[Column] “so if it’s that serious, why none of the major media covers that up ?”

In my second week of NY, a friend of mine introduced me to a journalist. He teaches at a college.
I went to meet him and had an “interview” supposedly.
In the slight European accent, he asked me, “so if it’s that serious, why none of the major media covers that up ?”

This is one of the questions we evacuees most frequently encounter, inside, and outside of Japan.
The meaning of this “question” is, because none of mass media covers this issue, this is not important, you are just paranoia. We are told this by our coworkers, friends, and families.

99% of the people believe media covers everything important, and uncovered issues are not important.
However, it was actually proven that they don’t always cover what really matters in 311.
Before 311, almost none of the media and journalists warned the risk of nuclear plant.
This fact explains everything.
They sometimes report Fukushima related things, but they are always slow.

This summer, the science magazine, nature finally reported the mutation of butterfly but that’s what I have been reporting since last year. CNN, BBC, Nature, they are all 6 ~ 18 months behind Fukushima Diary because they are afraid of saying something what no one else says.

Last week, I met a guy from a car inspector in NY. My friend introduced me as a refugee from Japan.
I was a little bit awkward because most of the people turn to look “What ?” to hear that.
but he got the looking of compassion on his face.

He told me his grandfather went to Okinawa for the last fight of Japan. His grandfather saw and told him Japanese mothers throwing their babies off from a cliff not to let “American” touch their babies.
The guy didn’t know anything about Fukushima issues, but he promptly understood what Japanese is likely to do after Fukushima.

This is exactly what I evacuated from. “Japanese-ness”.
The fact that the government didn’t let Tokyo citizens mass evacuate.
The fact that they believe in academical status more than what they’re actually saying.
The fact that they are spreading contaminated food everywhere in the country plus disaster debris.

They are all what I call this “Japanese-ness”.
and the other reason why I left there is national conscription.

On 10/27/2012, Fukushima Diary reported Tepco decided to send all the employees to Fukushima after 2013.
These are the points of the article:
1. This is obligation.
2. It’s more than everyone. It’s 2~3 times a year for everyone.
3. Women are not excluded.

If they start conscription for all the Japanese people, they would say “Why doesn’t the government send Tepco employees first ?” so they started it from Tepco. This is the first step.

There is no technology to clean up the 4 reactors. It is obvious that they must take human-wave tactics from the very day zero.
Even if you build a stone coffin, you must take out the spent fuel from the pools of reactor1, 2, 3, and 4. but now they can’t even stand close to the pools except for SFP4.
Tepco employees will probably sent to the city areas, not the plant. but it wasn’t stated in the article, and working out side of the plant means they are not given integral dosimeter.

Is it against law ? If law has a piece of power, they couldn’t build 54 nuclear plants in Japan. Japan is supposed to have abandoned nuclear power. They manipulate whatever they want.

When I stayed in Brooklyn, a Japanese lady was living 3 doors next to my place. Her nephew went to the same high school as me coincidentally. Her father was living during WWW2.
They conscripted all the men. At the beginning, Japanese government didn’t conscript him because he had pneumonia. but as Japan was losing, they conscripted him after all.
Because he can’t fight, Japanese government made him hold a bomb and tackle to a tank in Chinese continent.
Luckily, Japan surrendered before they deprived him of life for the stupid non-sense.

History repeats itself.

 

_____

Italiano:

[Editoriale] “Ma se è così serio, perché nessuno dei maggiori media ne parla?”

La mia seconda settimana a NY un amico mi ha presentato un giornalista che insegna al college.
Sono andato ad incontrarlo e ad essere “intervistato”, in teoria.
Con un leggero accento europeo mi ha chiesto: “quindi, se è così serio, perché nessuno dei maggiori media ne parla?”
Questa è una delle domande che noi evacuati più frequentemente dobbiamo affrontare, dentro e fuori dal Giappone.
Il significato di questa “domanda” è: dal momento che nessun mass media affronta il problema non è importante, sei solo paranoico”. Ci viene detto dai nostri colleghi di lavoro, dai nostri amici, dai nostri familiari.
Il 99% delle persone pensa che i media parlino di tutto ciò che è importante, e le cose di cui non parlano non siano importanti.
Comunque, è stato provato che non sempre hanno parlato di ciò che è davvero accaduto l’11.03.
Prima dell’ 11.03, quasi nessuno dei media e dei giornalisti avvertiva dei rischi dell’impianto nucleare.
Questo spiega tutto.
Ogni tanto riportavano cose associate a Fukushima, ma sempre in ritardo.
Quest’estate, il giornale della scienza e della natura ha finalmente pubblicato un articolo sulla mutazione delle farfalle, ciò che io ho riportato sin dallo scorso anno. CNN, BBC, Nature, sono tutti 6 ~ 18 mesi in ritardo rispetto a Fukushima Diary perché sono spaventati dal dire qualcosa che nessun altro dice.
La scorsa settimana ho incontrato un ragazzo da una macchina d’ispezione a NY. Il mio amico mi ha presentato come un rifugiato dal Giappone.
Io ero un po’ impacciato perché la maggior parte delle persone assume l’espressione da “cosa?” nel sentirlo.
Ma la sua espressione era di compassione.
Mi ha raccontato che suo nonno era andato ad Okinawa per l’ultima battaglia del Giappone. Suo nonno aveva visto e gli aveva raccontato che le madri giapponesi lanciavano i loro bambini da un pendio piuttosto che permettere loro il tocco “americano”.
Il ragazzo non sapeva nulla della questione di Fukushima ma ha capito bene cosa un giapponese potrebbe fare dopo Fukushima.
Questo è esattamente ciò da cui sono evacuato, la “Giapponizzazione”.
Il fatto che il governo non abbia lasciato i cittadini di Tokyo fare un’ evasione di massa.
Il fatto che loro credano più allo stato accademico che a ciò che stanno effettivamente dicendo.
Il fatto che stiano diffondendo cibo contaminato in tutto il paese più i detriti del disastro.
Questo è quello che io chiamo “Giapponizzazione”. E l’altro motivo per cui ho lasciato il mio paese è la coscrizione nazionale.
Il 27/10/2012, Fukushima Diary ha riportato che la Tepco ha deciso di mandare tutti i suoi lavoratori a Fukushima dopo il 2013.
Questi sono i punti importanti dell’articolo:
1. Questo è un obbligo.
2. E’ più di “tutti”. E’ 2 ~ 3 volte l’anno per tutti.
3. Le donne non sono escluse.
Se iniziassero la coscrizione per tutti i giapponesi, questi direbbero: “Perché il governo non ha mandato gli impiegati della Tepco, prima?” Perciò hanno iniziato dalla Tepco. Questo è solo il loro primo passo.
Non esiste tecnologia per ripulire i 4 reattori. E’ ovvio che abbiano dovuto utilizzare le tattiche umane dal giorno zero.
Anche costruendo una copertura di cemento devi prima rimuovere il carburante usato dalle piscine dei reattori 1,2,3 e 4. Ma ora non ci si può nemmeno avvicinare alle vasche, fatta eccezione per quella del reattore 4.
Gli impiegati della Tepco probabilmente saranno mandati nelle aree cittadine, non nell’impianto. Ma non era detto nell’articolo, e lavorare fuori dall’impianto significa che non vengono dati loro dosimetri integrali.
E’ contro la legge? Se la legge avesse un po’ di potere non avrebbero potuto costruire 54 reattori nucleari in Giappone. Il Giappone dovrebbe aver abbandonato l’energia nucleare. Manipolano tutto ciò che vogliono.
Quando stavo a Brooklyn una donna giapponese viveva a 3 porte di distanza da casa mia. Suo nipote, guarda caso, veniva nel mio stesso liceo. Suo padre aveva vissuto la Seconda Guerra Mondiale.
Avevano arruolato tutto gli uomini. All’inizio il governo giapponese non lo aveva arruolato perché soffriva di polmonite, ma quando il Giappone stava perdendo lo hanno arruolato comunque.
Dal momento che non poteva combattere il governo giapponese gli ha fatto tenere una bomba e caricare un serbatoio nel continente cinese.
Fortunatamente il Giappone si è arreso prima che lo privassero della vita senza alcun senso.

La storia si ripete.

_____

Français :

[Édito] “alors, si c’est aussi grave que ça, pourquoi aucun des grands médias n’en parle ?”

Pour ma deuxième semaine à NY, un de mes amis m’a introduit auprès d’un journaliste. Il enseigne dans un collège.
Je suis allé le rencontrer et j’ai soi-disant été “interviewé”. Avec un fort accent européen il m’a demandé “alors, si c’est aussi grave que ça, pourquoi aucun des grands médias n’en parle ?”

C’est l’une des questions que nous, les évacués rencontrons le plus souvent, dans et hors du Japon.
La traduction de cette “question” est “parce que aucun des grands médias parle de ce problème alors ce n’est pas important, tu es juste parano”. On l’entend aussi de nos collègues, nos amis et nos familles.

99 % des gens croient que les médias couvrent tout ce qui est important et que ce qui n’est pas couvert n’est pas important. Toutefois, il a été parfaitement démontré qu’ils ne couvrent pas ce qui est réellement important du 11-3. Avant le 11-3, pratiquement aucun média et journaliste n’a mis en garde contre le risque des centrales nucléaires.
Ce fait explique tout.
Ils parlent parfois de choses liées à Fukushima mais ils sont toujours lents, en retard.

Cet été, la revue scientifique Nature a finalement publié sur la mutation des papillons mais c’est ce que je rapporte depuis l’an dernier. CNN, BBC, Nature, ils ont tous de 6 à 18 mois de retard sur le Fukushima Diary parce qu’ils ont peur de dire quelque chose que personne d’autre ne reprend.

La semaine dernière, j’ai rencontré un type chez un expertiseur de voitures de NY. Mon ami m’a présenté en tant que réfugié du Japon. J’étais un peu gêné parce que la plupart des gens tourne la tête pour regarder et dire “Quoi ?” pour faire répéter. mais il y a eu un regard de compassion sur sa figure.

Il m’a dit que son grand-père était à Okinawa lors de la dernière grande bataille avec le Japon. Son grand-père a vu et lui a raconté les mères japonaises jetant leurs bébés du haut des falaises “pour qu’aucun américain ne porte la main sur eux”.
Ce type ne connaissait absolument rien aux dangers de Fukushima mais il a vite compris ce que les japonais allaient faire après Fukushima.

C’est exactement ce qui m’a fait évacuer. La “japonaiserie”.

Le fait que le gouvernement n’a pas permis aux gens de Tokyo d’évacuer en masse.
Le fait qu’ils respectent plus le style académique des bilans que ce qui y est réellement dit.
Le fait qu’ils dispersent la nourriture contaminée partout dans le pays, en plus des débris de la catastrophe.

C’est tout ça que j’appelle la “japonaiserie”.
et l’autre raison qui m’a fait partir est la conscription nationale :

Le 27 octobre 2012, le Fukushima Diary a rapporté que Tepco a décidé d’envoyer tous ses employés à Fukushima après 2013. Voici les points essentiels de cet article :
1. C’est une obligation.
2. C’est plus que “tout le monde”, c’est 2 à 3 fois par an pour chaque personne.
3. Les femmes n’en sont pas exemptes.

S’ils commençaient directement par la conscription de tous les japonais alors on dirait “Pourquoi est-ce que le gouvernement n’envoie pas d’abord les employés de Tepco ?” alors ils commencent par Tepco. C’est la première étape.

Il n’existe aucune technique pour nettoyer les 4 réacteurs. Il est évident qu’ils doivent utiliser la tactique des vagues humaines, dès le tout premier jour. Même si on construit un sarcophage, il faut d’abord retirer les combustibles usagés des piscines des réacteurs 1, 2, 3 et 4. mais actuellement ils ne peuvent même pas approcher les piscines, hormis la SFP4. Les employés de Tepco seront probablement envoyés dans les zones urbaines, pas à la centrale. mais ce n’est pas dit dans l’article et travailler à l’extérieur des centrales signifie qu’ils ne recevront pas de dosimètres integraux.

Est-ce illégal ? Si la loi avait le moindre soupçon de pouvoir, ils n’auraient pas pu construire 54 centrales nucléaires au Japon. Le Japon est supposé abandonner le nucléaire. Ils manipulent tout comme ils le veulent.

Quand je suis allé à Brooklyn, une japonaise vivait à 3 portes de la mienne. Son neveu était allé à la même high school que moi, une coïncidence. Son père a vécu la deuxième guerre mondiale.

Ils enrôlaient tous les hommes. Au début, le gouvernement nippon ne l’a pas enrôlé parce qu’il avait une pneumonie mais quand le Japon a commencé à perdre, ils l’ont pris quand même.
Parce qu’il ne pouvait se battre, le gouvernement japonais lui avait fait porter une bombe qu’il devait coller contre un tank, sur le continent chinois.
Par chance, le Japon s’est rendu avant qu’ils le sacrifient à cette absurdité débile.

L’histoire se répète.

  1. Let me remind you that Divine Message of March 16 and 17, 2011 said the following :

    “You must inform the Mayor of Tokyo in order to organize evacuation.
    Given importance, you must start right now.
    Urgent to evacuate people.”

    “You must evacuate from Tokyo immediately.
    You must inform the population on the imminent risk.
    Given the importance of irradiation, it is urgent to evacuate Toky immediately to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe.
    Big radioactive cloud over Tokyo.
    Winds will turn towards interior of the country.
    Given heavy precipitations will come on Japan, important irradiation.”

    Unfortunately, nobody believed in these Divine Messages meant to protect the population from great suffering to come !

  2. @Mochizuki
    You mean “covers it”, not “covers it up”. “Covers it up” means to hide it.
    Yes, I know English is silly.

    And yeah, mainstream media isn’t there to give us important news like most people believe. Anyone who seriously believes that is extremely naive and lives in a tiny bubble.

  3. Now I understand the significance of the date 3/11 .. that is the emergency number the New Yorkers must call for rescue boats from flooded apartments or downed tree limbs..9/11 is for police emergencies.
    Lori, we are covering the Japanese disaster among the people. We know what would happen if Oyster Point Nuclear Power Plant were to be flooded. In New Jersey, there is a power plant that is under alert. Thanks to you and others, people will know what that means.
    After the disaster in Japan, I met a couple here from Tokyo who were getting completely different information than we were getting. I found that to be odd, so that is when my curiosity brought me to this issue. People are anxious about everything including Fukushima and actually the entire Western culture melting down. New York is a wake-up call and now we probably will see some people start to question the media on Fukushima and Bayou Corne Assumption Parish Louisiana as well.

  4. Iori,
    so now we HAVE to use a PayPal account to send money to you? I hate PayPal. Is there any way around that?

    +PS not all North Americans believe the MSM news, in fact quite a few don’t.

  5. I grew up near NYC and have many fond memories of it. I am glad that you can enjoy NY and the US, actually, apart from Fukushima, I believe you were probably ready to leave Japan and spread your wings and fly and grow beyond the borders of your home country. I think you shouldn’t feel guilty or think that there is anything wrong (particularly) with Japanese to push you out or necessitate your leaving—–except the radiation—-I mean that Japan is an island nation so it has developed in relative isolation and people have had difficultiy with the whole interaction with foreigners because of this. But forgive the Japanese—I think any country you go to you can find examples of crazy crowd mentality and overdone patriotism. How about the Salem witch hunts? Or the anti-communist campaign in the US in the 1950s? or the Germans as WWII was starting? There are so many more, all depressing, sure, but Japan is not a specially “bad” country with “bad” people or a “bad” culture. It was just time for you to leave and the radiation prompted you to take the action you were probably contemplating anyway.

    I think that happened to me too. I was living in the Tokyo area, I hated it, the awful water, the pollution, the over crowding…..radiation descended and I was out of there.

    But I stayed in Japan (Western Japan). Japan has many good people and it is relatively safe vis a vis guns. I don’t need a car. I try to buy only local food. I may live as long as I would have lived had I stayed in the States. Who knows? The thing is, there are important reasons to do with the study of culture that I should stay here. As well as my husband.

    So feel free to both love and dislike Japan as I both love and dislike America, my own home country. It’s an island, so people can get a bit isolated in their mentalities. It doesn’t mean they are beyond hope.

  6. The media isn’t covering Fukushima here for the same reason they don’t cover it in Japan. I live in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, there is a nuclear power station just west of us in Byron as well as many others in Illinois. “If its so serious why doesn’t the media cover it?” Because “they” aren’t being honest about the potentially dangerous aspects of nuclear power. Its the same old shit. The guy who interviewed you sounds like an idiot.

  7. Hi Iori,

    It’s been more than 10 years since I left Japan. I still have a Japanese citizenship. I am a legal alien, a green card holder, in the States. I’ve never thought of getting an American citizenship until recently, but I’ve been studying for a naturalization test for last couple of months.

    Every time I see the pictures of devastation from earthquake and tsunami, this indescribably deep feeling hit me. I feel that I’m a Japanese no matter how long I’ve been living in overseas. When Fukushima disaster happened, my friend in Japan told me what Japanese media was saying was different from the news broadcasted in overseas. I watched NHK in U-stream and CNN at the time. I was shocked and angered by the difference of urgency, some facts, and evacuation zones Japanese government ordered and other countries did for their citizens.

    I started checking anti-nuclear and radiation related blogs about 6 months ago. I’ve never been interested in so much about what is going on in Japan since I left there. I get furious when I read the articles about Japanese government not evacuating people especially children from Fukushima, its coverups, spreading contaminated debris all over Japan, contaminated school lunch, encouraging citizens to eat food from contaminated areas, etc.. I think that some Japanese people are crazy to criticize people who are taking precaution to protect their families and themselves.

    That being said, things aren’t so different here in the States. There were radiation experiments done on military people and regular citizens without their consents. I’m sure that American government has done a lot more coverups. Many American people are oblivious to the existence of many nuclear power plants in the US.

    Japan is not a bad country. It is safe and civilized. There are certain good things come from being a small island. I believe until recently Japanese food was a lot safer than the food in America, which is genetically modified and growth hormone contaminated. Any government has secrecy.

    I agree with what Yamagata said, “So feel free to both love and dislike Japan as I both love and dislike America, my own home country.” I was born and raised in Japan but will never move back there. I love both Japan and America and dislike both sometimes.

  8. Hi lori,

    The majority of people in the US are unaware of what is happening in their own country; so they are ignorant about the global life-threatening nightmare at Fukushima or the radiation that covers the nation of Japan. In fact, it is my opinion, that our people are ignorant of the amount of radiation that has contaminated our air, water, and soil. That contamination is from our own energy industry, as well as Fuku. One of the hidden secrets opened with the Bayou Corne sinkhole in Louisiana is that petroleum products and “non-natural radioactive waste” was stored in that salt dome. Just as in Japan, our ground water is contaminated with cancer causing carcinogens. This information is rarely addressed, and awareness is only possible because of courageous people like you.

    There are 31 nuclear power plants in the US based upon the same Westinghouse design as Fuku; and at the federal level of government it was decided to black out information because it could cause “negative public relations” for the nuclear power industry. Just as in Japan, one official was quoted to say that they did not want “confrontation” with the people. It has been estimated that at least 40,000 deaths since 311 have already occurred because radiation. During this election period, both the Republican and Democratic Parties have taken campaign contributions from the energy industry, especially from the nuclear lobbyists. Just as in the 2008 election cycle, BP Oil donated to the campaign of President Obama and was given the authority to make decisions and to order the Coast Guard.

    The world is in the hands of international corporations and the corruption of money over the well being of the people. The world community is actively demonstrating over the injustices caused by those in power. Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done to stop the inevitable of global extinction.

    “Hell is empty and all the Devils are here.” Shakespeare.

    1. Hi Michele

      “Hell is empty and all the Devils are here.”

      So true

      I think Shakespeare quoted alot of scripture

      CBS actually had a report that 5 npp’s were having problems
      after sandy, seen a link from enews story.
      I was happy they even reported it.

      But when I started to read the comments on the article 90% were
      in praise of the nucular industry.
      Many said unlike in japan these plants in the usa are safe.
      Such pride.

      Only the media can keep such a large group of people believing a lie

      1. Hi Terry,

        George Carlin said,”It had to be called the American Dream; you had to be asleep to believe it.” Well, perhaps 5% of us are awake and occasionally we manage to rouse another person but most of them roll over and go back to sleep. I am astounded that if these people had any concerns for the nation and system that will be left to their offspring they would be out in the streets; but it does not look like that will happen. They continue to believe in American exceptionalism, freedom and our system of government under an eroding Constitution.

        I am currently reading about the connections between the BP Oil Spill of 04/20/10 with the toxins used and the opening of the Gulf floor releasing methane to the Bayou Corne sinkhole’s stored toxins including nuclear waste. And the possibility of the trigger for the New Madrid fault into an earthquake of Biblical proportions. The similarity to the nuclear disaster in Japan in regard to the access to information is the same. However, most people, unless involved personally have no interest in understanding the future that seems inevitable. Ignorance is bliss.

  9. The major media are whores to big industry. The fourth estate has been sold at auction.

    Its ALL about money. And the “news”groups won’t bite the hands that feed them.

    Keep up the good work lori

  10. Hi Iori

    keep your courageous work up. And don’t be afraid you could be lonely and lost. There are a lot of Japanese communities around the world. For example in Nuremberg and Dusseldorf, Germany, you’d find quite some. If you are interested you could ask the embassy for a permit to stay here. I am pretty sure there are possibilities. For refugees there always are. It’s one of a few good things about my country.
    And now I get to a part of the rest. I think mostly one government is like all the (dirty) others. Take Britain for example. They had massive protest marches and all of a sudden their government changes the legislation about making appointments for peaceful demonstrations via twitter or facebook. Now people are afraid to tell their opinion if they don’t want to risk going to jail. Similar things happened in a lot of ‘democratic’ countries around the world after the facebook revolutions in Egypt and Arabia. In our times it’s all about control. Every government wants to keep citizens herded like sheep. Like good little discardable batteries we are all supposed to go to work, buy the particularly expensive goods of the rich, we are to never ask, never be unconfortable for anyone (which automatically means except for ourselves -.- ). Why did Fukushima prefecture cantina have the lowest cesium contamination? Because we are all in our personal hell of ‘Animal Farm’. Not long ago I heard about something called ‘economical communism’. In daily life it means the rich and powerful knowingly for their profits cause damages that poor and helpless have to clean up. Sounds depressingly like what’s acutally happening, doesn’t it?
    Everyone who can’t believe this world is full of ‘taken’ news, just record the first news of a day. Around 3 to 5 your chances are overwhelming to hear news flashes and see pictures you won’t come across again. I discovered that when I was sick once and couldn’t sleep. The German morning news of several different TV stations told that a nuclear plant near the Swiss German border had a serious failure during the early morning hours. Just one hour later the news told all the rest – but nothing more of what had happened or was still happening. When I told others, the same happened like it did to you. Nobody would listen or believe. There were a lot of news that suddenly disappeared since then. Cases keep accumulating but do people react to it? No. Just like a blind and numb flock of sheep, it’ so unbelieveably sad.
    Around this time last year there was a short but disturbing note on the live ticker of a huge European TV Station, in English, that stated that for unknown reasons massive radiation was detected in Czech Republic and “other European countries”. Not five minutes later the note disappeared. Nothing was explained. If it had been a hoax wouldn’t they have told it afterwards? After making people afraid? Take the notes down and people will forget immediately. Do you know the picture of the three monkeys: deaf, dumb, blind? That’s what the governments want us to be like.

    And I think you are right. Probably every country has an inglorious specialty. Japan’s seems to be very obsessive about its tradition to do ‘what’s right’. No matter what it takes. So, take lieing politicians into that equation and there we go with the contaminated children.
    Please people make an effort. Listen to, read various news and collect disappearing news reports. Tell others. Make screen shots. Put videos on Youtube. We all make a difference. Iori does for us. We can for him and the Fukushima children.

    Hoping for the best, god bless.

Comments are closed.

About this site

This website updates the latest news about the Fukushima nuclear plant and also archives the past news from 2011. Because it's always updated and added live, articles, categories and the tags are not necessarily fitted in the latest format.
I am the writer of this website. About page remains in 2014. This is because my memory about 311 was clearer than now, 2023, and I think it can have a historical value. Now I'm living in Romania with 3 cats as an independent data scientist.
Actually, nothing has progressed in the plant since 2011. We still don't even know what is going on inside. They must keep cooling the crippled reactors by water, but additionally groundwater keeps flowing into the reactor buildings from the broken parts. This is why highly contaminated water is always produced more than it can circulate. Tepco is planning to officially discharge this water to the Pacific but Tritium is still remaining in it. They dilute this with seawater so that it is legally safe, but scientifically the same amount of radioactive tritium is contained. They say it is safe to discharge, but none of them have drunk it.

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