Japan news (3/23)
Mar. 23rd, 2011 03:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mbarker3/22
They're opening up the main highway through Tohoku, northern Japan. Apparently it's been cleared all the way up to the northern parts. They are asking people to let the trucks and supplies go first. There's also warnings about the lack of gas and gas stations, and that roads towards the eastern coast may not be there, or at least not be in good condition. They recommend getting a up-to-date map including warning conditions from the web somewhere. I have to admit, anyone who has been watching the news at all should know that the roads aren't good and gas supplies are shaky, but I'll bet some people will go in without enough preparation anyway.
There are pictures of some of the elevated roads which are reasonably popular in Japan. The pillars holding up the road have burst, so there is a layer of reinforcement rods and rubble holding up the road.
One of the bread companies has donated truckloads of bread, and they show it being handed out at one of the shelters. CupNoodle has indeed donated truckloads of instant noodles. Panasonic has donated batteries and electrical goods -- they're hoping to reduce the number of candles being used for lights.
7:19 PM 30 km out, magnitude 4.7. About magnitude 3 on land.
There's another video of men in a large public bath that's been put up in a temporary building at one of the shelters. Steam, smiles, and jokes.
There's a short video of going around with one of the relief workers who is going door to door in an area where people are still living in their houses. He's handing out two bottles of water, one package of instant noodles, and one other package that I didn't recognize -- a round plastic thing about the size of an old oatmeal carton? Maybe those wet tissue things? Although I would expect some kind of food. Anyway, the people he's handing it to all bow and thank him profusely.
There's a high school graduation -- Kesenuma? -- with a father sitting in for his missing son. He's got tears as he holds a picture of the son in his lap and listens to the principal. The... I would guess valedictorian or class president... gives a speech. He's crying, mouth working, but he gives his speech. He talks about the earthquakes and tsunami as being a great trial, so huge that anyone would just give up. That the earthquakes and tsunami may seem to have taken their lives away. But... we are still alive. We will go on. He bows to the students, parents, and everyone, tears running down his face. They show the father, using a white towel to wipe his face. The father says his son is missing, but he knows he wanted to graduate. So he will hold the graduation paper for him.
There's a little piece about the Ronald Reagan. They show stacks of Gatorade, paper towels, T-shirts and other supplies. These are being put in the helicopters and airlifted in. They show a helicopter landing at one of the schoolyards with a message written in large letters on the yard. The supplies are brought in, and the pilot ends up shaking hands with a group of older Japanese women and others from the shelter. As he goes back to the helicopter, the crowd waves. An officer back on the Ronald Reagan -- Tom Park? -- says that "We're glad we can help."
There's now 22,000 missing and dead.
There's a short piece about Lawson's, the convenience store chain. This is Lawson's Japan, and the president apparently grabbed his top team early during the disaster and asked them what they could contribute, and how to get it out to the places it was needed. They decided that onigiri -- the rice balls, with seaweed wrapping that are generally available for about 100 yen -- would be the best. Apparently they have factories that can turn them out in large numbers. Then the question became how to get them out to the places that they were needed. Apparently the normal goal for Lawson's is to deliver them in three hours, but that's based on a fairly distributed set of factories and easy trucking. The disaster had taken out some of their factories, and trucking was more difficult. However, they cranked up the factories, and got in touch with SDF about the delivery problem. SDF loaded onigiri into big planes, and flew it into the disaster areas -- where Lawson's provided trucks, or used SDF trucks. They also turned a number of Lawson's stores in the disaster area into distribution points. They showed video of Lawson's employees inviting local people to come in and take supplies. No charge. They also showed video of bags of onigiri being delivered to shelters from helicopters by a human chain.
Another video shows a line of cars sitting on a bulldozed road by piles of debris. Up at the front of the line, there is what was a gas station. It's now a frame of red girders. Whatever the walls were, they're gone. Out in front, there is a small yellow box with a gas station employee cranking away on a handle. He's pumping gas into the cars the hard way -- there aren't even any signs of the regular gas pumps, and there probably isn't power to run them in any case.
There's another video of a medical supply company in the disaster area. Here the president gathered the employees, and a set of scooters. Normally, hospitals in the area order medicines and other supplies, this company puts together an order, and sends it out to the hospital via trucks. However, he decided that trucks probably wouldn't work in this mess, so he collected scooters. He's got a sign on the front saying emergency supplies, and a fairly large box on the back for them to put the medical supplies in. With the disruption in telephones, they haven't gotten orders, and he hasn't even been able to contact several of the hospitals, but he tells the employees that he's going to send what he thinks they probably need. So he's having them make up kits of medical supplies and run them out to the hospitals on spec. He takes a scooter himself, and they showed him at two different hospitals. One is a total wreck, clearly flooded, with a car through a ground floor window. But when he calls out, a man comes down the stairs. It's the hospital owner, and he's very glad to see the medical supply man. He shows him that the supply room at the hospital has been flooded, and they've lost a lot. He tells him that he'll take anything, and needs more. Apparently he's got doctors, nurses, and patients on upper floors. The medical supply man agrees to try and get him more. The medical supply man also went to another hospital that hadn't been flooded, and to one of the emergency shelters to talk with them about needs.
It's almost surreal. The news paused for local Nara news. We've got Ume (sour plum) blooming in Nara, which is one of the signs of springs. And there's a special tour group from China who have come to see the trees.
9:04 pm. There's a 5.9 magnitude quake. Out in the ocean. Looks like threes all across northern Japan.
The vegetable stores and suppliers in Tokyo are really upset. Apparently people are not buying spinach, even when it comes from Saitama, which is well away from Fukushima. The vegetable wholesalers have arranged to have independent testing of their vegetables, which shows that there is no problem.
Another show talks about iodine 131, cesium 137, levels of bekrir? per kilo... I have the feeling that this was intended to reassure people, but it was so technical that I doubt if anybody really understood it.
More talk about the roads being open. The train system apparently is going partway, but not all the way yet. There's also a report on the temporary shelters -- casetsu jitaku -- where the man says it may take a year to get enough shelters in place.
There's pictures of the SDF and families burying coffins. Apparently the crematoriums are not working, so they are doing full body burials. This is somewhat difficult for Japanese, because cremation is generally preferred.
About 9000 confirmed dead, 13,000 missing.
There's some video of SDF breaking into houses through windows, cutting through roofs, etc. They are bringing out pictures, trophies, and other things that may help identify... or that people might want, in the best case. It's all carefully collected.
Osaka is donating 2000 public apartments for people from the disaster area.
There's a school graduation somewhere in southern Japan -- with kids all away from elementary through high school it looks like -- with a huge banner. It basically says, "We're all fighting together -- northern Japan, don't give up!"
There's a new concern. The Just-in-Time (JIT) production system used by the automobile manufacturers depends pretty heavily on a network of small product suppliers being able to provide relatively continuous small lots -- there isn't much inventory of parts in the system. Right now, one automobile manufacturer expects to have to stop the production line tomorrow. Another says they are going to have to stop on the 26th, while a third says the 27th. At one of the factories, the supply of one sensor is down to a single drawerful -- and apparently every car requires one. Another small plastic fitting -- there is one bag left. It's not a very big bag. And apparently, most of these parts are relatively specialized. One of the manufacturers says that the companies that made those sensors and fittings are in the disaster area.
3/23
7:12 a fairly strong quake. Fukushima reports 5+. Miyagi prefecture 4, threes elsewhere.
They've got one of the experts on again talking about vegetables. He's trying to explain. He says if you ate vegetables with the elevated levels for a year, that would be of concern. However, given the expected short time, there should be no problem.
The prefecture below the Fukushima evacuation area -- the supermarkets are sold out. One man says there is more food in his house than he thinks has ever been there, but he still is looking around the supermarket.
There's a short video about med schools organizing teams that went into the disaster area. I think they said five schools with 16 teams. DMAT? They show one of the teams coordinating with local hospitals, and then talking with patients. They show an old woman having her blood pressure measured, and being asked when she took her blood pressure medicine last. She says before the earthquake, and that when she ran out of the house, she didn't take anything. The doctor from the school gives her medicine, and tells her to take it daily, and keep it with her. She nods.
They've got a 78-year-old man, with a beard stubble, several layers of shirts. He's pointing to mud flats and debris, and saying, "Over there, that's where my house was." He was in the 1960 tsunami in this area, from the Chile earthquake. They show some old black-and-white from that time of the destruction in the same area. He shows the reporter on a hand-drawn map how the tsunami came across and smashed his house. Then they go up to the retirement home where he has been living. It's on higher ground, but it's also been trashed. He shows the reporter the watermark on the wall, about 20 cm over his head. He shakes his head and smiles at the reporter. "Why do I have to go through this twice?" He laughs and tells a reporter, "I probably won't see another one."
7:34 another quake. Fukushima 5.8, nearby 5+, a band of fours, and then threes across the rest of northern Japan.
There's a video of a nine-year-old girl sitting in one of the shelters. She's folding paper cranes out of newspapers. She says that her grandmother told her to fold 1000. The reporter asked sure how many she has, and she gets a bag out and says about 200. She thinks she can fold 30 every day. I'm not sure what is supposed to happen when she gets 1000, traditionally this is for someone who is sick. Still, she seems quite industriously occupied.
This morning shows 9199 dead, 13,000 missing?
There's a little clip of two old women walking on a bulldozed road through the debris. They've both got a blue bucket in their right hand, a plastic bag full of stuff in their left-hand, and the relatively heavy aprons that some people prefer. The funny bonnets on their head. If it wasn't for the debris space they are walking past, it would be any pair of old rural Japanese women out for a walk to do something. Probably cleaning up.
Iwate has snow this morning.
8:03 there's another quake!
A little bit this morning about a community FM radio that's apparently up and running in the disaster area. It looks like mostly young people running it, and I guess they're doing some music and reporting.
A video of a line of women and girls, carrying clothes in their hands. They're going into a military green shelter. Nearby there is what looks like an inner tube gone crazy -- almost half a person high, and at least a person wide? Bulging. Apparently some kind of water reservoir. The interviewer stops one of the women coming out all of the shelter. She says it was her first bath in 12 days. "It really feels good."
There's a short clip of elephants collecting for Japanese relief? There's a sign that says Khosan Road? I have no idea where that came from.
You know? Japan is creaking, JIT is showing some strains, and so forth, but... they've got nine-year-old kids folding newspaper cranes, other people figuring out whatever they can do, and little old ladies busily cleaning. It is going to come through this, too.
They're opening up the main highway through Tohoku, northern Japan. Apparently it's been cleared all the way up to the northern parts. They are asking people to let the trucks and supplies go first. There's also warnings about the lack of gas and gas stations, and that roads towards the eastern coast may not be there, or at least not be in good condition. They recommend getting a up-to-date map including warning conditions from the web somewhere. I have to admit, anyone who has been watching the news at all should know that the roads aren't good and gas supplies are shaky, but I'll bet some people will go in without enough preparation anyway.
There are pictures of some of the elevated roads which are reasonably popular in Japan. The pillars holding up the road have burst, so there is a layer of reinforcement rods and rubble holding up the road.
One of the bread companies has donated truckloads of bread, and they show it being handed out at one of the shelters. CupNoodle has indeed donated truckloads of instant noodles. Panasonic has donated batteries and electrical goods -- they're hoping to reduce the number of candles being used for lights.
7:19 PM 30 km out, magnitude 4.7. About magnitude 3 on land.
There's another video of men in a large public bath that's been put up in a temporary building at one of the shelters. Steam, smiles, and jokes.
There's a short video of going around with one of the relief workers who is going door to door in an area where people are still living in their houses. He's handing out two bottles of water, one package of instant noodles, and one other package that I didn't recognize -- a round plastic thing about the size of an old oatmeal carton? Maybe those wet tissue things? Although I would expect some kind of food. Anyway, the people he's handing it to all bow and thank him profusely.
There's a high school graduation -- Kesenuma? -- with a father sitting in for his missing son. He's got tears as he holds a picture of the son in his lap and listens to the principal. The... I would guess valedictorian or class president... gives a speech. He's crying, mouth working, but he gives his speech. He talks about the earthquakes and tsunami as being a great trial, so huge that anyone would just give up. That the earthquakes and tsunami may seem to have taken their lives away. But... we are still alive. We will go on. He bows to the students, parents, and everyone, tears running down his face. They show the father, using a white towel to wipe his face. The father says his son is missing, but he knows he wanted to graduate. So he will hold the graduation paper for him.
There's a little piece about the Ronald Reagan. They show stacks of Gatorade, paper towels, T-shirts and other supplies. These are being put in the helicopters and airlifted in. They show a helicopter landing at one of the schoolyards with a message written in large letters on the yard. The supplies are brought in, and the pilot ends up shaking hands with a group of older Japanese women and others from the shelter. As he goes back to the helicopter, the crowd waves. An officer back on the Ronald Reagan -- Tom Park? -- says that "We're glad we can help."
There's now 22,000 missing and dead.
There's a short piece about Lawson's, the convenience store chain. This is Lawson's Japan, and the president apparently grabbed his top team early during the disaster and asked them what they could contribute, and how to get it out to the places it was needed. They decided that onigiri -- the rice balls, with seaweed wrapping that are generally available for about 100 yen -- would be the best. Apparently they have factories that can turn them out in large numbers. Then the question became how to get them out to the places that they were needed. Apparently the normal goal for Lawson's is to deliver them in three hours, but that's based on a fairly distributed set of factories and easy trucking. The disaster had taken out some of their factories, and trucking was more difficult. However, they cranked up the factories, and got in touch with SDF about the delivery problem. SDF loaded onigiri into big planes, and flew it into the disaster areas -- where Lawson's provided trucks, or used SDF trucks. They also turned a number of Lawson's stores in the disaster area into distribution points. They showed video of Lawson's employees inviting local people to come in and take supplies. No charge. They also showed video of bags of onigiri being delivered to shelters from helicopters by a human chain.
Another video shows a line of cars sitting on a bulldozed road by piles of debris. Up at the front of the line, there is what was a gas station. It's now a frame of red girders. Whatever the walls were, they're gone. Out in front, there is a small yellow box with a gas station employee cranking away on a handle. He's pumping gas into the cars the hard way -- there aren't even any signs of the regular gas pumps, and there probably isn't power to run them in any case.
There's another video of a medical supply company in the disaster area. Here the president gathered the employees, and a set of scooters. Normally, hospitals in the area order medicines and other supplies, this company puts together an order, and sends it out to the hospital via trucks. However, he decided that trucks probably wouldn't work in this mess, so he collected scooters. He's got a sign on the front saying emergency supplies, and a fairly large box on the back for them to put the medical supplies in. With the disruption in telephones, they haven't gotten orders, and he hasn't even been able to contact several of the hospitals, but he tells the employees that he's going to send what he thinks they probably need. So he's having them make up kits of medical supplies and run them out to the hospitals on spec. He takes a scooter himself, and they showed him at two different hospitals. One is a total wreck, clearly flooded, with a car through a ground floor window. But when he calls out, a man comes down the stairs. It's the hospital owner, and he's very glad to see the medical supply man. He shows him that the supply room at the hospital has been flooded, and they've lost a lot. He tells him that he'll take anything, and needs more. Apparently he's got doctors, nurses, and patients on upper floors. The medical supply man agrees to try and get him more. The medical supply man also went to another hospital that hadn't been flooded, and to one of the emergency shelters to talk with them about needs.
It's almost surreal. The news paused for local Nara news. We've got Ume (sour plum) blooming in Nara, which is one of the signs of springs. And there's a special tour group from China who have come to see the trees.
9:04 pm. There's a 5.9 magnitude quake. Out in the ocean. Looks like threes all across northern Japan.
The vegetable stores and suppliers in Tokyo are really upset. Apparently people are not buying spinach, even when it comes from Saitama, which is well away from Fukushima. The vegetable wholesalers have arranged to have independent testing of their vegetables, which shows that there is no problem.
Another show talks about iodine 131, cesium 137, levels of bekrir? per kilo... I have the feeling that this was intended to reassure people, but it was so technical that I doubt if anybody really understood it.
More talk about the roads being open. The train system apparently is going partway, but not all the way yet. There's also a report on the temporary shelters -- casetsu jitaku -- where the man says it may take a year to get enough shelters in place.
There's pictures of the SDF and families burying coffins. Apparently the crematoriums are not working, so they are doing full body burials. This is somewhat difficult for Japanese, because cremation is generally preferred.
About 9000 confirmed dead, 13,000 missing.
There's some video of SDF breaking into houses through windows, cutting through roofs, etc. They are bringing out pictures, trophies, and other things that may help identify... or that people might want, in the best case. It's all carefully collected.
Osaka is donating 2000 public apartments for people from the disaster area.
There's a school graduation somewhere in southern Japan -- with kids all away from elementary through high school it looks like -- with a huge banner. It basically says, "We're all fighting together -- northern Japan, don't give up!"
There's a new concern. The Just-in-Time (JIT) production system used by the automobile manufacturers depends pretty heavily on a network of small product suppliers being able to provide relatively continuous small lots -- there isn't much inventory of parts in the system. Right now, one automobile manufacturer expects to have to stop the production line tomorrow. Another says they are going to have to stop on the 26th, while a third says the 27th. At one of the factories, the supply of one sensor is down to a single drawerful -- and apparently every car requires one. Another small plastic fitting -- there is one bag left. It's not a very big bag. And apparently, most of these parts are relatively specialized. One of the manufacturers says that the companies that made those sensors and fittings are in the disaster area.
3/23
7:12 a fairly strong quake. Fukushima reports 5+. Miyagi prefecture 4, threes elsewhere.
They've got one of the experts on again talking about vegetables. He's trying to explain. He says if you ate vegetables with the elevated levels for a year, that would be of concern. However, given the expected short time, there should be no problem.
The prefecture below the Fukushima evacuation area -- the supermarkets are sold out. One man says there is more food in his house than he thinks has ever been there, but he still is looking around the supermarket.
There's a short video about med schools organizing teams that went into the disaster area. I think they said five schools with 16 teams. DMAT? They show one of the teams coordinating with local hospitals, and then talking with patients. They show an old woman having her blood pressure measured, and being asked when she took her blood pressure medicine last. She says before the earthquake, and that when she ran out of the house, she didn't take anything. The doctor from the school gives her medicine, and tells her to take it daily, and keep it with her. She nods.
They've got a 78-year-old man, with a beard stubble, several layers of shirts. He's pointing to mud flats and debris, and saying, "Over there, that's where my house was." He was in the 1960 tsunami in this area, from the Chile earthquake. They show some old black-and-white from that time of the destruction in the same area. He shows the reporter on a hand-drawn map how the tsunami came across and smashed his house. Then they go up to the retirement home where he has been living. It's on higher ground, but it's also been trashed. He shows the reporter the watermark on the wall, about 20 cm over his head. He shakes his head and smiles at the reporter. "Why do I have to go through this twice?" He laughs and tells a reporter, "I probably won't see another one."
7:34 another quake. Fukushima 5.8, nearby 5+, a band of fours, and then threes across the rest of northern Japan.
There's a video of a nine-year-old girl sitting in one of the shelters. She's folding paper cranes out of newspapers. She says that her grandmother told her to fold 1000. The reporter asked sure how many she has, and she gets a bag out and says about 200. She thinks she can fold 30 every day. I'm not sure what is supposed to happen when she gets 1000, traditionally this is for someone who is sick. Still, she seems quite industriously occupied.
This morning shows 9199 dead, 13,000 missing?
There's a little clip of two old women walking on a bulldozed road through the debris. They've both got a blue bucket in their right hand, a plastic bag full of stuff in their left-hand, and the relatively heavy aprons that some people prefer. The funny bonnets on their head. If it wasn't for the debris space they are walking past, it would be any pair of old rural Japanese women out for a walk to do something. Probably cleaning up.
Iwate has snow this morning.
8:03 there's another quake!
A little bit this morning about a community FM radio that's apparently up and running in the disaster area. It looks like mostly young people running it, and I guess they're doing some music and reporting.
A video of a line of women and girls, carrying clothes in their hands. They're going into a military green shelter. Nearby there is what looks like an inner tube gone crazy -- almost half a person high, and at least a person wide? Bulging. Apparently some kind of water reservoir. The interviewer stops one of the women coming out all of the shelter. She says it was her first bath in 12 days. "It really feels good."
There's a short clip of elephants collecting for Japanese relief? There's a sign that says Khosan Road? I have no idea where that came from.
You know? Japan is creaking, JIT is showing some strains, and so forth, but... they've got nine-year-old kids folding newspaper cranes, other people figuring out whatever they can do, and little old ladies busily cleaning. It is going to come through this, too.
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no subject
Date: 2011-03-23 08:30 am (UTC)Oddball solution -- if enough people get scared and move south or into rural Japan, maybe Tokyo won't need so much power?