[Column] Tepco literally “swamped” in sea contamination prevention

Tepco is building the impervious wall on the coastal line, but since they started the construction, the groundwater level is rising.

On 7/31/2013, Tepco stated it may come up to the ground in the worst case.

Tepco’s spokes man didn’t look like he was sharing the sense of danger just like before the contamination was spreading to the sea and any other past accidents.

Yesterday I wrote this column.
[Column] Accumulated groundwater may overflow to up-ground in early August [URL]

Tepco officially admitted it can be true.

Tepco commented they have no evaluation about what is going on.
Groundwater is now getting out of their control. Here I would like to show 3 facts and possibilities that we must be informed.

1. Impervious wall is not stopping sea contamination.

They are building the wall in order to stop the contaminated groundwater flowing to the sea, but it’s not stopped.
There are large spaces above the wall, and also the both ends of the wall. Tepco stated the groundwater is flowing to the sea from those spaces.
The contamination level in the port is increasing actually.

2. Contaminated groundwater may be spreading to other areas of the plant.

A lot of groundwater is traveling toward the sea. Because groundwater is accumulated already, newly charged water is retained on the mountain side and also to other reactor areas.
Tepco commented they don’t have any data to show how widely it is spreading.
Now the contaminated water area is being enlarged.

3. The east side of reactor2 is becoming literally “swamped”.

Although they can’t stop the sea contamination, it’s also bringing the side effect to the land side.
From the latest data, the groundwater is already coming up to only 1m below the ground. Nothing can be allowed to be built in such an area in the usual occasion.
If the water comes up even more, it would seriously affect the soundness of the structures in the area and it may make it more difficult to work with heavy equipment.

 

 

Truth is not truth because everyone believes in it. It’s the truth because it’s consistent and can’t be rebutted.

_____

Français :

[Édito] Tepco littéralement “submergé” par la prévention de la contamination de la mer

 

Tepco construit un mur étanche le long du rivage mais le niveau des eaux souterraines monte depuis qu’ils ont commencé sa construction.

Le 31 juillet 2013, Tepco affirme qu’au pire des cas elles viendront en surface.

Le porte-parole de Tepco n’avait pas l’air de sentir le danger, exactement comme quand la contamination était sur le point de se répandre en mer et comme avant tous les autres accidents passés.

J’ai écris cet éditorial hier :
[Édito] Les eaux souterraines pourraient s’accumuler à resurgir en surface dès début août

Tepco a officiellement admis que ça pouvait être vrai.

Tepco a déclaré qu’ils n’avaient aucune évaluation sur ce qui est en train de se passer.
Les eaux souterraines sont en train de leur échapper. Je voudrais ici présenter 3 faits et possibilités qu’on doit connaître.

1. Le mur étanche n’arrête pas la contamination.

Ils construisent le mur pour empêcher les eaux souterraines extrêmement radioactives de s’écouler en mer mais ça continue.
Il y a de grands espaces au-dessus du mur et aussi à ses extrémités. Tepco affirme que les eaux souterraines extrêmement radioactives s’écoulent en mer par là.
Le niveau de radioactivité augmente graduellement dans le port.

2. Les eaux souterraines extrêmement radioactives peuvent se répandre dans d’autres zones de la centrale.

Beaucoup d’eaux souterraines s’écoulent en mer. Les eaux qui arrivent s’accumulent côté montagne et aussi dans les autres endroits des réacteurs parce qu’elles sont déjà accumulées.
Tepco déclare qu’ils n’ont aucune donnée montrant à quel point elles se répandent.
Leur partie extrêmement radioactive est en train de s’élargir en ce moment.

3. Le côté est du réacteur 2 est en train d’être littéralement submergé

Ça amène aussi à un effet de bord côté terre, en plus de ne pas arrêter la contamination de la mer.
Selon les dernières données, le niveau souterrain des eaux est déjà à seulement 1 m de la surface du sol. En conditions normales, on ne peut plus rien construire sur un terrain dans un tel état.
Si l’eau continue de monter, elle va fragiliser la fiabilité de de toutes les structures de la zone et rendra encore plus difficile le travail avec les engins lourds.

Ce n’est pas la vérité parce que tout le monde y croit. C’est la vérité parce que c’est cohérent et irréfutable.

  1. I have been an anti-nuclear activist for 40 years. This is beyond my worst nuclear nightmare. How can the human beings at TEPCO be so uncaring about polluting the Pacific Ocean with such deadly contamination?

    1. because humans are not aware this is on-going.
      It is not in the news at all.
      I would not sleep at night if I would be a member of the government of Japan.
      Even then, it is not all the members who know, many are just as ignorant as ordinary people.

  2. Pat B: that truly IS terrifying — radioactive quicksand! Would most of the Daichi nuclear power plants be at risk for caving in, underground, well below the current water level/line if this quicksand factor increases?? Mind-blowing! I mean, there are 5 or 6 nuclear power plants in that area…

  3. ———–reposting this on a newer column—————

    about to test the limits of this reply box.. this is a radio documentary by Malte Jaspersen who toured the disaster areas shortly after the catastrophe. the whole translation & re-documenting was done by me. the original documentary can be found at

    abc.net.au/radionational/programs/360/souteigai/4308310

    this is a very rough version & has barely been self-edited but its aimed so Japanese can understand it since its obviously English oriented. japanese is translated into English & vice-versa & there tends to be alot of personal notes in between clauses.

    Souteigai: beyond imagination

    Download audio

    Sunday 21 October 2012 10:05AM

    Not Afraid to Die Image: A poster celebrating the nuclear power plant workers who knowingly exposed themselves to radiation to try to bring the catastrophe under control (Jonathan Aubry; Flickr.com/ CC BY-NC 2.0)

    ‘Souteigai’ or ‘beyond imagination’, said the Japanese government spokesman when the tsunami waves rolled across a 300-kilometre-long strip of coastline. ‘Souteigai’ was also the word used in self-justification by nuclear plant owner TEPCO in reference to the meltdown at Fukushima. And ‘Souteigai’ was the thought on people’s minds as they were forced to watch the black water rolling over houses and people and flattening everything – and on the minds of the 80,000 evacuees who lost their homes because of Fukushima.

    Malte Jaspersen has lived for 20 years in Kyoto. To the north of the city, there are 13 nuclear reactors. Not least because of this, he wanted to find out how the threefold catastrophe had altered the lives of those affected. He spoke with firemen who had seen unimaginable things, with parents from Fukushima who are trying to protect their children from radioactivity, with anti-nuclear activists, with priests and with people who, in the desolation and devastation of their towns and villages, are starting to rebuild their shattered communities. Since last year, Malte Jaspersen has included a Geiger counter among his household items.

    Souteigai is winner of the 2012 Prix Italia President’s Cup, awarded to a radio program dedicated to important current issues.

    The original feature was written and produced by Malte Jaspersen in Japanese and German for Deutschlandradio Kultur and the Bayerischer Rundfunk. This English language version of Souteigai was produced for 360documentaries by Nicole Steinke. The sound engineers were Andrei Shabunov and Phillip Ulman.

    Japanese poems were written by Matsudaira Meiko and Ikura Chizu. The reader was Naomi Ota. Translations were read by Peter Kowitz (Malte Jaspersen), Asako Izawa, Eden Falk, David Rutledge and Nicole Steinke.

    ———————————————————————————-

    Local Lady   : Hello Mr. Malte, haven’t seen you for ages! マルテさん こんにちは 大変久しぶりですね?
    (注:マルテ氏とはこのドキュメンタリーを作った、京都に20年程住んでる ドイツ人の方です。 このイントロはちょっと陽気ですが、まず楽な空間から初めを)

    Malte Jaspersen : No, I was in Germany.  はい、ドイツに居ましたので。
    (注:東北大震災の時には 偶々ドイツに帰国してたかと。 ドキュメンタリーの素はドイツ語なのでこれは吹き替えでマルテ氏本人の声では無いかもしれない)

    Local Lady    : Weren’t you worried about coming back? (日本に)戻ってくるのか 不安ではなかったのでしょうか?

    Mr. Jaspersen : No, not particularly. and how about you? aren’t you worried? I mean, the coast here is packed with atomic power stations…
    いいえ、特に心配は無かったです. 其方の方が大変なのでは?近くの日本海側は 原子力発電所だらけだし・・・

    Local Lady    : Yes, that is Bad. それは大変は問題ですね。

    Mr. Jaspersen : If anything happens, we can say goodbye to Lake Biwa & our drinking water…
               原発に何事かあれば 琵琶湖と我らの飲み水にも さよならですね・・・

    Local Lady : True, but then we can’t live here anymore? Here’s your shirt, goodbye!
    そうですね、しかしそうなればここではもう生活出来ないですね? はい、預かったシャツです。ではさよなら!(注:クリーニング屋のおばさんとの会話かと)

    Narrator : “Souteigai : Beyond Imagination” Japan & the three-fold catastrophe. Feature by Malte Jaspersen. 「想定外」 日本と震災で起きた三大災難

    Sakai Toshio : 何も・・・無いんです・・・音が。 自分の足音と、風の音と。 動物も居ないんで、小鳥の囀りもないので・・・生き物の気配がまったくないんで、砂とか泥が一杯で。
    Translator : You couldn’t hear a thing, only the sound of your own feet on the rubble, & the wind, which was blowing from the sea… no animals, no birdsong, no signs of life. just sand & mud everywhere.

    Mr. Jaspersen : Sakai Toshio, Fire Brigade specialist. 坂井としお、特別消防隊員。

    Sakai Toshio : 静かではないんですけども、見た目の光景も静かではないんです。けど、もう、音が跳ね返るものが無いので、風がない時はとまったく音の無い世界です。
    Translator : It wasn’t actually properly silent, but there wasn’t any objects that reflected sounds. when no winds blew, there was a deathly stillness. A world, utterly devoid of sound.

    Mr. Jaspersen : The Journey to the deployment location took 30 hours. 30 hours from Osaka to the tsunami region. The instructions were to rescue survivors.
    雇われ先の避難所まで 30時間掛かった。 大阪から津波三陸まで 30時間も。 生存者を助ける支持で。(注:道路など破壊されてたので 普段より時間がかかったと)

    Sakai Toshio : 漁港で、その倉庫とかにあった魚介類が結構津波で・・・ 生臭い匂いが物凄いきつくって。 そういう生臭い匂いが無いところは・・・何もないんです、匂いも無いんで。 匂いが無いのってあんまり経験した事無いので。 生きてる人が居ない。
    Translator : It had been a fishing harbor, in some places there was an incredible stench of rotting seafood. not even my mask helped me there. But in other places there was nothing… no smell at all. that’s something I’ve never experienced. places where people live actually always smell of something, but no one lived here anymore.

    Haiku : ズタズタの 三陸海岸 ズタズタの 家が今朝も 放映されてる

    Mr. Jaspersen : November 2011, the rubble & chaos have been largely removed.. seeming endless desolation, I drive along roads that no longer lead anywhere.. past innumerable scrap heaps of wrecked cars, overgrown with weeds. Lying some way, the head of a shop-window dummy, the hair sticky.. the face full of dark spots… its expression is strangely surreal. I’m in the center of teh town of Rikuzentakata.
    (注:ここからも所々鳴いてる鴉は本当に被害地に歩きながら マルテさんが録音してる最中の本物の鳴き声かと思われます)
    十一月2011年 被害の後が殆ど片付いてましたけど、果てしなく寂しい光景。運転してる道はもう何処にも行かない・・・数え切れない流されて放置された自動車の山が雑草に包まれ。 その先にお店の飾り人形が落ちてた・・・髪の毛が汚れでべだつき顔が黒痣だらけに・・・まるで生きてたように。 ここは陸前高田町の中央近辺だ。

    Sakai Toshio : 映画の中で見たような光景にいたんで・・・ちょっとフワフワしたというか夢の中というか(さっきまでは大阪に居て)何も不自由ない水道もあるし電気もあるし、というとこに居たのが。
    Translator : It was like in a flim.. or in a dream. Just beforehand, I was in Osaka where there was water & light, everything. The contrast… words failed me.

    Mr. Jaspersen : The Town Hall, one of the few ruins still left standing. Wind amused the blinds hanging in the empty windows… the entrance hall is littered with rubble. Chaoticly twisted pipes & torn cables hang from the ceiling… in one corner, a wrecked car.
    陸前高田の市役所が残された僅かの建物に。風が壊れた窓を睨む様に吹く。入り口はまだ酷く汚れていて、天井から電線などが宙振らに・・・そして門には流れ込んできた廃車。

    Narrator : There is no shape, no sound, no smell, no taste… no touch. No getting older, no dying… & no end to aging or dying. No suffering, no causalities, no breaking through causalities.. no ways out.
    もう形もなく、音も、匂いも、味覚も無く・・・触れない。 歳を取る事も無く、死ぬ事も・・・歳と死と共に永久に。 苦しむ必要も無く、言い訳も・・・逃れない。 (注:これはお寺の御経を聞きながら 英文を想像した発想かと)

    Mr. Jaspersen : The Priest bows to the altar, and to the 2000 or more people who died here in Rikuzentakata. In the distance, the sea glitters in the sunshine. “Whatever happens, the surface of the Earth will remain & provide saftey.” I grew up with that basic innate trust, and I lost that basic trust in Japan. Mother Earth can indeed malfunction… getting used to that is something I cannot do.
               お坊さんが仏壇に拝み、そしてこの陸前高田の町で亡くなられた 2000人以上の人たちに。その背景に海の水が太陽で煌いてる。 「何があっても、大地は守ってくれる」 私はこれが当たり前だと育ち、日本に絶望をした。 母なる自然は故障する事もあるんだ・・・私はそれに馴れる事は出来ない。 

    Sakai Toshio : 「何で死ななければならないのか、なんで私が?」 (注:所々肝心な日本語が英語で消されてるのですみません)精神的に免疫し覚悟して行ったののですが、想像を遥かに超してた。)
    Translator : Many had the expression on their face : “Why must I die? why me of all people?” Many thousands of people were suddenly torn out of their normal existence. I had prepared myself spiritually, but I discovered it was beyond my imagination… those faces, I will never forget them.

    Mr. Jaspersen : How do you cope with impressions like that Mr. Sakai? 死者(津波の)の表情を見てどう思いました?(注:これは実際 マルテさんが 坂井氏をインタビューしてるので)

    Sakai Toshio : 最初の一週間か二週間の間に 見たこともない夢をみたんで・・・罪悪感が。 (奥さんと友人に慰められながら 何とか乗り越えた)
    Translator : In the first week or two I had many nightmares. I had a huge feeling of guilt. when the order came to relieve us our work was by no means finished… I suffered from a feeling of having left things incomplete but my wife said, you done what you could. that helped me. I also talked to my doctor… my collegues were thoughtful and considerate and in that way i finally managed to process it all.

    Haiku : 海が泣き 心の出来れ無し 傘の中 繰り返し思う    (注:俳句一部聞き取れなかった部分有。 この後かなり生々しい録音ですが 実際津波に追われてる真っ最中に撮られた物かと思われます)

    Narrator : The wide open space that was once Rikuzentakata, contains towering heaps of rubble. There are 900,000 tons of it here, and 23 million along the entire coast. 4 out of 5 houses have been destroyed. 8 years has been estimated for reconstruction. some experts fear there is only a 50% chance of bringing the town back to life.
    以前まで広々とした陸前高田は津波の残した後に囲まれてる。 90万㌧の津波障害物に囲まれ、海岸添えは2300万㌧も配置されてるかと。 5軒の家の内の4軒は破壊され、少なくっても再建までは8年はかかるかも。 ある専門家は町を作り直せるのは 50%の可能性かと。

    Nakate Seiichi : 全てが変わりましたね。 私達の居る福島市というのは・・・ハイレベルで汚染し・・・兎に角子供を非難させなければ。
    Translator : Our whole life has changed. Our town Fukushima is highly contaminated. We have decided we must take our children away to safety.

    Mr. Jaspersen : Ever since the devastating accident at the nuclear power station, Nakata Seiichi has lived alone. His wife moved away with their two sons to live with her sister in western Japan, 1000km away.
    福島の原発事故以来 中手聖一氏は一人で暮らす。 奥さんは息子二人連れて女房の親戚と一緒に住む事に・・・凡そ南東1000㌔㍍離れた所で。

    Nakate Seiichi : これは自分たちの仲間や子供たちやだけじゃなく・・・ 全員を守らなければ。 決意して(反原発運動を)作った。 {Website @ kodomofukushima.net/ }
    Translator : But it was clear to us we had to protect not only our own children and those of our friends’, but all of the children in Fukushima, thats how (this anti-nuclear movement KodomoFukushima) it started.

    Government Representative (?) : 他の国民と同じく、等しく、無用な被爆をせずに・・・ (注:政府側の担当者との対面かと思われます) 

    Mr. Jaspersen : The Fukushima network for protecting our children from radioactivity was formed, and Nakata is one of the initiators.
    福島の子供を放射能被爆から守会が作られ、中手氏はその中の指導者になった。

    Angry Citizen : じゃーあんたにはないの?! あんた自分に権利は無いと思う?!なぁ?!健康に生きる権利はないのか?!(注:多分会議中 政府の対応に逆上して怒る 中手氏の声?) 
    (an angry citizen, perhaps Mr. Nakata himself, shouting at an government official, taken from a video on their homepage)
    So you’re so indifferent !? What makes you (officials) have the right?! Don’t we all have the right to live healthy lives ?!

    Mr. Jaspersen : The video on their homepage (Mr. Nakate’s anti-nuclear rally) showed parents confronting government officials with their worries and fears. The official’s reaction : Distanced, aloof, and calmly downplaying all of their concerns.
    中手氏のホームページでは、政府から福島県に来た責任者と対面した家族の親等の映像があります。 そこでは政府側の担当は非常に無関心で、どうでもよく、まるで人事みたいに皆さんの気にしてる様々な悩みを冷静に見下した。

    Nakate Seiiichi : 怒り通り越して もう憎しみに近いですよ。 (言い訳しか言わない 政府に対して)
    Translator : It’s more than anger, it’s very close to hatred, because the government is claiming the threat here is insignificant.

    Narrator : People who smile, suffer no radiation damage. only those who constantly worry. That has been clearly proven by animal experiments : As long as a contamination level of 100 Micro Seiverts per hour is not exceeded, there is absolutely no danger of damage to health.
    笑顔で居られる人は、被爆の心配がないから。常にその恐怖の中で生きる人が被爆をしてる。 動物に実体実験した成果 一時間 100マイクロ・シーベルトさえ超えなければまったく生態の健康に影響する心配は無いと言う医学放射線専門家も居る。

    Mr. Jaspersen : Said the government representative for health monitoring in Fukushima, Professor Yamashita, one wonders what kind of experimental setup was used by this radiologist (who claims anything under 100micro-seiverts per hour to be harmless). A contamination level equivalent to almost 9x the maximal amount permitted for nuclear powerplant workers, and for the general population in emergencies, was considered, by this professor, to be safe. 
              福島代表の健康管理者の 山下先生は、いくら動物実体実験と言っても、いったいどういう設定でこの100マイクロ・シーベルト以下は安全だと判断したことを知りたがる。何故かとそれは 日本では原発作業員と一般市民の年間被爆数値の制限の凡そ9倍であるから。

    Nakate Seiiichi : この プロパガンダに対抗しおうとうのだけは・・・人に孤立させられて、変人扱いされ・・・(被爆の恐れに対して誰も真面目に相手してくれなく、仲間のうちでも意見が統一しない悩み・・・しかし皆は同じに思ってる事は 政府側から来た担当者に直ぐ帰って欲しい事)
    Translator : This Government propaganda is making things very difficult for us. Some of us are being isolated by the people in our own districts, or being dismissed as crazy. In families, in married couples, and even in our group, there are arguments of whether decontamination or evacuation make sense. But, there is one thing we all agree on, we want all the advisors that came here (from the Government) to leave again.

    Mr. Jaspersen : Things could have not been more confusing : Becquerels, Iodine 131, Cesium 134&137, Microseiverts per hour, Milliseiverts per year, External Contamination, Internal Contamination, Safe or Unsafe, Stay or Evacuate. At first glance Fukushima doesn’t seem any different that usual… normal life in the town center. But then I arrive in a children’s playground in the district of Watari, which received more radiation than elsewhere. The playground is being decontaminated, but despite that the sign in front of the climbing frame warns : Children should not play here for more than 1 hour a day. and to wash their faces and hands and gargle. Nearby there are several deattached family homes.
    震災で只でさえ混乱してるのに更に分からない用語が次々と : ベクレル、ヨウ素131、セシウム134&137、時速マイクロシーベルト、年間ミリシーベルト、内被爆、外被爆、安全か危険、居残るか非難。 福島に辿り着いて、人が町の周りに居て一間見たところ何事も無い様にも見える。しかし、福島県の中でも放射能汚染が多かった渡利市にある子供の公園に張り紙があった : 「公園で一時間以上居るのは危険 必ず手と顔を荒い嗽もすること」 公園は放射能物質除染中でしたが、直ぐ隣に住んでる家族もいた。 (注意:これは実際マルテ氏が 福島県等に行った上のドキュメンタリーなので こういう場面には彼が実際渡利市にあった公園の前に立ち止まって 観察した瞬間かと思われます)

    Nakata Seiiichi : おじいちゃん、おばあちゃんなんか一緒に居ると、おじいちゃん、おばあちゃんは下で・・・屋根が汚染されてる(から若い方が下の階で睡眠をとるようになるのが増えてます)
    Translator : When familes live with grandparents, its usual that the old people live downstairs, and the young people, with their children live up on the first (upper) floor. Here, now things are the other way around. Since the roofs are contaminated (with radioactive dust), the radioactive contamination on the first floor, is higher. This is why more & more young parents are sleeping with their children on the ground floors.

    Mr. Jaspersen : Nakata explains the teachers at the schools had been forbidden to discuss the contamination, and that the network is trying to make people conscious of the dangers, by providing them with detailed information. Although that the social pressure to remain (in Fukushima) is enormous, and familes have argued about whether or not to leave, and have eventually become irreconcilable. He says that the network is helping look for evacuation possibilities, but heads, that many people could never leave even if they wanted to. There are often financial commitments, he says, and finding any suitable work is diffcult elsewhere.
              学校の先生等は放射能汚染に関しての相談は禁じられていたから、子供福島ネットワークは人々を主な危険に対して詳しい情報で知らせている、と中手氏は述べる。非難してまでも被害地に残れざるに負えない場合も多く、家族内で相談しても良い結果見れず離れ離れに引き裂かれる事も。 子供福島ネットワークはそういう方に避難先を探すのに手伝ってますが、やはり仕事関係の事情になると今は他での働き口は探しにくいので止むを得ず居残る理由に。
       
    Haiku : ほうれん草 ザブザブ洗う 両手に皹 原発事故の 家の戸惑い

    Narrator : New stories of contaminated food keep turning up, and an increasing amount of farmers are no longer allowed to sell their rice. Many people are worried, and they avoid buying foods that comes from the affected northeastern region.
    食べ物が放射能汚染の風評被害を受け、現地の農家はお米等を売る制度が厳しくなった。大勢の人々が影響されて、心配な方は北西の品物は避けて買った。

    Mr. Jaspersen : Those people include my wife and myself. A televison appearance by a Professor Narabayashi, a member of the Nuclear Saftey Commission, did nothing to help dispel our doubts either. He said up to 32 grams of plutonium could be ingested with food, without danger or death. If breathed in, plutonium was only deadly from 10 milligrams or upwards. Independant scientists assume that even 1 millionth of 1 gram can trigger lung cancer.
    私と自分の妻もその不安と一緒に。 その後テレビで原子力安全委員会の中林博士も何の頼りにもなれず、彼の調べでは放射プルとニゥムは 32mgまで食べ物と一緒に口にされても平気だ、そして呼吸された場合は 10mgまでなら死に至る問題は無いと放映された。 しかし一般的に研究されてる科学者は 1gの僅か百万分の一でも肺癌に成る恐れは有ると言う。 

    Shimizu Tetsushi : 本当に一瞬の間であーなってしまった・・・(原発事故の破壊を見た後・・・誰にも聞かれたくないから布団被って、74歳で生まれて初めて泣いた)泣くってこんないい好意あるんだ。
    Translator : It all happened in a single moment. I was startled, when I saw the destruction and thought of the future, for the first time in my life, I wept. I pulled the blanket over my head, because I didn’t want anyone to hear. Now, at the age of 74, I’ve realized that weeping has an incredible liberating effect.

    Mr. Jaspersen : Shimizu Tetsushi has a small factory for fish processing, specializing in saury.
               清水てつし氏は 秋刀魚等を扱う小さな魚の工場の主人です。  
       
    Narrator : Shimizu’s factory is located in Kesennuma, one of the worst affected fishing harbors on the coast. It wasn’t only the water, oil tanks and marine diesel oil caught fire, and after that parts of the town destroyed by the tsunami went up in flames.
               清水氏の工場現場は 特に津波の被害が大きかった漁港の気仙沼にありました。水の被害だけでは無く、石油のタンクやら港からのディーゼル燃料に火が点き、その後津波に流された町が炎に包まれた。   

    Haiku :      屋上に 裏返る車体 電柱に レール付くウツツなコラージュ

    Mr. Jaspersen : Shimizu looks out of the second floor window, it was through this window that his wife and sons used to tie together bedsheets to save four people floating past in the black, ice cold water. Now, nine months later, the scenery strikes as me more reminiscent of a new housing estate, were it not for burned out shell of the old people’s home. And that huge fishing trawler which the tsunami rammed into the heart of the buildings.

    Shimizu Tetsushi : 残された我々はね、やっぱ、どう生きるかって言う事がね・・・(友人達の妻の中ではここを再建しても暮らしたく無い方も多い、男性は立て直して暮らすのが当たり前であっても)
    Translator : For us survivors, the question of how we should go on living, is a challenge. Among my friends, most of the wives don’t want to go on living here. We men, want to built up everything again, and carry on.

    Narrator : It will take years for the reconstruction to show any signs of success, but the young people cannot wait that long. They are obliged to move away, and start a new life elsewhere. Gradually, the younger inhabitants of the ravaged coastal towsn are being scattered to the forewinds. Only the old people remain.
    漁港村再建した成果が見れるのは何時に成るか分からないから、若者はそれまで待てない。当然他に引越し新しい生活を求めるので、少しずつ港に暮らしてた若者達は風の便りで被害地から去って行く。残されるのは年寄りだけに。

    Mr. Jaspersen : Mr. Shimizu, has your relationship with the sea changed?
    清水さん、貴方の海に対しての思いは変わりましたか?

    Shimizu Tetsushi :  変わりません。 やはり人類に対して私達に対してにでも与えてくれる海なんですよ・・・(大きな地球に住んでて、地震は自然の一部なので、それを理解して受け入れ) そうすれば気仙沼は大丈夫ですよ。
    Translator : No, the sea bestows blessings upon us. We live on this great Earth, and earthquakes are part of the way of the world. And because that is how things are, we should come to terms with it. Then Kesennuma, will recover as well.

    Mr. Jaspersen : An E-mail from Germany ドイツから震災後届いたEメール (注:マルテ氏の実家のご家族の方からと思われます)

    German Lady : How do the Japanese manage to remain so composed, in the face of these immeasurable catastrophes?
    一体日本人とはどうやってこんな計り知れない被害を受けても、こんなに冷静に居られるのだ?

    Shimizu Tetsushi : 家族は居亡くなってる、友人が居亡くなってる・・・(食べるものも殆どなく、「冷静」というより 絶望に耐えられず) 何もする気が起きない。
    Translator : The people had just lost their familes or their friends, they had almost nothing to eat, they were not ‘composed’ they were stunned. The lights in their eyes had Died. They could not understand their plight, and were unable to get back on their feet to do anything.

    Mr. Jaspersen : There was another side to it all as well : Theft of petrol, from cash dispensers, and looting of houses that had been abandoned. There were even rapes in the emergency shelters, which was why female volunteers were advised to work in groups of two, especially in the evenings. This, and far more information only reached public attention much later, if at all. Noone was willing to talk about it in front of my microphone either.
    更に違う面もある : 泥棒が燃料やレジ、空き巣になった家を求め盗難。しかも避難所先等でレープさえた人も増え、女性のボランチアは必ず二人以上の共同作業を行うように注意されてた、特に夜は。 こういう貴重な情報は当たり前化され、被害地を助ける為に訪れた方は返って迷惑に。 そんな事を私のマイクの前で話してくれる人なんか居る訳が無い。

    Ito Nobuyuki  : この時期がその~一番嬉しい時期・・・(新しく作ったお米を皆さんに食べさせてあげること)
    Translator : This is (supposed to be) the happiest season of the year. For us farmers, the nicest thing of all is to harvest the fresh rice, so that people can eat it.

    Mr. Jaspersen : Ito Nobuyuki, a retired IT specialist and rice farmer. He is standing in his rice paddy, the sun is shining, and the sheaves of rice have been tied into bundles to dry. The rice field is located among gently rolling hills, in one of the most attractive landscapes of Japan, Iitate-mura. During the trip here, I switched on my geiger-counter… the area is 35km away from the atomic power station (Fukushima Dai-ichi).
    伊藤のぶゆき氏は引退された元 IT専門家で今は福島でお米作ってます。彼は現在田んぼの中に立っていて、太陽も眩しく、お米の稲が沢山干されてる。 この米畑は日本の中でも特に豊かな景色の飯舘村に。 この村に着いた私は ガイガーカウンターを点けてみた・・・ここは福島第一原発から35km程離れてる。 (注:実際聞こえるのが マルテ氏のガイガーカウンターかと思われます)

    Ito Nobuyuki : そうい事が・・・(我々から奪われる事は)怒り心頭。
    Translator : All of this being stolen from us makes me utterly furious.

    Mr. Jaspersen : Since the incessant ticking is starting to irritate me, I raised the warning threshold on my geiger-counter to 10 Microseiverts per hour. Finally, silence.
    絶え間ないアラーム音が嫌になり、ガイガーカウンターの危険探知数値を 10マイクロシーベルトまで上げた。やっと、静かに。 (注:これは実際伊藤さんとインタビューしてる空間の中で切らしたアラーム音かと思われます)

    Narrator : Seivert, is the unit used to measure the radioactive contamination effecting a human being. In Australia, the natural contamination level is 1.5 Milliseiverts per year. In addtion, there is about 2 Milliseiverts from artificial radiation, X-rays, for instance.
              シーベルトとは生態が受けた放射能汚染を量る数値です。 オーストラリアでは体が自然に大気から受けてる放射線は年間役1.5ミリシーベルト。 それに加えて人工放射線などから 2ミリシーベルト程、 例えば レントゲンX線写真から等。 

    Ito Nobuyuki : で、15日は風向きがこっちで(原発港から飯舘村方面)で、15日は雨が降ったんですよ・・・(そして放射能の雲が雪と一緒に降り、大きな被害を与えた。 放射ヨウ素は殆ど蒸発しましたが、やはり放射セシウム汚染が残る。 ここではもう国に米の制作は止められ、この汚染された田んぼは一体どうすればまた使いえるかを苦に思い)どうやって復活させるか色々悩んだ正に、とにかくお米を作ろうと思いました。
    Translator : On March 15th, the cloud (of radioactivity) came. First it rained, then it snowed. That meant that all of the radioactive fallout landed here. Iodine, has meanwhile evaporated, but we have large quantities of cesium. The State has prohibited rice cultivation here. The question of how contaminated rice fields can be made reusable is causing me great concern. That is why i carried on doing it, despite the ban.

    Mr. Jaspersen : Standing on the veranda of his house, is a package. It contains various labeled bags with rice, vegetables, and mushrooms. Ito regularly has a research institute analyze which plants are especially affected by contamination. He tests out methods of lowering radioactivity in the soil… following the laboratory analysys, the samples are sent back to him, as hazardous waste.
        伊藤氏の家のベランダに小包が放置されてる。 中には色々と区別されたお米、野菜、茸等が。 伊藤氏は常に研究会にどの植物が特に放射能汚染に影響され安いかに関して サンプルを提出してます。 彼は自分で 土の放射能を減らす方法を試してる。 けど、提出したサンプルは全部彼に送り返されるのです・・・危険有害廃棄物質として。

    Ito Nobuyuki : 場所にもよりますけれども・・・(駐車場等で汚染土一キログラム内 25,000から93,000ベクレルも)一平方メートルで。
    Translator : The soil contamination here varies greatly. Within 1 square meter, it can range from 25,000, to as many as 93,000 becquerels per kilogram.

    Narrator : The unit Becquerel, denotes how many radioactive nuclei inside a radioactive material, decay on average within one second. For comparison’s sake, natural soil contamination by Cesium 137 in Germany, amounts to about 400 Becquerels per kilogram. It was only after the Internationl Atomic Energy Agency itself determined the values in Iitate-mura to be hazardous to human health, that the Japanese Govenment decided to evacuate the entire region.
    ベクレルという単位は一秒間どれだけの放射能の原子分子の数がその物質に残されてるかを示してます。 例えばドイツの自然環境でセシウム137に汚濁されてる土内の数値は大体 一㌔㌘400ベクレル程です。 原発事故の大分後に 国際原子力機関 (IAEA)が飯舘村の汚染数値は危険だと判明してから、日本政府側が避難命令支持を出した。

    Mr. Jaspersen : Two and a half months since the hydrogen explosion… now areas of land the size of Luxemburg are completely deserted.
    これは原発事故の水素爆発が起きた 二ヵ月半の状態・・・現在ルクセンブルク(ベルギー東方の大公国とその首都)程の面積の荒地が次々へと。

    Ito Nobuyuki : じゃー、作らないっと事は秋に収穫が無い(普通なら政府側が賠償金等の埋め合わせを貰うのが当然と思ったけど) おまえらは東電に請求せいって話ですよ。
    Translator : If, because of the ban (on rice cultivation) we are not allowed to grow anything, then we cannot harvest anything either. So it would be normal to assume The Government would pay us a compensation, but The Government is telling us to get it from TEPCO. (Tokyo Electric Power Company)

    Mr. Jaspersen : And TEPCO? Firstly, TEPCO got those affected to fill out an application form… the annotations alone covered 156 pages. In face of incessant protest, they were reduced to just four pages. Anyone who could prove that they have been evacuated because of the accident, received temporary damages for the loss of their livelyhood, amounting to the equivalent of 12,200 (US) Dollars. What happens next? Has yet to be decided. So far TEPCO has received one and a half million claims in damages.

                Are you worried, at all, about the radiation Mr. Ito?

    そしてTEPCOは?(テプコと直接読まれ東京電力の略し) まずTEPCOは撮り合えず影響された市民に手続きの書類を書かせた・・・有り得ない程一般市民には解かり辛い156枚数分も。 即異議を申し立てる人が逆上した成果、書類は四ページ分に省略された。 原発事故のお陰で非難しなければならかったという証拠がある人呑み 百万円づつ貰えると言う事になった。 それでどうするか?は未だに何も明らかに。 現在ではTEPCOは百五十万人もの損害命令を受けてる。

                伊藤さん、放射能被爆は心配ですか?(注: 本人は実際常に汚染された 畑や土に触れてるので)

    Ito Nobuyuki : 全然感じません。 結果的にはね・・・(人間死亡率100%なんですから・・・私は只人にここに何が起きてるのかを知らせてるだけ。家の有名な山下博士の言う100ミリシーベルト以下は問題ないという事を間違ってると自分の実体で判明出来れば)それは自分の体で打ち消せるんだから、それは名誉だと思いますよ。 (注:以前プルとニゥムを食べても大丈夫と公開した博士)
    Translator : Absolutely not. The death-rate for human beings is 100% afterall. My job, is to tell people what is happening here. It would be an honor for me, if my body contradicts the assertion made by the famous Professor Yamashita (like his “Plutonium is harmless” statement above), that a dose of less than 100 Milliseiverts, is harmless.

    Mr. Jaspersen : How do you see the future, of your town?  ここのこれからの将来をどう思いますが?

    Ito Nobuyuki : 周り全部森林です。 森林を綺麗にしない限り・・・(放射能は戻ってきます。しかし山全部の汚染除去は不可能。 だから、私はどちらかと言うとここを去り、新しく創めたい) でも、北海道で作った 「新飯舘村」 のじゃが芋は・・・皆さん好んで買ってくれると思います。
    Translator : All the mountains here are covered in forest… as long as they remain contaminated, radioactivity will keep coming back. But, decontaminating the mountains is impossible. Thats why, I’m in favor of leaving this place, and starting again somewhere else… under the name, New Iitate-mura. Potates from New Iitate-mura on Hokkaido will probably be sold again.

    Haiku :    飯舘村 一人居りなず 死の意識 (注: 聞き取れなかった部分有り)

    Iida Tetsunari : SPEEDI (System for Prediction of Environmental Emergency Dose Information) was the system The Government have, a prediction of the radioactive contaminations spread out by the wind. The real-time simulation code, and that data, the code, was regularly, all the time operating, even on March 11. But noone disclosed that data, and also, noone utilized that data to proper evacuate the people.
    SPEEDI (S(システム)P(予測)E(環境)E(非常時)D(投与量)I(情報))とは政府が放射能物質が風等での起きる被爆非難設計で利用した図面表。 これは3月11日にも発動してましたが、結果的 SPEEDIが記録したデーターが政府側に停められ、しかもそのデーターは非難計画に使用されなかった。

    Mr. Jaspersen : Iida Tetsunari, leading expert for atomic power and renewable energies.

    Narrator : The Chairman of The Nuclear Saftey Commission, Professor Madarame, who was also a member of The Government’s crisis team, said that since it was nothing more than a kind of ‘weather report’ and simulation, the system (SPEEDI) was worthless. As due to the power cuts, important data could not have been used. The developers of the system countered this by saying that the program had been designed for just such an eventuality. After the hydrogen explosions, The Government ordered evacuation of a 20km radius zone around the reactors. People fled, many of in the direction the wind was carrying the radioactive cloud.
    原子力安全委員会の委員長、そして政府の日本震災対策チームの 斑目博士は、SPEEDIに関しては「天気予想」にもならい、そしてその時の節電中に大事なデーターが失われていたと公開した。 しかしSPEEDIを作った開発者側は異議を表現し、本当にこういう震災の為に設定して来たはずだと。 水素爆発の後、政府は原発半径20kmの避難命令を支持した・・・しかし肝心な非難範囲を支持出来ず、その反動に大勢の方は風で吹かれた放射能雲と同じ方角に逃げてしまった場合も。

    Mr. Jaspersen : Two months after the catastrophe, I visited a shelter for people from the 20km zone, a huge event center located on an industrial estate. Cold neon lights… hovels made of cardboard, or blue plastic panels for the evacuees. Some of the people lying on their sides apathetically… or staring at the ceiling. Whenever I ask for an interview the people turn away. Many of them, especially the older ones, have no future left. They will be moved to emergency apartments that have been specially built somewhere, but they will be never able to go back to their villages… to their animals or their fields. They sense there… this is what the end of the world looks like.
               原発事故の二ヵ月後、私は原発20km内に住んでた方の為の避難所に訪れ、それは都市郊外にある体育館の施設の中だった。 省エネ電球の光、即席に作られたダンボールの建物、非難者の間の青いプラスチックの区切り枠。 横になって仕方なく寝てる人も居て、只天井を見上げてる方も。 私は直接インタービューを求めても皆さんは応えてくれない。 殆ど、特に年配の方は、もう考えられる未来は凪いであろう。 時期に特別被害者用の世帯に引っ越される事になってますが、もう実際自分の故郷には戻れない方も・・・家畜や畑も過去に残し。 それに気づいてしまったら・・・ここは世の末に見えるだろう。

    Haiku : どの教え 死の灰の谷 導くか (注: 聞き取れなかった部分有り)

    Kato Yuko : 私は今まで本当に極々普通な・・・(主婦と母親で)福島に原子力発電所があることすら知らなかったのですよ。
    Translator : I was an absolutely normal mother with a job, and I didn’t know anything about nuclear power. I was almost unaware of the fact there was a power station in Fukushima.
              
    Mr. Jaspersen : Kato Yuko, now lives with her 11 year old daughter in Kyoto… together with a series of other familes that left Fukushima, because of their children.
    加藤ゆうこ氏 は現在11歳の娘と京都に住んでます・・・他にも自分の子供の為に福島から離れた家族と一緒に。

    Kato Yuko : インターネットで京都大学の原子力をずーと・・・(研究されてる 有名な科学者が「放射能に対しては安全数値という物は無い」と言い、その瞬間自分の周りが現在時速
    23.88マイクロシーベルトだと気づいた時、娘と一緒に一刻も早く逃げなければならないと) その時に思いました。
    Translator : On The Internet, I found a comment from a famous nuclear expert from the University of Kyoto. He said that with radioactivity there is no such thing as a threshold boundary under which things could be safe. And then, when i saw that 23.88 Microseiverts had been measured in the hour region, I knew that my daughter and I needed to get out of there quickly.

    Mr. Jaspersen : Her family accepted her decision, but friends were extremely reproachful, because they felt she was fleeing for no reason. In Kyoto, she now lives from her savings, and from short-term part-time jobs organized for her by the city.
    加藤氏の家族は京都に引っ越す事を理解してくれたけど、やはり元の近所の友人達には咎められ、意味もなく逃げてるのではと。 現在彼女は自分の貯金と、京都市が紹介してくれる短期間仕事で生活をしてる。

    Narrator : People who fled off their own accord in regions not officially listed as evacuation zones, received no financial support from The State, however high the contamination.
               正式に認められた非難範囲ではない地域から自分で非難された方は国からまったく金銭的な助けはなかった・・・いくら実際その周辺の放射能汚染が高かった事にも関わらず。

    Kato Yuko :  その憎むべき放射能は・・・

    Mr. Jaspersen : Kato Yuko became politically active, spoke at anti-nuclear meetings. She is a member of a team lead by an anti-nuclear activist, who is running for the office of mayor in Kyoto.
    加藤氏は政治運動で反原発会議等で活動を始めた。 京都の市長の選挙をしてる反原発の政治家に代表されてます。

    Kato Yuko : 原子力発電所がどれだけ危険な物か身を持って体験したので、もうこれはもう本当に・・・(他の人にも知らせないと。原発は全部完全に停めないとこの国の未来が見えてこない。最近海外に引っ越した方が良いのではないかと悩み) 如何したら良いか分からないと言うのが今の現状ですね。
    Translator : I had first-hand experience of how dangerous it is. I have to tell other people about it. The power stations need to be shut down, otherwise I see no future for our country. Recently I have been tormented by the question of whether I should stay on in Japan with my daughter, or leave for abroad. I honestly don’t know what I should do.

    Kato Yuko : 皆さん、ここ京都でも他人事では在りません。 もし若狭湾の原発で事故が起きれば、福島と同様の事態が起こりゆえるという事です。 原発が存在してる限り、明日は我が身体の事に、気付いて貰いたいのです。 よろしくお願い致します。
               Everyone, please, even if this is Kyoto we are not strangers to our fellow Japanese. If some accident should occur at the nuclear power plants in Wakasa Bay (northern coastline of Kyoto), it is quite possible a catastrophe much like Fukushima could unfold. As long as nuclear energy exists, I would like for all of you to gain from my very own experience. I would kindly appreciate all of your support.

    Haiku :    青空は どこまで強いか 余震して 皹の入りたる 天を見上げる

    Mr. Jaspersen : To stay, or not to stay… that was the question after the nuclear accident. In view of the astonishing amount of dithering by the government, many foreigners left the country, and as a result, were treated with hostility. I was in Germany when the earthquake struck… here, noone understood why the Japanese people didn’t board a ship and simply leave their sinking island. Before flying back I tryed to get a hold of a geiger-counter, also with a mind of the future, since there were 13 reactors located in our region, on what is well, yes, fragile ground. But, geiger-counters were sold out, in Germany, not in Japan. Back in Kyoto, I got the impression that people were quite unaware by the danger posed by Fukushima, or worse still, unwilling to acknoweldge it.
    「居残るか、行かざるか」・・・それが原発事故の後の名案だ。 国の人の為に何もしてない政府を見下げ、そのいい加減さに呆れて帰国した外人の方も居り、その結果裏切り者扱いまでされた。 私は人災が起きた時は丁度 ドイツに帰国中でした・・・その時周りのドイツ人の意見では、政府に対して何故日本人は皆船にでも乗って沈没する国から脱出しなかったのかが理解できなかった。 その後日本に戻る時に ガイガーカウンターを手に入れることにした・・・将来京都近辺の原発の事も考えながら・・・何せ13台も不安定な大陸の上に在るから。 しかし、ガイガーカウンターはもう既に日本販売用にに買い占められ、難とドイツでは売れ切れてた。 元の住んでた京都に戻ったら、周りの人はあんまり福島の危険の重要さを把握してない様に・・・ましてその事実さえ受け入れようとも。  (注: 最初 シェークスピアの有名な 「To Be or Not To Be, That is The Question」をちょっと冗談のベースにしたダークユーモアの乞い一部で マルテ氏本人は外人なのに日本人に面してかなり矛盾してる所が多い暴言も・・・例えば ガイガー博士は元ドイツの科学者で皮肉に広島原爆の凡そ一ヵ月後に亡くなり、世の中の化学事態を主に発達させたのはドイツ人なのにあんまり責任感を感じない)

    Narrator : The case of propaganda have been extremely effective. “Nice Nuclear” that is PA (Pro-Atomic) generation, was a good thing, and clean. as to opposed to “Nasty Nuclear” i.e. (in example), the (atomic) bomb. The Government, the PA companies, the media, the schools, were acting in concert. Criticism was stifled, and anti-nuclear activists were neutralized.
    プロパガンダ(国家的宣伝)は人々を巧く騙した。 「ナイス ニューキュラ:善い原子力」を昇進させる プロ原子力(賛成)は実用的で安全という売りで。 その裏側の影の組織 「ナスティーニューキュラ:好くない原子力」 例えば: 原爆。 政府、プロ原子力、メディア、学校も全部お互いの芝居の演技に。 全ての批判は抑えられ、反原子力の運動も中性された。

    Mr. Jaspersen : An officer from a large enterprise in Tokyo, who left it to his employees to evacuate, was summoned before the chairman of the supervisor and board. Were would we end up if we lost trust even in our own government?
    自分の社員の非難命令も出せなかった東京の大きい企業体からの責任者が社長と上司に呼び出された。 (注: 皆さん会社内で震災の非難訓練も受けた事なかったから) 我々は国の政府が信用出来なくなれば一体どういう言う事に?

    Irene Smith : Any kind of political discussion, is like, taboo. People feel very uncomfortable. I mean, its a perfect setup for The Powers that be, because, you know, the people themselves censor themselfs, and don’t act.
    どんな政治的な問題でも、それは暗黙の業界で解決が許されない。 一般市民はこれで大変苦しんでる。 それはこれからの政治家の好都合にしか成りませんが、日本の人々は自ら暗黙を望み、対抗したがらないので。
    Mr. Jaspersen : Says anti-nulcear activist Irene Miyoko Smith  反原子力活動者 アイレーヌ みよこ スミス氏はそう述べた。

    Anti-nuclear Activist : 被爆労働強制するな! ”All against forced labor in toxic radiation! ” 放射能汚染から子供達を守れ! ”Save & protect the children from radioactive contamination!”

    Mr. Jaspersen : A growing number of people are beggining to ask : “Where would we end up if we DID trust The Government?”

    Irene Smith : Internationally, from outside, people often say there’s never been a strong anti-nuclear NGO (non-governement-organization) movement in Japan, and that is not the case at all.
    現在、世界的な視界から観た人はこんな強いNGO(非政府組織)反原子力運動は今まで日本では無かったと思ってますが、それはまったくは違ってます。

    Mr. Jaspersen : Irene Miyoko Smith heads the intiative Green Action in Kyoto.  スミス氏は 「グリーンアクション:Green Action」 という環境保護運動の会長を京都でやっています。

    Irene Smith : Nuclear power was faught in every single place before it was sited, and actually successfully stopped in many places. So, if that whole movement hadn’t happened, from actually the late 60′s? to now, I think Japan would be like France. I think we would be probably, maybe 80% or more of our electricity would be nuclear power.
    日本での原子力発電等を開発するまではどの地域でも非常に反対され、その反運動の成果で原発設計中止に成功した地域も多かった。 だから、それを(原発が増え始めた)60年代?から今に渡って抵抗する主張者がいなければ、きっと日本は仏蘭西の様に。 多分 80%以上の電力は原子力から貰ってるかと。

    Mr. Jaspersen : Demonstrations in big cities, and outside atomic power stations. One initative aims to gather 10 million signatures for a petition in favor of withdrawal from the nuclear energy program… our vegetable lady is one of them.
    原発や都会などで起き始めた反原発大衆示威運動。 ある手始めでは完全に原子力から退避する為に 一億人の署名を求める請願運動等も・・・近所の八百屋のあばさんがその中の一名です。

    Narrator : In April 2011, in order not to evacuate half of the prefecture, and siting goverment experts, The Ministry of Education rasied the permitted maximum radiation contamination level for school children, to 20 Miliseiverts per year. In Australia, that’s the maximum annual dose for nuclear power station personnel.
    4月2012年、市の半分もの避難を避けるため、政府の口調で文部省は学校内での放射能汚染安全制限を 20ミリシーベルトまでに上げた。 オーストラリアではこの数値は原発作業員の許される最大放射汚染限と同じなのです。

    Mr. Jaspersen : But at a meeting with governement representatives, organized by the Fukushima parents’ network, all the authorities refused, in front of live cameras, to assume responsibility for the decision. My wife changed her newspaper at some point, because she could no longer bare people ignoring important issues. But a broad information counter public, has established itself on The Internet as well… small newspapers and magazines that are not dependant on the power supply companies for their budgets, are now starting to become critical in their reporting. Even televison stations are beggining to question the myth of nulcear saftey. However, they avoid calling those responsible to account.
    しかし、(その制限問題に対して)福島親子の集まりが計画した会議では政府側の担当者は生中継を前にでもまったくそれに対しての責任を認めなかった。 時期に私の妻は新聞社を変えてしまい、その訳は一般人の様々な問題えに対しての無関心さにはもう耐えられないと。 インターネット等でで大体な情報を得てくれる出版社も少しづつ増え、なるべく電力会社等の経済力を必要としない雑誌側の調査が段々と厳しくなった。 テレビ局すら「原子力は安全」という幻想を質疑するように成りましたが、何故かに、問題の中心に居る責任者に間違いを認めさせない。

    Narrator : Sou Tei Gai… 想定外

    Mr. Jaspersen : Like a mantra, the word was repeated by The Government, and by TEPCO.  真言の様にこの言葉は政府とTEPCOに繰返された。

    Narrator : Sou Tei Gai… in English, “Unimaginable”, “Unexpected”.
     
    Mr. Jaspersen : The word describes what overtook northeastern Japan… one of the most serious earthquakes in the country’s history. A Tsunami of unimaginable height and violence, which according to TEPCO and The Nuclear Saftey regulators, could not have been expected. The message, is crystal clear… if something cannot be expected, it is not necessary to assume any responsibility for it. For me, “Souteigai” describes something different : the seismologist Ishibashi Katsuhiko, referred to an earthquake endangered country like Japan building atomic power stations in the first place, as Russian Roulette. Already in 1997, he had developed a scenario of a combined earthquake and nuclear disaster… those in power dismissed it as amateur chatter. There had been warning for years within TEPCO about the tsunami dangers, but they have been swept under the carpet.
    その言葉は日本の東北震災の影響を示す・・・日本では記録的で歴史的な地震。 そして、巨大津波が想像出来ない被害を与え、TEPCOと原子力安全会はそれを予測も出来なかったと。 その疑問に対しての言い訳は明らかに・・・要するに予測が出来なければ責任を持つ必要性も無いと言う事だ。 私は「想定外」とはこう思う: 地震学者の石橋勝彦氏は元から大震災の恐れの在る日本で原発等作るのは、自殺行為の 「ロッシャン・ルーレット」 と一緒だと。 彼は1997には既に震災と伴う原発事故の可能性を示す設計図等を業界に広げた・・・しかし周りには素人扱いにしかされなかった。 TEPCO内でも長年津波の恐れを申す注意も常にありましたけど、景気の余りで気にならない風に。

    The Government organized an investigation committee, but it made it clear its task was not to allocate responsibility, but solely to establish what could be learned from all this for the future… and this is spite of the fact that 80,000 people lost their livelyhoods. To placate the population, The Government has now ordered ‘stress-tests’ for all reactors to be carried out by one of the largest reactor manufacturers in Japan… without participation of independant third-parties. Moreover, the tests do not take into account, the case of a earthquake and tsunami, taking place simultaneously… as they did in Fukushima.
               政府は特別調査委員会を組織したが、調査内容も割り切ってとにかく責任を求めるのではなく、将来的にこういう問題にはどう対応すれば良いのかを習うだけの為・・・実際目の前に 8万人以上が原発に日常生活を奪われて居てまでも。 市民を宥める為に政府側は原子力発電所其々に耐震安全調査を支持しましたがこれも業界の陰謀なのでは・・・何故かと政府に使命された専門家しか調査に参加は許されなかった。 更に、その調査とやらは地震と津波が同時に発生する可能性の設定範囲までは調べてない・・・福島で起きた例えがあっても。

    Haiku : よのなかは ちろとすぐる ちろり ちろり   (注: 「ちろり」とはちょっと光がきらめくように過ぎてゆく、という意味だそうです・・・「すぐる」とは過ぎて逝くかと)

    Kano Takashi : 何にも無くなりましたからね。 只、何もなくなったんだけれども、これ以上は酷くはならないだろうと・・・「ゼロだから プラス1プラス2に生るしか成らないんじゃないかと」 思いで頑張ってます。
    Translator : Everything was gone. But that also means that things can probably get no worse than this. Now, we are back to zero. Now, we are working on reaching plus 1 again, and then. plus 2.

    Mr. Jaspersen : Kano Takashi lives on the outskirts of Rikuzentakata. When the tsunami charred up to 500 houses in his district, everything looked like the inside of one huge washing-machine. He remembers nothing more of that afternoon… Kanu saved himself by climbing to a temple on higher ground, with some neighbors. Today, a solar module stands besides the temple… others are attached to the container-dwellings on the edge of the forest.
    加野たかし氏は陸前高田の境目に住んでた。 津波の結果で彼の町の家が500世帯も燃え尽き、周り全ては大きな洗濯機の中に渦巻かれた様に。 あの日の夕方の記憶もあんまり無い・・・たかし氏はお隣さん達と一緒に寺に向かう斜面を攀じ登って助かった。 現在、太陽力発電所がその寺の横に建ってて、他にも森の周りの非難用仮世帯等に在る。

  4. ——–Repost PART 2———

    Advertisement : (注: なんか変な太陽パンネルの宣伝らしき放送)
    Translator : Solar modules for emergency shelters, and to hurry accomodations, the energy of the future for reconstruction. 避難所の為の太陽パンネル、一刻もの早い再建に未来の力を。 

    Narrator : This emergency assistance was initiated by The Institute for Sustainable Energy Policy (ISEP), lead by Iida Tetsunari. Financed by donations, solar plants and bio-mass boilers have provided electricity, light, and warm water in the disaster areas cutt-off from the power grid. By developing a decentralized power supply, the organizations invovled aimed to show that the power companies’ monopoly can be broken, and that renewable energies represent an alternative to Japan’s pro-nuclear policy.
    Even if The Government and the power plant companies are reluctant to face up to the fact, Japan has almost completely phased out nuclear energy. At the end of Feburary 2012, only two of the country’s fifty-four atomic reactors were still connected to the network. The rest had been shut-down for regular maintenance, technical faults, or earthquake damage. Despite the warnings and threats from the Economic Ministry and power companies, this shut-down has only had a minimal effect on electricity supply. Their forcast of ‘excessive demand’ turned out to be quite unfounded.
    この緊急対応は境エネルギー政策研究所の所長飯田哲也氏が実行した。 寄付だけからの資金で太陽力発電所とバイオマス(生態学、所謂燃える物何でも)ボイラーで電気、明かり、熱湯等を中央電力会社から引き裂かれていた被害地に送った。 こうすれば自立した電力発電も可能だと維持する協会が助け合い、原子力に頼りすぎる日本と大手電力会社に実用的な再生可能エネルギーを見せ付けた。
    何れにして政府と電力会社が事実を認めたくなくっても、日本は保々全体的に近く原子力の使用を禁じ、停めた。 二月2012年の末には国全体の原発54台からの内2台しか発動してなかった。 残りは定期的整備や震災の影響での故障原因で活動停止状態に。 しかも経済産業省と電力会社の前面停電の脅迫にも関わらず原発を停めた結果、実際給電に大した影響もなかった。 其々の期待してた 「需要過多」 は妄想で過ぎた。

    Mr. Jaspersen : The water has left Mr. Kano’s house with just four pillars, and a metal stairway. How do you see the future Mr. Kano?
               津波の水力は加野さんの家を柱四本と鉄の階段以外全部流してった。 加野さん 将来は如何思いますか?
       
    Kano Takashi : 我々はずーと自然と一緒に生きて来たんで、津波の被害に会っても・・・(自分達で山等で食料は取れる。 自然を怒らした成果かもしれないが、何時までもそう云う訳でもない。 同じ所に家を建て直し、また津波の被害に会って生き残ってしまったらまた同じ風に家を建て直します。自然を信じて)生きて行こうかなっと思います。
    Translator : We have always lived with nature here. Even though the tsunami destroyed everything, we can still support ourselves. In the mountains there are wild vegetables and mushrooms and fish in the river. This time, nature has turned its fury against us, but that will not always be so. I will probably rebiuld my house in the exact same place where it stood before. If another tsunami comes, and I survive it, then I’ll rebuild the house again. I think we should place our trust in nature.

    Mr. Jaspersen : The relationship between man and the forces of nature, is based on coexistence. One accepts the inevitable, in hope that it will fail to occurr. In conversations, I keep on hearing that people expect to die, if an earthquake occurrs.

    Haiku : 汚染する放射性物質 なんてこった?! 神は笑う

    Miura Bancho : あのーゆくっり車の後、一緒に・・・(マルテ氏等を汚染地を車で様子を見せるためにの指導をしてます・・・とにかく外の空気は直接触れない事に、マスク、窓を開け無い様) 
    Translator : Drive behinds us slowly . If the radiation levels reach one to three microseiverts, make sure you wear your mask, keep your windows closed and do not switch on your air-conditioning even if it steams up, because it sucks in air from the outside.

    Mr. Jaspersen : Miura Bancho, travels regularly through the evacuation zone with his team in a Nissan van. The buddhist priest, and environmental engineer, is the head of the organization Heart Care Rescue. The authorities claim nobody lives here anymore, yet people are still living here. The people cannot, or will not leave their homes. The problem is there’s nobody left in the towns or villiages to care for them. Miura, puts on the protective mask.
    番町の三浦氏は良く仲間と非難地域内の被害地をこの日産車の有蓋トラックで見回りに行く。 彼は仏教の和尚さんで環境工学者でもあり、ハート・ケア救助隊の隊長でもある。 町の担当者等はもうその避難地域には人は住んでないとは言いますが、実はまで居残ってる方も居る。 其々の事情で家から離れない人々達。 問題は彼らの面倒を見れる人はもう近所の住まいには居ません。 三浦氏は防護マスクを嵌めた。

    Miura Bancho : あのー民家のあるところは、スローダウンして、あの居るか居ないかの確認をしないと・・・
    Translator : When houses come, we drive slowly to see if anyone is still living there.

    Mr. Jaspersen : Deserted farmsteads. Greenhouses with weeds growing through their smashed roofs. Uncultivated rice terraces overgrown with grass. Bushes blackened then withered by the cesium that fell here.
    人の気配もない農家地。 グリーンハウスの破壊された屋根から雑草が生え立つ。 収穫してない米林が草に負われてる。 セシウム汚染の影響で枯れてしまった潅木が黒く。
               (注: これは実際その救助隊の車の中から観察してる様子です)   
    Heart Care Rescue member : 13.3… 14.19… (マイクロシーベルト・microseiverts)

    Mr. Jaspersen : Streets that are gradually becoming overgrown. Time and again police roadblocks, marking the start of The No-Mans-Land around the wrecked nuclear powerplant.
    道自体も植物で消され始めてる。 次から次へと警察の建てた通行止めの道路防塞は破壊された原発の周りの不毛の地を導く道印。

    Heart Care Rescue member : 15.23…

    Mr. Jaspersen : And while we drive through the magnificent mist-shrouded mountains, dressed in our white protective suits…
    そして我々は霧に包まれた見事な山脈を視ながら、白い耐放射線スーツを着ていて・・・

    Heart Care Rescue member : 15.50…

    Mr. Jaspersen : The readings on the geiger-counter keep on changing… we stopped the van at a government measuring point. On a board, the days measurment has been recorded : 11.0 Microseiverts… but only 30cm away, the value is already 15 Microseiverts… and a few steps further on, Miura counts aloud under his full-face mask.
    ガイガーカウンターの数値は常に上昇する変化を見せる中で、政府の立てた放射能汚染中点に車を停めてみた。 表示板が有りそこには 11.0マイクロシーベルトと書かれた・・・しかしたった30cmから離れている彼女のメーターでは其れと異なる15マイクロシーベルトも・・・そしてそこから何歩か離れた三浦氏は完全防護マスクの下から大きく数え始めた・・・(注: 要するに政府の提示版はいい加減な数値を表してた)

    Miura Bancho : 39.87… 39.99…

    Mr. Jaspersen : That would add up to an annual figure of 350 Milliseiverts. The value cannot be found on the board, however. For the same time period in Australia, three to four Milliseiverts would be normal. Miura points at a maple tree… it’s red leaves are shining in the rain. Beautiful, isn’t it? How will people ever be able to live here again, Mr. Miura?
    その数値によると年間被爆350ミリシーベルトという有り得ない単位に・・・しかもまだ一般な記録にもされてない危険範囲にまでに。 オーストラリアで同じ時間の範囲では三から四ミリシーベルトが普通だ。 三浦氏は椛の木へ指を刺した・・・紅葉された赤い葉が雨の中で煌いてた。 美しいでしょ? 三浦さん、ここで一体どうすればまた人は住めるのでしょうか?

    Miura Bancho : 少しずつね、切り刻むように・・・(放射能汚染除去は可能だと願ってます。 やはり元にある木等は全部処分し特性な植物等で埋め変え、土も全部取り替えないと往けない繰り返しだから大変な作業)
    Translator : We are hoping that a decontamination is possible. One has to begin with a small area, fell the trees there, remove the soil, and plant deciduous trees, then move onto the next area, and do the same there.

    Narrator : Heart Care Rescue has an office in Minami-Soma, located on the edge of the exclusion zone of the nuclear powerplant. The team provides psychological counseling, food testing, and professional decontamination of houses. People are slowly beggining to trust them more than the municipal authorities. In the media, there is not a word of the work that they do.
    ハートケア救助隊の本部は南相馬に・・・原発避難地域の境目にある。 そこでは様々な個人の話を聞いてくれ、食べ物の汚染も量ってくれ、家等の本格的な汚染除去の頼みまでにも応えてくれる。 人は少しずつ都市の責任者より彼らの事を信じるようになったが、何故かメディアは一言も彼らの活動を注目してくれない。

    Mr. Jaspersen : We stopped in front of a farmhouse. The man is 84. When he smiles, which he often does, he looks like Anthony Quinn. His wife is suffering from dementia… she’s already living in another world. The old man tells us about daily life… about how the farm stopped working recently, about lonliness, and about the darkness that surrounds the house at night. When we part company, he gives my hand a long squeeze and says, “Don’t worry, I’m not giving up.”
    農家の方の自宅の前に停まった。 そこに居たお爺ちゃんは84歳。 笑顔を良く見ると アンサニーくィンに似てる。 彼の奥さんは老人性痴呆症でありもう別世界に存在してる。 彼は日常生活の話を・・・最近農園が止まり、その孤独感、そして夜家を取り巻く闇に附いて。 お別れの際彼は私の手を強く握り 「大丈夫、頑張るよ」 と云ってくれた。 (注: このお爺ちゃんは何故か名無しで、殆ど話が聞き取れなかったので無表示・・・何故かにもメキシコからの有名な俳優に例えられた)

    Miura Bancho : 飯舘村は全層非難という、強制的に、避難指示が出てますので、彼らは自主的に・・・(注: 今会話された叔父ちゃんと小母ちゃんに関して(非難命令に従わず、やはり愛する故郷なので、放射能を恐れていても重病な奥さんを避難所に連れて行けない。しかしその分国もなんの助けも手当て出ず、他のNGOと軍隊はここの高放射レベルを承知してこの地域には近寄らないので、見殺しにする訳にも行かないので定期的にこういう仕方なく居残った方の家を廻り食料等必要な物を差し上げ)世間話をして励まし、そういう活動をずーと続けてます。
    Translator : The area was forcibly evacuated, but the two of them are rooted in the soil here and love the place. They’d rather live here than in an emergency shelter, and are prepared to run the risk of exposure to radiation. The was no support from the authorites and no medical assistance, and NGOs and the army avoid this region because the radiation level is high. They have been left entirely to themselves… so we come by here regularly, ask them if they are well, whether if they have enough food and drink, chat a bit and basically cheer them up.

    Mr. Jaspersen : As a result of their work, Miura and his partner, Marimoto Yuko, themselves come in contact with more radiation than is good for them. Why are you doing this Mrs. Marimoto?
    しかし人を助ける仕事であっても、三浦氏と協力者の鞠本ゆうこ氏は自ら放射能の危険に囚われてます。 鞠本氏、何故こんな目に会ってまでも活動を?

    Marimoto Yuko : 機微に恐怖を感じます、放射線に対して。 もう来年生きてないかもしれないし・・・(十年後生きていても)全て受け入れた上でこの活動と思ってる所に決心があります。 目撃してしまったからね・・・直ぐ隣に、命を失うかもしれない、助けを求める人がそこにいるの・・・視たからって、その人に、じゃ、私達はもう何も出来ないから「さよなら」と言えないですよね。
    Translator : Of course I worry about radioactivity, everyday. Maybe I won’t be alive next year…maybe I’ll still be alive ten years from now. Even so, I decided to do this. I’ve seen people right next door to me confronted by deadly danger and asking for help… I can’t just stand there and say, “Sorry, theres nothing I can do, Goodbye.”

    Haiku :       終日終夜の 沈黙の村

    Narrator : “Souteigai : Beyond Imagination. Japan and The Three-fold Catastrophe” Feature by : Malte Jaspersen (注: 一旦の区切りの挨拶)

    Epilogue (終幕)

    Mr. Jaspersen : Two golf course owners, who had suffered serious drops in income to the fallout sued TEPCO, insisting the company remove the radioactive particles , because, as the owner of the particles, it had a duty to decontaminate. The court dismissed this action, on the grounds that the radioactive particles had become “ownerless” leaving TEPCO’s business premesis, and that as a result, no obligation to take them back… the proceedings are continuing.
    ある酷く原発事故に経済的な影響を請けた二件のゴルフ場主催者はTEPCOを訴え、放射物質の持ち主の責任として放射分子を回収する使命があるから汚染除去は当然だと。 しかし、裁判では事件が免訴になり、理由では放射物質はTEPCO営業社内範囲から離れた場合 「主無き」 分子になるから回収する責任は有りませんと言う事で・・・法廷の法的手続きはまだ続く。

    End Credits : “Souteigai : Beyond Imagination. Japan and The Three-fold Catastrophe”

    Souteigai is winner of the 2012 Prix Italia President’s Cup, awarded to a radio program dedicated to important current issues.
    2012 イタリアのニューズドキュメンタリーの賞をもらった
    The original feature was written and produced by Malte Jaspersen in Japanese and German for Deutschlandradio Kultur and the Bayerischer Rundfunk. This English language version of Souteigai was produced for 360documentaries by Nicole Steinke. The sound engineers were Andrei Shabunov and Phillip Ulman.

    ドキュメンタリーの元は日本語とドイツ語で マルテ ヤスペル氏がプロデュース

    英語版は 360Documentaries の 二コール スタィンキー

     音響技師は アンドレイ シャブノフ と フィリプ ウルマン

      360Documentaries Homepage  abc.net.au/radionational/programs/360/souteigai/4308310

    Japanese poems were written by Matsudaira Meiko and Ikura Chizu. The reader was Naomi Ota. Translations were read by Peter Kowitz (Malte Jaspersen), Asako Izawa, Eden Falk, David Rutledge and Nicole Steinke.

    詩人 : まつだいら めいこ  ちず いくら   読み手 : おた なおみ 
    通訳の吹き替え : ピーター コゥイツ (マルテ氏の代理の役) 
               井沢 朝子
                 エデン ファルく
                  デービッド ラトレジ
                   二コール スタィンキー

    しかし・・・このドキュメンタリーを勝手に改造する許可は 貰ってないので あんまり 面に出さないでください。

    「自分だけ良くっても、沢山の人々が貴方の好い加減さで苦しんでます」

    その意味が 判る人の為に

    this translation was made without permission so please be careful of where it ends up.. at this point i cant see it mattering so feel free.

    You may feel comfortable with being a SMUG know-it-all, so why is your nonchalant selfish behavior causing so many people to suffer.

    Ziro Japan

    2013

  5. I just tried to post a comment about rising groundwater at the Fukushima site at the JapanTimes website, but they promptly censored me. 🙁
    (What’s up with that?)

    But isn’t this a serious problem?
    If the contaminated groundwater keeps rising and seeps above ground, that will contaminate everything above ground, won’t it?
    Radiation levels will spike up, so will Tepco workers be able to keep working there?

    But more worrying is the fact that the groundwater may saturate the reactor site and turn the whole place into a swamp.
    The groundwater keeps flowing down from the mountains, and naturally drains into the sea.
    But if you block this, where can the water go? Won’t it just saturate the ground and puddle around the reactor site.
    Couldn’t the already-crippled reactor buildings start sinking into the ground?
    Couldn’t this turn into an unimaginable catastrophe?

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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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