“…Many people would sooner die than think; In fact, they do so…” --- Bertrand Russell
Things have calmed down quite a bit concerning the nuclear accident at the reactors in Fukushima. The situation is stable as reported by Japan's stalwart NHK news.
Can one judge the stability of the situation as it is being perceived by foreigners through the foreign media too? Yes. But, in my case, do I make this judgement that things have calmed down from viewing the news in Japan? No. The news in Japan is pretty much the same today as it was over these last four days: Calm, collected and reporting the facts on the ground without resorting to hysteria. It's too bad that the foreign community in Japan does not bother to learn enough conversational Japanese to be at least able to watch and understand news broadcast in the native tongue of Japan.
I also judge that the situation has calmed down quite a bit for the west in that western media has stopped making ridiculous doomsday pronouncements about nuclear melt-downs and comparing Fukushima to Chernobyl. News in the west has suddenly shifted away now from the potential "nuclear meltdown" in Japan to events in Libya.
Of course, western news media can get away with this. Attention spans in America are short.
Think about it person sitting in their home in America - or even Japan... One day you are told to fear for your very lives because of the nooklar boogeyman and a nuclear melt-down... The next minute? Well, look at that! We're bombing Libya!
If the situation in Japan were so serious and so dangerous to you and your family safety and our lives were coming to an end, do you actually believe that the mass media would be switching your attention so easily to bombing some lunatic in North Africa?
Hey! There's a novel revelation for me right there! Doh!
Is this sudden switching of attention proof of ridiculous mass media induced tabloid sensationalism? Absolutely. I rest my case, your honor. The mass media in the west is guilty as charged.
Other foreigners in Japan feel the same
Don't think that I am the only one - the only foreigner - in Japan who thinks this way. There are lots of us. You can also bet that very many Japanese are unhappy about this too. There are also several of us long time residents of Japan who, while they won't use the term 'disgusted', are quite dissatisfied with how this situation was handled and reacted to by the foreign news and community in Japan.
(L-R): Me, Daniel Kahl and George Williams drinking together in 2009
One aquaintance, Daniel Kahl, probably one of the top two experts on Japan (along with George Williams) made this excellent Youtube video... Daniel fumbles his words a bit but I think he can be forgiven because he is restraining himself as I can tell he is actually furious (to put it lightly). Watch:
I enjoy the part at the end where Daniel says, "Cut it out. Knock it off, or your just not going to have any fans in the country." Hilarious. Daniel, my friend, you don't actually think the mass media care about fans or regular people, do you? They only care about ratings and money. That's why they do this sensationalism. Either way, thanks Daniel. I owe you a beer next time we drink together at George's house.
What's going to happen to the relationship between the Japanese and the foreign community in Japan? I think the actions of many of the foreigners (not just in the media) have created much distrust and disrespect of those foreigners (especially in management) by their Japanese counter-parts. I already posted about one foreign company, Coca Cola, whose foreign upper-management committed the sin of running away while taking paid leave (isn't stealing from your own company considered theft?) while expecting the Japanese to continue working as if nothing at all happened?
If the situation were so bad and they bothered to make rational decisions - while showing a tiny bit of leadership qualities - then they'd have had the guts to say that they were running away and told the Japanese staff to go home; or they would have sent their families away and stayed with the ship. I know for first hand fact that the Japanese staff left over by their panicking foreign bosses have very little respect for those people. They probably should have zero; which were just about the odds of a nuclear disaster hitting Tokyo.
Let me give you an example of a leader who deserves massive respect and knows how to make a company culture whereby his staff and workers will follow him to the end of the earth. I heard from an extremely reliable source that, during the crisis, the foreign president of Godiva chocolates, Jerome Chouchan, decided to send his family away but he stayed on because he said that he felt like, "If I leave now and leave my Japanese staff to fend for themselves it would be like the captain leaving the sinking ship first." He said this and this gentleman is a French citizen! (This means you other westerners who diss the French must bow their heads.) Bravo!
This gentleman calmly made a professional judgement using the basics of risk management. He was able to control his emotions and make a logical, clear-headed decision. Contrast that with how so many foreigners panicked and ran off like some Bruce Willis movie.
This gentleman showed the qualities of a true leader. He has made a situation whereby his staff have nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for him. They would follow him to the end of the earth. As a customer, I will always buy Godiva chocolate.
Coca-Cola? No.
Let me ask you a question. If you are foreign management in Japan - or foreign management returning to Japan after panicking and running away - and are reading this, how would you judge yourself and your status and level of respect amongst your Japanese staff at this moment?
Misery loves company
From now on you might see that some of these foreigners who panicked and took off will be coming back embarrassed and feeling a bit ashamed. Rationalization will be their tool in defending their actions. Let us forgive them. I hope the embarrassment they feel in their hearts will be sufficient punishment for them. I'm sure this lesson has also taught their children well. After all, aren't the parents responsible for building strong minds and a strong character in their children?
Once again, let me state that there is no problem in the world with wanting to protect your children and - making a level headed judgement based on basic risk assessment - then sending them away if deemed necessary. But panicking and making hasty decisions is not teaching them an important lesson in life.
What lessons did your reactions teach your children about how to handle themselves and what to do in an emergency?
Another foreigner who has lived in Japan all his life - has been the president of a world famous major foreign corporation in Japan - wrote to me and said;
A lot of the expats were getting that kind of pressure (to panic and run away) from their families from overseas as well.. But in many cases, it was just blind, stupid fear without digging into the facts.
What's going to happen to the relationship between the Japanese and the foreign community in Japan? I think the actions of many of the foreigners (not just in the media) have created much distrust and disrespect of those foreigners (especially in management) by their Japanese counter-parts. I already posted about one foreign company, Coca Cola, whose foreign upper-management committed the sin of running away while taking paid leave (isn't stealing from your own company considered theft?) while expecting the Japanese to continue working as if nothing at all happened?
If the situation were so bad and they bothered to make rational decisions - while showing a tiny bit of leadership qualities - then they'd have had the guts to say that they were running away and told the Japanese staff to go home; or they would have sent their families away and stayed with the ship. I know for first hand fact that the Japanese staff left over by their panicking foreign bosses have very little respect for those people. They probably should have zero; which were just about the odds of a nuclear disaster hitting Tokyo.
Let me give you an example of a leader who deserves massive respect and knows how to make a company culture whereby his staff and workers will follow him to the end of the earth. I heard from an extremely reliable source that, during the crisis, the foreign president of Godiva chocolates, Jerome Chouchan, decided to send his family away but he stayed on because he said that he felt like, "If I leave now and leave my Japanese staff to fend for themselves it would be like the captain leaving the sinking ship first." He said this and this gentleman is a French citizen! (This means you other westerners who diss the French must bow their heads.) Bravo!
This gentleman calmly made a professional judgement using the basics of risk management. He was able to control his emotions and make a logical, clear-headed decision. Contrast that with how so many foreigners panicked and ran off like some Bruce Willis movie.
This gentleman showed the qualities of a true leader. He has made a situation whereby his staff have nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for him. They would follow him to the end of the earth. As a customer, I will always buy Godiva chocolate.
Coca-Cola? No.
Let me ask you a question. If you are foreign management in Japan - or foreign management returning to Japan after panicking and running away - and are reading this, how would you judge yourself and your status and level of respect amongst your Japanese staff at this moment?
Misery loves company
From now on you might see that some of these foreigners who panicked and took off will be coming back embarrassed and feeling a bit ashamed. Rationalization will be their tool in defending their actions. Let us forgive them. I hope the embarrassment they feel in their hearts will be sufficient punishment for them. I'm sure this lesson has also taught their children well. After all, aren't the parents responsible for building strong minds and a strong character in their children?
Once again, let me state that there is no problem in the world with wanting to protect your children and - making a level headed judgement based on basic risk assessment - then sending them away if deemed necessary. But panicking and making hasty decisions is not teaching them an important lesson in life.
What lessons did your reactions teach your children about how to handle themselves and what to do in an emergency?
Another foreigner who has lived in Japan all his life - has been the president of a world famous major foreign corporation in Japan - wrote to me and said;
A lot of the expats were getting that kind of pressure (to panic and run away) from their families from overseas as well.. But in many cases, it was just blind, stupid fear without digging into the facts.
Not everyone has the choice to leave and when people come back, there will always remain the question about how much can we trust or rely on these people..!
I do have a number of friends that call me every night to check in.. Partly out of concern, partly out of guilt.. But mostly I think because they are bored to death with nothing to do.
Aha! Yes. I couldn't have said it better, "...there will always remain the question about how much can we trust or rely on these people."
The time is coming to assess the situation and to pay the piper. This means that everyone will have to judge their actions during this crisis. Foreign parents and company executives need to stand in front of the mirror. They need to look themselves straight in the eye and make serious and fair judgements about how they handled themselves in front of their own children and their Japanese employees. Did they panic? Or did they make rational decisions? Did they gain respect or lose respect during this time?
I think far too many will not like what they see.
A Japanese family recovers clothes from their destroyed home
And now, finally, the scorecard as of right this moment about the nuclear accident:
In the first sign that contamination from Japan's stricken nuclear complex had seeped into the food chain, officials said Saturday that radiation levels in spinach and milk from farms near the tsunami-crippled facility exceeded government safety limits.
Minuscule amounts of radioactive iodine also were found in tap water Friday in Tokyo and elsewhere in Japan — although experts said none of those tests showed any health risks. The Health Ministry also said that radioactive iodine slightly above government safety limits was found in drinking water at one point Thursday in a sampling from Fukushima prefecture, the site of the nuclear plant, but later tests showed the level had fallen again.
Six workers trying to bring the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant back under control were exposed to more than 100 millisieverts of radiation
Thanks to: Daniel Kahl, George Williams, Michael Distacio, Michael Anop, James Allen, Mike Newton, Tim Rabone, Paul Guilfoile, Roger Marshall, Steve "Poots" Candidus, Marc Abela, Ken Nishikawa, Yuka Rogers, Jon Lynch, Google, Rob Schwartz, Tina Kawamura, Jerome Chouchan
Now we must make a judgement about nuclear power. Is it safe? Is it safer than, say, burning coal or gas refineries that spew toxic wastes into the air that we breathe? This next piece of information from Energy From Thorium
Q: Is nuclear power unsafe?
A: No. It is far safer than chemical power and renewable power. Look at the burning refineries and gas lines. There are no burning reactors. People are scared of "radiation" and don't understand what it means. The media makes little attempt to tell them. I am trying to be a resource to help explain because I have had some training in this area. A dam gave way due to the earthquake. That's not safe either.
Ultimately, the scorecard up until now shows that deaths from the nuclear accident until now are zero. On the other hand, tens of thousands of dead and many more than 11,000 people are still missing, and more than 452,000 are living in shelters. Now that is the catastrophe.
Japanese refugees after earthquake and tsunami left them homeless
The foreign media sensationalizing the nuclear reactor accident and then the foreigners panicking and running away all contribute to the news ignoring the true humanitarian crisis in this country. Those people need our help, not our abandonment.
That's the score as of today concerning the real disaster here in Japan.
Please donate & help if you can.
http://www.google.com/intl/en/crisisresponse/japanquake2011.html
Please donate & help if you can.
http://www.google.com/intl/en/crisisresponse/japanquake2011.html
Thanks to: Daniel Kahl, George Williams, Michael Distacio, Michael Anop, James Allen, Mike Newton, Tim Rabone, Paul Guilfoile, Roger Marshall, Steve "Poots" Candidus, Marc Abela, Ken Nishikawa, Yuka Rogers, Jon Lynch, Google, Rob Schwartz, Tina Kawamura, Jerome Chouchan
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