Japan News (3/21)
Mar. 21st, 2011 11:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
3/20 More bits and pieces...
73 year old man going through wreckage. He says his mother kept everything. He digs out a plastic zipper bag, and opens it. "See?" He holds up a handful of wedding cards -- they're heavy cards, with gold and silver cords in a traditional swirl on the front. "These are from my wedding."
There's a horse stable, that had 40 horses. They thought all the horses had been lost in the tsunami, but 2 have turned up. A young woman washes one down, showing the scraped skin on the left front upper leg, and they've taped the lower leg, but she's happy that this one is alive. Watching her walk him, I'd say he seems a bit nervous, flinching and eyeing everything, but given what he's been through, that's understandable.
Down here in southern Japan, there's an old people's group that has rehabbed a bunch of discarded bicycles and donated them to the quake relief. As the organizer explains, he thinks bicycles will be useful, especially in the areas where roads and all are pretty ruined. You can still ride a bike even if a car can't get through.
An 80 year old grandmother and her 16 year old son were just rescued -- after 9 days trapped in her house. They show the house, it's covered with mounds of debris and trashed cars. They are taken to a hospital. First reports are that the boy is too cold, and they are worried about him, but the grandmother is okay. Grandma says the power was out, but they ate what was in the refrigerator. Apparently the boy found a window and waved a towel out of it, catching the attention of SDF searchers, who broke through the surrounding piles to get them out. Later reports are that both are fine, recovering. One thing I think this says is that it still isn't too late to be finding survivors.
There's reports of concern about rhino virus and flu in the shelters. They're reminding people to use masks, report temperatures and symptoms right away, and wash or use antiseptic if possible.
The railroad folks are trying to restore service. There's a picture of some tracks, though, showing that the bed has waved, both vertically and horizontally. In other words, the ground and the track veer sharply sideways and back again. At the same time, there are drops and rises. One stretch looks as if the track dipped into a bowl, maybe a car length or so across? So they are going to have to rebuild the bed, smoothing that out, then lay tracks again. Actually, looking at the picture, I'm a little surprised that the track seems to have bent so smoothly -- I would have expected it to break.
The quake experts are out measuring watermarks on buildings to get measures of the tsunami. They seem surprised at the height of some of the watermarks.
3/21 Today is a holiday in Japan. Spring Equinox day.
Morning news is taking questions from listeners. One asks why shelters are still reporting shortages of heat, food, water? We've seen pictures of trucks of relief goods and tankers of oil and gasoline going out. When will the people in the shelters get relief? There's an expert on emergency logistics (I didn't even realize that there was such a specialty, but...). He says that we need to understand that the emergency relief basically started from zero, and it covers a very wide area. He's got a diagram showing the normal flow of goods -- start with a factory, go through wholesalers, down to retail, and finally to the consumers. He says what has happened is that everything from the wholesalers down has been taken out, and the emergency relief is having to create whole new distribution systems. They have a brief clip of a trucking firm that is part of the relief effort, where truckers are being given hand-written directions about where to take stuff, with alternative destinations.
He didn't mention, but the last pictures I've seen of some of the central areas still didn't really show roads that I would want to run a truck over. Bulldozed paths through debris might handle a truck, but... I would guess the trucks of relief are getting to the edges and having to stop there.
8:37 little shiver magnitude 3 in Fukushima (where the reactors are)
Rumors apparently are running rampant. Host of one show asks an expert about a rumor that wakame (a type of seaweed, good source of iodine) and iodine gargle (what is the word for stuff that you gargle with? Anyway, that stuff) will protect you from radiation. The expert blinks, then says that wakame is good for your health, but will not have any real effect on radiation. As for the gargling, he says that's also good for you, and is recommended to clear dust, but no, it isn't really going to do anything for radiation.
Another question is whether people can dry their clothes on the line? Japanese people prefer to hang their wash out in the sun instead of using a dryer, if at all possible. The expert says sure, there isn't any reason not to. He does suggest that you shake it afterward to get rid of dust, if any. "Pom-pom." He claps his hands, then shakes an imaginary shirt. I've seen Japanese housewives clap the wash in their hands, then take it off and shake just like that. The host says, "Just like pollen?" and they agree that it is like that.
Someone else asks if you need to throw away any clothing that might have been exposed. The expert looks puzzled, then says no, just clean it.
There's a question about whether the government is really giving out true measures. The expert shakes his head, and says, "I've got a friend over here" and he points to one part of the map. "He's doing his own measurements, and I've talked with him. He has exactly the same numbers that the government is reporting." He goes on to say that he has had independent verification in several areas, so he thinks the government is giving accurate numbers.
One of the shelters, they've got young kids -- maybe middle school -- helping to put out tatami mats to convert class rooms. The reporter has the six kids line up and asks them to tell everyone what they want. They've got handwritten signs. I didn't get all of them, but a home, my mother, a toilet were among them... they are mostly smiling into the camera, though.
Followed by several old people, maybe from the same shelter? Again, handwritten signs, and smiles on wrinkled faces this time. Mostly, I'm fine. One says the dog died, but everyone else is fine. Wrapped in blankets, wearing this and that, but I'm healthy...
A reporter talks with a lanky teenager and his shorter, younger brother. They have matching blue jackets, and are outside going through wreckage. They admit, their mother is missing, and they are worried about her. They point out a bicycle, wrecked. The teenager says he rode that to their house just before the tsunami, and left it when he escaped. Then there's a yell, and the younger brother holds up a medal on a ribbon. The teenager says it's theirs, that the younger brother got it for baseball.
The reporter asks if they rebuild the town, would they want to live there? The teenager thinks about it, then says yes. If everyone works at it, it will be interesting, and he would want to live here.
Kamashi. There's picture of a mother with a new baby. They show some video from the quake. This is a maternity wards, and the nurses first held the baby tenders during the quake, then grabbed the babies up and ran out with them. They report that this maternity ward kept all the babies alive through the tsunamis. The head doctor, a woman, says her brother died, but she is still working. They've delivered seven new babies since the quake.
The reporter gets video of a father helping with delivery of their new daughter. Then he interviewed the mother and father, with their new baby. They marveled at the new baby yawning. Her hand, clutching the mother's finger, is still swelled with water. The mother says that she wishes they could tell her parents or send them a picture, who are at another town up the coast. The reporter takes the challenge, and travels up to the other town. The parent's house is wrecked, but he gets directed to where they are staying. Then he explains that they have a new granddaughter. Big smile from grandpa, and grandmom is teary but happy. Then he sets his video camera -- one of the big commercial units -- on the floor and shows them the granddaughter and daughter talking to them.
Back at the maternity ward, the electric workers outside are hooking up cables. And the lights and power at the ward come on. The nurses look up at the lights, then cheer and hug each other.
Let's see. Cindy Louper (hope I spelled that right) has come to Japan, and is doing charity concerts, shaking hands, and collecting relief funds. There's a 71 year old Japanese singer, long white hair, walking down the street singing "Power to the people" into a bullhorn -- apparently he's collecting money for relief, too. Matsui, Ichiro... the president of Softbank, one of the local cellphone companies, is out with a bucket collecting.
There's more regular shows. Libya has returned to the news. But there's still a lot of quake/tsunami/nuclear news, and I think will be for a while.
73 year old man going through wreckage. He says his mother kept everything. He digs out a plastic zipper bag, and opens it. "See?" He holds up a handful of wedding cards -- they're heavy cards, with gold and silver cords in a traditional swirl on the front. "These are from my wedding."
There's a horse stable, that had 40 horses. They thought all the horses had been lost in the tsunami, but 2 have turned up. A young woman washes one down, showing the scraped skin on the left front upper leg, and they've taped the lower leg, but she's happy that this one is alive. Watching her walk him, I'd say he seems a bit nervous, flinching and eyeing everything, but given what he's been through, that's understandable.
Down here in southern Japan, there's an old people's group that has rehabbed a bunch of discarded bicycles and donated them to the quake relief. As the organizer explains, he thinks bicycles will be useful, especially in the areas where roads and all are pretty ruined. You can still ride a bike even if a car can't get through.
An 80 year old grandmother and her 16 year old son were just rescued -- after 9 days trapped in her house. They show the house, it's covered with mounds of debris and trashed cars. They are taken to a hospital. First reports are that the boy is too cold, and they are worried about him, but the grandmother is okay. Grandma says the power was out, but they ate what was in the refrigerator. Apparently the boy found a window and waved a towel out of it, catching the attention of SDF searchers, who broke through the surrounding piles to get them out. Later reports are that both are fine, recovering. One thing I think this says is that it still isn't too late to be finding survivors.
There's reports of concern about rhino virus and flu in the shelters. They're reminding people to use masks, report temperatures and symptoms right away, and wash or use antiseptic if possible.
The railroad folks are trying to restore service. There's a picture of some tracks, though, showing that the bed has waved, both vertically and horizontally. In other words, the ground and the track veer sharply sideways and back again. At the same time, there are drops and rises. One stretch looks as if the track dipped into a bowl, maybe a car length or so across? So they are going to have to rebuild the bed, smoothing that out, then lay tracks again. Actually, looking at the picture, I'm a little surprised that the track seems to have bent so smoothly -- I would have expected it to break.
The quake experts are out measuring watermarks on buildings to get measures of the tsunami. They seem surprised at the height of some of the watermarks.
3/21 Today is a holiday in Japan. Spring Equinox day.
Morning news is taking questions from listeners. One asks why shelters are still reporting shortages of heat, food, water? We've seen pictures of trucks of relief goods and tankers of oil and gasoline going out. When will the people in the shelters get relief? There's an expert on emergency logistics (I didn't even realize that there was such a specialty, but...). He says that we need to understand that the emergency relief basically started from zero, and it covers a very wide area. He's got a diagram showing the normal flow of goods -- start with a factory, go through wholesalers, down to retail, and finally to the consumers. He says what has happened is that everything from the wholesalers down has been taken out, and the emergency relief is having to create whole new distribution systems. They have a brief clip of a trucking firm that is part of the relief effort, where truckers are being given hand-written directions about where to take stuff, with alternative destinations.
He didn't mention, but the last pictures I've seen of some of the central areas still didn't really show roads that I would want to run a truck over. Bulldozed paths through debris might handle a truck, but... I would guess the trucks of relief are getting to the edges and having to stop there.
8:37 little shiver magnitude 3 in Fukushima (where the reactors are)
Rumors apparently are running rampant. Host of one show asks an expert about a rumor that wakame (a type of seaweed, good source of iodine) and iodine gargle (what is the word for stuff that you gargle with? Anyway, that stuff) will protect you from radiation. The expert blinks, then says that wakame is good for your health, but will not have any real effect on radiation. As for the gargling, he says that's also good for you, and is recommended to clear dust, but no, it isn't really going to do anything for radiation.
Another question is whether people can dry their clothes on the line? Japanese people prefer to hang their wash out in the sun instead of using a dryer, if at all possible. The expert says sure, there isn't any reason not to. He does suggest that you shake it afterward to get rid of dust, if any. "Pom-pom." He claps his hands, then shakes an imaginary shirt. I've seen Japanese housewives clap the wash in their hands, then take it off and shake just like that. The host says, "Just like pollen?" and they agree that it is like that.
Someone else asks if you need to throw away any clothing that might have been exposed. The expert looks puzzled, then says no, just clean it.
There's a question about whether the government is really giving out true measures. The expert shakes his head, and says, "I've got a friend over here" and he points to one part of the map. "He's doing his own measurements, and I've talked with him. He has exactly the same numbers that the government is reporting." He goes on to say that he has had independent verification in several areas, so he thinks the government is giving accurate numbers.
One of the shelters, they've got young kids -- maybe middle school -- helping to put out tatami mats to convert class rooms. The reporter has the six kids line up and asks them to tell everyone what they want. They've got handwritten signs. I didn't get all of them, but a home, my mother, a toilet were among them... they are mostly smiling into the camera, though.
Followed by several old people, maybe from the same shelter? Again, handwritten signs, and smiles on wrinkled faces this time. Mostly, I'm fine. One says the dog died, but everyone else is fine. Wrapped in blankets, wearing this and that, but I'm healthy...
A reporter talks with a lanky teenager and his shorter, younger brother. They have matching blue jackets, and are outside going through wreckage. They admit, their mother is missing, and they are worried about her. They point out a bicycle, wrecked. The teenager says he rode that to their house just before the tsunami, and left it when he escaped. Then there's a yell, and the younger brother holds up a medal on a ribbon. The teenager says it's theirs, that the younger brother got it for baseball.
The reporter asks if they rebuild the town, would they want to live there? The teenager thinks about it, then says yes. If everyone works at it, it will be interesting, and he would want to live here.
Kamashi. There's picture of a mother with a new baby. They show some video from the quake. This is a maternity wards, and the nurses first held the baby tenders during the quake, then grabbed the babies up and ran out with them. They report that this maternity ward kept all the babies alive through the tsunamis. The head doctor, a woman, says her brother died, but she is still working. They've delivered seven new babies since the quake.
The reporter gets video of a father helping with delivery of their new daughter. Then he interviewed the mother and father, with their new baby. They marveled at the new baby yawning. Her hand, clutching the mother's finger, is still swelled with water. The mother says that she wishes they could tell her parents or send them a picture, who are at another town up the coast. The reporter takes the challenge, and travels up to the other town. The parent's house is wrecked, but he gets directed to where they are staying. Then he explains that they have a new granddaughter. Big smile from grandpa, and grandmom is teary but happy. Then he sets his video camera -- one of the big commercial units -- on the floor and shows them the granddaughter and daughter talking to them.
Back at the maternity ward, the electric workers outside are hooking up cables. And the lights and power at the ward come on. The nurses look up at the lights, then cheer and hug each other.
Let's see. Cindy Louper (hope I spelled that right) has come to Japan, and is doing charity concerts, shaking hands, and collecting relief funds. There's a 71 year old Japanese singer, long white hair, walking down the street singing "Power to the people" into a bullhorn -- apparently he's collecting money for relief, too. Matsui, Ichiro... the president of Softbank, one of the local cellphone companies, is out with a bucket collecting.
There's more regular shows. Libya has returned to the news. But there's still a lot of quake/tsunami/nuclear news, and I think will be for a while.