Japan News (4/5) [Part 1]
Apr. 5th, 2011 10:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mbarker4/3
One of the news channels had a really nice opening shot. First was the trash building frameworks and debris. Then the focus shifted, putting them into soft background as a single branch with small buds came into focus. Mom nature is rebuilding!
A piece about another one of these volunteer efforts. Montbell, a fairly well-known outdoor goods chain -- they sell tents, sleeping bags, coats, anything and everything for camping and sports. Apparently the president grabbed one of his warehouses and started organizing. He had people from the various stores sending stuff to that warehouse, with the plan to take that stuff to another center in the disaster area, and then distribute it from there. Once he kicked off the collection effort, he joined one of the early cavalcades -- three small vans -- headed into the disaster area to see what could be done. He drove through, talked with organizers who didn't really seem to think they needed outdoor goods, but gave him permission to give away stuff, so he did. There's one small piece where he drove into a library being used as a shelter, and parked the vans. Walking into the library, he saw two women in a car in the lot. He knocked on the window, and when they got out to talk to him, he asked if they were living in the car. When they said yes, he said hold on and went back to his van. He grabbed a fairly large bag and went back. Down sleeping bags, those lined pants and jackets for cold weather, etc. The two women were very thankful, especially when he said it was free. He did almost laughingly point to the logo on his jacket and on all the stuff he was giving away, saying to remember the name. After following him for a while traveling through the disaster areas, they went back to the warehouse with him. At this point the warehouse was filling up and people were moving boxes into trucks. They talked with one of the truck drivers -- a small construction truck, I think, with a built-in crane behind the driver's area. He said he was taking a vacation -- driving a load of stuff into the disaster area.
They were talking about the unemployment office -- called Hello Work here. Showed some pictures of people from the shelters talking to the unemployment office workers -- in clearly temporary offices.
The government official who has been appearing in blue work jacket as he coordinated all the emergency efforts showed up today in a suit and tie. I'm not sure why the change -- I liked his casual working appearance, actually. Apparently he's announcing a flagging system for the emergency areas. Basically, people are being asked to put up red, yellow, and green flags to indicate this is trash, I'm working on this, and maybe unknown? They went over this very quickly, and I missed which color meant what. They did show a few people sticking what looked like bamboo poles with red flags on them into piles of debris.
One of the experts measuring the tsunami high water marks has found a place about 200 meters from the shore where the watermarks are about 38 m high. They're comparing this to another one in 1896.
Miyagi, Minamisandiku? A bit of sadness, but also I think kind of good news. One of the shelters that apparently has been severely overcrowded has sent 500 people to another shelter further inland that isn't so crowded. About 69% of the homes in this town are destroyed, with about 9,200 in the shelter. They show people splitting wood, cooking in big kettles, etc. The mayor gives a talk before they leave, thanking them for helping. The new shelter is about a 40 minute drive away. When they get there, there's some video of them looking at their new home. There are tatami mats on the floor, and the new shelter offers them hot food for their first meal there. They are expected to be living here for about six months.
In the last three days, 72 bodies have been found. There's still considerable debris floating in the ocean, including tile roofs of buildings. Divers working the area say that on the floor, there's about 30 cm visibility -- that's about a foot.
About 15,000 still unknown.
The grandmother and boy who were rescued recently from the house they were stuck in? They're doing fine, and the father of the boy has turned up. The father thinks it's a miracle that they lived. He's really happy.
Water supplies are still out across large areas. There's video of broken pipes and so forth. So water is being trucked and carried in containers to about 20,000 places.
Gunma Prefecture. They're having a birthday party for a 10-year-old. Apparently it's a real surprise.
At one of the shelters, one of the SDF guys gets up on the stage -- well, a part of the floor in front of everybody, and tells the microphone that he's got a secret. Then he peels off his camouflage coat, puts on a festival coat and headband, and picks up a shovel. The regular kind with a straight scoop and handle. He holds this as if it was a guitar or banjo, handle up in the air, and proceeds to play the shovel. It sounds almost like a steel drum. Nice sound, and he plays it well. He goes through the crowd, prancing and playing, with a huge smile. One of the little kids tells the reporter, laughing, "He's really funny."
4/4
Dead and missing at 27,000 now.
There's a short piece about the kids who were going to start school. They show a little six-year-old girl who's fretting about when will she start school. The mother is concerned about how and where. The randuseru (leather backpack) and all of the materials are gone. They show the school where this little girl was supposed to go -- it's been trashed by the tsunami, with two cars improbably stuffed into the hallway, one sitting on its back as if a child had stood it on end, the other somehow wedged upside down against the ceiling. There is another school 7 km away. They are trying to arrange buses, but the guy who is shuffling lists of students and buses and maps says it's really hard. They ended this talking with the mother, who says normally there would be a whole exchange of mail and meetings, but at this point she hasn't heard anything and doesn't really know what is going to happen.
Some of the singing groups in Tokyo did a free charity on Sunday to collect for the relief. They expected 40,000 people, and got 400,000! Apparently there was a six hour wait to see the groups performing. It was a sunny day, and fans talked about this being a once-in-a-lifetime performance.
The fishing boats are going out. Apparently they are checking the fish for radioactivity, but so far all is normal.
They showed a pair of opera singers doing a concert in a Fukushima shelter.
The Tohoku Shinkansen -- which runs from Tokyo up to Aomori -- is partially up. They're showing a map of the line with two segments out. They expect one to be up by the seventh, and the other to be up by the 12th. So the entire line may be up later this month.
Natural gas -- the company reports that 310,000 houses are without service. They brought in 3000 repair personnel from across Japan. They show them running gas detectors down the streets, digging up and replacing pipes, etc. as They have a little camera that runs through the pipes. This allows them to detect breaks and other problems even if it's not leaking gas. What I thought was particularly interesting was the cardboard and duct tape sunshade that the workers were using on the rather small screen that they were watching the picture from the camera. The gas company says it's going to be at least a month.
There's a little piece from the International School... I think Tokyo, but I'm not sure. Apparently they asked the students to make up bags. The directions were to imagine what you would want at this point if you were staying in the shelter, and then put that in the bag. Talking to the students, the contents are somewhat eclectic, ranging from soap and shampoo to various books or games. One girl sent warm slippers, which I think might be a really good idea. Each of the bags includes a letter, too. They stuff all this into a van, and it goes off to somewhere in the disaster area as part of the volunteer relief.
There's a brief look at vegetables that are being measured or embargoed. There are several prefectures now being monitored apparently. Almost everybody has spinach on the list. Spinach is going to get a bad name.
One of the news channels had a really nice opening shot. First was the trash building frameworks and debris. Then the focus shifted, putting them into soft background as a single branch with small buds came into focus. Mom nature is rebuilding!
A piece about another one of these volunteer efforts. Montbell, a fairly well-known outdoor goods chain -- they sell tents, sleeping bags, coats, anything and everything for camping and sports. Apparently the president grabbed one of his warehouses and started organizing. He had people from the various stores sending stuff to that warehouse, with the plan to take that stuff to another center in the disaster area, and then distribute it from there. Once he kicked off the collection effort, he joined one of the early cavalcades -- three small vans -- headed into the disaster area to see what could be done. He drove through, talked with organizers who didn't really seem to think they needed outdoor goods, but gave him permission to give away stuff, so he did. There's one small piece where he drove into a library being used as a shelter, and parked the vans. Walking into the library, he saw two women in a car in the lot. He knocked on the window, and when they got out to talk to him, he asked if they were living in the car. When they said yes, he said hold on and went back to his van. He grabbed a fairly large bag and went back. Down sleeping bags, those lined pants and jackets for cold weather, etc. The two women were very thankful, especially when he said it was free. He did almost laughingly point to the logo on his jacket and on all the stuff he was giving away, saying to remember the name. After following him for a while traveling through the disaster areas, they went back to the warehouse with him. At this point the warehouse was filling up and people were moving boxes into trucks. They talked with one of the truck drivers -- a small construction truck, I think, with a built-in crane behind the driver's area. He said he was taking a vacation -- driving a load of stuff into the disaster area.
They were talking about the unemployment office -- called Hello Work here. Showed some pictures of people from the shelters talking to the unemployment office workers -- in clearly temporary offices.
The government official who has been appearing in blue work jacket as he coordinated all the emergency efforts showed up today in a suit and tie. I'm not sure why the change -- I liked his casual working appearance, actually. Apparently he's announcing a flagging system for the emergency areas. Basically, people are being asked to put up red, yellow, and green flags to indicate this is trash, I'm working on this, and maybe unknown? They went over this very quickly, and I missed which color meant what. They did show a few people sticking what looked like bamboo poles with red flags on them into piles of debris.
One of the experts measuring the tsunami high water marks has found a place about 200 meters from the shore where the watermarks are about 38 m high. They're comparing this to another one in 1896.
Miyagi, Minamisandiku? A bit of sadness, but also I think kind of good news. One of the shelters that apparently has been severely overcrowded has sent 500 people to another shelter further inland that isn't so crowded. About 69% of the homes in this town are destroyed, with about 9,200 in the shelter. They show people splitting wood, cooking in big kettles, etc. The mayor gives a talk before they leave, thanking them for helping. The new shelter is about a 40 minute drive away. When they get there, there's some video of them looking at their new home. There are tatami mats on the floor, and the new shelter offers them hot food for their first meal there. They are expected to be living here for about six months.
In the last three days, 72 bodies have been found. There's still considerable debris floating in the ocean, including tile roofs of buildings. Divers working the area say that on the floor, there's about 30 cm visibility -- that's about a foot.
About 15,000 still unknown.
The grandmother and boy who were rescued recently from the house they were stuck in? They're doing fine, and the father of the boy has turned up. The father thinks it's a miracle that they lived. He's really happy.
Water supplies are still out across large areas. There's video of broken pipes and so forth. So water is being trucked and carried in containers to about 20,000 places.
Gunma Prefecture. They're having a birthday party for a 10-year-old. Apparently it's a real surprise.
At one of the shelters, one of the SDF guys gets up on the stage -- well, a part of the floor in front of everybody, and tells the microphone that he's got a secret. Then he peels off his camouflage coat, puts on a festival coat and headband, and picks up a shovel. The regular kind with a straight scoop and handle. He holds this as if it was a guitar or banjo, handle up in the air, and proceeds to play the shovel. It sounds almost like a steel drum. Nice sound, and he plays it well. He goes through the crowd, prancing and playing, with a huge smile. One of the little kids tells the reporter, laughing, "He's really funny."
4/4
Dead and missing at 27,000 now.
There's a short piece about the kids who were going to start school. They show a little six-year-old girl who's fretting about when will she start school. The mother is concerned about how and where. The randuseru (leather backpack) and all of the materials are gone. They show the school where this little girl was supposed to go -- it's been trashed by the tsunami, with two cars improbably stuffed into the hallway, one sitting on its back as if a child had stood it on end, the other somehow wedged upside down against the ceiling. There is another school 7 km away. They are trying to arrange buses, but the guy who is shuffling lists of students and buses and maps says it's really hard. They ended this talking with the mother, who says normally there would be a whole exchange of mail and meetings, but at this point she hasn't heard anything and doesn't really know what is going to happen.
Some of the singing groups in Tokyo did a free charity on Sunday to collect for the relief. They expected 40,000 people, and got 400,000! Apparently there was a six hour wait to see the groups performing. It was a sunny day, and fans talked about this being a once-in-a-lifetime performance.
The fishing boats are going out. Apparently they are checking the fish for radioactivity, but so far all is normal.
They showed a pair of opera singers doing a concert in a Fukushima shelter.
The Tohoku Shinkansen -- which runs from Tokyo up to Aomori -- is partially up. They're showing a map of the line with two segments out. They expect one to be up by the seventh, and the other to be up by the 12th. So the entire line may be up later this month.
Natural gas -- the company reports that 310,000 houses are without service. They brought in 3000 repair personnel from across Japan. They show them running gas detectors down the streets, digging up and replacing pipes, etc. as They have a little camera that runs through the pipes. This allows them to detect breaks and other problems even if it's not leaking gas. What I thought was particularly interesting was the cardboard and duct tape sunshade that the workers were using on the rather small screen that they were watching the picture from the camera. The gas company says it's going to be at least a month.
There's a little piece from the International School... I think Tokyo, but I'm not sure. Apparently they asked the students to make up bags. The directions were to imagine what you would want at this point if you were staying in the shelter, and then put that in the bag. Talking to the students, the contents are somewhat eclectic, ranging from soap and shampoo to various books or games. One girl sent warm slippers, which I think might be a really good idea. Each of the bags includes a letter, too. They stuff all this into a van, and it goes off to somewhere in the disaster area as part of the volunteer relief.
There's a brief look at vegetables that are being measured or embargoed. There are several prefectures now being monitored apparently. Almost everybody has spinach on the list. Spinach is going to get a bad name.
