In the fourth winter since the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan, many of the displaced residents are still in limbo.
The Fourth Winter of Fukushima
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Tsunami
Postcard from…Soma
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.
Contamination: From Minamata to 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.
Back From the Brink: A City in Ruins Looks to the Future
As Japan’s government gets set to expand a nuclear evacuation area, the mayor of a city inside the radioactive zone speaks about his fears.
Postcard from…Tohoku
Within a week of the massive March 11 earthquake off the coast of Tohoku, Peace Boat’s advanced relief squad had navigated the region’s broken roads and set up base in the devastated city of Ishinomaki in Miyagi prefecture. From here they’ve been coordinating rotating teams of between 50 and 100 Japanese and international volunteers to assist the local community – primarily by cooking hot meals, distributing supplies, and clearing the tons of mud swept in by the 10-foot tsunami.
Gambling in Japan
The great kabuki actor Mitsugoro Bando VIII was a fan of fugu, or blowfish. Fugu is a rather bland, unremarkable fish except for one thing: its internal organs, particularly the liver, are highly toxic. Japanese chefs have to acquire a special certificate to prove that they know how to remove all traces of toxin before preparing the dish. Nevertheless, a couple of people die every year from eating it, which gives the fish an exotic reputation. Diners enjoy the slight tingle that fugu sushi imparts to the tongue and lips. Bando, however, wasn’t satisfied with this slight tingle. A daredevil eater, he relished bowls of soup made from fugu liver and in this way built up a certain resistance to the toxin. But on January 16, 1975, Bando ate not only one bowl of this liver soup for dinner but also the three bowls that his friend wisely declined. That night he suffered respiratory failure and died.
Little Silver Riding Hoods
Following the terrible earthquakes and tsunami in northeastern Japan on March 11, schoolchildren as far away as Tokyo have been going to school wearing pointy silver hats to protect them from potential fires and debris during ensuing aftershocks. For some, too, the shiny hoods function as ineffectual radiation shields, a poignant sign of Japan’s deepening unease over the ongoing meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
Worse Than a Meltdown? Could Be, Reports “Hysterical” New York Times
While many advise against over-reacting, chances are the Japanese nuclear crisis could be worse than a meltdown.
When Even Lieberman Is Concerned, the Nuclear Renaissance Is in Trouble
Is the nuclear energy too entrenched, especially with Peak Oil looming, to be slowed in its tracks by the reactor crises in Japan?
Japan Faces Possible Three-Mile Island
The crisis was compounded when back-up generators required for emergency cooling failed.