All About Japanese

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source : theprintup.blogspot.com

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earth hour -
the stench of debris
from the beaches

inspired by Mike Rehling, facebook　


At 8:30 PM on Saturday 26th March 2011, lights will switch off around the globe for Earth Hour and people will commit to actions that go beyond the hour.
source : www.earthhour.org




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Gabi reports:

It is all white with frost this morning.

In the last few days, my husband is out helping repair old farmhouses in our area, to provide homes for the refugees from Tohoku.


Down from yesterday :
. Daily Radiation Levels
See also the government anouncement from last night, below.　


Fourty years back yesterday they opened the first reactor at the Fukushima plant, which much pomp and speeches ... and now ...

They will try and evacuate complete villages to hotels and ryokan inns of Akita and other prefectures. The hotels will keep the people for one year at least. Still many find it hard to leave the place of disaster with missing relatives.

The high level of Iodine 131 in sea water off the plant, leaking since Wednesday, is still a problem. But authorities say it poses no immediate threat.
source :　nhk.or.jp




At Takada Junior High School No. 1 :
. Re-Establishing Order Amid Chaos

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nine eleven
seven eleven and now
three eleven




The convenience store "Seven Eleven" in Sendai
opened after the earthquake, March 13, 2011

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Purification of drinking water, in English and German

Dangers, Properties, possible Uses and
Methods of Purification of radioactively contaminated (drinking) Water
Most methods and tools being recommended here on the Internet such as purification by filtration will not lead to your desired result of decontaminating “radioactive water”.

. Purification of contaminated water . 　

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MICHAEL RICHARDSON writes
Whether Japan's nuclear reactor and spent fuel crisis is contained or becomes worse, it has raised concerns about the risks of generating electricity from atomic power, especially in places that are prone to earthquakes and tsunami.

. Warning to the wise on nuclear plant risks 　

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. . . . . at 13:50

Extreme radiation detected at No.2 reactor
see NHK below !

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Waiting in a long line for petrol for his car, a old man man (82) was found dead. He might have been poisoned by carbonmonoxide due to overuse of the heater on this cold day.
He had a brazier with burning coal in the driver's seat, and the windows of his vehicle were almost closed.
Before that on March 18, another driver with a kerosene stove on the seat had been found dead in a waiting line.


. . . . . at 20:50
The news about the reactor is very insufficient at this point of time.
We are very worried about what reallyhappened today.


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Bulletins from NHK Online

source : www3.nhk.or.jp

Saturday, March 26, 2011 21:08 (yesterday)
Radiation levels decreasing in northeast Japan
The level of radioactivity in the air of northeastern Japan has been stable or decreasing for the past few days through Saturday. But levels in some towns are higher than the annual maximum amount judged not harmful to human health.
The Science Ministry monitored the levels at 6 locations 30 kilometers from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant for about 24 hours from Wednesday morning.
The ministry installed additional instruments to gauge the levels after discovering high levels at some spots outside the 30-kilometer zone.
1.4 milisieverts were detected at one spot in Namie Town, 30 kilometers northwest of the power plant.
The figure exceeds one milisievert, the maximum annual amount of radiation not damaging to human health.
The ministry said it continued its measurements for 50 hours and detected a cumulative level of 2.8 milisieverts.
Professor Masaharu Hoshi of Hiroshima University said the current levels do not affect human health.
But he added that he thinks the plant will continue to disperse radioactive substances into the air for some time and that he hopes people will carry on their daily life while paying sufficient attention to changing radiation levels.



Saturday, March 26, 2011 21:56 (yesterday)
Reactors may create highly radioactive seawater
Tokyo Electric Power Company has said it will do its best to learn how water contaminated with radioactive substances leaked from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant following the earthquake on March 11th.
The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said on Saturday that iodine 131 in excess of 1,250 times the regulated standard was found in seawater collected 330 meters south of a plant water outlet.
The radioactivity level of the water in the turbine building of the No.3 reactor on Thursday was about 10,000 times higher than that in the operating reactor.
The power company thinks fuel rods in the reactor may have been breached and radioactive materials leaked.
The calculation is based on the detection of short radioactive half life iodine 131.
The company is trying to restore the No.2 reactor's cooling function and began injecting fresh water instead of seawater on Saturday, following the same move for the No.1 and No.3 reactors one day earlier.
Cooling functions deteriorate when salt from seawater disrupts water circulation in the pipes.
It said it hopes to begin injecting fresh water into the spent fuel rod pools from Sunday.
It added that it successfully connected interior cables to outside power sources and was able to turn on the lights of the central control room of the No.2 reactor on Saturday evening.
But it said it is struggling to continue other work as it is detecting high levels of radioactivity in the plant.


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Sunday, March 27, 2011 08:53
Efforts continue to remove water
Tokyo Electric Power Company continues to seek ways to drain contaminated water from the quake-battered Fukushima Daiichi plant where 3 workers were exposed to high levels of radiation.
The incident took place in the basement of the Number 3 reactor's turbine building on Thursday. Three workers waded into water that had 10,000 times the usual level of radiation found in a reactor while installing power cables.
After the incident, TEPCO examined the reactors and found that not only Number 3, but both the Number 1 and 2 reactors have highly radiated water in their basements.
The company says it will pump the water out of the Number 1 reactor's basement and pour it into a condenser.
TEPCO says it plans to drain the basement of the Number 2 reactor on Sunday and it is considering various means of removing the water inside the Number 3 reactor building.
Aside from those measures, workers at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant continue to pump fresh water instead of seawater into the Number 1 to 4 reactors to wash out salt.


Sunday, March 27, 2011 08:53
Japanese police say so far 10,489 people have been confirmed dead and more than 16,600 are missing after the March 11th earthquake and tsunami that hit northeastern Japan.
Meanwhile, the National Police Agency says at least 18,000 houses were destroyed by the quake and tsunami, and about 140,000 homes were damaged.


Sunday, March 27, 2011 08:53
Record 16-meter tsunami hit Minami-sanriku
Scientists say a record 16-meter tsunami hit a coastal town in Miyagi Prefecture on March 11th.
Researchers at the Port and Airport Research Institute released the finding after inspecting buildings in Minami-sanriku Town, which was devastated by the massive earthquake and tsunami.
They determined that tsunami as high as 12 to 14 meters hit hospitals and the town hall in the center of the town.
A 4-story public apartment building in the coastal area was almost completely inundated, suggesting that tsunami up to 16 meters reached the building.
The waves were about 4 times as high as those that hit the region in 1960 following a powerful earthquake in Chile.
The researchers estimate that tsunami with a maximum power of 40 tons per square meter destroyed concrete pillars and walls in the coastal area.
A chief researcher at the institute, Taro Arikawa, says that he believes tsunami directly hit the town's coastline, which is open to the fault that caused the quake.
Arikawa added that tsunami could have been amplified in the bay where the seabed becomes much shallower toward the coast.
He stressed the need to review measures to protect concrete buildings, which were thought to be highly resistant to tsunami.


Sunday, March 27, 2011 08:53
High radiation detected 30 km from Fukushima plant
Radiation levels 40 percent higher than the yearly limit for the general public has been detected just over 30 kilometers from the Fukushima Daiichi power plant.
The Science Ministry says a reading of 1.4 millisieverts was taken on Wednesday morning in Namie Town northwest of the plant.
The government has not told residents outside the 30-kilometer radius of the plant to evacuate, or even to stay indoors.
Someone staying outdoors for 24-hours at that location would exceed the annual limit of one millisievert. The limit is based on a recommendation by the International Commission on Radiological Protection.
The science ministry obtained the reading after monitoring 10 locations outside the 30-kilometer zone, following reports that relatively high levels of radiation were found outside that area.
Radiation exerts now say the amount of radiation detected does not pose a health risk. But they advise residents in the area to stay alert for any possible rise in radiation levels, because the power plant is not likely to stop releasing radiation any time soon.


Sunday, March 27, 2011 08:53
Steel makers provide TEPCO with electricity
Japan's major steel makers are moving to provide electricity to Tokyo Electric Power Company in an effort to help ease power shortages in Tokyo and its surrounding areas.
Sumitomo Metal Industries reactivated its conventional power station on Saturday at its steel plant in Kashima, Ibaraki Prefecture. The power station had been shut down for safety checks after the March 11th earthquake and tsunami.
The company says the power generator is capable of producing 500,000 kilowatts of electricity. The steelmaker says it will provide all the electricity generated to TEPCO.
Another major steel producer, JFE Steel, is running its conventional power station around clock in its plant in Chiba city near Tokyo. The plant can produce about 400,000 kilowatts of electricity.
Nippon Steel is also supplying 500,000 kilowatts of electricity to TEPCO by operating its own power plant at full capacity. The steel company jointly runs the power facility with TEPCO in its mill near Tokyo.


Sunday, March 27, 2011 12
Higher level of iodine 131 detected in seawater
The Japanese government says radioactive iodine in excess of 1,850 times regulated standards was found in seawater collected near the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant on Saturday.
On Friday, iodine 131 at a then-record 1,250 times regulated standards was detected in seawater collected in the same place 330 meters south of a plant water outlet.
The nuclear safety agency says there is no immediate threat to people within the 20-kilometer evacuation zone from the nuclear power plant.
The agency adds that seawater is dispersed by ocean currents and the contamination level will decline.


Sunday, March 27, 2011 13:44
Extreme radiation detected at No.2 reactor
Tokyo Electric Power Company says it has detected radioactive materials 10-million-times normal levels in water at the No.2 reactor complex of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
The plant operator, known as TEPCO, says it measured 2.9-billion becquerels of radiation per one cubic centimeter of water from the basement of the turbine building attached to the Number 2 reactor.
The level of contamination is about 1,000 times that of the leaked water already found in the basements of the Number 1 and 3 reactor turbine buildings.
The company says the latest reading is 10-million times the usual radioactivity of water circulating within a normally operating reactor.
TEPCO says the radioactive materials include 2.9-billion becquerels of iodine-134, 13-million becquerels of iodine-131, and 2.3-million becquerels each for cesium 134 and 137.
These substances are emitted during nuclear fission inside a reactor core.
The company says the extremely contaminated water may stem from a damaged reactor core, and are trying to determine how the leakage occurred.
University of Tokyo graduate school professor Naoto Sekimura says the leak may come from the suppression chamber of the Number 2 reactor, which is known to be damaged. The chamber is designed to contain overflows of radioactive substances from the reactor.


Sunday, March 27, 2011 16:24
Japanese police say that 10,633 deaths have been confirmed in the massive earthquake and tsunami that hit northeastern Japan on March 11th.
Police say 16,621 people are still missing



Sunday, March 27, 2011 17:03
Fisheries coop in Iwate to study recovery steps
A fisheries cooperative in northeastern Japan will study recovery steps after confirming the willingness of its members to continue their business.
One of the 3 fisheries coops in Kamaishi City, Iwate Prefecture, had more than 400 fishing boats before the tsunami, but 90 percent of them have been lost. All seaweed and scallop farms were swept away by the tsunami.
On Sunday, 11 executives of the coop held a board meeting for the first time since the March 11th disaster. They offered a silent prayer for 2 fishermen who died in the tsunami. Half of the 450 members are now living in shelters.
The board will discuss the size of fish farms to be restored, depending on the number of members who are willing to continue fishing. It also agreed to resume some fishing with fixed nets.
Some board members said that aquaculture, which had made large profits, should be resumed as quickly as possible to help rebuild people's livelihoods.
The coop's head, Katsutoshi Uemura, says he is not sure how many members can resume fishing but his coop will work steadily for a recovery.


Sunday, March 27, 2011 18:22
Anti-nuclear activists hold rally in Tokyo
Anti-nuclear activists have staged rallies outside the Tokyo Electric Power Company headquarters to call for the closure of all nuclear power plants in Japan.
The move follows the problems that developed at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant after the massive quake and tsunami hit northeastern Japan on March 11th.
The organizer of the rally said about 1,200 people took part in Sunday's demonstration.
The protesters marched more than 2 kilometers around the TEPCO headquarters, holding up banners and calling for the closure of nuclear plants that are not built to withstand earthquakes and tsunami.
They demanded that the government make a policy shift to use alternative energy resources instead of nuclear power. They also called on the government and Tokyo Electric Power to disclose further information and to take more responsibility for what happened.
Plans to build nuclear power plants in Japan have been suspended since the disaster. Many plants have not resumed operation after regular inspections.
The anti-nuclear groups say they will continue to hold protest rallies.

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More bulletins from late this night are here on

. March 28, Monday . 　


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Voices from around

. The Daily Reading List . 　

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quote 　　
Signs of disaster were there to see
By JUN HONGO
On Feb. 23, 2005, Kobe University professor Katsuhiko Ishibashi appeared before the Lower House Budget Committee and pointed out the risks of operating nuclear power plants in earthquake-prone Japan.
"An earthquake and its seismic thrust can hit multiple parts (of a nuclear plant)" and induce not one but a variety of breakdowns, Ishibashi, an expert on Earth and planetary sciences, told the lawmakers.
Such a scenario could knock out even the backup safety system and possibly result in a "severe accident," such as overheating of the reactor core or even a runaway nuclear reaction, he warned.
Warnings like this from Ishibashi and other experts went largely unheeded.
Two weeks after the tragedy struck the Tohoku region, the situation at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear facility has shown at best only incremental improvements. Ishibashi's prediction of a chain of catastrophes proved all too prophetic.
source : japantimes.co.jp

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quote 　　
Spare us shoganai as we face an ominous spring
By STEPHEN HESSE
For two weeks now, ever since death and destruction swept northeastern Japan, all of us here have been trying to get our heads around this catastrophe.
The number of victims is mind-numbing; the fatalities, the missing, the homeless. The longer-term challenges, too — environmentally, socially and economically — have our minds spinning with fears, uncertainties, future scenarios and alternative plans.
The damage is too great, the impacts too far-reaching, the wounds too raw. Warnings, admonitions and half-formed exhortations come easily, but so do cliches and false generalizations.
... All of which left each of us dealing with the situation in very different ways. Some frantically tracked down information and compared notes with others trying to make sense of the chaos. Others resigned themselves to passive acceptance, waiting to see what would happen ...
'Silent Spring,'
The seminal 1962 book by Rachel Carson warned of the dangers that DDT and other chemicals pose to ecosystems and songbirds.
source : japantimes.co.jp

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quote 　　
Sumitomo Metal resumes operations of Ibaraki furnaces
Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd said Saturday it has resumed full-fledged operations of its blast furnaces at its Kashima steel plant in Ibaraki Prefecture after suffering from the March 11 deadly earthquake.

Sumitomo Metal’s furnace operations there returned to normal when the steelmaker restarted one of the two furnaces suspended after the magnitude 9.0 quake struck northeastern and eastern Japan on March 11.

The Kashima plant is Sumitomo Metal’s largest production foothold, boasting crude steel output of 6.82 million tons in fiscal 2009.
source : www.japantoday.com

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quote 　　
Traces of radiation from Japanese nuclear plant detected in China
Tokyo, Japan (CNN) -- Traces of radioactive iodine were detected Saturday in China's Heilongjiang province, a Chinese government agency told state-run media.
The slight rise in radiation, which authorities determined had emanated from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, was a minuscule fraction -- one-hundred-thousandth, to be exact -- beyond normal background radiation levels, China's National Nuclear Emergency Coordination Committee said, according to Xinhua.
Because of the low level, the government agency said there was no harm to public health in China and said there was no need for any extra precautions.
source : edition.cnn.com

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quote (at 21:00)
Soaring radioactivity deals blow to Japan's plant
Workers were withdrawn from a reactor building at Japan's earthquake-wrecked nuclear plant on Sunday after potentially lethal levels of radiation were detected in water there, a major setback for the effort to avert a catastrophic meltdown.

The operator of the facility said radiation in the water of the No. 2 reactor was measured at more than 1,000 millisieverts an hour, the highest reading so far in a crisis triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11.

"The situation is serious. They have to pump away this water on the floor, get rid of it to lower the radiation. And it's virtually impossible to work, you can only be there for a few minutes," said Robert Finck, radiation protection specialist at the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority.
The Japanese government said the overall situation was unchanged at the plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo.

"We did expect to run into unforeseen difficulties, and this accumulation of high radioactivity water is one such example," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a news briefing.

Yukiya Amano, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said the nuclear emergency could go on for weeks, if not months. "This is a very serious accident by all standards," he told the New York Times. "And it is not yet over."

LEVELS 10 MILLION TIMES ABOVE NORMAL
The latest scare came as engineers were trying to pump radioactive water out of a turbine unit after it was found in buildings housing three of the reactors.

"Ten million times is a massive number but if you were right up close to the fuel rods it would be ten million times normal because normal is (almost) zero."

TOKYO RADIATION LEVELS NORMAL
The elevated radiation detected on Sunday was confined to the reactor, and radioactivity in the air beyond the evacuation zone around the plant remained in normal ranges.

MORE
source : news.yahoo.com

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quote 　　
Cherry Blossom Festival pays tribute to Japan
WASHINGTON –
The flowering trees that symbolize friendship between the United States and Japan are blooming for the 99th time in Washington in the wake of one of the world's worst natural disasters.
Before the two-week National Cherry Blossom Festival opens Saturday, organizers held a fundraising walk and vigil Thursday evening among the trees for victims of Japan's March 11 earthquake and tsunami. An estimated 18,000 people have been killed in the disaster.
Japanese Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki told the crowd that his country needs help.
After a gathering and moment of silence, the ambassador joined a crowd in walking to the cherry blossom trees along the Tidal Basin, holding glow sticks. Donation bins lined the sidewalk to benefit American Red Cross relief efforts.
source : travel.usa today.com

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quote (with Video)
Do you know how scary a tsunami is?
posted on March 10 ! 2011/03/10
If you know all about tsunamis and how to protect yourself from them, tsunami disasters can be reduced. This program will show you how scary tsunamis can be and introduce ways to protect yourself.
Japanese Government Internet TV
source : nettv.gov-online.go.jp



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every news
a call to pray...
Japan

Anton, Kenya


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our country
going for reconstruction
a scarlet flower blooms

source : Etsuko Yanagibori, facebook

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