Japan News 3/17
Mar. 17th, 2011 11:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mbarker3/16 evening
Hum... we've got some channels running some of their regular schedule. Part of this is that this week is the start of some new shows, we're about at the start of the new season. Have to admit, Mitsuko and I mostly just flip past the new shows, preferring the news right now.
Video of a 75-year-old woman being found in a field of debris after 96 hours -- apparently a German Shepherd was responsible. Not quite Lassie, but I'm sure no one is going to complain.
An older man standing with a small towel turned into a headband, looking across debris, with a fuzzy beard. The news people asked who he was looking for, and he said his older sister. He hadn't seen her since the tsunami. He said he was worried about her.
A woman with a younger woman beside her walk into one of the auditoriums full of refugees. The woman calls out, "Aki? Are you here?" Heads turn, and a voice answers, "Yes!" Another woman runs across the auditorium, and the three women exchange hugs and tears.
More concerns about the reactors. Apparently there are different problems, though. One had a crack in the circulating ring, while another had a heat sink pool get low, and the protruding rods burned? 1, 3, 4 seem to be the ones that have had problems, but I have to admit, I've gotten confused as to which one has had what problems. Looks as if #1 had the initial lesser problem (crack in the ring?) while 3 seems to have burned, and 4 has burned and dropped its roof?
One map shows Iwaki, a nearby town, with an exposure of 23 micro Sv. Others shading down from there, with a relatively steep dropoff. They ask the expert what exactly that means, and he gets out a chart showing exposures. A common chest x-ray has about 50 micro Sv. A plane trip (Narita to New York) has about 200 micro Sv. A CT Scan has about 6,900 micro Sv. Then we start hitting the radiation sickness and deaths levels.
There's a PSA running about how to dress for possible release (I am not kidding). They show the model -- a young man, which I think is inspired -- wearing a long-sleeve jacket, with hood if possible. Or a hat (they show one that Dobbie Gillis might have worn -- round brim with an edge that covers the face down to the nose!). Gloves, snugly tucked or tied over the ends of the sleeves. And either mask (common here in Japan -- white surgical style) or a wet towel to cover mouth and nose. I was amused that they didn't say anything about pants or shoes, but I think they just assumed you would have the good sense to wear those, too.
There's a rather grimly funny video of the SDF helicopter taking off, picking up a load of seawater to dump on the reactors, and... the device fails, the water falls back into the ocean.
Ha! They are using firetruck pumps as part of the effort to get water into the reactors. And in place of the SDF helicopter, they're talking about a firetruck "water gun."
3/17 -- there was a panel of experts, and the young announcer on this morning. The young announcer said, "Okay, let me tell you what I think people are thinking." He showed very simply that there's rods of stuff that get really hot, and they're in a pool. When the pool goes down, the rods get hotter ("Like a fever?") and eventually, they start making fireworks. Then he looks at the experts and says, "Now, tell me what's wrong with that?"
The experts grimaced, and one said, "Well, that's kind of right. But there are really three layers." He got out the now familiar cut-away drawing of the reactor, showing the core, ring below, and cooling tanks above. And explained that yes, the cooling tank above is what got low, and the rods in that got hot and are burning. BUT that's not really the core.
Personal comment -- I thought this was a great approach! Start with the kind of simple mental model that a lot of people probably have, and let the experts explain it from there.
3/16 again...
Fukushima area -- near the reactors -- there are 3 hour waits for gasoline, as people fill their cars. Water and food are sold out or shortages.
There apparently are little gas trucks -- big tanks on a small pickup truck -- being sent by the gas companies into the tsunami areas to help refuel cars.
10:54 report of a magnitude 4.6 earthquake.
Aomori -- north of the quake/tsunami area, top of the main island. People are getting their home oil tanks topped up -- apparently normally they might just let it go, since it is spring, but not now. Trash collection in the area has been stopped, apparently they used to send it south into the quake/tsunami area, but now they aren't sure what to do with it, so the trash collection has been halted.
Reports of donations -- the head of Uniqlo (stylish clothing chain) apparently donated $9 million to relief efforts, and workers in the chain donated another 2 plus million. A portable toilet manufacturer has sent truckloads of toilets. Cup Noodle... I'm not sure if they sent money or food, but I'm sure either one will be appreciated.
Donations -- the guy I think of as Screech, the owner/salesman of TV sales here in Japan gave $5 million (and he has this painful screech when he is announcing what a great sale item he has for us, only 100, only for the next 10 minutes, you also get... he is on plenty of channels, all times of day and night, very recognizable).
There's some reporting about New York, including the appeal by the New York Daily (a newspaper). The announcers say that America really is warm-hearted.
I guess the yen has dropped. News person talks about it breaking 80 yen to the dollar, hitting 76, and now back up to 78. I've never really understood these artificial "boundaries" except as psychological things -- why is dropping below 80 different from 81 or 79? Anyway...
3/17 morning news
Older man sitting cross-legged in a hospital bed. The interviewer asks, and he admits that he has 8 family members somewhere. He remembers being in the flooding... and then waking up in a refugee center, where they had brought him unconscious. Then they moved him to the hospital. He's reading the newspaper, looking for names and contacts.
Tokyo -- supermarkets have been cleaned out. Rumors of shortages, and people are buying everything. There's a rumor of tissue paper shortages, but a reporter calls one of the makers, who says they are fine. Actually, given the "shop every day" approach that is common in Japan, buying ahead and building up a little reserve might be a good idea. JIT inventory only works as long as the supply chains don't get stretched or broken.
At one center, people have plastic bottles with their names written on them. They're filling those with hot water and using them as hot water bottles to sleep with.
At one of the hospitals in the quake/tsunami zone, they interview a nurse who is taking care of patients. She doesn't know where her family is, and says she has no time to go looking for them. I got the impression that she had been "on duty" since the start of this, five or six days ago. But she is still tucking blankets around patients.
Ads seem to have returned, even to the news shows. I can't tell if it's just the contrast, but it seems as if they are running more ads than before -- I wonder if they are trying to catch up.
At Akihabara (electronics goods in Tokyo), a store selling radiation gear is sold out. They're taking calls, and telling people they are sold out. The owner says they have had more business than they would normally see all year.
The Shinkansen (bullet train) in Tokyo heading south to Osaka and further is busy. But it isn't the normal crowd ot businessmen, it's wives and children. There's a businessman putting his family onto one. As it pulls away, he waves, then wipes tears from his eyes.
One of the morning "happy news" shows is on today. But the hosts aren't smiling, and the panel of experts are earthquake and radiation experts. They ask the experts what the people in the quake/tsunami area can do to handle the cold -- and one expert says get newspapers, and put a layer of those in with the blankets. Another suggests cardboard boxes -- make a nest of boxes and newspapers and blankets.
Another expert warns about going into the debris. Watch out for stuff that can fall on you. Go in pairs, don't go alone.
They've got walls of messages from viewers, with questions. And they are apparently devoting the program to asking the experts about this, that, and the other thing. Up just as I left was the question of where the next earthquake would be...
This is the happy news show? I think it's a good approach -- give people a chance to ask questions of the experts -- but it isn't the normal "sunshine and smiles" show.
Somewhere yesterday, Mitsuko and I got to wondering -- what happened to Khadafi and the middle east? Last week, just before all this, the simmering revolutions in the Middle East was big news, but somehow, it has dropped off the radar?
Quakes, floods, nuclear fire... as several people have asked, can Godzilla be far behind?
Hum... we've got some channels running some of their regular schedule. Part of this is that this week is the start of some new shows, we're about at the start of the new season. Have to admit, Mitsuko and I mostly just flip past the new shows, preferring the news right now.
Video of a 75-year-old woman being found in a field of debris after 96 hours -- apparently a German Shepherd was responsible. Not quite Lassie, but I'm sure no one is going to complain.
An older man standing with a small towel turned into a headband, looking across debris, with a fuzzy beard. The news people asked who he was looking for, and he said his older sister. He hadn't seen her since the tsunami. He said he was worried about her.
A woman with a younger woman beside her walk into one of the auditoriums full of refugees. The woman calls out, "Aki? Are you here?" Heads turn, and a voice answers, "Yes!" Another woman runs across the auditorium, and the three women exchange hugs and tears.
More concerns about the reactors. Apparently there are different problems, though. One had a crack in the circulating ring, while another had a heat sink pool get low, and the protruding rods burned? 1, 3, 4 seem to be the ones that have had problems, but I have to admit, I've gotten confused as to which one has had what problems. Looks as if #1 had the initial lesser problem (crack in the ring?) while 3 seems to have burned, and 4 has burned and dropped its roof?
One map shows Iwaki, a nearby town, with an exposure of 23 micro Sv. Others shading down from there, with a relatively steep dropoff. They ask the expert what exactly that means, and he gets out a chart showing exposures. A common chest x-ray has about 50 micro Sv. A plane trip (Narita to New York) has about 200 micro Sv. A CT Scan has about 6,900 micro Sv. Then we start hitting the radiation sickness and deaths levels.
There's a PSA running about how to dress for possible release (I am not kidding). They show the model -- a young man, which I think is inspired -- wearing a long-sleeve jacket, with hood if possible. Or a hat (they show one that Dobbie Gillis might have worn -- round brim with an edge that covers the face down to the nose!). Gloves, snugly tucked or tied over the ends of the sleeves. And either mask (common here in Japan -- white surgical style) or a wet towel to cover mouth and nose. I was amused that they didn't say anything about pants or shoes, but I think they just assumed you would have the good sense to wear those, too.
There's a rather grimly funny video of the SDF helicopter taking off, picking up a load of seawater to dump on the reactors, and... the device fails, the water falls back into the ocean.
Ha! They are using firetruck pumps as part of the effort to get water into the reactors. And in place of the SDF helicopter, they're talking about a firetruck "water gun."
3/17 -- there was a panel of experts, and the young announcer on this morning. The young announcer said, "Okay, let me tell you what I think people are thinking." He showed very simply that there's rods of stuff that get really hot, and they're in a pool. When the pool goes down, the rods get hotter ("Like a fever?") and eventually, they start making fireworks. Then he looks at the experts and says, "Now, tell me what's wrong with that?"
The experts grimaced, and one said, "Well, that's kind of right. But there are really three layers." He got out the now familiar cut-away drawing of the reactor, showing the core, ring below, and cooling tanks above. And explained that yes, the cooling tank above is what got low, and the rods in that got hot and are burning. BUT that's not really the core.
Personal comment -- I thought this was a great approach! Start with the kind of simple mental model that a lot of people probably have, and let the experts explain it from there.
3/16 again...
Fukushima area -- near the reactors -- there are 3 hour waits for gasoline, as people fill their cars. Water and food are sold out or shortages.
There apparently are little gas trucks -- big tanks on a small pickup truck -- being sent by the gas companies into the tsunami areas to help refuel cars.
10:54 report of a magnitude 4.6 earthquake.
Aomori -- north of the quake/tsunami area, top of the main island. People are getting their home oil tanks topped up -- apparently normally they might just let it go, since it is spring, but not now. Trash collection in the area has been stopped, apparently they used to send it south into the quake/tsunami area, but now they aren't sure what to do with it, so the trash collection has been halted.
Reports of donations -- the head of Uniqlo (stylish clothing chain) apparently donated $9 million to relief efforts, and workers in the chain donated another 2 plus million. A portable toilet manufacturer has sent truckloads of toilets. Cup Noodle... I'm not sure if they sent money or food, but I'm sure either one will be appreciated.
Donations -- the guy I think of as Screech, the owner/salesman of TV sales here in Japan gave $5 million (and he has this painful screech when he is announcing what a great sale item he has for us, only 100, only for the next 10 minutes, you also get... he is on plenty of channels, all times of day and night, very recognizable).
There's some reporting about New York, including the appeal by the New York Daily (a newspaper). The announcers say that America really is warm-hearted.
I guess the yen has dropped. News person talks about it breaking 80 yen to the dollar, hitting 76, and now back up to 78. I've never really understood these artificial "boundaries" except as psychological things -- why is dropping below 80 different from 81 or 79? Anyway...
3/17 morning news
Older man sitting cross-legged in a hospital bed. The interviewer asks, and he admits that he has 8 family members somewhere. He remembers being in the flooding... and then waking up in a refugee center, where they had brought him unconscious. Then they moved him to the hospital. He's reading the newspaper, looking for names and contacts.
Tokyo -- supermarkets have been cleaned out. Rumors of shortages, and people are buying everything. There's a rumor of tissue paper shortages, but a reporter calls one of the makers, who says they are fine. Actually, given the "shop every day" approach that is common in Japan, buying ahead and building up a little reserve might be a good idea. JIT inventory only works as long as the supply chains don't get stretched or broken.
At one center, people have plastic bottles with their names written on them. They're filling those with hot water and using them as hot water bottles to sleep with.
At one of the hospitals in the quake/tsunami zone, they interview a nurse who is taking care of patients. She doesn't know where her family is, and says she has no time to go looking for them. I got the impression that she had been "on duty" since the start of this, five or six days ago. But she is still tucking blankets around patients.
Ads seem to have returned, even to the news shows. I can't tell if it's just the contrast, but it seems as if they are running more ads than before -- I wonder if they are trying to catch up.
At Akihabara (electronics goods in Tokyo), a store selling radiation gear is sold out. They're taking calls, and telling people they are sold out. The owner says they have had more business than they would normally see all year.
The Shinkansen (bullet train) in Tokyo heading south to Osaka and further is busy. But it isn't the normal crowd ot businessmen, it's wives and children. There's a businessman putting his family onto one. As it pulls away, he waves, then wipes tears from his eyes.
One of the morning "happy news" shows is on today. But the hosts aren't smiling, and the panel of experts are earthquake and radiation experts. They ask the experts what the people in the quake/tsunami area can do to handle the cold -- and one expert says get newspapers, and put a layer of those in with the blankets. Another suggests cardboard boxes -- make a nest of boxes and newspapers and blankets.
Another expert warns about going into the debris. Watch out for stuff that can fall on you. Go in pairs, don't go alone.
They've got walls of messages from viewers, with questions. And they are apparently devoting the program to asking the experts about this, that, and the other thing. Up just as I left was the question of where the next earthquake would be...
This is the happy news show? I think it's a good approach -- give people a chance to ask questions of the experts -- but it isn't the normal "sunshine and smiles" show.
Somewhere yesterday, Mitsuko and I got to wondering -- what happened to Khadafi and the middle east? Last week, just before all this, the simmering revolutions in the Middle East was big news, but somehow, it has dropped off the radar?
Quakes, floods, nuclear fire... as several people have asked, can Godzilla be far behind?
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no subject
Date: 2011-03-17 03:53 am (UTC)I got an app for my iPhone: NHK/World. Spent an interesting 1/2 hour or so watching a description of reactors and failed cooling systems with English translation. Quite helpful, actually. News here is tending toward panic, especially since the U.S. recommended a 50 mile no travel zone around Fukushima. REally, I think the workers who are hanging in there trying to get things under control are all heroes. They must know their long-term survival is unlikely. Yet, what can they do? Someone must try to get the reactors into some sort of stability. There is a lot of talk here about the government/power company not telling people enough information, but I'm not sure they actually can tell much. This is all uncharted territory and no one really knows what will happen.
Godzilla? Maybe.