fukushima

The dogs that roamed free for over a year are exhibiting the “issues” that you’d probably imagine they have. A study showed that, ”The dogs from Fukushima showed significantly lower aggression toward unfamiliar people, trainability and attachment to their caretakers,” Nagasawa and colleagues wrote. “Also, urine cortisol levels in the dogs from Fukushima were 5-10 fold higher than those in abandoned dogs from another area of Japan.” (LA Times – Fukushima dogs)

Despite the protest effort of so many, the first reactor goes online. Nothing the masses can do about it at this time, but the public in Japan have spoken and their voices were heard. Great work, peoples, it’s fairly new ground. (Boston – Japan Reactor)

160,000 evacuees, suicides and more. This is a video that sort of catches up on what’s going on as the news of Fukushima gets quiet. It’s about Mikio Watanabe who’s wife commit suicide. He’s now suing TEPCO – the company who runs the Fukushima nuclear plant. There are many sad videos about Fukushima, and this is just one of them. (CNN – Fukushima Suicides)

Nearly 15 months have passed since a 9.0 earthquake and tsunami resulted in the triple meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, and with the prospects of a resolution of radiation-spewing disaster yet decades away, Softbank announced today that its soon to released Pantone 5 107SH smartphone will be the first in the world with a built-in geiger counter.

Since the Fukushima disaster, we’ve seen companies release mobile radiation detectors like Scosche’s iPhone-compatible RDTX, an accessory that plugs into an iPhone to give users a reading of nearby radiation levels. The Pantone 5, however, eliminates the need for dongles and attachments. The front of the phone features a button, just beneath the screen, that provides access to a radiation sensor. Once you press the button, the phone launches an app that reads the number of microsieverts, the unit in which radiation is measured, in the surrounding air. [WIRED ~ Gadget Lab]

As previously posted on GR, I made several trips to the northern countryside of Japan in the days and weeks following the disaster of 3/11. And, though the intent of these ragtag “missions,” was primarily humanitarian, I took many photos along the way, posting them with my reports on these pages.

I recently culled the most evocative of those shots for display at the 12th incarnation of the always delightful Nippon Connection Japanese Film Festival, held last week in Frankfurt. Going through these images was difficult and, needless to say, brought back some very sad memories. What a year.

GR readers will have seen many of these images before, but here they are (again) as collected for their recent showing at the festival. I know many among you are probably experiencing disaster burnout, but I think it’s worth having another look, and pausing to contemplate the awesome power of nature and, indeed, the transience of our own existence.

From Tokyo,

m

All photos copyright © 2012 Michael Arias. All rights reserved.

Shittake mushrooms aren’t quite delicacies, but they do absorb radiation. Shinichi Sakuma basically says he’s screwed and although received money for compensation by the government, it’s running out. As the stories grow older, we soon forget. (CBS – mushrooms)

The best quote from Mikuni Fumitaka:

What can we learn from this disaster?
The most important thing is the connections and bonds between people.

It’s also interesting that not having a TV kept him more calm.

(Huffington Post – Survivor Story)

Sometimes you have to hang it up. If your business got ruined by a tsunami, is it worth reopening? Will you have the same amount of business or will it be a struggle? Is there a need remaining from the affected people? (Dispatch – 22%)

Also check out this video out. It’s about Japanese homeless who can’t go home.

This is new and is a haunting film that’s leading up to 3.11, one year later.

Watch Inside Japan’s Nuclear Meltdown on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

Imagine 30 million people needing to evacuate Tokyo at once. This new report explains that the government weren’t ready. Of course it was kept secret. People who now? Much of the public is already having a hard time to believing the government. TEPCO (the owners of the plant) officials were ordered to stay and work on the reactor rather than abandon it which possibly saved Tokyo. (PRI – Fukushima)

A book released has the huge title of Yakuza and The Nuclear Industry: Diary of An Undercover Reporter Working at the Fukushima Plant (ヤクザと原発-福島第一潜入記-鈴木-智彦). With that title you can figure out that it’s a tell all.

Yet today, theatlanticwire published an article that is frightening. It tells of the corruption that takes place in a company (TEPCO) that’s partially responsible for the nuclear meltdown. Yes you can’t prevent a giant tsunami wave that crashed your buildings and caused three meltdowns, but you can come clean about what’s going on and who you’re hiring – which then translates into where the donation money is going. Yet, it’s been going on for years, and only now that this problem occurred is it something we care about. Who are these yakuza members? Supposedly 3 of the Fukushima 50 are Yakuza members and their relationship with nuclear companies is nothing new. The reconstruction efforts are all joint with Yakuza based construction companies. (Atlanticwire – TEPCO Yakuza)

Will it ever be clean? Also once it’s clean, what will go here? Apartments? In 100 years or even 200 years, many will forget, many will say the area is totally clean and yes lofty ocean front apartments will get made just as they do on top of toxic landfills. 40 years sounds like a good timetable but why make something when it takes decades to remove it? (CBS – 40 Years)

This article has been staring at people for the last couple days. The study ranges from March 20, just 9 days after the disaster through June 20th. 14 weeks. Does this mean that the US population got infected and died from the disaster? Did it speed up already ill people? Surely there will be some effects elsewhere in perhaps minor or even major ways, but this number seems off. You’d think the numbers would be 10 times worse just in Japan alone but it’s not.Who is this researcher?! (Medpagetoday – Fukushima 14000)

Wild Monkeys are going to measure radiation? At first it sounded like some kind of training involved but all it is, is a meter reading strapped on. Yes there are plenty of wild monkeys in the region near the stricken areas near Fukushima. How will they react? Do they know something is wrong? Again, poor animals. They’re always getting taken advantage of. (TelegraphUK – monkeys)

Katsunobu Sakurai the mayor of Minamisoma who was named top 100 influential persons thanks to his YouTube video which got the word out that his town needed financial support is now under fire. Some say that the fame has gone to his head. The town is 15 miles from Fukushima and it’s been reported that 8% of the land in Japan has too much Cesium (we’re not quite sure how bad it is), it’s obvious that his town of Minamisoma has to be part of the 8%. He’s still pushing for people to come back and live there, so he’s facing scrutiny. Either way, it’s another great way for him to get in the news to renew some interest in his town, which he’s fighting to rebuild. (LA Times – Minamisoma)

Japan’s Science Ministry reports that 8% of the country’s surface is contaminated. Surely, it’s possible, but really? The report looks thin but who knows. (ABCau – 8%)

This is supposed to be a robot suit that’ll help clean up the Fukushima disaster. It’s supposed to lighten the load of the 132 pound nuclear suit and relieve pressure in general. But will it really? Supposedly so. There is video of people walking with the bottom portion of the outfit on, but really, all they do is walk. Surely it’s easier to walk without it. The weird thing is the company who makes this suit is called Cyberdyne, ironically the same as the evil company in Terminator! In case you didn’t notice, the suit is called HAL. The irony and fun of cleaning up a 30 year mess. (Atlanticwire – Hal)

Why? To prove that the water is ok to drink. The irony is that the water was never intended for  human consumption and it was gathered from pools inside the Fukushima Plant. It’s a publicity stunt to help the public insure that the water is clean and safe, but would a politician do this to “save face”? In Japan, yes. (Telegraph UK – Yasuhiro Sonoda)

Fisherman who trawl for “stuff” at the bottom of the ocean found a bag containing $145,000 US worth of Yen. It was 11,000,000 Yen and it belongs to who knows… there was no info identifying the owner, who could have easily been swept out to see along with the money. If there are no rightful claims the fisherman keep the money. This brings up the honesty issue of some Japanese people. There is a question of how much doesn’t get reported. (Mainichi – Yen)

That’s more than a billion dollars. “The amount will cover compensation for mental sufferings of victims as a result of evacuation and to pay for the losses incurred by small businesses following the nuclear disaster.”

Is this even enough? A billion sounds like it’ll go down in a second. (Tokyotimes – Billion)