Column of the Day: Escape plan 10/5/2011

Today I went to the French embassy for WH visa, but because they were very helpful for me to die in radiation, I couldn’t get WH visa.

I think WH visa might not be a good choice. (I know it’s not the time for me to be picky though.)

1) It’s not renewable.

2) I can’t change the type of Visa while I’m in France.

so I’ll have to come back to Japan in one year, when the contamination is likely to be even worse.

My potential host family kindly recommends me au pair visa.

However, it requires me to enroll a language school. I don’t have that much money.

Another option is “long stay visa”, but it requires me to have 3 million yen since 3 months ago, perfect life insurance, and I’m not allowed to earn money in France.

So in short, they don’t want me to come.

None of the countries wants to accept us nuclear refugees.

I’m thinking of going to France with a tourist visa for the beginning.

However, we Nuclear Refugees have a lot of the problems.

Firstly, we need money.

When we have kids, the situation is more serious than me.

They can’t stay in Japan, but they need money.

One of them told me they even want to exile themselves.

Yet I can’t ask my potential host family to hire me for a working visa because it’s pricy.

I can’t trouble them anymore.

Considering it all, I think I must enterprise a company.

I’m thinking of raising funds on kickstarter, but because I don’t really have time, can’t speak French, and bad at paying attention for details, so I’m asking someone to be my co-founder.

Also, I think only american citizens are allowed to use kickstarter.com

The basic concept is this:

If they make money from nuclear, we will make more profit out of being anti-nuc.

What should we do?

Step One: Build an anti-nuc news network. This should be a blog network to feed news to variety of SNS. I think we better not have our own website to feed news because it will be the target of internet attack.

Step Two: Connect protests and demonstrations internationally, and provide legal protection for people arrested by “authority”.

Step Three: Catch the pro nuc monsters and throw them to the people.

What’s the business model?

Feeding news and make profit out of ads and donations.

Stakeholders?

Correspondents can get employed so they get the working visa, and keep feeding us good news. (We need a lot of good web journalists.)

Readers can get fresh information that major media would never pick up.

Where?

In front of Areva.

What to do first?

Raise funds (I think 10,000 USD would be enough for the beginning), register as a company, hire reporters and pay them.

Invest the profit into step 2.

I will evacuate and get this project going on at the same time.

If you have any advice or can offer me some help, please leave me comments.

As always, I read them all. I’m really sorry for being unable to reply to all of them.

  1. Mochizuki-san, you are enterprising and will succeed, but best proceed with caution. If you take on the officially government-owned Areva, keep in mind that it is controlled (owned) by the banking family that advises it and provides its legal services. Make sure your visa paperwork is airtight!

  2. Hey, my name is Lorenzo and I`m the general manager of a monthly real news newspaper here in Canada. on the west coast in Vancouver. And I would be interested to hear, more about your story and see if something is possible with the paper. My fiance is Japanese and so my heart is even more open to the challenges.

    Perhaps you’ve heard of us or picked up an issue over the past two years we’ve been publishing in the Vancouver area.

    The Agora is a monthly printed newspaper that focuses on real news and real solutions to the very real challenges we’re all being faced with in this ever changing age. Our distribution covers the busy neighbourhoods of Vancouver, and can help expose your business to our approximately 70,000 readers each month.

    An Agora is Meeting or Market Place: so The New Agora literally means The New Meeting or Market Place.
    Please consider this an invitation to join us in helping to create a new, vibrant and aware community.

    Through our monthly publication, and concurrent events and activities, our intent is to lead the way towards creating a community where work can also be play and honesty is always the best way to do business. We aim to become the face and public voice of such a community, where everyone is free to grow, be healthy, and prosper.

    Our current issue and all back-issues are available for viewing at our website … http://www.theagoranational.ca

    If you want to know more about us firsthand : The New Agora is available to our readers at numerous key locations in the lower mainland and beyond. From Greens Market on Broadway to Opus Art supplies, and Grandville Island Brewery on Granville Island, Whole Foods, Choices Markets, Famous Foods, Genesis Nutrition, and many other busy spots around town. We’re expanding our reach every day to include as broad an audience as is possible. Our basic commodity is truth and we’re finding that the public’s desire for just that is endless. In fact, our intent is to go National and International with The New Agora.

    As the general manager, I endeavour to make participating with us straight forward and within affordable reach for any business to be a part of The New Agora. It is my pleasure to help our readers find and support the community oriented businesses that become our participators. All ads also receive free on-line listings on our busy web site.

    We will be at The Vancouver Health Show, Oct 29 and 30th, sharing The New Agora with all of the attendees.

    The New Agora: A source of interesting ideas, interviews, stories and news you may not find anywhere else.

    Please keep in mind I am open to questions, suggestions and feedback.

    lorenzo@theagoranational.ca

    The New Agora-Meeting Together in Truth and Abundance!

  3. You may want to reconsider your project based on your strenghes – weaknesses and choose another destination – business model.
    Weaknesses:don’t speak French, small budget
    Strenghes:fluent English, entrepreneurial spirit
    Better choose a low cost destination where English is an asset with large Japanese community and lax visa policy:Bangkok. Besides why go to nuclear France?
    You wanna go to hell, ask for hospitality and challenge Satan at once?

  4. The rejection is nothing personal. It even doesn’t have anything to do with the nuclear disaster right now, because those immigration laws were intentionally made very severe in the Schengen zone more than a decade ago. They don’t want to let anybody in long-term.

    If you go to France with a tourist visa, make sure you have a “plan B” if things go badly and you cannot stay.

    Also keep in mind that some urban areas, such as Paris (obviously) and Lyon are almost as expensive as Tokyo. In Berlin, I’ve had good Vietnamese meals at a restaurant for 10E. In expensive parts of France, that would be two times more. The housing is also similar: You pay more than 1000E rent for a place that would cost you 300E in Berlin.

    They will probably interrogate you at the customs because of your turtles and ask you whether you intend to stay in France long term. You must say no.

    Wherever you go, you MUST take with you something from your childhood or youth that you really love (music, favorite manga…). You will have a big culture shock and the little things you bring with you will become as precious as gold.

    My suggestion is to try to find something teaching Japanese. You can still start a company, but those laws are also very complicated and it will take you some time to figure them out.

    Again, if France doesn’t work out, you have to have a plan what to do. Even if there is no problem at all, you will sleep better at night if you know you arranged for an alternative (Romania, South America…)

    As always, wishing you the best of luck!

    1. M.X.,
      You speak more or less the way I think. You asked me about student visa in RO, and I answered (Escape Plan, Sept 18),I don’t know if you read it.
      http://fukushima-diary.com/2011/09/column-of-the-day-escape-plan/#comment-7085

      I think Iori san should get a student visa in RO
      (or other country where life is cheap!),
      just AS A SAFETY MEASURE
      and go there just in case things don’t get the way he wants in France…

      The problem in, as always for most of us: MONEY!!! : University fee, life expenses, flight ticket to France + flight ticket to RO(around 100 euro) etc. Let’s say he needs around 10.000 euro, or, at least 7.000 euro for all this within a year….

      Life is very cheep in Romania, anyway, and if he enrolls at Japanese-English department, he will surely make friends soon and some students will ask him to teach them japanese. In the meantime, he could look for opportunities, work on articles and so on… do what he would be doing in any country of the world

  5. Quick reality check about Bangkok: actually many foreigners try to get a job there and it’s tough-looking even for visas! Unless you can get a job in a Japanese company here with the mission to go to Bangkok from the start as a civil engineer (30000 Japanese there I think).

    I still don’t get your idea to run from one nuclear country to the next where you don’t speak a word and it will cost you a lot. Bear in mind that European economy is on the edge… Besides, France is really shocking for Japanese (Paris syndrome…).

    Next suggestion: Philippines. Obvious destination for a Japanese and you’ll find a community there. It is really important that you can network with other Japanese to help you out.

    In the end, money will decide. If you’re on a budget, best stay in South-East Asia, that’s where the culture shock will be least too.

  6. Mochizuki,

    It seems that you are not at all sure about how to tackle your leave from Japan. You are not sure where to go to, how to get there, nor what to do once you’re there. This is very natural and understandable.

    You are trying to choose your best possible future, of course. But your plan is based on too many unknowns. Too many assumptions that may turn out false later.

    My advice to you is to focus on the short term and get to know your options better.

    Maybe France is a good place for you to live, but maybe not? You should try and see. Going with just a tourist visa is not a big problem. Don’t worry too much about that. After a few weeks or months you will miss your home and family and friends anyway. You would visit Japan even if visa was not a reason, trust me. The cost of a flights might seem huge now. But it is nothing compared what you are doing: finding your new life!

    One more thing. If it’s just money problems what is holding you back, and you don’t care too much about your destination … I have a small flat in the sunny south of Spain. You could use it (free of charge) until you make up your mind on what you really want to do / can do.

    Best regards,
    Marc

  7. Mochzuki-san,
    You should know that there is now 58 nuclear reactors in service in France. 2 other EPR reactors are to be put in service before 3 years (may be not, because they discovered some failures in the construction! Hope they stop it, but they want to go on).
    And on top of this, France is Areva’s country: Areva is importing in its La Hague planta big lot of nuclear waste (coming from the whole word, ie Japan) to be “decommissioned”. So, they produce a lot of drums full of contaminated materials. After, they send back the drums and sell MOX.
    So, may be France is not the very good choice.
    You could jump from the pan into the fire, as we say in french…

      1. :)) do it!!!
        by the way, there was a small incident in Belgium :
        Belgian nuclear mishap
        http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/06_09.html
        do something to save whatever has left to be saved, before the whole Earth becomes a “no-entry zone” and we start living in glass cities and get out only with special costumes and masks 🙂
        if you wanna knock them down, do it before they knock you.
        anyway, is good that you have friends in France, you’ll manage somehow to get what you want

  8. I think that learning local language (french or german or another one) can be done for free… you have to ask at city immigration office.
    Dusseldorf in Germany has a large japanese community (some 30.000 japanese ar living there. It is a nice community – schools, shops, clubs exclusive for japanese people.)
    Tourist visa is valid for 3 months (if you have Japan passport – for Schengen countries, and you can stay 3 more months after the first 3 months, asking the immigration office. 6 months seems to be enough to start something or to find a job.
    You don’t need to go back to Japan after 6 months, I think it is enough to visit a non-Schengen country in Europe (Swiss, Norway, …) to get another 3 months tourist visa.

  9. Hi Mochizuki,

    Please spread message it is possible to evacuate radionucléides out of our bodies. It is the procedure to evacuate heavy metals. On the other side it requires you to have enough antioxydants to repair radiation damages, then support the immune system.
    Chris Busby is proposing another good approach.
    It is most useful and most actually urgent that people learn to handel this stuff. Do not let this stuff in the body. You can learn all this on internet by typing RADIATION DETOX. Many large scale studies have been done and sure can help very much. Not costly and available for everyone. I think it is the first action and title that is needed while communicating on radioactivity. This way you can liberate and help a lot.
    Attack who you want, but don’t miss the immediate EFFECTIVE helping point with a wide spread WEBSITE. VERY NEEDED NOW! This will be extremely useful for you on the leave as well as for people who stay. You can make a link between everyone, just going out of status of helpless victims is required to do correct action.
    I would wish all of these sites on nuclear alternative news push in front the fact you can protect yourself to a certain extend. And you will be STRONG and healthy for your life’s mission! OK?!
    Anyway leaving is the thing I would do too, when possible.
    I live in french part of Switzerland, just sitting in the most concentrated nuke plants area of the world. I would be glad all this stops and am absolutely clear that we do not need this electricity at that price. It is just wrong priorities.

    You are welcome for a stay at home with my familly. Be courageous for asking help when you need.

    Am very touched by all messages. Full of love. Kukukrine

  10. I urge all Japanese with young children to come to Canada. I know the Canadian people would accept a few million without protest. Our refuge laws are very lax, so if you declared refuge it would be years or even decades before you would have to leave. In the meantime there are many Japanese factories in Ontario, and they would employ many Japanese and could probably get Canadian government to take more Japanese with promise of more Japanese factories.

    Gambatti Kudusai

  11. Bonjour Iori Mochizuki

    that means hello in french…. I am french and asking miyself if france is a good place to live as other people say here…. so much nuclear plants everywhere and a government that does not want to change at all, saying that in france, everything is better, safer. Stupid and suicidal… Anyway, I am a french langage teacher in south of france, in the Mountains and had many japanese students. Feel free to contact me, I would like to help you.

  12. I remember WWII where Japanese would hide in caves for decades on the islands, has anyone in Japan considered doing this?

  13. Have you ever thought about including a little bit more than just your articles? I mean, what you say is fundamental and everything. Nevertheless just imagine if you added some great visuals or videos to give your posts more, “pop”! Your content is excellent but with images and videos, this site could certainly be one of the very best in its niche. Awesome blog!

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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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