Archive for March, 2011

No Mass Exodus From Tokyo

Good lord. Look at the crap they’re reporting in the Sun:

Mass exodus from Tokyo

By VIRGINIA WHEELER, RHODRI PHILLIPS, KEVIN SCHOFIELD
and BEN JACKSON, Environment Editor

A MASS exodus from Tokyo is under way as those left behind pray for the wind to save them from a new radiation nightmare.

The airport of Japan’s quake-hit capital was besieged as levels of the invisible killer soared to ten times the normal level there.

And that was before a FOURTH explosion and a fire at a stricken nuclear plant sparked fresh terror – that of a poison cloud of nuclear rain.

The leaking station was officially abandoned this morning after radiation levels around the plant “increased rapidly”.

Other international media sources are reporting similar stories of the masses fleeing from Tokyo. They based on internet hearsay or interviews with foreign residents of Japan.

Reality check:

• There is no “mass exodus” being reported anywhere in the Japanese media. According to the Wall Street Journal, the only people rushing to the airport to flee the country are foreigners. (Could it have to do with the fact that they’re getting their information from sources like the Sun?)
• Ten times the normal level of radiation is still insignificantly small and harmless.
• Radiation levels in the immediate area around the plant increased today. Nobody has measured a dangerous increase outside of the 30km evacuation zone and there is no information about any “poison cloud of nuclear rain.”
• The plant was not “officially abandoned” – workers temporarily left one area, but work has resumed.

• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Karma & the Japan Earthquake

As the world watches the earthquake relieve efforts in Japan, there are still a lot of horrible people out there who are saying that Japan deserved what it got. Over at Tumblr, somebody has set up the Karma Japan blog to document such activity on Twitter.

Here are a few examples:

Meanwhile, on YouTube Japan, a video quoting some insensitive English tweets has made it into the most-viewed ranking:

And, while we’re on the topic of horrible people, here are a couple more links about morons who said the quake is divine punishment or karma:

• Idiotic nutcase Glenn Beck has called the earthquake a “message from God.”
• Korean megachurch pastor David Yonggi Cho has said that the earthquake was “God’s warning” to Japan.

• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Fox News – Clueless About Japanese Nuclear Plants

A screen capture from some of the Fox New Channel’s coverage of the nuclear reactor incident in Japan:

Supposedly there is now a nuclear plant in Japan called “Shibuyaeggman.” Media Matters did some fact checking:

A quick Googling of “shibuyaeggman” turned up no meaningful results. A Nexis search was also fruitless. However, further inquiries revealed that Eggman is the name of a dance club in a trendy neighborhood of Tokyo called… Shibuya. And, it just so happens, the Fox graphic appears to place the alleged reactor in Tokyo. Here’s a photo of Eggman — as you can see, it’s right below The @ Super Suits Store. And Johnny Hi-Fi played there in 2006.

Such sloppy reporting is good for a laugh when it’s something harmless like this, but when it extends to very serious issues – such as radiation dangers – it is far worse.

[hat tip to Durf]

• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Japan & Nuclear Radiation: Fear Mongering vs. Facts

I wake up this morning and sure enough – the international media has gone crazy with sensational reporting about the small radiation leak that occurred yesterday. Many papers and news networks are apparently still running with yesterday’s false report of a dangerous “radiation cloud” heading for Tokyo.

Although the Japanese people seem relatively calm, I am witnessing absurd levels of panic and fear among English-speaking twitter users and bloggers. Even a couple prominent Japan bloggers have fallen for radiation paranoia and conspiracy theories about Japanese government cover-ups. It’s quite sad.

With the blogosphere and the international media encouraging nuclear panic to increase television ratings and website pageviews, people all around the world are rushing to buy iodine. U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin has even apparently succumbed to the hysteria by encouraging Americans to buy iodine tablets as a precaution.

DO NOT believe the news articles about “deadly radiation” threatening Tokyo. No officials have suggested that there is a need to evacuate the city. While there is a possible threat to the safety of people living within 30 kilometers of the Fukushima nuclear plant, there is absolutely no indication that significant amounts of radiation will threaten other areas. There is no reliable information out there that indicates that radiation leaks that have taken place or will take place in the future will threaten Tokyo, and the notion that the United States or Europe might be in danger is pretty much insane.

For reliable level-headed reports on what is actually happening here in Japan, please consult the following links:

• Radiation Safety Update – Roy Berman & Matt Alt have compiled a very good collection of data about the events that occurred yesterday.
• Wall Street Journal Video: Nuclear Risks in Japan – WSJ’s Mariko Sanchanta and Yumiko Ono separate fact from fiction in the latest nuclear reports.
• Gakuranman’s Earthquake News Liveblog – Michael is tirelessly updating this blog as new information becomes available.
• MIT NSE Nuclear Information Hub – News update site maintained by students of the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering at MIT. Includes a modified re-post of Dr Josef Oehmen’s “Why I am not worried about Japan’s nuclear reactors.”
• Check the following Twitter accounts for regular updates on the situation: Matt Alt, Roy Berman, Michael Gakuran, and Rick Martin, Tokyo Reporter.

• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Earthquake Hits Shizuoka

Just moments ago, another major earthquake hit Japan. It was centered around Shizuoka prefecture, and had a magnitude of about 6.0, according to television reports.

The epicenter was inland, so they are saying there is no tsunami risk.

The Japan Meteorological Agency now says that the quake late Tuesday under Shizuoka, 55 miles southwest of Tokyo, was not an aftershock from Friday’s magnitude 9 but a separate earthquake. The JMA recorded it as magnitude 6.4, while the U.S. Geological Survey measured it as 6.2.

A senior agency official also said that the quake, which hit at 10:31 p.m. local time, was not a precursor to a predicted big quake expected to hit central Japan, N-H-K TV reports.

• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)

Elderly Survivor: Let’s Rebuild!

Here’s an inspiring clip from some of the Japanese news coverage of the post-tsunami rescue efforts.

An elderly man comments on his experience of being trapped in a building for three days after the tsunami destroyed his town:

As members of the Self-Defense Forces help the family out of the ruined building, the old man tells the reporter that he is fine. He says he lived through the tsunami that hit Japan in 1960, so he is okay. With a smile on his face, he says, “let’s rebuild again!”

• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• Dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)