#Radiation in Japan: How the Brainwashing Was Done in Fukushima

An article appeared in the local (Ishikawa Prefecture) version of Mainichi Shinbun on July 25. The article was about the anti-nuke demonstration in Kanazawa City in Ishikawa on July 24, and it contained this passage:

県内の参加者に交じって、国が計画的避難区域に指定した福島県飯舘村の村立草野小学校職員、愛澤卓見さんも発言。愛澤さんは「震災直後は情報がなく、国が 派遣した大学教授が『村で採れた野菜は、洗えば食べられる』と説明したことなどを機に、避難先から子どもらが村に戻り、被ばくした」と語った。

Among the participants was Mr. Takumi Aizawa, a school worker at Kusano Elementary School in Iitate-mura in Fukushima Prefecture, which has been designated as "planned evacuation zone" by the national government. Mr. Aizawa told the demonstrators, "After the earthquake there was no information. Then a university professor sent by the government came to the village and said, "You can eat vegetables harvested in the village if you wash them". Children, who had been evacuated, then started to come back [on that reassuring word] and they got irradiated."

What? And who was this professor? I suspected Dr. "100 millisieverts" Yamashita, but it turned out to be his younger sidekick, Dr. Noboru Takamura of Nagasaki University. The powerful duo was all over Fukushima Prefecture in March and early April, preaching "safety" of radiation and radioactive fallout to the worried residents of Fukushima as the official radiation advisors for the prefecture.

Dr. Takamura went to Iitate-mura on March 25, and told the concerned villagers these soothing words (from Iitate-mura flyer on March 30, in Japanese):

Thyroid cancer from radioactive iodine only affects children and young mothers. People over 40 do not need to worry. Wear a mask outside, and wash your hands when you come home, and you'll be OK. There will be no ill effect on health living in the village as long as you observe basic hygiene.

Then, he went back to Iitate-mura on April 6, and apparently told the villagers this (from a tweet by @rainbow3342):

長崎大学大学院教授の高村昇、4/6の飯舘村でのリスク説明会で｢雨、台風ですみやかに放射線物質はは流される。10マイクロシーベルト毎時を下回れば子供も大丈夫｣

Nagasaki University Graduate School Professor Noboru Takamura said during the April 6 meeting in Iitate-mura to explain the risk of radiation, "Rain and typhoon will quickly wash away the radioactive materials. If the radiation is below 10 microsieverts/hour, it's safe even for children."

So what else this good doctor and his boss Dr. Yamashita were saying back in March? The collection of tweets were found on this Japanese blog, and they paint a propaganda effort by the Japanese government that would make Goebbels and Edward Bernays proud.

震災後すぐに、福島市で行われた、県の発注で呼ばれたらしい大学教授は講演会で「100mSVまで安全」と言い、福島人は、皆安堵の表情を浮かべた。誰も それを疑わず、ラジオ、ビルの中、街中エンドレスでその録音が流されていた。情報の少ない田舎街では未だそれを信じている人間も、多数いるはず。

Right after the disaster, the professor who was probably asked by the Fukushima prefectural government said in the lecture in Fukushima City, "it's safe up to 100 millisieverts". People in Fukushima were relieved. No one doubted the professor. The recording of the lecture was played everywhere endlessly - radio, inside the buildings, on the street. There must be many in the countryside who still believe him. They don't have enough information.

私が福島へ戻った3/21、偶然その講演会の日でした。友人に電話すると、藁にもすがる想いでそれを聞きに行っていました。皆を安心させるような口調で、講演の端々に、大拍手が起こる。私共復興支援団体のビルでも、毎日ずっと流れてました。

I returned to Fukushima on March 21, the day of that lecture. I spoke with friends on the phone, and they had gone to that lecture, looking for any information. He spoke in a reassuring manner, and the lecture was dotted with loud applause. The recording was played every single day at the building where our recovery support group is located.

他の地域でも山下氏の安全説講演会の後はその内容が地域の広報誌に載せられたり、町内でチラシが廻ってきたり、学校からプリントで配られてきた、とか何とかTL上で色々見ました。

Outside Fukushima City, after Professor Yamashita's safety lecture, the content of the lecture was re-printed in the local PR pamphlet. There were also handouts distributed in the neighborhood, in schools..

３月中は24時間ユーストリームでも流されていました。山下教授の講演と同じく安全、安心というもの。野菜は洗えば食べられるなども。今でも野菜を洗って食べている人が沢山おり、内部被ばくが危惧されます。

The message was played by USTREAM 24 hours a day during March. Just like Professor Yamashita's lecture, it's safe and secure. Also, you can eat vegetables if you wash them. There are many people who still believe the message and eat vegetables after washing them. I worry about internal radiation for them.

昨夜NHKに出演した山下俊一長崎大大学院教授は『チェルノブイリでの教訓が活きようとしている』と飯舘村が自分の研究の実証の場であるかのような主張を した。村民はモルモットではない！

Professor Shunichi Yamashita of Nagasaki University appeared on an NHK program last night and said "Now the lessons from Chernobyl are about to be applied", as if Iitate-mura is his experiment. We're not his guinea pigs!

飯舘村民は疲弊している。もう安心安全を主張する学者の偏った言葉にしか耳を傾けない村民が増えてきている。村民は弱い。その弱さにつけ込んで一方的に安心を押しうる国や県の誘導に心地よさを求めている。真実に依らない安心の代償は大きい。

Iitate villagers are tired. Increasing number of them now only listen to the words of the scholars who insists it's safe and secure. The villagers are weak. They want to find comfort in the words of the national government and the prefectural government that pushes safety. The price to pay for the safety without fact [truth] will be high.

24/7 streaming message of the duo that it's safe, it's safe, it's safe, trust us, just wash your hands and vegetables. Repeat the same message over and over again, and never mind that the message is not based on reality. Tell them what they want to hear. The subjects will get tired anyway and won't remember the details, but they will remember the message.

Well, it has worked.

(h/t Tokyo Brown Tabby)

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