Japan News (3/25)
Mar. 25th, 2011 05:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mbarker3/24
Confirmed dead 9523 missing 16,067 -- over 25,000 missing and dead.
There's a short video of some people washing clothes in blue buckets outside a shelter in Iwate. What's funny to me is that the women are talking and wringing clothes by hand, while a middle-aged man in a group is trying, but grumbling about really needing a washing machine.
Another short clip of a van at one of the shelters. It's from a bank, I think, and they've set up a table and are handing out... jutaku money? That's living money? I'm not sure if this is relief money, funds from the government, or people taking out their own money. They show one man in his knit cap and multiple layers of shirts and jackets happily getting a stack of 10,000 yen notes (about $100 each), fanning it out, and counting it.
John Roos, the US ambassador to Japan is visiting shelters. He's shaking hands and hugging people. He assures them that America will be helping.
They've opened the highway for general traffic. The interviewer talks with one man who says he's going to visit his mother. The interviewer asks what he is bringing. The man says he has a bag of instant noodles cups -- Cup Noodle. He says when he talked to her on the phone that was what she asked for.
They've started trash service again in the disaster areas. It might seem strange to run a trash truck through bulldozed roads between piles of debris, but as one housewife comments, she's glad to see it. She says the refrigerator has been off since the disaster, and there's lots of stuff that has gone bad.
University of Kyoto is holding their graduation. Three graduating students were visiting Sendai before graduation and are dead or missing.
The water in Tokyo that was up about 210 or 220 Bq (Becquerel -- I think the Japanese spelling is easier to pronounce! Bekureru?) Is now down to 79 again. The mayor of Tokyo is shown drinking a glass of tap water. Still, most residents are uneasy, commenting that they don't understand how it could be unsafe yesterday and safe today.
The Akasaka Prince, a fairly luxurious hotel, was closed either for renovation or replacement. They now are offering 1700 rooms for people from the disaster area.
Tokyo -- one of the big department store chains is limiting bottled water sales to one bottle of water per customer. City Hall is handing out two small bottles to mothers with babies.
And there's news of exposed workers at Fukushima being rushed to the hospital. There's talk of 170 milli Sv (that's the larger measure, not micro). Also some concern about whether they had the right protective garments, since apparently the exposure came from getting into water.
11 PM -- the national news channel, which is not known for humor, ran a piece that made me laugh. It started with close-ups of cars in Tokyo and buildings. The reporter ran his fingers through the layer of yellow dust gathered on a stone wall. He said people throughout Tokyo were panicked today, calling new stations and the weather department asking what this yellow dust was all over Tokyo. The answer? Pollen. It's the spring cedar pollen season, and Tokyo apparently had a really heavy layer today. Nothing dangerous, just cedar trees doing their thing.
There is video of a rather dramatic SDF mission. It turns out that near Fukushima, there was an old couple who apparently didn't leave home. Their absence was noted today, and people were concerned that perhaps they didn't know they needed to evacuate. So a team of SDF put on their white tyvek suits, breathing apparatus, and all that, and set off the check on them. There is video of the small cavalcade of jeeps traveling through the deserted country, and finding the old couple's house. They call out and knock on the door, and the old woman welcomes them. The SDF folks explain that they really should evacuate. She says no. They ask about the old man, and she says he's asleep in the back, and she doesn't want to wake him up. The SDF repeats that it isn't really safe, and she says they don't want to leave, they're too old and whatever happens will happen. The SDF team thanks her and leaves. Then they went through the town announcing loudly through bullhorns that if anyone wanted to evacuate, they were there to help. Finally they said there wasn't anybody else there, and left. Without the old couple.
3/25
Another shelter in Iwate prefecture. They've got temporary buildings, and a small mobile van marked with a red cross -- either ambulance or maybe mobile hospital? This group has put together a magazine, several pages with tips intended for people staying in the emergency shelters. How to stay warm with newspapers, making a gyroscope for the kids, and so on. The final page has written in English in large letters "One for all, all for one."
There's more discussion of the water safety. The expert says that boiling the water and common faucet filters, despite rumors, will not remove the radioactivity. He also reassures people that taking a shower, brushing your teeth, washing clothes is not a problem. He stresses that the warnings were about babies and pregnant women.
I saw a little bit of an American newscast being rebroadcast. According to it, two workers were carried from the Fukushima reactor to the hospital yesterday.
in a town or city, they've organized to deliver water to pregnant women and parents with babies. They show the city hall employees out on bicycles with water bottles in the baskets.
Flipping through the channels this morning, almost all the attention seems to be on the water. Most channels are focusing on Fukushima reactors and water.
One channel has some pieces about the Hokkaido hospital doctors coming down to spend time in the disaster areas. They also show a shelter with 250 people in it, with five-year-olds giving massages to the old people.
Miyagi Prefecture, a well-known fishing port -- the reporter is walking around looking at destroyed buildings. She finds a restaurant that she used to like to eat at, and it's been wracked. They show the sushi counter covered in thick black mud. She found the owner, and he says he has no idea when or if he'll ever be able to open again. They also went to another building, with huge vats -- man-size or taller. They've got covers that look like Saran wrap to me. The owner climbs a ladder and dips into whatever is inside. He says he's worried because he hasn't been able to control the temperature. I think it must be sake. But apparently his old thick walled building and vats withstood the earthquake and tsunami pretty well.
One of the elementary schools in the disaster area is holding a graduation for nine kids. The principal gives a speech to them, talking about the challenge and that he is proud of them. The narrator comments that the principal's daughter is among the missing.
There's a 61-year-old mayor with a reporter. They start by panning across the valley floor below them. It's mostly brown dirt, roads that don't seem to go anywhere, and a few twisted piles of debris. The mayor says it was all town before. All gone now.
At 8:17 a.m. on the five main channels, four of them are talking about water in Tokyo. One is talking about northern Japan. Later at about 8:45 AM, there are three channels talking about northern Japan. Still, the emphasis seems to be on Tokyo and the water.
Minamonte has more pictures and messages from the disaster area. Really need gasoline, want to see a picture of my nine-month-old baby granddaughter, etc. He's putting up like 30 of these every morning, and reading at least some of them. Your 30 seconds of fame?
In the disaster area, a reporter shows one of the gas stations with a tanker full of gas. But he points out that almost no one is getting gas. Then he holds up a green slip and explains that in that area, they have set up rationing. Each person who has a good reason gets 12 liters. There's a man with a white pickup truck, bed full of assorted red gasoline tanks, and a handful of ration slips. He explains that he volunteered to collect gasoline for people in his area. The reporter explains that right now hospitals, housing, and other emergency services have first priority.
At lunch, there's a video of the workers at Fukushima. Other workers are surrounding them with blue sheets, but they are walking on their own. There's an explanation that these are the two workers, and some shots of the... it looks like plastic bubble wrap that they've got on their feet and lower legs? But they are walking on their own. I think saying they were carried to the hospital may be a bit misleading.
Two weeks ago, the plates moved, the earth shook, and tsunamis rolled across the north east coast of Japan. The loss of life and disruption continues to take a heavy toll. Still, it seems like northern Japan is starting to put things back together. I'm not so sure about Tokyo and that area -- the panics and fears that they are facing may be more insidious and harder to deal with.
Confirmed dead 9523 missing 16,067 -- over 25,000 missing and dead.
There's a short video of some people washing clothes in blue buckets outside a shelter in Iwate. What's funny to me is that the women are talking and wringing clothes by hand, while a middle-aged man in a group is trying, but grumbling about really needing a washing machine.
Another short clip of a van at one of the shelters. It's from a bank, I think, and they've set up a table and are handing out... jutaku money? That's living money? I'm not sure if this is relief money, funds from the government, or people taking out their own money. They show one man in his knit cap and multiple layers of shirts and jackets happily getting a stack of 10,000 yen notes (about $100 each), fanning it out, and counting it.
John Roos, the US ambassador to Japan is visiting shelters. He's shaking hands and hugging people. He assures them that America will be helping.
They've opened the highway for general traffic. The interviewer talks with one man who says he's going to visit his mother. The interviewer asks what he is bringing. The man says he has a bag of instant noodles cups -- Cup Noodle. He says when he talked to her on the phone that was what she asked for.
They've started trash service again in the disaster areas. It might seem strange to run a trash truck through bulldozed roads between piles of debris, but as one housewife comments, she's glad to see it. She says the refrigerator has been off since the disaster, and there's lots of stuff that has gone bad.
University of Kyoto is holding their graduation. Three graduating students were visiting Sendai before graduation and are dead or missing.
The water in Tokyo that was up about 210 or 220 Bq (Becquerel -- I think the Japanese spelling is easier to pronounce! Bekureru?) Is now down to 79 again. The mayor of Tokyo is shown drinking a glass of tap water. Still, most residents are uneasy, commenting that they don't understand how it could be unsafe yesterday and safe today.
The Akasaka Prince, a fairly luxurious hotel, was closed either for renovation or replacement. They now are offering 1700 rooms for people from the disaster area.
Tokyo -- one of the big department store chains is limiting bottled water sales to one bottle of water per customer. City Hall is handing out two small bottles to mothers with babies.
And there's news of exposed workers at Fukushima being rushed to the hospital. There's talk of 170 milli Sv (that's the larger measure, not micro). Also some concern about whether they had the right protective garments, since apparently the exposure came from getting into water.
11 PM -- the national news channel, which is not known for humor, ran a piece that made me laugh. It started with close-ups of cars in Tokyo and buildings. The reporter ran his fingers through the layer of yellow dust gathered on a stone wall. He said people throughout Tokyo were panicked today, calling new stations and the weather department asking what this yellow dust was all over Tokyo. The answer? Pollen. It's the spring cedar pollen season, and Tokyo apparently had a really heavy layer today. Nothing dangerous, just cedar trees doing their thing.
There is video of a rather dramatic SDF mission. It turns out that near Fukushima, there was an old couple who apparently didn't leave home. Their absence was noted today, and people were concerned that perhaps they didn't know they needed to evacuate. So a team of SDF put on their white tyvek suits, breathing apparatus, and all that, and set off the check on them. There is video of the small cavalcade of jeeps traveling through the deserted country, and finding the old couple's house. They call out and knock on the door, and the old woman welcomes them. The SDF folks explain that they really should evacuate. She says no. They ask about the old man, and she says he's asleep in the back, and she doesn't want to wake him up. The SDF repeats that it isn't really safe, and she says they don't want to leave, they're too old and whatever happens will happen. The SDF team thanks her and leaves. Then they went through the town announcing loudly through bullhorns that if anyone wanted to evacuate, they were there to help. Finally they said there wasn't anybody else there, and left. Without the old couple.
3/25
Another shelter in Iwate prefecture. They've got temporary buildings, and a small mobile van marked with a red cross -- either ambulance or maybe mobile hospital? This group has put together a magazine, several pages with tips intended for people staying in the emergency shelters. How to stay warm with newspapers, making a gyroscope for the kids, and so on. The final page has written in English in large letters "One for all, all for one."
There's more discussion of the water safety. The expert says that boiling the water and common faucet filters, despite rumors, will not remove the radioactivity. He also reassures people that taking a shower, brushing your teeth, washing clothes is not a problem. He stresses that the warnings were about babies and pregnant women.
I saw a little bit of an American newscast being rebroadcast. According to it, two workers were carried from the Fukushima reactor to the hospital yesterday.
in a town or city, they've organized to deliver water to pregnant women and parents with babies. They show the city hall employees out on bicycles with water bottles in the baskets.
Flipping through the channels this morning, almost all the attention seems to be on the water. Most channels are focusing on Fukushima reactors and water.
One channel has some pieces about the Hokkaido hospital doctors coming down to spend time in the disaster areas. They also show a shelter with 250 people in it, with five-year-olds giving massages to the old people.
Miyagi Prefecture, a well-known fishing port -- the reporter is walking around looking at destroyed buildings. She finds a restaurant that she used to like to eat at, and it's been wracked. They show the sushi counter covered in thick black mud. She found the owner, and he says he has no idea when or if he'll ever be able to open again. They also went to another building, with huge vats -- man-size or taller. They've got covers that look like Saran wrap to me. The owner climbs a ladder and dips into whatever is inside. He says he's worried because he hasn't been able to control the temperature. I think it must be sake. But apparently his old thick walled building and vats withstood the earthquake and tsunami pretty well.
One of the elementary schools in the disaster area is holding a graduation for nine kids. The principal gives a speech to them, talking about the challenge and that he is proud of them. The narrator comments that the principal's daughter is among the missing.
There's a 61-year-old mayor with a reporter. They start by panning across the valley floor below them. It's mostly brown dirt, roads that don't seem to go anywhere, and a few twisted piles of debris. The mayor says it was all town before. All gone now.
At 8:17 a.m. on the five main channels, four of them are talking about water in Tokyo. One is talking about northern Japan. Later at about 8:45 AM, there are three channels talking about northern Japan. Still, the emphasis seems to be on Tokyo and the water.
Minamonte has more pictures and messages from the disaster area. Really need gasoline, want to see a picture of my nine-month-old baby granddaughter, etc. He's putting up like 30 of these every morning, and reading at least some of them. Your 30 seconds of fame?
In the disaster area, a reporter shows one of the gas stations with a tanker full of gas. But he points out that almost no one is getting gas. Then he holds up a green slip and explains that in that area, they have set up rationing. Each person who has a good reason gets 12 liters. There's a man with a white pickup truck, bed full of assorted red gasoline tanks, and a handful of ration slips. He explains that he volunteered to collect gasoline for people in his area. The reporter explains that right now hospitals, housing, and other emergency services have first priority.
At lunch, there's a video of the workers at Fukushima. Other workers are surrounding them with blue sheets, but they are walking on their own. There's an explanation that these are the two workers, and some shots of the... it looks like plastic bubble wrap that they've got on their feet and lower legs? But they are walking on their own. I think saying they were carried to the hospital may be a bit misleading.
Two weeks ago, the plates moved, the earth shook, and tsunamis rolled across the north east coast of Japan. The loss of life and disruption continues to take a heavy toll. Still, it seems like northern Japan is starting to put things back together. I'm not so sure about Tokyo and that area -- the panics and fears that they are facing may be more insidious and harder to deal with.
