Foreign Passengers Using Narita Drops 63% for Biggest Drop Ever!

This information just in that further confirms what the chairman of the Association of Tourism and Representatives (ANTOR) told me the other day. The Yomiuri newspaper reports that foreign passengers using Narita airport are down 63% since the earthquake of March 11. Here's a quick translation:  


Narita Foreign Passengers Down 63%
Yomiuri Newspaper

The number of foreign passengers on international flights using Narita airport in April has dropped 63% compared to April a year earlier. It was the largest ever drop.  

The earthquake, tsunami and problems in eastern Japan along with the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident further 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.

成田の外国人旅客、６３％減…過去最大

読売新聞 5月26日(木)19時44分配信

　成田国際空港会社は２６日、国際線を利用した４月の外国人旅客数は３２万１６２５人と前年同月比６３％減となり、過去最大の下げ幅になったと発表した。

東日本大震災や福島第一原発事故の影響で、３４％減だった３月からさらに落ち込んだ。

Nuclear Power? Japan Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place - Both, by the way, on Faultlines

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!


As I noted in a previous post, Nuclear Crisis in Japan? When the Cure is Worse Than the Disease:


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. 


In Japanese superquake moved ocean floor 79 feet sideways and 10 feet up - and new data shows region is under more strain the articles states: 

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.

Throw that one article with this blog post by Mish Shedlock about our energy problems not being just Japan's energy problems but a world-wide phenomenon, and you have another factor to consider deeply. Mish writes in Energy Shortages Spreading quoting the ASPO May 23 Energy Review:

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. 

Thanks to Lew Rockwell

Fighting Radioactivity? Pensioners to the Rescue!

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.


DW-World.de Deutsche Welle reports: 

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.


Read more: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,6530334,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-asia-5133-rdf

Most of Nuclear Fallout From Fukushima to Hit USA

There is an interesting interview over at the Huffington Post with nuclear engineer Akira Tokuhiro. Tokuhiro talks about most of the nuclear fallout from Fukushima blowing over the USA and not Japan.

IDA MARIA - BAD KARMA

This is interesting Interesting information for the Flyjin who ran away from Tokyo, Nagoya and even farther away soon after the accident (and got much higher doses of radiation flying in planes than we were getting in Tokyo) and another curious point about how an accident at a USA designed nuclear power plant causes great damage to both Northern Japan and the USA.


Tokuhiro says:


"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. 


Are you panicking yet?


For today's levels compared with pre-quake levels see here. (If that link doesn't work, copy & paste this: http://bit.ly/erHm9p)


For more see: Japan's radiation scare hugely overblown by western media