Lady Gaga went to Japan for a charity concert, proceeds of which go to victims of the March 11 earthquake. All week, Lady Gaga commanded the airwaves, Japan’s current turmoil notwithstanding. The panda eyes she wore on a morning talk show could be the single greatest make-up event ever. But it was something else that Lady Gaga did that really commanded my attention, and the attention of so many Japanese.
Nuclear safety needs to share the light that Fukushima has shone on it with nuclear security. Russ Wellen at the Foreign Policy in Focus blog Focal Points.
The emotions felt by those leaving Japan were varied and often complex. Many expressed joy and hope at the prospect of a new life in North Korea – even though the vast majority came originally from the southern half of the Korean Peninsula, and were going to a place they had never seen before. Some took a more somber view – traveling without high expectations, but at least in the belief that a future in North Korea would be more secure than their life in Japan, where they had been deprived of citizenship and had no assured residence rights, very limited access to welfare and (in most cases) few educational or employment opportunities.
Situated on the east coast of Honshu 30 kilometers to the south of Sendai and 50 kilometers north of the Daiichi nuclear facility, Soma received the full brunt of the March 11 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. The tragedy there is ongoing; it is messy, and it is chaotic. Small streets crowded with homes, shops, and schools are simply gone. Digging through the sand I find photos, toys, and furniture, things that were cherished. They are now lumped into two piles: combustible, non-combustible. Tatami mats dotting the newly flat landscape mark where bodies were found once the water receded.
By insisting the US retain its military assets, with full freedom in their use, returning only the unnecessary responsibility for local Okinawan administration, and paying a huge sum to sweeten the deal, Japan ensured that the island’s principle raison d’être would continue to be war, making a mockery of the Okinawan people’s revulsion for war and their desire for the peace principle at the centre of the constitution.
Tepco is dealing with the same problems at Fukushima and in the same ways as immediately after the earthquake and tsunami.
Since insurance companies refuse to provide more than minimal coverage for nuclear-power plants, the state must absorb the bulk of the costs of a disaster such as Fukushima.
As with methyl-mercury a half century ago, Japan is once again threatened by a new persistent toxin accumulating in its food and water. But unlike the early days of the discovery of mercury poisoning, Japan’s government has quickly launched responses to this contamination, even far beyond the local site of contamination.
Both the U.S. and Japan suffer at the hands of government officials looking forward to jobs in the private sector.
Afraid to emit any radiation whatsoever into the atmosphere, Tepco let too much pressure build up at Fukushima.