[Video] Fukushima Residents Worry About Future of Affected Areas ☢

Bags full of radioactive dirt and debris are still visible 5 years after the earthquake and tsunami that triggered the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster.

Ahead of the anniversary on March 11th reporters visited a town 20 kilometers away. The first in the area to fully re-open.

Bags full of Radioactive Dirt and Debris - Fukushima 2016

But for some of the few residence who have returned to Nahara there's little hope for the future of the town. This Buddhist priest says after coming back I knew I would see the end of this region, this town. It became an environment where people could not live safely and comfortably ever again he says.

Buddhist priest Tokuo Hayakawa living in Nahara, Futaba District, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan

It's reported less than six percent of residents have returned. Locals say the future will depend on young people returning and so far there is only a handful amid lingering fares about radioactivity. However authorities maintain the presence of radiation has now dropped to levels below what's considered safe.

Watch the video on Youtube

Watch video on Liveleak https://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d70_1456932602

When Young People Die In Fukushima ☢

Morcheeba - Blood Like Lemonade (official) 

The Music Video above might not have anything to do with the following post. But I feel a lot of people, especially in Japan have been made reluctant renegades!


 

Democracy Now a daily independent global news hour with Amy Goodman & Juan González

Video Transcript from 15:15 minutes in to 17:30 min

Evacuated from Futaba, Japan. Can never return home.

YUKIKO KAMEYA, Former Resident of Futaba, Japan (Evacuated From Town Near Fukushima): [Translated] When I fled from Futaba I could not even talk. I could not even have friends over or anything, but my people encouraged me to be standing here right now. Without any peoples help I could not be here. That's why I appreciate them and want to join them in their cause.

Reporter: What is your message to the Japanese government and the world about nuclear power?


YUKIKO KAMEYA, Former Resident of Futaba, Japan: I don't want anyone in the world to experiece what we have experienced, we have housing in Futaba but there is nothing there. Everything was robbed. All the furniture was brokened, I cant really go back there, we know it. We don't want anyone in the world to be in the situation that we are in. There are 59 children with thyroid problem, and there are hundreds more on the way. The real problem in Fukushima is children can not go out and play. They have to stay inside and this is not the way children should grow up. I don't want anyone in the world or Japan to experience this type of situation for children. So I want to stop Nuclear Facilities right now and I don't want them to be continued.


Reporter: Do you think you will ever be able to return to your home?

YUKIKO KAMEYA, Former Resident of Futaba, Japan: The Futaba where I live is not livable and the government say so. So I know we are never going back in my entire life. But for the Fukushima Prefecture it is still not safe, the radiation level is still very high. So I don't think it is safe and I don't think we will go back there.

Reporter: And what is your assessment of how the government has handled the crisis?

YUKIKO KAMEYA, Former Resident of Futaba, Japan: We expected our government to do a better job when this accident happened. But they don't really do what you want. They ignore all the problems we’re having. There are many young people between 15 and 19 in Fukushima who are in high school who have died suddenly. For example, this morning I saw an online story that a 17-year-old died from Leukemia. In the morning when his mother came to wake him up, he was found dead in bed. Everyone says this was caused by the radiation levels from the nuclear accident. But our government never recognized it, and there are 59 children with thyroid cancer, they’ll never recognize it as being caused by the radiation.

Video Transcript from 21:45 minutes

The following video transcript and article can be found at 
www.democracynow.org/2014/1/17/mayor_of_town_that_hosted_fukushima
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: Music from the film Nuclear Nation: The Fukushima Refugees Story. This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. This is the third day of our broadcast from Tokyo, Japan, and the final day. We are talking about moving in on the third anniversary of the Fukushima disaster. Nineteen thousand people died or went missing on that day, March 11th, 2011, and the days afterwards, when the earthquake triggered a tsunami, and three of the reactors at the Fukushima nuclear power plant melted down.

We’re joined right now by Futaba’s former mayor, Katsutaka Idogawa. For years, he embraced nuclear power. Now he has become a vocal critic. He is featured in the film Nuclear Nation.

We welcome you to Democracy Now! And thank you for traveling two hours to join us here at the studios of NHK International for this conversation. Mayor, explain what happened on that day, special thanks to Mary Joyce, who is translating for you today, on that day, March 11, 2011, and the days afterwards, when you decided it was time for the thousands of people who lived in your town, Futaba, to leave.

KATSUTAKA IDOGAWA: [translated] On that day, there was an earthquake of the scale of something we’d never experienced before. It was a huge surprise. And at the time, I was just hoping that nothing had happened to the nuclear power plant. However, unfortunately, there was in fact an accident there. And then I worked with the many residents, and thinking about how I could fully evacuate them from the radiation.

AMY GOODMAN: You made a decision to evacuate your town before the Japanese government told the people in the area to do this, but not before the U.S. government told Americans to leave the area and other governments said the same.

KATSUTAKA IDOGAWA: [translated] Yes, the Japanese government’s information to evacuate became much later than that, and my mistake at the time was initially waiting to hear that. If I had made the decision even three hours earlier, I would have been able to prevent so many people from being so heavily exposed to radiation; however, as a result of that, unfortunately, several hundreds of people were directly affected by this radiation.

AMY GOODMAN: Where did you decide to move the whole town?

KATSUTAKA IDOGAWA: [translated] I was originally thinking about this at the time of the earthquake on March 11 first. However, at first, I was waiting to rely on the government information to decide the timing for this.

AMY GOODMAN: And so, you moved the town to a school in the outskirts of Tokyo, is that right? The entire town to an abandoned school? Explain how you set up your government, your whole community, in this one building.

KATSUTAKA IDOGAWA: [translated] Right at the start, we were unfortunately not able to evacuate all of the residents, and some actually did remain within parts of Fukushima prefecture. And as a result of this, there was actually a gap created between those who were still remaining within the greater Fukushima prefecture area and those who evacuated to Saitama, outside of Tokyo. And the reason for this is we had no access to communication, to information, to mobile phones.

AMY GOODMAN: And so, how long did people stay? How many people were in this school? And what role did the government play? How has the government helped the refugees?

KATSUTAKA IDOGAWA: [translated] We were able to evacuate around 1,400 of the residents to Saitama prefecture, outside of Tokyo. So they were saved from the initial first exposure, the most serious exposure to radiation at the time. But many of them, unable to deal with the situation, gradually started to return to different parts of Fukushima prefecture.

AMY GOODMAN: You have not returned back to your town?

KATSUTAKA IDOGAWA: [translated] Yes, I am still living in evacuation away from the heavily radiated areas.

AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about the meetings that you have had with the government? You have had a remarkable association of nuclear mayors in Japan, the mayors who live—who preside over towns that have nuclear power plants in them.

KATSUTAKA IDOGAWA: [translated] From before the accident, we had always been strongly calling upon the government, and also TEPCO, to make sure that no accident was ever allowed to happen. And they were always telling us, "Don’t worry, Mayor. No accident could ever happen." However, because this promise was betrayed, this is why I became anti-nuclear.

AMY GOODMAN: I want to go to a clip from Atsushi Funahashi’s new documentary film about the former residents of Futaba, where the Fukushima Daichi nuclear power plant is partly located. The film is called Nuclear Nation: The Fukushima Refugees Story. And we’re going to go to a part of the film that shows a part of this remarkable meeting of government officials with the atomic mayors, the nuclear mayors of Japan.


BANRI KAIEDA: [translated] The future of energy production and Japanese energy policy is currently being debated, and this is something we’ve communicated to you. Regarding the details of this review, I believe it’s important to clearly define the terms as soon as possible. Thank you very much.


MARC CARPENTIER, Narrator: The industry minister leaves his seat in the first five minutes.


GOSHI HOSONO: [translated] The central and prefectural governments are working on the annual health check guidelines. Based on what we’ve researched until now, the impact of radiation on children appears negligible. However, we will endeavor to keep you apprised of any developments.


MARC CARPENTIER: The nuclear crisis minister follows suit, citing official duties.


CHAIRPERSON: [translated] And now, we’d like to open the floor for comments. Please raise your hands. OK, go ahead.


MAYOR KATSUTAKA IDOGAWA: [translated] I’m representing Futaba. I want to know why we’re being made to feel this way. It’s frustrating. What does the nuclear power committee think? When you came and explained it to us, you lied, saying it was safe and secure. But we, who trusted and believed you, can no longer live in our own town.

AMY GOODMAN: That last voice was the mayor at the time of Futaba, Katsutaka Idogawa, who is with us today in our Tokyo studio. Futaba is where part of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is located. He was speaking, addressing this meeting of government officials and nuclear mayors from around Japan in August of 2011. You just heard, oh, the voices of Goshi Hosono, who was the nuclear crisis minister of Japan, and Banri Kaieda, a minister of the economy, trade and industry. And after each of them spoke, they politely took their leave of the room before the mayors could address them, so they did not hear the Futaba mayor’s statement about the lies from the government. Talk about that particular meeting.

KATSUTAKA IDOGAWA: [translated] At the time, we were calling for a strong response and attention from the government since the disaster. However, they didn’t even try to listen to what we were calling for. And they continued to not even try to make efforts to fulfill their responsibilities or promise to us. And so, they continued to appear before us, those who were suffering directly from the disaster, but instead of listening to something which would maybe be difficult for their ears to hear, they would just leave the room, not even listen to us at all. And within those who were left in the room were some government officials, including some who were directly the ones who told me that no accident would ever happen. However, no matter what I would try to appeal and say to them, it would not have any effect, so instead I turned around and appealed and spoke to my colleagues, my fellow residents, and I tried to tell them what was really happening, the situation.

AMY GOODMAN: Former Mayor Katsutaka Idogawa, you were a fierce proponent of nuclear power. You were pushing for two more reactors to be built even closer to Futaba than the others. You were proud of getting tens of millions of dollars for your town for hosting these reactors. How did you make your transition to being one of the most vocal government officials against all nuclear power?

KATSUTAKA IDOGAWA: [translated] I had been supporting the nuclear power plants in our town on the condition that no accident, no disaster, would be allowed to occur. It was not necessarily that I was actually totally in favor of the nuclear power plants; however, the situation that was in places without the nuclear power plants there, our city would be losing the financial benefits and perhaps unable to go forward economically. The city was actually on the brink of bankruptcy beforehand. And so, in order to try and prevent the city from going into this kind of economic breakdown, I saw that building the new two reactors was perhaps the only way.

AMY GOODMAN: I want to go to a clip, another clip of Nuclear Nation, that gives us a little background on the town of Futaba.


MARC CARPENTIER: Futaba’s farming history goes back over a thousand years. In winter months, people had to leave town for work in the city. Reactors 5 and 6 came online in 1978 and ’79. Money flowed in from the government, and the townspeople found themselves with lots of extra cash. They built roads, a library, a sprawling sports center, and made major upgrades to the infrastructure.

AMY GOODMAN: Nuclear Nation, talking about nuclear refugees, the nuclear refugees of Futaba. And we’re joined by the former mayor, who made the decision, on his own, right after the earthquake, to move his entire town, to evacuate it to Tokyo, being deeply concerned about the levels of radiation and feeling that the government was lying to them about the dangers in the area. This was a mayor, Katsutaka Idogawa, who was fiercely for nuclear power, was proud to be able to get two more reactors in his town to build the economy, to get tens of millions of dollars, and then turned around after the meltdown, after the earthquake, the tsunami and the ultimate meltdown of three of the six existing reactors.

Mayor, right now, you are not the only one who turned around in office. Naoto Kan, the prime minister, also a fierce proponent, is now speaking out all over the world against nuclear power. But just this week, as we flew in to Japan, the government of Prime Minister Abe, the most conservative government since World War II, announced that it wants to build more reactors in Japan. How are you organizing? What are you doing now?

KATSUTAKA IDOGAWA: [translated] Without being able to even deal with the consequences of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the position to promote nuclear power still is something which is just unthinkable to me. And I believe it’s really important for the prime minister to look at what he’s actually been responsible for and have regret and really deal with what they have done, before they can actually go forward and do anything. And the disaster now is bigger than anything we can cope with. It’s a disaster on an international level, and huge consequences, so he needs to really recognize this.

AMY GOODMAN: So who’s driving the push for more nuclear power? The country, already 30 percent dependent for its energy on nuclear power, had plans to make the country more than 50 percent by 2030. But after this catastrophe, who is pushing for these nuclear power plants?

KATSUTAKA IDOGAWA: [translated] The nuclear power system is constructed to use huge amounts of public tax. And this is a very tasty, shall we say, position or situation for the large corporations. They were really behind this push. However, much public taxpayers’ money is being used behind this. And I believe it’s so important to prevent our taxes from being used for any of this kind.

AMY GOODMAN: What has happened to the Fukushima refugees today?

KATSUTAKA IDOGAWA: [translated] There are so many people who want to evacuate but don’t have the means to be able to actually do that and are still living in this situation, who want to do something, but they have no support. And another huge issue is those who are still forced to be living within the greater Fukushima prefecture area do not have access to full health measurements, health treatments, and the kind of support that they need. And they’re also told that any diseases or sickness that they have is not caused by radiation.

AMY GOODMAN: You are traveling the world. Can you tell us the countries you’ve been to and why you’re speaking there?

KATSUTAKA IDOGAWA: [translated] I’m working with people all around the world, speaking with people who are working against nuclear power in their own areas.

AMY GOODMAN: You went to Finland?

KATSUTAKA IDOGAWA: [translated] Yes.

AMY GOODMAN: Why?

KATSUTAKA IDOGAWA: [translated] I went to Finland to speak with people who are working against the construction of nuclear power plants in their areas, because they knew our situation and what happened to us, and we’re trying to work together to prevent this from ever happening to them.

AMY GOODMAN: In the United States, a nuclear power plant has not been built in close to 40 years, very much because of the anti-nuclear movement and the cost of what it means to build a nuclear power plant and what to do with the waste. But President Obama has talked about a nuclear renaissance and is pushing for the building of several new plants for the first time in decades. What message would you share with him?

KATSUTAKA IDOGAWA: [translated] The nuclear power disaster is not just of Fukushima. This is a disaster of all humanity, of the entire world. There is a Japanese saying, and its meaning is that, well, any kind of disaster, three times is the limit. And we have had the three large disasters: one in the United States, one at Chernobyl, and now Fukushima. The Earth will not be able to cope with any further nuclear disasters. For the children of the future, the future generations, I hope that we can stop this now.

AMY GOODMAN: What is the alternative?

KATSUTAKA IDOGAWA: [translated] Well, I’ve heard in U.S. there is shale gas, for example. But as well as other forms of energy, I believe it’s also very important now to look at how we can have lifestyles that rely less on energy, that use less energy more efficient in our homes and in our offices. And Prime Minister Koizumi is also suggesting this.

AMY GOODMAN: Prime Minister Koizumi, very significant that a conservative former prime minister also came out against nuclear power.

KATSUTAKA IDOGAWA: [translated] Even he looked at the actual situation. And I believe that Prime Minister Koizumi really visited places affected by nuclear power to really see what is happening, and he’s really speaking sincerely now.

AMY GOODMAN: I want to thank you very much for joining us on Democracy Now!, Katsutaka Idogawa, former mayor of the town of Futaba, where part of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is located. The entire town was rendered uninhabitable by the nuclear meltdown. This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. Stay with us. After break, crowdsourcing radiation monitoring. We’ll look at how a group called Safecast has helped Japanese civilians turn their smartphones into Geiger counters. Stay with us.

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Radiation Madness - Animals Go Mad When Exposed Radiation

I have been making some posts about radiation sickness going around in Japan. But I really don't hear much about another form of sickness caused by radiation, namely radiation madness. Is that a new word? Radiation Madness? Anyhow when I first heard Yoichi Shimatsu talk about this months ago. And radiation biologist Natalia Manzurova talks about this happening in Chernobyl. Animals in the area started attacking people.

You can listen to Yoichi Shimatsu talking about this, mutant dogs, raccoons and so on. Godzilla anyone? You skip to 16 min in to the audio if your not interested in the rest that they talk about.

☢ MP3 Fukushima Report with Jeff Rense and Yoichi Shimatsu 28 Nov 2011 ☢

I didn't really think to much about it at the time. Because the whole concept of animals going insane like that and attacking people just seem so out there.. Zombie movies comes to mind.. Speaking of Zombie movies, one such movie I like, is called Zombieland from 2009. It's a more "fun" take on Zombies and I recommend anyone that like Zombie movies to go and watch. Don't forget to "double tap" it might save your life. "One bullet more in the head will go a long way to ensuring your survival".

Anyhow I don't think that the situation would go out of control like that in Fukushima, I would be more concerned about the tons of radioactive water that are daily dumped into the ocean and what that does to sea life. Do you think Sharks are bad? Well I would not want to meet a radioactive one when going for a swim. There have been the first Shark attack ever reported in their history now on the Russian coast.

But I don't think that, oh just out of the blue here.. You would find a radioactive monkey attacking you in your car.

I guess there is a cartoon for everything, Simpsons did it.. Joking aside, what if people that are exposed to radiation but not to the same amounts do start behaving more erratic and mean? If a high dose of radiation leads to madness in animals, does that mean a smaller dose drives you to do things that are out of character?

There have been a huge increase in divorces in the Fukushima area, not saying this have anything to do with behavior caused by radiation. The whole situation is very difficult for most families. People have lost everything, and still paying mortgages on houses and property that are deemed uninhabitable.

The questions are still there, just yesterday a local Japan official was found dead in his car with a shotgun blast to the chest. He lectured against nuclear power after Fukushima, so that case he would be considered a target for pro nuclear people. But police say it was suicide or a "gun accident" But a shotgun blast? Close range? Isn't that a bit over the top?

And again how did he manage to do that sitting in his car? Long barrel shotgun.. Seems a bit tricky. Impossible even. A shoot to the chest don't kill you in an instance, if you completely stop blood from flowing to your brain then you are still conscious for another 10-20 sec. Don't ask how I know this.. Well I'm thinking, could it be that peoples emotions are starting to get affected by the radiation. Small things start to get blown out of proportion and people are acting out in different ways.

Well time will tell, in the mean time I'll keep my eyes on this. And if you have not yet read my other posts about radiation sickness here is the one I wrote yesterday. There you can watch the video lecture from radiation biologist Natalia Manzurova, she tells of her experience as a Chernobyl 'clean up liquidator'. Natalia Manzurova talks about how animals started attacking people in the Chernobyl area after the disaster also.

☢ Fukushima Radiation Sickness Symptoms Public Inability To Fight Illness Part2 ☢

I know that video should be in this post dealing with radiation madness, but since I already posted the video and it does have to do with radiation sickness you can go there and watch it.

From now on though, I'll try and keep radiation sickness and radiation madness in separate posts. And if you see something big coming out of the waters.. RUN!

Japans First Man In Space Robbed Of Everything After Fukushima

Stories like this are just so sad to hear. Toyohiro Akiyama was Japans first man in space back in the 90s. You might think that he would be set for life after that. I mean if you somehow manage to get into space and I'm sure many of us never will accomplish that in our lifetimes, but the few who do you somehow expect them to retire from all that and spend their days with easy living.. RIGHT?

But in reality that's not so anymore for Japans first spaceman Mr. Akiyama. Akiyama was a journalist with Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc., when he flew on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft in 1990. After retiring Akiyama moved to Fukushima. Akiyama have been living in Fukushima for 16 years, he was initially attracted to Fukushima because of the abundant nature in the prefecture. So much so he decided to buy farmland and build his house there.

After the Fukushima Disaster now everything has built over the years have been robbed from him.

Akiyama said:
"I used my retirement pay to buy the farmland and build a house," 


"I feel as though a robber has taken everything from me."

You can read this story and more at The Asahi Shimbun Japan Watch Site

https://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/life_and_death/AJ201112070036 Photo The Asahi Shimbun

On March 12, the day after the quake and tsunami, Akiyama packed a suitcase and fled his home in Tamura, Fukushima Prefecture, about 32 kilometers from the Fukushima No. 1 plant. As he drove in his truck, the radiation detection device that was hanging from his neck sounded an alarm.

"I bought the device for emergencies, but I never thought the day would come when it would be of help," Akiyama said.

While working for TBS, Akiyama served as chief of the Washington bureau. He stayed aboard the Mir space station in 1990 for one week, giving live reports each day to the nation. Five years later, he took early retirement and moved to the farm along the Abukuma mountain range.

He created a rice farm and also cultivated mushrooms that became his main source of income.

Using his truck on March 12, Akiyama first fled to a hot springs inn in the outskirts of Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, about 50 kilometers away. In the course of learning about organic farming, Akiyama made many friends and with their help he subsequently moved to Gunma and Nagano prefectures before settling at a rented house along the mountains in Fujioka, Gunma Prefecture.

Although his home in Tamura is slightly beyond the evacuation zone established by the central government, Akiyama said, "I cannot trust the central government's argument that it is therefore safe."

In October, he returned to see what happened to his home. A friend who lives nearby told him that cesium had been detected in the rice. Akiyama did not know what to say to his friend, who had continued with organic farming in order to produce safe rice, even though the cesium level was below government standards.

Having lost everything, Akiyama now feels that the anger he feels about the Fukushima nuclear accident is what keeps him going.

"The nuclear accident contaminated the expansive forests of Abukuma and spread radioactive materials into the Earth's atmosphere and waters," Akiyama said.

This autumn, he received an offer to teach at the Kyoto University of Art and Design. He plans to move to Kyoto Prefecture next year.

"I want to start from zero again and grow bamboo shoots," he said. "But Wakasa Bay is close by," Akiyama said referring to the region in neighboring Fukui Prefecture where several nuclear facilities, including the Oi and Mihama nuclear power plants, are clustered. "In today's Japan, no matter where you go there is always a nuclear plant nearby."

Akiyama wrote a book, which went on sale from Dec. 7, about his experience evacuating from his Fukushima farm.

Eye Problems - His Child Got Nosebleeds

This interview would not have been made possible to share if it were not for Fukushima Diarys translation of parts of the interview due to it only being in Japanese.

The video is only in Japanese so it's hard for us to understand what is said. If you still want to watch the video I noticed that it starts at 1:30 min in. Before that we only get to see the Independet Web Journal logo. Don't ask why they feel the need for have us stare at it for so long.

The things that are also said about the deaths of workers and police not being reported to the public and rest to of the world are also disturbing to hear. Some workers are also forced to work there even when their radiation detection meters show 1-2 Sv/h. Might be that they do it for extra money though, still a lot of deaths are not being reported.

The original video have now been taken down so we only have a part of the video to show you from Youtube.

Anyhow this this is parts of what's said and you can of course also find this same text at Fukushima Diary.
I highlighted parts of the text I feel is extra important for you.

A raged Fukushima citizen confessed everything at the interview with a journalist Iwakami Yasumi.

This guy, Mr.Sakuma is in Kawamata machi, where is east to Fukushima plant by 22km.

Even before 311, he had been having a problem in his eyes.

His doctor said he has a tumor in tear gland. He was having medical treatment but after the explosions, it went so bad that he couldn’t even close his eyes.

Having his 3 years old child have nosebleed, he decided to evacuate to Hachijo jima.

His family totally believes what the TV says so he was criticized hard but since he evacuated to Hachijojima, his eyes became better.

He runs motorcycle shop. He has 30,000,000 JPY load from banks so he had to come back to Fukushima.

He is aware of the health risk to live in Fukushima, but for the financial reasons, he must struggle being exposed.

His eyes get worse soon as he comes back to Fukushima. However, his doctors at Fukushima university asserts it has nothing to do with radiation.

Interview overview

1) 21 years old Fukushima worker died of cardiac infarct. It is not reported and police didn’t even do autopsy. He died when he was at home, and he was working at Fukushima plant since March to July.

2) Though everyone pays attention to reactor 1 to 4, actually reactor 5 and 6 are in crisis. Engineers from Hitachi are coming to the area to get it settled down but it’s concealed. It’s likely that they are going critical so Iodine 131 are measured in Tokyo or Iwate.

3) In the “worst” contaminated area,where is about 1 Sv/h or so, “unlisted” workers are forced to work. They are hunted in the downtown in Osaka, treated as disposable workers.

One of his friends had to go into reactor 3. When the person saw the area, it was full of debris and the counter showed about 1~2 Sv/h but then next morning, the area was perfectly clean. Because it needs sensitive work, it must have been done by humans.

They say, those disposable workers were forced to work in those situations, held captive until they die, and then marked as “missing”.

4) Police that guard within the 20km area border are not informed of the radiation level. (about 100 microSv/h when Mr Sakuma and his friend visited) and a lot of police are dead but it never be reported either.

5) He longs for the truth, so everything can give up living in Fukushima at least. Even if it’s revealed in 50 years from now, it’s too late.

6) Some of the radiation monitoring posts are taken away.

7) Local government requires citizens to report “lower” number of what the counter shows, so their radiation map shows lower than actual.

No Nukes More Hearts Demonstration Tokyo Japan 60000 People

Japanese urge "farewell" to nuclear power six months after quake

Mon Sep 19, 2011 10:16am GMT

TOKYO, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Sixty thousand protesters gathered in central Tokyo on Monday demanding an end to Japan's reliance on nuclear power, six month's after the world's worst nuclear accident in 25 years.

Japan has banned people from within 20 km (12 miles) of the Fukushima Daiichi plant in northeast Japan, which had its reactor cooling systems knocked out by an earthquake and tsunami on March 11, triggering meltdowns.

Some 80,000 people have been evacuated from the area around the plant, which is still leaking radiation, in the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in 1986 which prompted the government to rethink its energy policy.

The protest leaders, including 1994 Nobel-prize winner Kenzaburo Oe and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, called the rally "Goodbye to Nuclear Power Plants".

"Now is the only moment to really change nuclear policy and this is the best time to act," said Satoe Sakai, 39, who travelled from the central city of Osaka to join the rally.

"If we don't stop it now, we probably never will."

Former Prime Minister Naoto Kan told Japan's Kyodo News that he had learned that around 30 million people in Tokyo and surrounding prefectures might have had to have been evacuated in a worst-case scenario.

"It was a crucial moment when I wasn't sure whether Japan could continue to function as a state," Kyodo quoted him as saying at the weekend.

Kan had said earlier that Japan had no choice but to reduce its reliance on nuclear power over time. But he stopped short of calling for a complete phasing out of nuclear power, which before the crisis accounted for about 30 percent of Japan's electricity supply.

Many of the protesters in Tokyo on Monday were from Fukushima.

"We, the people of Fukushima, do not see nuclear radiation of course and we can't smell it," said resident Yoshiharu Saito. "But we have no doubt it is spreading." (Reporting by Olivier Fabre and Mio Coxon; Writing by Mariko Katsumura and Nick Macfie)

Text Reuters Africa

Youtube Video: Jana-Press.com

Nobuyoshi Ito Human Nuclear Guinea Pig

NOTE: Pictures added showing radiation levels in Iitate that were taken by Greenpeace 27 March 2011. Radiation levels 7.66 microSieverts and 8.39 microSieverts per hour. Show that the area is unsafe for children and pregnant women.

From The Japan Times https://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110914f1.html

Wednesday, Sep. 14, 2011

Fukushima man opts to be guinea pig

By ROB GILHOOLY
Special to The Japan Times

IITATE, Fukushima Pref. — Nobuyoshi Ito is skeptical of the reported effects of radiation from the leaking Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant. So skeptical, in fact, that he decided to put himself on the front line of radiation research.

Ito, whose home in the village of Iitate, Fukushima Prefecture, is located a little more than 30 km from the power station, has ignored official recommendations to evacuate, and is instead standing his ground in a designated radiation hot spot to become a human guinea pig.

"I never wear a mask and go about my chores in my regular everyday clothes," said Ito, 67, a former IT engineer turned farmer who refers to the radiation still being emitted by the plant's stricken reactors as the "invisible tsunami."

"There are two camps when it comes to the effects of radiation: the antinuclear folk, who tell us even a small dose of radiation is dangerous to human health, and others who say even much higher doses contain less cancer risk than that caused by such factors as smoking or even food. I decided to become a human guinea pig to help settle the argument."

Ito is one of only nine residents left in the village, according to the local government — which has relocated its municipal offices outside Iitate.

Almost daily since March 15, Ito has measured the radiation levels around his pretty hilltop abode and found them to be twice that of the official monitoring levels at the Iitate municipal office, about 8 km away.

But even those levels are not especially high, he said. For example, on March 15, three days after the first hydrogen explosion from the nuclear plant and the first day that official readings for the village were made available, he estimates radiation levels outdoors were 89.4 microsieverts.

Based on his daily readings, he calculates that he will have been exposed to around 24 millisieverts by the time the 12-month anniversary of the nuclear disaster is marked next March.

One millisievert equals 1,000 microsieverts and is one-1,000th of a sievert, the internationally recognized unit to calculate a dose of radiation.

According to National Institute of Radiological Science statistics, it would take more than four times Ito's estimated exposure to cause any immediate effects.

"The risk of getting cancer is about 0.5 percent in the case of 100 millisievert radiation exposure," the NIRS website states.

Meanwhile, the site adds that the average annual radiation dose in the natural environment — via water, food, radon in the air and other sources — is 2.4 millisieverts, although there are some parts of the world with natural levels totaling more than four times that amount.

"Residents were advised to evacuate this area due to official fears that annual radiation levels could exceed 20 millisieverts, but experts say even that is not dangerously high," Ito said.

"I couldn't see any reason to leave, and thought, conversely, I would be of more service here than far away in some shelter."

Ito is in fact registered at a shelter about 40 km away in the city of Fukushima, but only visits occasionally to collect his mail, he said. During the day he tends to his crops, which consist of rice, potatoes, eggplants, peanuts and other vegetables.

These crops are not being grown for personal or commercial consumption — they form part of his research. Recent tests on himself and his produce have turned up no alarming results to date, he said.

"In August, I visited Tokyo University to undergo extensive examinations and according to an interim report they could not find anything out of the ordinary," he said as he plucked some weeds growing around his fast-ripening rice fields. His paddies are home to frogs, dragonflies and other wildlife, countering rumors spreading farther afield that such creatures are dying out in the area.

Ito also grows a large number of sunflowers on his farm, which was built last October as a retreat for stressed-out employees of his former company and where he works as the live-in caretaker.

After the nuclear accident at Chernobyl, it was reported that sunflowers and rape plants were used to decontaminate the soil due to their capacity to absorb large quantities of radioactive cesium, he said. However, he said his own research provides evidence that challenges such claims.

"Results in late August show cesium levels in the plant's roots were about 38 percent of the levels in the soil and there were only negligible amounts in the plants' flowers and stalks," he said. "From this, I think it can be deduced that sunflowers and other plants have little effect in decontaminating the soil."

As he roams among his rice fields, Ito points to a place beyond the undulating hills immediately below which, on a clear day, there is a partial view of the Pacific and the nuclear plant. But Ito insists he is completely comfortable with staying put.

"Frankly, I am not convinced of the dangers," he said. "Experts have visited here and said that they cannot be 100 percent certain of the actual impact."

Either way, the long-term effects won't be noticeable for 15 or 20 years, possibly even longer, he said. "No doubt, we will know a lot more about the effects of radiation by then and hopefully my research will not have been in vain. My children live in Niigata and often beg me to evacuate. But I tell them there are still things I have to do here."

Japanese Children Forced To Eat Radioactive Food At Schools

There have been a lot of talk about this before, maybe not so much in the mainstream news or media. However I would like to share with you my take on this.

EX-SKF did a post today #Radiation in Japan: Something's Rotten in Yokohama City and the text was found in a message board message board maintained by Yokohama City Assemblyman Masataka Ota.

There have been reports that schools are forcing the children to eat this contaminated food. What really angers me is that the City Hall cafeteria at Yokohama City that should serve this same contaminated food to the employees that they are forcing the school children to eat ARE NOT. They get their beef imported from Australia.

And then we read about this "school allows children to carry water bottles if they want, but they have to leave their bottles in the school principal's office, and when they want to drink water they must come to the principal's office to drink."

Weak minded children that have taken in the schooling also make fun of those children that don't want to eat the contaminated foods. So it can't be easy for a child when both teachers and their fellow students starts to singel them out. Who are they going to listen to? Their parents who say they should not eat the food or the teachers, government...

What do I mean with "taken in the schooling" you might ask.. Well we go to school to get educated right? Wrong. We are forced to go and get schooled by law. Let me explain, have you ever encountered a question on a test that you know that if you answered the truth would make you fail that question. I'm sure you would answer different on tests today if you look back at you're schooldays.

The importance of the question does not really matter. What matters is that if you answer wrong you fail. If you disagree you fail. If you refuse to answer you fail. The test, books and teachers are the authority. And with the tests you are schooled to not question authority and obey what you are taught. If the education was so important we would have teachers teaching but instead they are schooling.

So children that start to question and God forbid it they refuse to do as they are told will get a very harsh treatment. Not only from the teatchers but also from their fellow students.

"In 1896 the famous John Dewey, then at the University of Chicago, said that independent, self-reliant people were a counter-productive anachronism in the collective society of the future. In modern society, said Dewey, people would be defined by their associations"not by their own individual accomplishments. In such a world people who read too well or too early are dangerous because they become privately empowered, they know too much, and know how to find out what they dont know by themselves, without consulting experts."

This is what we see today in society, however the dangerous once are the people in charge. It wasn't my intention to get into the schooling system here. But I think it's an important topic to bring up. Below is the text from EX-SKF blog about how they do things in Yokohama.

Contaminated beef: 
While the City fed kindergarteners and school children with domestic beef contaminated with radioactive cesium despite protests from the concerned parents, the cafeteria at Yokohama City Hall for the city employees and guests were serving beef imported from Australia.

6 elementary schools served radioactive beef 5 times, and 22 schools served it 4 times.

Radioactive summer school: 
The City is determined to keep sending school children to the summer school in an elevated radiation area in Gunma Prefecture. The officials insist it is safe, because they are told it's safe. Never mind that nearby locations have levels like 0.50 microsievert/hour (official), and a citizen measured as high as 1.26 microsievert/hour in the very area that the children may go to.


Bringing water bottles to schools: 
At least one (but there seem to be many) school allows children to carry water bottles if they want, but they have to leave their bottles in the school principal's office, and when they want to drink water they must come to the principal's office to drink.

This is bullying and harassment of children by the school principal. Quite an education.


Altering the official document: 
The City's Board of Education has relented somehow to parents and the legislators like Mr. Ota and issued a notice to the parents whose children go to the public elementary schools in Yokohama City, telling them to consult their schools individually if they want to send their children to school with homemade lunch and water bottle. The hitch is that this notice were issued through schools. Some schools decided to white out the part about homemade lunch and water bottle, and added the contact information for the Board of Education if the parents have any questions.


Testing food items in school lunches: 
Oh yes finally the City is doing, but one item per day. Apparently, the City informs the lunch preparation centers which food item is to be tested on a particular day.

One positive thing: 
Some parents are actually yanking their children from schools, and have started home schooling.

Fukushima 72000 Times Worse Than Chernobyl

76 trillion bq Plutonium-239 Now Released from Fukushima

Related:
☢ Fukushimas China Syndrome With Radioactive Steam and Media Blackout ☢
☢ Fallout Spreading Japan Expands Search for Hotspots to 460 km From Meltdowns ☢

☢ Massive Amounts of Steam Video Aug 14 2011 During Daytime at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Reactors ☢
UPDATE: 

☢ Fukushima Spectacular Fire Lightning Burning Steam Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Reactor Units September 03 2011 ☢

Independent story: 

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/why-the-fukushima-disaster-is-worse-than-chernobyl-2345542.html

Why the Fukushima disaster is worse than Chernobyl

Japan has been slow to admit the scale of the meltdown. But now the truth is coming out. David McNeill reports from Soma City Monday, 29 August 2011

Yoshio Ichida is recalling the worst day of his 53 years: 11 March, when the sea swallowed up his home and killed his friends. The Fukushima fisherman was in the bath when the huge quake hit and barely made it to the open sea in his boat in the 40 minutes before the 15-metre tsunami that followed. When he got back to port, his neighbourhood and nearly everything else was gone. "Nobody can remember anything like this," he says.

Now living in a refugee centre in the ruined coastal city of Soma, Mr Ichida has mourned the 100 local fishermen killed in the disaster and is trying to rebuild his life with his colleagues. Every morning, they arrive at the ruined fisheries co-operative building in Soma port and prepare for work. Then they stare out at the irradiated sea, and wait. "Some day we know we'll be allowed to fish again. We all want to believe that."

This nation has recovered from worse natural – and manmade – catastrophes. But it is the triple meltdown and its aftermath at the Fukushima nuclear power plant 40km down the coast from Soma that has elevated Japan into unknown, and unknowable, terrain. Across the northeast, millions of people are living with its consequences and searching for a consensus on a safe radiation level that does not exist. Experts give bewilderingly different assessments of its dangers.

Some scientists say Fukushima is worse than the 1986 Chernobyl accident, with which it shares a maximum level-7 rating on the sliding scale of nuclear disasters. One of the most prominent of them is Dr Helen Caldicott, an Australian physician and long time anti-nuclear activist who warns of "horrors to come" in Fukushima.

Chris Busby, a professor at the University of Ulster known for his alarmist views, generated controversy during a Japan visit last month when he said the disaster would result in more than 1 million deaths. "Fukushima is still boiling its radionuclides all over Japan," he said. "Chernobyl went up in one go. So Fukushima is worse."

On the other side of the nuclear fence are the industry friendly scientists who insist that the crisis is under control and radiation levels are mostly safe. "I believe the government and Tokyo Electric Power [Tepco, the plant's operator] are doing their best," said Naoto Sekimura, vice-dean of the Graduate School of Engineering at the University of Tokyo. Mr Sekimura initially advised residents near the plant that a radioactive disaster was "unlikely" and that they should stay "calm", an assessment he has since had to reverse.

Slowly, steadily, and often well behind the curve, the government has worsened its prognosis of the disaster. Last Friday, scientists affiliated with the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said the plant had released 15,000 terabecquerels of cancer-causing Cesium, equivalent to about 168 times the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the event that ushered in the nuclear age. (Professor Busby says the release is at least 72,000 times worse than Hiroshima).

Caught in a blizzard of often conflicting information, many Japanese instinctively grope for the beacons they know. Mr Ichida and his colleagues say they no longer trust the nuclear industry or the officials who assured them the Fukushima plant was safe. But they have faith in government radiation testing and believe they will soon be allowed back to sea.

That's a mistake, say sceptics, who note a consistent pattern of official lying, foot-dragging and concealment. Last week, officials finally admitted something long argued by its critics: that thousands of people with homes near the crippled nuclear plant may not be able to return for a generation or more. "We can't rule out the possibility that there will be some areas where it will be hard for residents to return to their homes for a long time," said Yukio Edano, the government's top government spokesman. "We are very sorry."

Last Friday, hundreds of former residents from Futaba and Okuma, the towns nearest the plant, were allowed to visit their homes – perhaps for the last time – to pick up belongings. Wearing masks and radiation suits, they drove through the 20km contaminated zone around the plant, where hundreds of animals have died and rotted in the sun, to find kitchens and living rooms partly reclaimed by nature. "It's hard to believe we ever lived here," one former resident told NHK.

Several other areas northwest of the plant have become atomic ghost towns after being ordered to evacuate – too late, say many residents, who believe they absorbed dangerous quantities of radiation in the weeks after the accident. "We've no idea when we can come back," says Katsuzo Shoji, who farmed rice and cabbages and kept a small herd of cattle near Iitate, a picturesque village about 40km from the plant.

Although it is outside the exclusion zone, the village's mountainous topography meant radiation, carried by wind and rain, lingered, poisoning crops, water and school playgrounds.

The young, the wealthy, mothers and pregnant women left for Tokyo or elsewhere. Most of the remaining 6000 people have since evacuated, after the government accepted that safe radiation limits had been exceeded.

Mr Shoji, 75, went from shock to rage, then despair when the government told him he would have to destroy his vegetables, kill his six cows and move with his wife Fumi, 73, to an apartment in Koriyama, about 20km away. "We've heard five, maybe 10 years but some say that's far too optimistic," he says, crying. "Maybe I'll be able to come home to die." He was given initial compensation of one million yen (£7,900) by Tepco, topped up with 350,000 yen from the government.

It is the fate of people outside the evacuation zones, however, that causes the most bitter controversy. Parents in Fukushima City, 63km from the plant, have banded together to demand that the government do more to protect about 100,000 children. Schools have banned soccer and other outdoor sports. Windows are kept closed. "We've just been left to fend for ourselves," says Machiko Sato, a grandmother who lives in the city. "It makes me so angry."

Many parents have already sent their children to live with relatives or friends hundreds of kilometres away. Some want the government to evacuate the entire two million population of Fukushima Prefecture. "They're demanding the right to be able to evacuate," says anti-nuclear activist Aileen Mioko Smith, who works with the parents. "In other words, if they evacuate they want the government to support them."

So far, at least, the authorities say that is not necessary. The official line is that the accident at the plant is winding down and radiation levels outside of the exclusion zone and designated "hot spots" are safe.

But many experts warn that the crisis is just beginning. Professor Tim Mousseau, a biological scientist who has spent more than a decade researching the genetic impact of radiation around Chernobyl, says he worries that many people in Fukushima are "burying their heads in the sand." His Chernobyl research concluded that biodiversity and the numbers of insects and spiders had shrunk inside the irradiated zone, and the bird population showed evidence of genetic defects, including smaller brain sizes.

"The truth is that we don't have sufficient data to provide accurate information on the long-term impact," he says. "What we can say, though, is that there are very likely to be very significant long-term health impact from prolonged exposure."

In Soma, Mr Ichida says all the talk about radiation is confusing. "All we want to do is get back to work. There are many different ways to die, and having nothing to do is one of them."

Economic cost
Fukushima: Japan has estimated it will cost as much as £188bn to rebuild following the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis.
Chernobyl: There are a number of estimates of the economic impact, but thetotal cost is thought to be about £144bn.

(Note from JD. Back in 1986 when the Chernobyl disaster happened, the Sovjet Rubel was equal to the Dollar in worth and a much more in todays money. 500000 workers and cost an estimated 18 billion rubles were spent to get the disaster under control.)

Safety
Fukushima: workers are allowed to operate in the crippled plant up to a dose of 250mSv (millisieverts).
Chernobyl: People exposed to 350mSv were relocated. In most countries the maximum annual dosage for a worker is 20mSv. The allowed dose for someone living close to a nuclear plant is 1mSv a year.

Death toll
Fukushima: Two workers died inside the plant. Some scientists predict that one million lives will be lost to cancer.

Chernobyl: It is difficult to say how many people died on the day of the disaster because of state security, but Greenpeace estimates that 200,000 have died from radiation-linked cancers in the 25 years since the accident.

Exclusion zone
Fukushima: Tokyo initially ordered a 20km radius exclusion zone around the plant

Chernobyl: The initial radius of the Chernobyl zone was set at 30km – 25 years later it is still largely in place.

Compensation
Fukushima: Tepco's share price has collapsed since the disaster largely because of the amount it will need to pay out, about £10,000 a person

Chernobyl: Not a lot. It has been reported that Armenian victims of the disaster were offered about £6 each in 1986

Aid
Fukushima: The UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported bilateral aid worth $95m
Chernobyl: 12 years after the disaster, the then Ukrainian president, Leonid Kuchma, complained that his country was still waiting for international help.

Best Radioactive Fallout Contamination Map NHK TV

NHK Special - Collaborating to Create a Radioactive Fallout Contamination Map

Kimura once worked for the National Institute of Radiological Sciences. He was on the research team for the Tokai Mura nuclear accident of 1999. He later transferred to a research center of the Ministry of Health Labour and Welfare. And went to Chernobyl to conduct his own investigation.

After the Fukushima accident he was ordered to refraim from initiating in any kind of research, Kimura left the agency. "After spending all this time involved with Chernobyl and Tokai Mura, to be prepared for this type of accident and not be able to use this research for feedback at least. My hands were tied, I wasn't permitted to do anything unless there were orders.

Kimura's research is supported by his friends who are scientists. Kimura took the samples he collected in Fukushima to be evaluated to Tetsuji Immanako of the Kyoto university research reactor institute.

The same samples were sent to Satoru Endo and Kiyoshi Shimizu at Hiroshima University.
"2.4 kilos is extremely strong"

At Nakasaki university, Toshihiro Takatsuji uses a leading edge device to help with measurements.
"Because the radiation amount is much highter than normal there seems to be an extended dead time"

Masaharu Okano expert and pioneer of radiation research has taken on a project to create a radioactive fallout contamination map using the most up to date measuring device that he developed himself.

What exactly was the extent of contamination caused by radiation from the Fukushima nuclear accident?

What is happening in the contaminated areas? This is a record of a two month survey conducted by scientists working close together.

NHK Special - Collaborating to Create a Radioactive Fallout Contamination Map

In this documentary we really get to see how this disaster have affected the people. People that have lost everything, farmers that no longer can use their land. Dear pets forced to be left behind. We get to hear the words from the people forced to evacuate and leave everything. The once that are forced to stay, and have sent their children to saftey.

One such account:
"I used to work at that power plant when I was im my 30's. Then, everyone was exited about having a workplace. Now, after living like this... Everyday, when I go to sleep and when I get up the next day... I feel so empty and so angry. I hate TEPCO and the nuclear power plant so much. I don't mind if we don't have power or if it's dark at night. Just as long as we never have nuclear power.

Some levels measured by the team at 15:45min in:
4 km from Fukushima plant
Iodine-131 @ 166 million Bq/sq. meter
Cesium @ 21.2 million Bq/sq. meter

Iodine-131 half-life 8 days. Cesium 137 half-life 30 Years, Ceasium 134 half-life 2 Years.

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Another MUST SEE documentary is this one here about the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. 
☢ The Battle of Chernobyl - Best Documentary of the Nuclear Disaster of Chernobyl ☢
This is the best movie I have seen so far about the events in Chernobyl in 1986.
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Atomic Survivor Akira Yamada Likens Nuclear Plants to Nukes

Akira Yamada is pictured in the city of Fukushima. (Mainichi)

FUKUSHIMA -- On the 66th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, survivors in Fukushima Prefecture -- home to the disaster-stricken Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant -- have a unique perspective. One of those survivors is Akira Yamada, 85, the chair of the prefecture's A-bomb survivors' association.

"Who would think we would be threatened by radiation twice in our lives? I had never thought about nuclear power on Aug. 6 until now. This year is different, though. We have to think not only about why the nuclear bomb was dropped, but why we built nuclear power plants," he says.

On Aug. 6 this year, while watching the peace ceremony in Hiroshima on television at home, Yamada gave a prayer for the victims while wishing for an end to nuclear weapons.

On the day of the bombing in 1945, he was a 19-year-old high school student, at home in bed with a fever. Suddenly, there was a flash of light and a strong wind. After hiding under the house's porch for some time, Yamada climbed to the roof, where he was rendered speechless. Everywhere he looked was flames. He would later see abandoned bodies piled on the road, a sight that burned itself into his memory.

After the war, Yamada became an economist and later served as president of Fukushima University. Since 1981, he has been chair of a Fukushima Prefecture A-bomb survivors' association. However, the disaster at the Fukushima plant was far more than he ever expected.

"I thought of nuclear power plants as things for peaceful use, different from nuclear weapons. I never expected that they would lead to the spreading of radioactive materials," Yamada says.

Even after almost five months, that disaster is still ongoing.

"Nuclear bombs and nuclear plants are the same in that they both use nuclear fission, and this disaster has shown that humankind does not have complete control over nuclear power. We have to stop running the plants until we have safer technology."

The areas of Fukushima Prefecture left deserted by evacuations remind Yamada of the burnt remains of Hiroshima. "The effects of radiation come gradually. The people I'm worried about are the young," he says, adding, "Government agencies will have to closely monitor residents' health."

Click here for the original Japanese story

(Mainichi Japan) August 6, 2011