Narita Foreign Passengers Down 63% Yomiuri Newspaper The number offoreignpassengerson international flightsusing Narita airport in April has dropped 63% compared to Aprila year earlier. It was the largest ever drop. The earthquake, tsunami and problems in eastern Japan along with the Fukushima Daiichinuclear power plantaccidentfurther reduced travelers using the airport by 34%..
Of course, not all of this drop can be attributed to the earthquake as many international carriers began overseas service out of the more convenient Haneda airport nearer central Tokyo, but this is still a massive drop and a surprise to all.
Well, I've always bragged that I was a trend leader...
LENA LOVITCH - NEW TOY
On this blog, I've written extensively about how you can't trust the government (nor can you trust the mass media) and the best way to protect yourselves and your family is to gather information yourselves. This has been especially true during the recent nuclear accident at Fukushima.
Well, I should say, I ordered a personal geiger counter from Amazon Marketplace. It never arrived. I almost got cheated by a dishonest dealer (named Frontline Mobility) who now, it seems, has lost their contract with Amazon after many people (including me) complained. That was a dealer in the USA.
Then, I ordered one from a dealer in Japan using Amazon.co.jp Marketplace.... Hmmm? Same sorts of problems, it seems. It's been weeks now since I ordered and still no geiger counter. This has happened even though when I ordered the dealer claimed to have it in stock and that shipping would be within three days....
Now this! Just today I found an article on Yahoo that says that sales of personal geiger counters have skyrocketed in Japan!
Reuters reports:
TOKYO (Reuters Life!) – With a nuclear plant just 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo still leaking radiation, demand for personal Geiger counters has skyrocketed in the Japanese capital and manufacturers are struggling to keep up with the demand.
Engineers are battling to plug radiation leaks and bring the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant under control more than two months after the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and deadly tsunami that devastated a swathe of Japan's coastline.
With many people unsure of who to trust for their information, some buy Geiger counters to check for themselves.
In Akihabara, Tokyo's electronics mecca, many stores have sold out and are unable to keep up with demand for the devices.
"Nobody even looked at or even knew the name (of the Geiger counter), but ever since the earthquake struck people have become very interested," said Makoto Ogasawara, sales manager at electronics store Akibaoo.
"We are selling 100 times more."
(snip)...
"We are producing four to five times more of the Geiger counter (than usual)," said Michihiro Kitazawa, Fuji Electric CEO.
Most of the Geiger counters at that factory are hand-made, which takes roughly 3 to 4 months. It makes about a dozen different types, producing about 2,000 per type each month.
Kitazawa said his company has also benefited from efforts to make the devices less complex so anybody can use them.
"Of course, there was the earthquake, but in the past 2-3 years, we have been trying to produce Geiger counters that are easier to operate," he added.
But most of the Geiger counters made at the factory will still be used by those working inside nuclear power plants, prompting the company to carry out rigorous checks to make sure the devices are working correctly.
"We really care about credibility," Kitazawa said.
Sigh...I am told by the dealer on Amazon.co.jp that the geiger counter I ordered will arrive by tomorrow... I continue to have my doubts. It's now been almost two months since I ordered a geiger counter and I am still not a proud owner of a device.
No sign of any geiger counter...
I think, at this rate, I am hoping to have one by Christmas... But I am not holding my breath. I am not holding my breath waiting for the device to be delivered nor am I holding it in fear of breathing in radioactive fallout.
I just want my new "toy". As soon as I get it. I am going to go around Tokyo and check for myself and report on what I find. Stay tuned!
I am not a negative person but I am astounded at the news everyday. It seems like, with every passing day, something comes up in the news to add to an already full plate of bad news for Japan. Here's a couple of news stories that have slipped through the cracks that, if you pause to consider, could have serious ramifications.
SAM COOKE - TROUBLE BLUES
Japan's troubles seem like they keep growing. Our debt to GDP is 225%; the government keeps spending; cheap foreign labor have left the country; more holes keep being found at Fukushima along with proof that the cores of the plants melted down ("melted down" sounds really bad, but what exactly that means for you and me is unclear) and, in general, problems with the Fukushima nuclear reactors continues to mount. Throw on top of that an incompetent and bungling political system and we are most definitely headed for the hottest summer in Japan in years!
The actual disaster is bad enough. But it is the after effects that are going to kill us. You've heard the expression that the "Cure is worse than the disease?" Well here is a case example happening in slow motion right in front of our faces. It is the "ping-pong" effect. And the repercussions of this ping pong effect are spreading wider and wider and everyday brings a new facet to this problem as it continually evolves. That ping-pong effect could have very serious and long term effects and cause huge damage to the Japanese economy and, in turn, seriously hurt the world economy.
The ramifications to the Japanese economy of the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima nuclear power plant accident, government bungling of the entire affair along with throwing away $63 billion dollars in taxpayer monies to bailout TEPCO, a private firm (when Japan is already at debt of 225% of GDP) - along with all the new problems that are popping up everyday are what's really going to mess this country up.
When the world's number three economy gets a case of cancer this bad, the rest of the world is going to suffer too.
I think it is completely impossible, at this time, to predict how all these various events will affect the Japanese economy and, in turn, the world economy.
Since I make these claims that no one can predict what's going to happen, here's two articles that I have found that are of interest.
The ocean floor shifted sideways by 79 feet in the Japanese earthquake in March - much further than scientists originally predicted.
And researchers are warning that immense amounts of seismic stress remain stored in the area, putting it at risk of further devastating earthquakes.
The journal Science has published three new papers about the effects and causes of Japan's March 11 mega-quake, which paints a picture of an earthquake hot spot much more complex and potentially dangerous than scientists had ever anticipated.
(snip)
Under the seabed, the movement may have been even greater - perhaps 160 to 200 feet, by some estimates.
In another study sure to raise alarm in Japan, scientists from the California Institute of Technology have reconstructed how the Tohuku-Oki earthquake unfolded using GPS data recorded at more than 1,200 sites.
Tsunami about to hit Fukushima nuclear power plant on March 11, 2011
Their data showed that - contrary to previous opinion - the area had built up massive amounts of strain prior to the earthquake.
Earlier, there had been general agreement among researchers that the 'Miyagi segment' of the fault line was not under the stress of other segments along the Japan plate boundary, where large earthquakes occur at a regular basis. But Professor Mark Simons' team showed that this assumption was deeply flawed.
This raises questions about other sections of the fault line that had previously been considered low risk - including areas further south, closer to Tokyo.
This 'Ibaraki segment' of the plate boundary has been thought to behave in similar fashion to that of the Miyagi segment, and Professor Simons says it may likewise hold large amounts of seismic stress.
I do think that, most times, the Daily Mail is a dodgy newspaper, but at least in this article they didn't make any silly statements like "There's is going to be another massive earthquake and we're all going to die." But this article is well written without the writer adding in their two-cents. To read this article has to cause one, who is living in Japan, or anywhere on the Pacific rim, to pause for a moment and consider.
Pakistan and China continue to top the list of countries with the most serious power shortages. Last week brought in reports of energy shortages developing or worsening in Egypt, Guyana, the Dominican Republic, India, Japan, El Salvador, Bangladesh, Libya, Mozambique, Nepal, Venezuela, Argentina, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Tanzania. Most of the reported shortages are of electric power caused by inadequate water levels at hydro dams or insufficient coal, but some of these shortages stem from unaffordable oil prices or the inability to import sufficient quantities of liquid fuels.
In most countries, electricity shortages quickly translate into increased demand for gasoline and diesel as organizations strive to keep important activities such as computers, elevators, hospitals, refrigeration and even factory production functioning with back-up generators.
More stress on fault lines? Sounds plausible. Especially considering this year's earlier massive earthquake in Christchurch New Zealand followed by the March 11 disaster in Japan (and frequent after shocks - just had one ten minutes ago). Throw on top of that the public growing disdain and distrust of nuclear power and the system of political power in Japan - along with the coming of a very hot summer and rising oil prices - and you have a situation that could turn into another energy crisis very quickly.
I've written it before and I will say it again; the very worse thing that could happen to Japan is the loss of cheap, clean energy.
At outside festivals, hot summer is fine... Not in a hot office, though!
Sure, nuclear power has its warts...And I believe that we need to get rid of these 40-year-old power plants and build new safer units....
What are the practical alternatives? Wind power or solar power? No. Those are fine for running a refrigerator or heating your bathtub, but they could never power a steel factory or a subway line... There's no way they could power the grid for a city of over 35 homes like Tokyo.
Certainly, this is going to be a hot summer for Japan and the rest of the western world.
Japan is most definitely in between a rock and a hard place. The fault line makes it even more precarious.
Sometimes the Japanese just blow my mind. The entire fabric of society here and how people work as a team and believe in doing their utmost for the betterment of all is just amazing. The spirit of self-sacrifice that these wonderful people show to each other is awe inspiring.
Here is a jaw-dropping story about how 60 ~ 70+-year old senior citizens Japanese are banding together to work at the crippled nuclear power plants at Fukushima.
High levels of radiation and uncertainty as to how long it might take to get the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi stabilized mean that the health of workers and people in the area is becoming an increasingly important concern.
The authorities are already finding it difficult to find enough people who are willing to go into the contaminated area and carry out necessary construction and decontamination work. However, a group of middle-aged volunteers have said they are willing to step in and put their lives at risk.
"My acquaintances and I talked very intensively about the accident and about how we could help contain the disaster," explained 72-year-old Yasuteru Yamada who came up with the idea.
"A functioning cooling system is indispensable," he pointed out. "But who is supposed to build it? Only people can do it. So why not us? Since we don’t have such a long future ahead?"
Pensioners at Fukushima
Yamada is a former engineer who studied metallurgy. He set up "Qualified Veterans for Fukushima Nuclear Plant No. 1" as a registered charity to convince the authorities of its seriousness.
He did not name the people he had already spoken to but said that the hope was that a plan would have been "developed by the end of May or at the latest in June."
Yamada also explained that the initiative was not a kamikaze action at all, but one that has been very well thought through. "Things have to be done in a team," he said. "Our project should be part of a long-term plan under state control. We have to examine people’s skills very carefully to find out what tasks are appropriate for them."
450 helping hands
Yamada and his friends have now contacted 2,500 people in Tokyo and the surroundings. Some 450 people have already offered their help and 90 of them - all in their 60s - have agreed to work in the plant itself. He says they are "worried about what’s coming. But should we not do anything just because we are worried?"
It is an amazing testament to the spirit and kinship of the Japanese that the elders would do this for the others and the youth of this country. While this is not the entire picture, it is a small slice showing why the Japanese spirit of sacrifice is considered a nobel and extremely honorable trait.
These old folks are heroes.
There's many more like them. Let us bow our heads and treat them with respect, not just in Fukushima, but when opening doors for them or giving up our train seats for these folks.
"There is a difference amongst the following: nuclear physicist, nuclear engineer, nuclear reactor operator, nuclear non-proliferation specialist.
During the current crisis, all these 'experts' have been in the media.
The ranking of 'experts' who REALLY know how the reactor accident took place is as follows.
1) Nuclear reactor operator (he/she is really the forensic surgeon, the auto mechanic who can build and drive the car) 2) Nuclear engineer (he/she is the forensic and internal/external medicine practitioner; the automobile design and analysis engineer)
As for the other two, they only understand the principles. It is as if they know the principles of driving a car but have never driven the car nor designed a car nor repaired a car.
Would you ask a podiatrist about a medical heart condition? Would you ask a medical ethicist? I think you get my point.
It takes all kinds of people to run the global nuclear industry. However, who do you trust in terms of knowledge?"
The article continues:
"I asked him about his own family in Tokyo and about Japanese culture in general regarding the lack of information. Akira replied that Japan is very centralized, Tokyo-centric and that these things seemed to be taking place very far away and that the people in Tokyo were not in shelters, evacuated perhaps forever from their homes. He told me about the diary he was reading online of one evacuee who had been a nuclear engineer working at Fukushima, who had been evacuated with his family. (It can be found in the original on the Japan Nuclear Industrial Forum here: www.jaif.or.jp). This man is an expert and he can be trusted to know what is going on and analyze the information.
.....
Fukushima differs from other nuclear reactors in that it uses a dirty fuel or MOX which is banned in many of the countries where nuclear power is a major energy source. My Swedish-Russian nuclear physicist friend is sending me links for reliable radioactivity readings and weather/wind patterns. We must remember some of what is posted on the internet are simulations, not actual readings. But he did add this:
The most terrifying fact is that the Japanese power plants are using 'dirty' fuel, which most countries have rejected and banned. Needless to say that the Americans built them. Since the Earth is moving Counterclockwise most of the fall-out will drop on U.S."
Interesting to read that even Tokuhiro's comments are completely about the immediate area around the nuclear power plant (and not Tokyo) and how efforts need to be focused there. It is also surprising to see that most of the radiation is going to fall on the USA.... It's a US designed nuclear power plant too....I guess karma can be a real biatch!
It's also relieving to see that the basic background radiation levels in Tokyo as measured by non-governmental agencies are still comparative to pre-earthquake levels showing no alarming spike and still 1/4 the radiation levels of Rome, Italy. The rdiation levels in Tokyo at this very moment are: 0.063 microgray per hour. If you flew from Tokyo to New York you would absorb about 200 micrograys of radiation. This means that the daily background radiation levels living in Tokyo straight for 8.69 months is roughly equal to one one way flight to New York from Narita.
Asahi Newspaper in Japan confirms core meltdown may have occurred at Fukushima reactors #2 & #3.
The information shows that, at the time of the problem in March, when TEPCO was saying that there was no meltdown, as of information on May 16, it may have melted down. The Japanese is ambiguous.
In keeping with responsible reporting on this accident, the facts, once verified must be reported. So, a meltdown may have occurred, but, according to data from TEPCO on the date of the incident and soon after the incident, there was no way to verify nor deny any meltdown. The final paragraph of the news story shows how this incident unfolded.
The data disclosed by TEPCO on May 16 shows that core meltdown may have occurred in the Reactors 2 and 3 at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. In the Reactor 3, the melted fuel may have dropped to the Containment Vessel. Nuclear experts have pointed to the possibility [of meltdown in the Reactors 2 and 3] and Prime Minister's Assistant Goshi Hosono hinted at the possibility in the May 16 press conference.
According to TEPCO's "roadmap" on April 17, it was going to take between 6 to 9 months to shut down the reactors. The revision of the "roadmap" will be inevitable now that both Reactor 2 and Reactor 3 may have had a meltdown, as it will take more time to build a cooling system for the reactor core, and the massive amount of highly contaminated water will need to be processed.
The data disclosed on May 16 was the data right after the earthquake on March 11. It took TEPCO some time to retrieve the data from the central control room of the plant because of the long period of power outage and the radioactive materials on the recorded printout. The data in 4 large binders includes graphs on the printout and operation diaries kept for each shift.
According to the data, the pressure inside the Reactor 2 RPV (Reactor Pressure Vessel) dropped at 6:43PM on March 15 (JST), and the pressure inside Reactor 3 RPV dropped at 11:50PM on March 16. The integrity of the RPVs were compromised, it is thought, and the pressure went down.
There are many channels that go through the bottom of the RPV [16 centimeters thick] to insert control rods and measurement devices. The melted fuel went down to the bottom of the RPV, and may have melted the devices at the bottom. The contaminated water from the Reactor 3 has been found to contain the radioactive materials like technetium that are produced when the nuclear fuel gets damaged, indicating that the melted fuel may have dropped from the RPV into the Containment Vessel.
In the press conference, TEPCO refrained from saying anything definite. "We haven't fully grasped the situation at the plant, and we haven't been able to evaluate it."
PM Assistant Hosono said that there was no water being poured into the Reactor 1 for 14 hours and 9 minutes, Reactor 2 for 6 hours and 29 minutes, and Reactor 3 for 6 hours and 43 minutes. He said "We should be prepared for the possibility of the complete meltdown of the reactor core."
Haruki Madarame, chief commissioner of the Nuclear Safety Agency spoke after the regular meeting of NSA on May 16. "When the highly contaminated water was found coming from the Reactor 2 in late March, we recognized that the reactor had had a meltdown, and advised [the government]. We also knew that the Reactor 1 and 3 had the same situation, looking at how the accident unfolded."
According to TEPCO, based on the records, the Reactors 1, 2 and 3 stopped automatically after the quake, and there was no sign of any physical damage to the reactor. Emergency diesel power generators were working. TEPCO concluded that all the equipments were working normally after the quake and there was no major damage to the plant until the tsunami hit.
I recently concluded an interview with a new publication that is under the support of Casey Research and that publication s called the International Man. It is a publication geared towards the expat or people thinking of expatration out of the USA or other western nations into the developing world in order to find their success and new opportunities.
We spoke of many things related to Japan and one of the most difficult questions dealt with the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami and subsequent Fukushima nuclear accident. I was asked how this chain of events would affect the Japanese and world economy.
Not to belittle a serious situation, I replied that, in and of itself, the disaster followed by the nuclear accident at Fukushima is, in the long run view of things in Japan, a blip on the screen. The nuclear problems in Fukushima are serious to be sure, but for the over-all view of Japan, that alone is not such a huge event. It is the ping-pong effect that this incident is going to have on Japan that is difficult to access the total damage that it will cause. Specifically, how much bungling will the incompetents running this country into the ground will cause with their ill-conceived and poorly considered "solutions".
Consider: There are only 750,000 people living in the Miyagi area where the earthquake and tsunami struck hardest. This disaster and the nuclear power plant accident has displaced about 400,000 (if anyone has exact figures, please send along!). Had this accident happened in Hamaoka or Tokai, south of Tokyo, it would have been an entirely different story. There are 35 million households in the Tokyo area alone.
At the end of World War II, Japan had over 2 million dead soldiers. Almost 1 million dead civilians and her cities were carpet bombed into ruin. Yet Japan recovered. This earthquake, tsunami and nuclear incident is in a small corner of Japan. Once again, not to belittle a very dire and serious situation, but it is the aftereffects of this situation - combined with Japan's debt versus GDP and a rapidly aging society - along with an exodus of cheap foreign labor that's what's really going to hurt this country.
The actual disaster is bad enough. But it is the after effects that are going to kill us. You've heard the expression that the "Cure is worse than the disease?" Well here is a case example happening in slow motion right in front of our faces. It is the "ping-pong" effect. And the repercussions of this ping pong effect are spreading wider and wider and everyday brings a new facet to this problem as it continually evolves.
That ping-pong effect could have very serious and long term effects and cause huge damage to the Japanese economy and, in turn, seriously hurt the world economy.
One of the worst things to come out of the Fukushima accident is, not only radiation leaking out into the ocean is - quite surprisingly - the fact that radiation has been detected in unsafe levels in tea leaves in farms in Odawara - south of Tokyo. This is very bad for those farmers and a real head scratcher as to how this has come about. It also, on the other hand, dampens complaints that some people have about the government covering up and lying about the radiation levels. If the government were always lying and covering up as some claim, then this information would have never seen the light of day. I'll be the first to suggest that everyone should be skeptical of everything they hear and see on the mass media or from what the government says, but I also have always said that each person needs to research facts. This is why I list the radiation levels in Tokyo that are published daily by a non-governmental, science research group, the Advanced Science and Technology Unit. on this blog. See here. This group does not publish conjecture and just facts as to daily radiation levels. (The fact that a government group has also researched a published results of radiation levels in food in Fukushima, Miyagi and now Kanagawa proves that there are reliable reports coming out about radiation levels of concern to the public well-being.)
But, in the long run, and for the over-all view of the health of the nation, let's examine briefly the shockingly great deal (poor deal for the public) the Japanese government has given to TEPCO, the owners of the nuclear power plant, to bail out that company. First off, any thinking person should be dead set against a government bailout of any privately owned company. Why do privately owned companies get to enjoy profits (TEPCO charges the highest utility rates in the region and owns 44% of the market and is the #1 energy company in all of Asia) and pocket them but when they lose money, they get bailed out by the public? It is also a crime that TEPCO carried no casualty insurance. (Global Research has a great article on this here.) You or I lose our drivers license if we have no car insurance but a big company in bed with the government can run a nuclear power plant without insurance!?
The bailout package is $62 billion (USD). Japan cannot afford this bailout. It is, also, not really a bailout as such. There will be no bonds issued. TEPCO has 30 years to repay so the actual plan is to have the Japanese government print our way out of this mess.
Throw on top of that the point that a privately owned company is giving up some control to the government and you really have to wonder what people are thinking about. Why in the world would anyone want such an inept and useless bunch of people like the Japanese government - a government who has nearly bankrupted this nation - to take over a privately owned corporation? I think this is beyond comprehension.
Think about it folks, we are already at 225% debt to GDP. This debt is growing like a dangerous anuerism near the heart of the public. Giving this government more control and more leeway to spend and throw money at problems is not the solution. Adding another $62 billion dollars to Japan's debt mountain is not going to help us at all. The public has shown a willingness to save, but the government has not shown a willingness to stop the spend and the printing. This, plus a recession, deflation, aging population, exodus of cheap foreign labor, and some more problems that will surely pop up as we go - just as sure as the sun will rise in the east - shows that it is not the actual disaster that is going to kill us.
The thing that is going to do us in is not the disease (all of our problems). It's the cure prescribed by the fools running Japan's government (easy credit, printing money and more debt) that will surely kill us all.
Judging from the way things are going and how the government's answer to problems is always the same, it shouldn't come as any surprise to anyone when the day sooncomes that Japan's debt to GDP nears 250% ~ 300%. Could it be that far off? I don't think so.
