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Category: Blog

The aftermath of the aftermath

The earthquake and subsequent tsunami now two weeks ago gave Japan a lot to clean up.  Most notably, the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Northern Japan.  Concern arose following the earthquake and tsunami when power was cut off to the plants, preventing temperature regulation.  For about the last week, teams have been working day and night to get the situation under control.  While at the time of writing this post, the situation at the reactor seems to be in a somewhat-controlled state, there have been some effects.

Products from Fukushima and surrounding prefectures have been discovered with higher than normal amounts of radioactive material on/in them.  Leafy greens and milk were most recently discussed – images of farmers disposing of the contaminated products can be seen all over the web.  Many countries stopped accepting shipments of these kinds of products as a precaution to their citizens.

Water was also effected as a result of the situation at Fukushima.  On Wednesday, radioactive iodine was detected in water supplying much of Tokyo and some of the surrounding areas.  Officials declared the water unsafe for infants to drink, but acceptable for adult consumption.  The statement was made under the assumption that the radiation would be present in the water long-term.  However, this fortunately does not seem to be the case.  Thursday, officials stated the radiation detected in the water had dropped, and had become safe for consumption by all once more.

Regardless of this, it still resulted in immediate attempts to hoard water, especially among families with very young children. Tokyo distributed 240,000 bottles of 550ml water bottles to families with infants in an effort to assuage fears and provide assistance.  Every vending machine I’ve come across recently shows there is no water available.

The red kanji denotes items that are sold out.

Signs posted in convenience stores and supermarkets note a restriction for some goods, including water, milk, and bread.  Somehow, my local 7-11 seems to be perpetually stocked with water, despite all this.  The water is labeled as “French” mineral water, though.  Given France’s reaction to the recent events here, I wouldn’t be surprised if leaving this water on the shelves was a subtle statement by the Japanese.  Who knows.

Shoppers are limited to one or two bottles of water, depending on the size they purchase.

This aside, Tokyo is quickly resuming business as almost-usual.  Many stores and businesses have shorter hours and less lighting in an effort to conserve power all across the city.  Trains run at slightly different schedules.  Mostly, however, people, are continuing about their normal lives as best they can.

The only real issue still present in Tokyo is paranoia.  Stress and lack of proper sleep combined with steady streams of news have produced a very weary population.  A recent report on the news discussed something many citizens were apparently very concerned with – a “strange” yellow substance on the ground all over the city following the previous day’s rain.

The offending substance on the ground outside my apartment

“Is it radioactive?! Is that the result of acid rain?! WHAT IF WE STEPPED IN IT?!”

These were some questions asked honestly by the population.  The news took the time to interview an expert about this mysterious substance, who calmly stated (probably after heaving a big sigh and rolling his eyes): “It’s pollen.  It rained, and stuck to the ground, because it was in the air before.”  I’m willing to bet the expert would have liked to add: “Go take a nap, you paranoid idiots.”

It’s become far too easy to be scared about regular aspects of life.  People have even forgotten it’s allergy season, despite pollen level broadcasts on the trains and on TV.

Life is returning to normal, though.  Rather than spend my time hovering in front of the news and worrying about the well being of Tokyo, it’s clear there are better, more productive things to be doing.  Relief efforts in Japan are underway.  Contributing to the aid of those affected by the disaster in Northern Japan should really be the current focus of the media and other concerned parties.  Heartbreaking stories now litter the news – a father who had to bury his three daughters, an elderly husband and wife unable to leave the evacuation areas because the husband suffers from dementia and is unable to walk.  People are unable to find even the simplest of items like clean socks, underwear, or blankets.

At this time, it unfortunately appears as though physical items cannot be sent north at this time – I’m hoping it’s because there’s already a surplus of supplies, but traffic is posing a problem.  Regardless of this, I know many are coordinating relief efforts both online and in their communities to help the affected people in Northern Japan in any way possible.  I hope the media and public can shift into aid mode to help those who need it.

I’ll continue to write about this and more information where applicable, but I do also want to continue including information about regular life, like previous blog posts.  Tokyo needs some normal.  Thanks for following along throughout all of this, and thanks for your feedback.

 

When the Lights Go Down in the City

In wake of recent events in northern Japan, much of the eastern region of the country has noticed some changes.  one of these changes is the institution of planned blackouts in designated groups throughout Tokyo and the surrounding areas.  At the time of writing this post, metro Tokyo remains largely unaffected by the planned power outages.  Most of these blackouts are taking place in the suburbs of the city, and last for up to 3 hours at a time.

TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) has released a blackout schedule for the week, and the scheduled group/times.  These blackouts affect residences, businesses, and trains, so planning ahead is important.  While I have not yet been affected at home by these blackouts, my teaching job has been.

On Thursday of this week, the blackout time fell right in the middle of our designated teaching times.  I got a message from my manager stating our school would be open, but we’d have to get creative with the lighting for a while.

I came to the office early, because the train running to work was also planned to halt.  We had two small solar-powered lights “charging” in a window and a random assortment of candles ready.

We also had lighters and flashlights.  We all rushed to use the copier to get our materials prepared.  Then, at 3:50, everything went off.  Our first classes were lit by fading daylight.  5:00 classes were dim, and by the end of class, we were grabbing lights for students to see their workbooks by.

Our 6:00 classes were completely black.  For this class, I had two of my returnee students.  We sat in the dark with one of the solar lights and a candle.  We chatted about the earthquake, the blackouts, and their thoughts and feelings regarding the situation.

Game pieces we used to practice our vocabulary in the dark

They described the blackouts as fun – one mentioned doing shadow puppets with his siblings.  The other student had pushup and situp competitions with her sister and father.  Neither expressed fear of the “dark time”, as they put it.

It was the same with all my other students.  Power returned at 6:30 PM, and the rest of my classes went as planned.  I informally surveyed my students regarding the situation.  The answers were all similar – they feel Tokyo is relatively safe, though there is still worry regarding what will happen next.  Many of the students mentioned shopping with their families for water, bread, eggs, etc.  They are tense, but alert, and all the students seem to be handling things well.

Tokyo has had many of the scheduled blackouts canceled because the city has done so well concerning power.  Restaurants, businesses, and residences alike have shutoff signs, lights, and appliances.  Trains are running at more limited schedules in some places.  It’s impressive, the way everyone has pitched in to conserve power so it can be used where it’s needed!

Yasukuni dori, Shinjuku, near my home - at night, lights off

 

I have to say, if I had to choose a place to be during a disaster, Tokyo would be it.  Everyone working together has been astounding.  Some people chose to leave Tokyo, but my feelings are best summed up by the fitting words of Journey: “Oh, I wanna be theeeeeere, in my city!”

(Whooooa, whoooa, ooooohhh)

Update regarding nuclear reactors and radiation

Recent developments in the aftermath of Friday’s disasters have again brought up concerns about the safety of Japan’s residents.  I wanted to put together a resource page regarding these recent updates for concerned parties to check in real-time.

Most recently and possibly, most pressing in many peoples’ minds is the current state of the nuclear power reactors in Fukushima, located 150 miles North of Tokyo.

The reactors in question are on the eastern coast of Fukushima prefecture.  The recent explosions and radiation concerns are at this time confined to a 30km (18 miles) circle immediately surrounding these reactors.  At the time of this blog post, current radiation levels as reported by the news are 200 microsieverts.  Reports state that 250 microsieverts are currently considered a concern for human health, though the research I’ve been conducting suggests lower levels are actually cause for concern.  Again, this radiation reading is in the area immediately surrounding the reactors.

150-ish miles to the south, in Tokyo, radiation levels are within ranges safe for humans.  Research indicates that regular background levels of radiation range depending on the area.  A live radiation monitor, called a geiger counter, is setup right here in metropolitan Tokyo.  This is setup in Koto-ku, in south central metro Tokyo.  Current readings at the time of this blog post indicate 18-27 CPM, or counts per minute regarding radiation levels.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/geiger-counter-tokyo

Now, let’s take a look at this article, which summarizes the recent radiation information in Tokyo:

http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2011/03/14/geiger-counter-readings-rise-in-tokyo

To summarize:

100 CPM on a geiger counter = 1 microsievert per hour.

100 microsieverts = risk of permanent damage, such as infertility.

1,000,000 microsieverts = risk of serious harm, or death from radiation poisoning.

Given the current readings, Tokyo is in the 10-30 CPM range.  It is also not harmful for human health at this time.

Take a look at this website, updating with real-time radiation levels within Japan.  The Tokyo area is still reported as within normal ranges of radiation:

http://www.bousai.ne.jp/eng/

If you are concerned about the radiation levels in Tokyo and throughout the rest of Japan, try to keep an eye on monitors like these.  It’ll provide you with real-time information you can use to determine your personal safety and the safety of your loved ones.  Everyone is exposed to regular amounts of radiation on a daily basis.  Tokyo is currently not even experiencing 1 microsievert per hour of exposure, let alone 200-250, like in the evacuated areas near the reactors.

I will continue to monitor the radiation levels and update with any additional information.  I am not an expert, but am attempting to educate myself in the interests of my own safety and for the safety of those around me.

Regarding aftershocks – they’re coming less and less often, though earthquakes have been hitting other parts of Japan.  Tokyo has food, water, power, and supplies.  Please continue to focus your worry up north.

More updates later, or I’ll be late for work!  I’m back at the office this week.

Photo Post: Rikugien, Autumn “Light Up” Event

During autumn, some parks in the Tokyo area put on a special display to highlight the changing colors of this season.  The beautiful reds, greens, oranges, and browns of fall are gorgeous.  Rikugien, one such park near Komagome station, is a Japanese style garden currently featuring a “light up” event.  While the park usually closes at around 4 or 5 PM, during this event, however, the park reopens at night to display the colors of autumn in interesting ways.

Unfortunately, it was difficult to get clear photos without using flash, so some of these pictures are best viewed small.  Regardless, I hope you enjoy – it was an ethereal, stunning evening walk.

This was a bizarre section of the park.  Blue lights pointed at the ground and a mist covered the area every couple minutes while new age instrumental music played.  Lots of couples here going “WAAAAAA!”

Even the faces of people were dimmed and difficult to see – the paths were lit with little more than candlelight-strength lanterns.

I can’t say enough how beautiful the park is – both in the day as well as this night time event.  The park has photos of the area throughout the year – it’s amazing to see the way it changes throughout the seasons.  I’m looking forward to seeing it in all its incarnations!

Scenes From Summer

I’ve gotten pretty backlogged with my photos.  Summer is finally winding down (at least, I think it is – some days the weather still seems unsure of what month is is), and we’re transitioning into Autumn, at long last.  The weeks of complaining about the heat have been abandoned and will be soon replaced by weeks of complaining about the cold.  Most of my summer wasn’t experienced through the lens of a camera.  However, a few new pictures made their way onto my hard drive. I’ve chosen the best (read: least crappy) to share.

First (because there’s only one photo worth sharing): this photo is from Koenji Awaodori.  A huge, jam-packed parade through the streets near Koenji station.  Dancing, music, drunk city folk, food, and fun.

Second: The Asakusa Samba matsuri.  Old-timey tourist-friendly Asakusa meets scantily clad, noisy, feathery, busty Brazil.  Dancing, music, drunk city folk, and fun (again).  With about 3000% more boobs and glitter than Koenji awaodori.  Wish I could have counted the zoom lenses and flannel shirts.

Lastly, I visited Honmonji temple to the southish westish of the metro area for another obon matsuri.  You may have seen my video on YouTube about the circle dancing festival from Gifu prefecture – many, many of these style festivals took place in the summer – this was the same deal.  Also, dancing, drunk city folk, food, and fun (sensing a trend here?).

This temple is beautiful – I arrived just as the sun was going down after hiking around the area for a while trying to determine if I was going the right way.  It’s at the top of a hill, and there’s a very ethereal quality about the whole place.  The pictures don’t do it justice.

Food choice at these festivals is pretty standard wherever you go – meat on a stick, okonomiyaki, yakisoba, chocolate bananas, and takoyaki (think doughnut holes, but made with octopus and batter instead).

I had my first taste of okonomiyaki at this festival (pictured rather unappealingly below).  It’s like a pancake pizza thing made with cabbage that they cover in a sauce and you dip in mayonnaise.  I realize how unappetizing that sounds.  I’m still undecided if I like it or not – I got about halfway through my portion before I decided I was uninterested in eating the rest.  Maybe it’s better to try it…not…at a festival.

This is the central “dance tower”, where all the obon dances are performed.

The stairs leading up to the temple.  I apparently arrived at the bank entrance, via a hill.  These stairs in the evening really lent to the otherworldly feel of the place – probably moreso when there’s less people around.

Lastly, this is a photo of what I was looking at while I was eating the previously mentioned okonomiyaki.  I was parked on the steps of a temple older than my home country eating a new food, and looking at this view when I had a “wow, this is my life” moment.

Moments like those are just one of many reasons I enjoy living where I do.  Sometimes I’m still surprised that I made it here and I’m experiencing things like this.  Mostly, I’m just grateful.  These are good times.

Apologies for the lack of updates recently – there’s been some changes in my schedule and my free time is now limited (and treasured!).  I haven’t forgotten all things internet – I have some ideas for videos, I just haven’t put them into action yet.  I’m still somewhat active on Twitter, but my content isn’t strictly Japanese-culture-related.  Feel free to check it out.  As always, thanks for reading!

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