Archive for April, 2011

Daniel Kahl’s Battle Against Misinformation & Hysteria

When the earthquake and tsunami struck Tohoku on March 11th, TV personality and longtime resident of Japan Daniel Kahl thought about heading to the disaster area and helping with the relief efforts. However, when he started to see the hysterical fear-mongering crap that was being printed about Japan in the international media, he found a better way he could help out. Using his Japanese language abilities, he helped translate accurate information about the earthquake and nuclear accident into English and posted it on Twitter. Kahl also made YouTube videos calling on the international media to “stop the hysteria” in its reports. The tweets and videos have been seen by thousands of people all over the world.

His efforts earned him the attention of the Japanese media. Here he is being interviewed by N-H-K news:

Kahl’s work is shown as a small step towards countering the Fukushima radiation fears that have been gripping foreign countries.

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Real Estate Agents & Landlords Troubled By Fleeing Foreign Tenants

A few days ago, ATV news had a feature report about troubling issues for real estate agents and landlords. At one point, they mentioned the flight of foreigners who think that Japan is now “dangerous” after the March 11th earthquake and Fukushima nuclear accident:

Employees of a real estate agent visit an apartment building to check on some of their foreign tenants. They have apparently not been able to contact some tenants via telephone, and are visiting to see if ringing doorbells, knocking on doors, or shouting into mail slots will work. They try two apartments, but get no responses. It would seem that the tenants are not there.

They believe that these tenants are examples of how many foreigners have been fleeing the country because the Kanto area is now “dangerous” because of the earthquake and nuclear accident. It seems that quite a few foreign tenants have abruptly announced cancellations of rental agreements and returned to their countries of origin.

Presumably, some of the foreign tenants have followed proper procedure when cancelling contracts, but the report implies that some may have not (hence the need to actually visit apartments and check if anyone is actually there).

Note: The video clip shown in this post was only a small portion of the news report. The bulk of the coverage was dedicated to troubles caused by Japanese tenants, such as people who suddenly “disappear” without paying rent or people who fill their apartments with ungodly amounts of garbage.

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J-Village: Base Camp For The Fukushima Daiichi Clean-up

An ATV reporter visits J-Village, a soccer training center in Fukushima that has been turned into a command center for the ongoing efforts to cool down and clean up the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant:

J-Village lies about 20 kilometers from the nuclear plant, putting it just inside of the original evacuation zone. Radiation levels at J-Village are low enough that people do not need to wear full protective gear.

The soccer stadium is empty, but the grounds of the village are busy. Supplies and water for the nuclear plant are being prepared by the Self-Defense Forces. In the parking lot, workers are assembling a water tank that will be used in the effort. There is also a TEPCO bus, which is preparing to send a new batch of workers to the plant. When interviewed, one worker says that somebody’s got to do the job, and his family understands the situation.

We are also shown footage of the interior of some of J-Village’s buildings. In one shot, we can see blankets and cooking pots set up in a hallway. Apparently workers are living and sleeping there when not on duty.

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The Reopening of Tokyo Disneyland

Tokyo Disneyland reopened on Friday, five weeks after an earthquake and power shortages had forced it to shut down. Here are several video reports about the reopening:

Mickey Mouse greeted and hugged many of the 10,000 visitors who had queued up, some of them all night, outside the giant theme park, which had been shut despite suffering only minor damage in the tectonic disaster of March 11.

“I’m delighted that the park is open again,” said Hiroko Ichimura, 35, visiting with her husband and daughter. “We made reservations six months ago to celebrate our daughter’s birthday here but we had almost given up on the plan.”

“We have been waiting impatiently for the park to reopen,” said another Disney fan and parent, Kazuhiro Sugiyama, 34. “My little daughter is overjoyed and just keeps saying: ‘Mickey, Mickey!’”

Many guest were visibly relieved to revel in Disney’s fantasy world amid the grim realities of an ongoing nuclear crisis and scores of recent strong aftershocks from the massive seabed quake that have badly strained nerves.

To celebrate its reopening, the park put on a colourful musical parade of floats featuring Disney characters at the facility located on reclaimed land on the outskirts of Tokyo at Urayasu in Chiba prefecture.

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Tokyo Sky Tree Found in 19th Century Artwork

Somebody has examined a 19th century Japanese print and discovered a building that closely resembles the Tokyo Sky Tree:

The “Toto Mitsumata no Zu” (the view of Tokyo’s Mitsumata area) was created around 1831 by Kuniyoshi Utagawa (1798-1861), one of the leading ukiyo-e artists of the late Edo period. The artwork is on display at Isago no Sato Museum in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, as part of a temporary exhibition commemorating the 150th anniversary of the artist’s death.

The ukiyo-e print drew particular attention over mysterious tower depicted on the left part of the work, leading some to surmise that the artist had predicted the emergence of Tokyo Sky Tree in modern times.

The art piece features the landscape of Tokyo’s Fukagawa area across the Sumida River, as well as several fishing boats floating on the water and the two men repairing their boat by smoking its bottom with a wood fire.

There was no such building in 19th century Tokyo, so experts believe it was just an expression of creativity by the artist.

The painting can be seen in person at this museum.

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Radioactive Rumors: Fearful Kawasaki Residents Complain About Fukushima Debris Disposal Plan

On April 8th, the mayor of Kawasaki city in Kanagawa prefecture visited Fukushima and Miyagi, pledging that his city’s waste disposal facilities could be used in the effort to clean up wreckage from the March 11th earthquake and tsunami. Shortly afterwards, rumors began to spread about how Kawasaki would soon be incinerating tons of “radioactive” trash from Tohoku, an action which was sure to blanket the entire city with harmful radiation.

According to this ATV news report, the city has received over 2,000 complaints from fearful residents:

The city has said the complaints are the result of a misunderstanding. The city will not be transporting radioactive material, nor will it be incinerating any of it.

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