[Column] For the people who still have spirit

I haven’t met or seen any of native american living in the population center, but I heard some of them are empty.

Since I came to America, I have been asked why Japanese people don’t get furious against the government, so many times.
The government had them exposed, abandoned, and they won’t pay compensation. Why ?

Sadly but truly, I think that’s because people are starting to give up everything.

People also ask me why young people don’t stand up. I guess the reason is the same.
It may be because of the education, or too long invisible oppression. However, most of the people are feeling powerless to think standing up against the government is meaningless.
I think that’s partially right. The next election is planned to be 12/16/2012.
The next prime minister will keep restarting nuclear plants too.

When the problem is in a proper distance and it’s not too big, we can figure it out and can think about how to avoid it. but when it’s too close and too big, you want to close your eyes.
What’s covering the air of Japan is helplessness and the fake peaceful feeling.

I think more than 90% of Japanese people are very conservative. All they want is to go back to 70s, when Japan was still young. They don’t want to change anything, and these people are the majority.
No matter how much our internet sector tries, it won’t change so much, yet.

It’s a tide. Until it changes the direction, we might not have a chance and I don’t know what factors make change.
The only thing individuals can do is to withdraw. It’s the matter of ourselves. Moving is not illegal yet.

I started Fukushima Diary to expect for the help from various governments. but now I already know no rescue is going to come. I’m writing articles to let them know there won’t be a help from any governments, it’s only yourself who can save yourself.
In front of the historical tide, we can only step away until it loses its energy.

One of the misunderstandings of Japanese people is that foreign government may send some help or superman for them.
On the other hand, there are two common misunderstandings of people living outside of Japan.
One is that Japanese people are trying to stand up against the government. Exactly speaking, most of them don’t even recognize that they are on fire.
The second misunderstanding is that there is a hope for Japan. In the long term, there might be. but in the short term, there is not. Japan has been sinking for 20 years. It won’t be better than before. Tomorrow is always worse than today. This is the reality.

This is why I want people to leave there if they can, and I want the world to save those brave people.

Fukushima Diary is not for the government, not for the prisoners. It’s for the people who still have spirit.

_____

Italiano:

[Editoriale] Per chi ha ancora spirito

Non ho incontrato o visto nessun nativo americano che vive in centri popolati, ma ho sentito che molti di questi sono vuoti.

Da quando sono arrivato in America mi è stato chiesto tantissime volte perchè i giapponesi non si infurino contro il governo.

Sono stati esposti, abbandonati e non gli verrà pagata una compensazione. Perchè?

Triste ma vero credo che sia perchè le persone stanno mollando su tutto.

Mi viene chiesto anche perchè i giovani non si ribellino. Credo che il motivo sia lo stesso. Potrebbe essere per l’educazione ricevuta o per la troppo lunga ed invisibile oppressione. In ogni caso la maggior parte della popolazione si sente impotente tanto da pensare che opporsi al governo sia senza senso. Io credo che sia parzialmente corretto. Le prossime elezioni sono pianificate per il 12/16/2012.

Il prossimo primo ministro continuerà a far ripartire le centrali nucleari.

Quando il problema è ad una certa distanza e non è troppo grande possiamo considerarlo e pensare a come aggirarlo ma quando è troppo vicino e troppo grande si vuole solo chiudere gli occhi.

Quello che sta coprendo l’aria del Giappone è una sensazione di impotenza ed un finto sentimento di pace.

Credo che più del 90% dei giapponesi siano molto conservatori. Tutto quello che vogliono è tornare agli anni 70 quando il Giappone era ancora giovane. Non vogliono cambiare nulla e queste persone rappresentano la maggioranza.

Non ha importanza quanto internet provi, non cambierà molto, ancora.

E’ una marea. Fino a quando non cambia direzione potremmo non avere una possibilità e non so quali fattori possano fare invertire la tendenza.

L’unica cosa che possono fare i singoli individui è ritirarsi. E’ il nostro problema. Lo spostamento non è ancora illegale.

Ho iniziato Fukushima Diary per cercare aiuto da vari governi ma so già che non arriverà. Sto scrivendo articoli per fargli sapere che non ci sarà aiuto da qualsiasi governo, solo voi potete salvare voi stessi.

Di fronte a una storica marea non possiamo fare altro che metterci da parte fino a quando questa non perderà la sua energia.

Una delle miscredenze dei giapponesi è che qualche governo straniero mandi qualche aiuto o super eroe per loro.

E d’altra parte ci sono due altre miscredenze comuni per chi vive fuori dal Giappone. La prima è che la popolazione stia cercando di opporsi al governo. Per essere precisi molti di loro non sanno nemmeno accorgersi che stanno andando a fuoco.

La seconda è che che ci sia speranza per il Giappone. Nel lungo termine potrebbe esserci ma nel breve termine no. Il Giappone sta affondando da 20 anni. Non sarà meglio di prima. Domani è già peggio di oggi. Questa è la realtà.

Questa è la ragione per cui voglio che le persone se ne vadano se possono e voglio che il mondo salvi questi coraggiosi.

Fukushima Diary non è per il governo, non è per i prigionieri. E’ per le persone che hanno ancora spirito.

_____

Français :

[Édito] Pour ceux qui ont toujours une tête

Je n’ai pas rencontré ni vu d’américain d’origine vivant au centre de la population mais j’ai entendu que certaines en sont vides.

Depuis que je suis arrivé en Amérique, on m’a souvent demandé pourquoi les japonais ne deviennent pas furieux contre leur gouvernement.
Le gouvernement les a irradiés, abandonnés et il ne payera pas de compensation. Pourquoi ?
En vérité et tristement, je pense que c’est parce que les gens sont en train d’abandonner tout espoir.

Les gens me demandent aussi pourquoi la jeunesse ne se lève pas. Je crois que la raison est la même.
C’est peut-être à cause de l’éducation, ou d’une trop longue et invisible oppression. Toutefois, la plupart des gens se sentent impuissants jusqu’à penser que se dresser contre le gouvernement n’a aucun sens.
Je pense que c’est en partie vrai. Les prochaines élections sont prévues pour le 16 décembre 2012.
Le prochain premier ministre va aussi redémarrer les centrales nucléaires.

Quand un problème est à la bonne distance et qu’il n’est pas trop gros, on peut le cerner et penser comment faire pour l’éviter mais quand il est trop proche et trop gros, on veut fermer les yeux.

Ce qui domine dans l’air du Japon est l’impuissance et le faux sentiment de paix.
Je crois que plus de 90 % des japonais sont très conservateurs. Tout ce qu’ils veulent c’est revenir aux années 70, lorsque le Japon était encore jeune. Ils ne veulent rien changer et ces gens sont la majorité.
Peu importe ce que notre groupe internet peut tenter, ça ne changera pas grand chose.
C’est comme une marée. Tant que ça ne change pas de direction, on n’a aucune chance et je ne sais pas quels sont les facteurs à changer.
La seule chose que les individus peuvent faire c’est battre en retraite. Ça nous regarde. Déménager n’est pas encore illégal.

J’ai commencé le Fukushima Diary en espérant l’aide de différents gouvernements. mais maintenant je sais déjà qu’il ne viendra aucun secours. J’écris des articles pour qu’ils sachent qu’il n’y aura aucune aide d’aucun gouvernement, il n’y a que nous pour nous sauver.
En face de la marée de l’histoire, nous ne pouvons que nous en éloigner jusqu’à ce qu’elle perde son énergie.

Une des incompréhensions des japonais est que les gouvernements étrangers pourraient leur envoyer de l’aide ou Superman.
D’un autre côté, il y a deux incompréhensions courantes chez ceux vivant hors du Japon.
L’une est que les japonais essayent de se dresser contre leur gouvernement. Pour être exact, la plupart d’entre eux ne reconnaissent même pas qu’il y a le feu.
La seconde incompréhension est qu’il y a un espoir pour le Japon. A long terme peut-être mais à court terme il n’y en a pas. Le Japon coule depuis 20 ans. Ce ne sera pas mieux qu’avant. Demain est toujours pire qu’aujourd’hui. C’est la réalité.

C’est pourquoi je veux que les gens s’enfuient autant qu’ils le peuvent, et je voudrais que le monde sauve ces gens courageux.

Le Fukushima Diary n’est pas pour le gouvernement, ni pour les prisonniers. Il est pour les gens qui ont toujours un esprit.

  1. Because this nuclear disaster is too BIG for Governments to solve, the Other World has sent innumerable messages in order to help, protect and advise the Japanese Government as well as the Japanese people, and this right from the beginning ! I have posted these Divine Messages many times on my blog http://attentiondanger.over-blog.com, on Twitter, Facebook, on F.D. and many others to draw attention, but there was NO response, no comment !!
    I feel Man has to run into complete disaster until he will realize the actual situation, that’s the case of Japan at present where many consequences of the ongoing radioactivity are being felt by the ignorant, passive population. The few who ring the alarm bell are not taken sufficiently serious, but they are right : Japan is condemned because the ongoing radioactivity due to uncontrollable nuclear reactors will cause much harm, to people, environment, buildings. Life is in GREAT danger, even if you prefer to deny it !

  2. This is a great summary of the situation and I think you are 100% correct about your assessment. Far too much time and words are spent on pointless technical details and endless historical blather. You have the insight to cut straight to the overarching reality, and its refreshing. I’m sure you are not alone among Japanese people, let’s hope more and more are awakening.

  3. Denial ain’t a river in Egypt. It is a state of being. Denial exists in every country and culture. In my country the political party that just lost big in recient elections are behaving as if nothing has happened or are in denial that their candidates and policies were the cause of their defeats. For some reason most people are unwilling to see reality until it smacks them in the face then some are unwilling to see it until it is life threatening. Radiation is invisible, it cannot be felt, heard, tasted or smelled. Its effects can take time to show up. Denying its existnce is easy and very dangerous.

    Thank you for your work in exposing the truth.

  4. Very eloquently said mochizuki-san.
    The ego denial is a hard thing to face.
    It’s like when we evacuated after reactor 3 blew.
    My friend in the US Army emailed me and said “those reactors are toast, get out of there.”
    Everyone on the plane had just grabbed what they love, surfboards, books, whatever.
    We flew through the iodine cloud, and the kids and some others started to vomit.
    But in recollection, I was the one panicking, knowing somewhat of nuclear physics, but they were brave.
    The strong character was very evident, and they had showed their intelligence as well by leaving.
    They took that final blast or two of yellow iodine radiation like a man, it was me who was scared.
    I want the world to help adopt these nuclear refugees, but hope seems far off.
    Bless you for your courage and never stop as long as you can.
    Those you can’t save don’t know how bad it is, so save yourself.
    When you have the fight or flight instinct upon you with all the adrenaline, sometimes realizing you can’t win the fight and saving yourself is the wise and brave thing to do.

    Thank you for your wisdom, honesty, and courage.

  5. Hi Iori,

    I was feeling the same way. I thought that many Japanese people were feeling hopeless. They don’t think that they have power to change anything. Even if they have voting rights, all politicians are so corrupt that an election is meaningless. That’s what I thought until I heard this lawyer, Kenji Utsunomiya, running for a mayor of Tokyo. He is, I would say, a non-profit lawyer who fought against loan sharks, a cult group (Aum Shinrikyo), and investment firm for victims. He gathered a group of professionals to help those victims of Fukushima disaster. He, unlike other politicians, respects the Japanese constitution and doesn’t think that anybody is above the law. I felt a little hope when I heard the reasons of why he is running for his office, what he wants to do, and what he has done during his 40-year career as a lawyer.

    His announcement of candidacy for Mayor of Tokyo
    http://kiikochan.blog136.fc2.com/blog-entry-2529.html

    He was on TV 5 years ago:
    http://kiikochan.blog136.fc2.com/blog-entry-2543.html

    I also saw videos of a college professor nailing Osaka officials in their lies and bogus numbers regarding disposal and burning of contaminated debris. The place for this hearing was filled with people. There is still a hope in Japan. I think this election is important to decide the Japanese future. I used to think that many people were ignorant or had no interests in radiation and ongoing Fukushima problems. However, tickets to the seminars and symposium about radiation problems get sold out quickly. I don’t know if it’s still a small group of people who are aware of and concerned about the problems, but I hope those concerns are spreading. It may be a slow movement, but I do hope that Japanese people are slowly but steadily standing up for themselves.

  6. This form of poisoning is not only so horrific in terms of scale as to be unfathomable, but is also, largely a silent killer. Once cancer rates, infant mortality and mutation begin to show up from long term exposure and the effects become visible, then reactions might change.

  7. Japanese are not the only ones in denial. It is human nature to react only to those things that have an immediate effect. That is probably an evolved instinct. Only since the industrial revolution have we been exposed to dangers that take a long time to show any effect. It’s not like confronting a wild animal or invading armies. Even disease epidemics and mushroom or berry poisoning will manifest within a few hours or a few days at most. So the human psyche simply is not geared to react to a menace that creeps up undetected over months or years. On top of that we have industry and government feeding us a boatload of lies and cover-ups. People want to believe the best, so, like the frog, they sit placidly in the pot of increasingly warm water until they are boiled to death!

  8. Mochizuki san,
    My escape will now be only in her 4th month today… But at least I escaped Japan.
    More to the point, why are Japanese so “obedient”? I’m in no way an expert on Japan, although I spent 17 years there. However, I always try to remember what was explained to me once by Ken Joseph Jr.
    In Vietnam you had the Bamboo wall… it lasted a few years and it affected tremendously people living in the North and in the South. In Russia you had The Wall. For nearly 80 years, URSS was isolated and it marked people tremendously. Today, many years after the wall was put down, the Russian people are still affected by this isolationism.
    Japan… for 350 years, was isolated by the powerful Shoguns. 350 years!!! There is no country who was slaved to Masters for such a long time. For 350 years, there were no foreigners… From what I believe and understand, for 350 years, many times, many people tried to overthrow the Shoguns… to get freedom. But for many times, people were defeated. I believe it explains why Japanese are so “obedient” today. They never WON over their MASTERS. It is part of Japanese people mentality. It will take more than ONE Fukushima to get people to overthrow their system, their “TEPCO emperors”, their ISHIHARA emperors, … Truely, it is a very short comment, but anthropologists must think about those 350 years… It made a tremendous impact and it’s still part of the National psyche.
    BTW, I truely respect your devotion to your website, you opened the eyes to thousands of people including me, and you are right to continue and I wish I could be a better supporter or to help you. I can’t write it “better” than Gambatte… But after reading my text you will understand as well that it is the world I hate the most on the planet. It fits very well in Japan though.

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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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