband for a price between $5 and $105.

The wristband is white with red texts that read, “We Pray For Japan” in both English and Japanese.

45

Japan Japan Earthquake & Tsunami: 6 Simple Ways to Help

1. Text to Donate

4. Embed Some Code

The American Red Cross has once again launched a texting campaign to raise money for relief efforts in the Pacific region. Last year, the Red Cross was able to raise over $20 million for Haiti relief through simple text donations.

If you run a website and want to get your customers or users involved in relief efforts, all you need to do is embed a simple snippet of code.

The Hello Bar places a simple message at the top of your website with just a few lines of code. The service, which is in private beta, has decided to open its doors to anybody willing to help the victims of the crisis in Japan.

If you would like to donate to the American Red Cross for Japan Earthquake Relief, just text REDCROSS to 90999. Each text will provide $10 toward the Red Cross’s humanitarian efforts.

2. Donate via Facebook

Simply sign up with the invite code “helpjapan” and you can quickly get the code snippet you need to embed a customized Hello Bar that will drive donations. Check out our full article for more instructions on how to add the donation bar to the top of your website.

The Red Cross has also launched a campaign on Causes to raise at least $25,000 for relief efforts. By logging in to Facebook, you can donate anywhere from $10 to $500 to help Tsunami victims and their families.

5. “Like” a Facebook Page

As of publishing time, the Causes campaign has raised over $40,000 from over 1,000 donors and 3,000 promoters.

The people over at Explore.org are donating $1 for every “Like” of the “Dog Bless You” Facebook page, up to $100,000.

3. Buy Virtual Goods

Explore.org founder Charlie Weingarten delivered the challenge at South by Southwest yesterday. “Search and rescue dogs are a critical resource for emergency situations,” he told the audience.

Virtual sweet potatoes and the Japanese Tsunami may not seem related, but buying digital crops could help children affected by the earthquake.

6. Ways to Help on Twitter

Zynga, known for its effective social good campaigns, has partnered with Save the Children’s Japan Earthquake Tsunami Emergency Fund to get its users to donate money through the purchase of virtual goods in CityVille, FrontierVille, FarmVille and its other games.

Harness the power of your Twitter account to do some good for the people of Japan.

100% of the proceeds from the purchase of sweet potatoes in CityVille, radishes in FarmVille or kobe cows in FrontierVille will go toward Save the Children’s efforts to provide relief in the Pacific. The world’s largest social gaming company is shooting to raise $2 million for relief efforts.

Earlier this morning, Twitter published a blog post detailing ways you can help with the relief efforts. Not only have they updated Japan’s mobile website with the latest information on the disaster, but they have also published a list of hashtags to tweet and/or follow related to the crisis.

Zynga has raised millions of dollars over the last few years with these types of social good campaigns, most notably for the relief efforts in Haiti.

Here are some key hashtags to remember: #Jishin: focuses around general earthquake information #Anpi: a hashtag for the confirmation of the safety of individuals or places #Hinan: Evacuation information #311care: a hashtag regarding medical information for the victims #PrayforJapan: A general hashtag for support and best wishes for victims of the crisis

46

Noodhulp

Security Warning: Japanese earthquake scams will send tremors through the web

Experts Warn Of Japan Earthquake, Tsunami Spam

With every major natural disaster in the past, be it Indian ocean tsunamis, hurricane Katrina, the Haiti earthquake, the recent Christchurch earthquake, several waves of online fraud have appeared. Here are some more common ones:

As the Pacific Rim braces for deadly Tsunami’s spawned by today’s magnitude 8.9 earthquake in Japan, the SANS Internet Storm Center says users should be on the lookout for a different kind of Tsunami: scam e-mail and Web pages looking to turn curiosity about the events in Japan into illicit gain.

“Shocking news” “Shocking video”

1. or malicious spam. Sent either by email or through links in social media such as Facebook or Twitter, it promises to show some specific footage or reveal some more news about the disaster. Clicking on it can have several consequences, from propagating more spam, to getting infected with malware.

2. Search Engine Optimisation poisoning. Since cybercriminals know people will use search engines to look for news on the topic, they will fill their malicious sites with buzzwords, such as “Japanese earthquake”, “tsunamis”, etc, to lure visitors to their sites, where they can get infected with drive-by malware.

3. Charity and relief scams. After the initial shock passes, many charity scams spring up, preying on people’s nobility and willingness to help those in need.

As always we recommend the following: DO NOT click on social media and email “shocking news” or “shocking video” links.

DO NOT go to untrusted websites for news.

DO NOT send money to unchecked charities and fundraisers.

DO follow only known news sites for news on the disaster.

DO send charity contributions only to well known and trusted charitable organisations.

47

The Internet Storm Center (ISC) issued a warning on its Web page Friday morning warning reader to expect “emails (sp) scams and malware circulating regarding the recent Japanese earthquake.”Examples of Tsunami-related spam have already shown up in spam filters, according to the Web site spamwarnings.com.

Jumping on major and breaking news stories is a tried and true method to trick unsuspecting, curious or concerned Internet users into opening malicious attachments or clicking malicious links they might otherwise avoid. Scammers have become adept at using search engine optimization (SEO) strategies to place scam Web pages high in the search results of major search engines like Google, though the company has recently made changes to its search algorithm that weed out bogus pages and other kinds of low-value Web sites generated by so-called “content farms.”

A wave of spam followed the January, 2005 Tsunami in the Aceh Region of Indonesia. Those included numerous scams soliciting donations for “charities” for Tsunami victims that turned out to be fraudulent. The Internet Storm Center says that those who want to help should make donations to established organizations rather than those set up in response to a particular event. The IRS maintains a list of tax exempt charitable organizations that can be used to verify the status of charities that are soliciting donations.

News of the massive quake and ensuing Tsunami has prompted Google to set up an Online Crisis Center devoted to the disaster. That includes emergency numbers and links to the latest information on the disaster. Features for locating individuals in the affected region of Northern Japan are also provided.

Japan

VOORWOORD Emily Badger: http://blog.indexoncensorship.org/2011/05/03/is-the-internet-eroding-journalism-standards/

INTRODUCTIE Info Japan http://www.uchiyama.nl/ Aankomst Kyoto http://bjornblaschke.reismee.nl/reisverhaal/127831/aankomst-kyoto/ ALGEMEENHEDEN http://users.telenet.be/dany.dekoker/Japan%203.html Photo http://www.japanesestreets.com/ Zakendoen in Japan: Culturele Omgangsvormen http://zakelijk.infonu.nl/diversen/55484-zakendoen-in-japan-culturele-omgangsvormen.html Speciaalbier cultuur groeit in Japan http://bier.blog.nl/biernieuws/2010/10/24/speciaalbier-cultuur-groeit-in-japan Japanse cultuur in de bloemen http://katiemorosky.blogspot.com/2011/03/japanse-cultuur-in-de-bloemen.html HOE GEDRAAG IK MIJ IN JAPAN http://users.telenet.be/dany.dekoker/Japan%201.html

TSUNAMI There’s something biblical about the images http://blogs.stealingshare.com/?p=2291 Photo http://www.flickr.com/photos/french-disko/with/5517660149/ Japanese Earthquake/Tsunami/Fukashima Plant Explosion http://www.flickr.com/photos/georgiaturnbull/5530053102/in/photostream/ yisris’ photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/yisris/ Swedish couple have honeymoon from hell http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8432283/Swedish-couple-have-honeymoon-from-hell.html “I am so grateful” — a tsunami survivor’s story http://blog.worldvision.org/stories/i-am-so-grateful-a-tsunami-survivors-story/ tsunami survivor stories http://phukettsunami.blogspot.com/ Tsunami Draw http://www.flickr.com/photos/kristinagordon/

48

Colofon

AARDBEVING AARDBEVINGEN http://users.telenet.be/dany.dekoker/Japan%207.html ‘Impact aardbeving Japan op pc-markt beperkt’ http://webwereld.nl/nieuws/106036/-impact-aardbeving-japan-op-pc-markt-beperkt-.html How to Stay Safe When Traveling http://travelingbastards.blogspot.com/2011/03/japanese-earthquake-and-tsunami-stay.html A Delta Pilot’s Japan Earthquake Story http://airlinepilotchatter.blogspot.com/2011/03/delta-pilots-japan-earthquake-story.html An Amazing Story about Twitter and the Japan Earthquake http://kellblog.com/2011/03/12/an-amazing-story-about-twitter-and-the-japan-earthquake/ Photo’s http://www.flickr.com/photos/ai_tkhs/with/5542346641/ Japan Earthquake 2011 http://stephendavidsmith.net/tokyostory/japan-earthquake-2011/ Will the Japan Earthquake/Tsunami Trump Charlie Sheen in U.S. Media? http://blackamericanopinion.blogspot.com/2011/03/will-japan-earthquaketsunami-trumps.html Sandra http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Nikko/blog-585981.html Oil prices drop in wake of Japan tsunami http://www.nonforceddispatch.com/blog/resources/oil-prices-drop-in-wake-of-japan-tsunami/ Japan earthquake through the lens of amateur videomakers http://www.pwazon.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=23:japan-earthquake-through-the-lens-of-amateur-videomakers&catid=1:recip es&Itemid=3

NUCLEAR Effects of radiation http://tearypad.blogspot.com/ Japan’s Fukushima Reactor Meltdown – What is Your Government Not Telling You? http://fromthetrenchesworldreport.com/japan’s-fukushima-reactor-meltdown-what-is-your-government-not-telling-you/3075 Japan: Lying About Nuke Plant Meltdowns, Evacuate Americans http://thesocialpoets.blogspot.com/2011/03/japan-lying-about-nuke-plant-meltdowns.html Poetry and Short Story http://deni-borin.blogspot.com/2011/03/fukushima-nuclear.html Japanreizigers kunnen zich laten testen op radioactiviteit http://www.standaard.be/artikel/detail.aspx?artikelid=DMF20110321_138 Nuclear opinion http://boards.ign.com/teh_vestibule/b5296/180628745/p2 With what is happening in Japan, are you concerned with Nuclear power here in the states? http://us.toluna.com/opinions/826068/With-what-happening-Japan-concerned-with-Nuclear.htm Nuclear Energy Needs a Major Re-Branding http://www.maxgladwell.com/2008/06/nuclear-energy-needs-a-major-re-branding/

49

Japan

Going Inside Japan’s Exclusion Zone http://www.badassdigest.com/2011/04/07/going-inside-japans-exclusion-zone How to Measure Radiation in Japan, Plus Other Sources of Common, Everyday Intake http://www.wonderhowto.com/news/diy-angle/measure-radiation-japan-plus-other-sources-common-everyday-intake-0126191/ i_love_japan_27’s photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/10710816@N07/with/5545950777/ Geiger Counter Reading and iPhone GPS tagging http://www.flickr.com/photos/nokton/5602622452/in/photostream Promoting the safety of vegetables from the “hot” areas http://www.justhungry.com/how-one-retailer-dealing-vegetable-crisis-eastern-japan

NOODHULP Japan, het land van de rijzende zon http://www.breeze.be/artikels/artikel-detail/japan-het-land-van-de-rijzende-zon/ Gilbert Gottfried fired by Aflac for posting Japan earthquake jokes on Twitter http://www.batangastoday.com/gilbert-gottfried-fired-by-aflac-for-posting-japan-earthquake-jokes-on-twitter/10832/ Security Warning: Japanese earthquake scams will send tremors through the web http://esetireland.wordpress.com/2011/03/11/security-warning-japanese-earthquake-scams-will-send-tremors-through-the-web/ Check Chain Mail and Hoaxes http://chainmailcheck.wordpress.com/2011/03/12/earthquaketsunami-scam-resources/ Experts Warn Of Japan Earthquake, Tsunami Spam http://threatpost.com/en_us/blogs/experts-warn-japan-earthquake-tsunami-spam-031111?utm_source=Newsletter_031111&utm_ medium=Email+Marketing&utm_campaign=Newsletter&CID JAPANESE EARTHQUAKE & TSUNAMI http://hamiltonmode.blogspot.com/2011/03/japanese-earthquake-tsunami.html Lady gaga http://jesseneo.com/blog/lady-gaga-japan-earthquake-relief-wristband/

50

51