World-class runners will start the race in front of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Hall in Shinjuku, run through the central and downtown Tokyo, and finish in Tokyo Big Sight on Ariake landfill. Not really a low-rad course, but it will be nothing like the Women's Ekiden Road Race in Fukushima last year featuring 13 year-old girls.
There is no mention of radiation anywhere on the official site of the Tokyo Marathon 2012.
Not when the mayor wants 2020 Olympic.
30-Day free trial by following the link.
Tokyo Time
戦争の経済学
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ArmstrongEconomics.com, 2/9/2014より：
戦争の経済学
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37 comments:
Not sure where to post this info, but there is link to a weekend conference about Fukushima at Willamette U, Oregon, USA. Saturday is up. You can register and I will to add comments. Good chance to see what informed Americans are saying. Just starting watching it. First is a Japanese official from Portland repeating the party line ("cold shut down" etc.) and followed by someone more truthful. Anyway, looks good. Please check it out.
LESSONS OF FUKUSHIMA
a symposium for education, collaboration, inspiration
February 24-25, 2012
Paulus Lecture Hall, Rm. 201, Law School
Willamette University
Sponsored by:
Center for Asian Studies, Willamette University
Center for Sustainable Communities, Willamette University
with the assistance of the Government of Canada
avec l'appui du gouvernement du Canada
This event is free and open to the public. The proceedings will be viewable via
a live stream (all times PST) at:
http://www.willamette.edu/events/fukushima/stream/index.html
Change is difficult but the Japanese are willing to defy science in order to resume with their daily routines. They will get away with this for a couple more years until the truth is too difficult to hide/ignore. By that that time it will be too late. Koriyama, Fukushima and Shirakawa are all over Chernobyl limits for immediate evacuation. These are not hot spots. Anyway, OT - there is no reason to pretend everything is back to normal and there is no way Japan will get to host the Olympics. Unfortunately, Japan is on a course to ensure it is the most contaminated country in the world. I have lived here over a decade but this is my final year as I cannot stand to watch a populace throw away their future. I apologize for the rant.
Chibaguy. Do your coworkers, friends or Japanese in-laws talk about the radioactive fallout and Fukushima much at all? Are any of them very worried and do you know anyone else who has already left either Chiba/Tokyo or Japan altogether?
I, as you have probably read from my previous posts, left Japan asap after 3.11 and while I keep in contact with my friends, family and colleagues in Japan I do not really bring up the topic of 3.11 most of them as it seems a very difficult topic to discuss for them even though it is all that is ever on my mind even now.
That said two of my friends in Tokyo who I do talk to about it are extremely stressed on a daily basis since 3.11. The food aspect they find extremely stressful to the point of being almost not eating. One colleague has told me that he and his wife have thought of ending their lives as they feel it is the end of everything.
My Japanese relatives (Chiba area actually), however, appear to be in denial of this all from what I can gather.
It is truly beyond horror, this entire situation and the ripple effect to all affected.
If you have any information you can share with us all please do so. Enjoy the weekend.
Btw, I missed your post with your email. I was hoping at some time to contact you but it was taken down before I copied it. :(
"Since Fukushima crisis started nobody has died from radiation."
This is the strongest statement that makes the whole land of Japan keep going as nothing really happen.
It will take years to uncover if this is true or not.
Olympics, Marathon and any event that make shine a Capital city like Tokyo, has a wonderful oppurtunity to try to be in Japan.
Also from a western point of view seeing the japanese people in japan now could be a learning experience like the kabuki actors.
One man with many faces and fallouts.
Contamination
Kintaman I live in Tokyo and I can tell you that most of the people are living their daily lives as if nothing has/is happening. They do not talk about it. Tokyo is fine and Fukushima is not their problem. I myself am appalled that the Japanese can ruthlessly endanger the health of their children and future generations for the sake of the economy.
I would have done as Kintaman did and left months ago if it wasn`t for the fact that I have family here. I would like to take my six year old daughter as far way from here as possible but because of the smoke and mirrors from the government and Tepco I cannot convince my wife that leaving is the best thing to do. She or any member of the family won`t even talk about it.
I would also like to thank Ultraman for all the excellent work he has put into keeping people informed through this blog.
@anon 4:03, I understand your frustration and may be able to provide a source for you to convince your wife. I will help you if you need it. I spent almost half a year convincing my wife. I think we can all help each other and this blog is our savior. I have been told several times to get out ASAP from those in the medical industry. Since you have a child that is six, I am willing to pay it forward.
If anyone finds a hotspot in the Tokyo area, don't just tell the government. It will ignore the information. Send an email to the International Olympic Committee and send a cc to the Tokyo government.
Sadly the Olympic commitee and the like care more about money than people, they gave the olympics to China despite their human rights record, its all about cash and if Tokyo wave a big enough carrot at the olympics people then they will get it....
To the posters above regarding the frustration getting people to understand the seriousness of the situation, i live in Kyushu and am still worried about the food chain, most people are oblivious to the situation dont want to talk about it and live in total denial, if i were living anywhere north of Osaka i would leave even if it ended in divorce....there is no match for pig ignorance, Do all you can to get your kids and family out of tokyo or chiba or wherever.... Anyway end of Rant.. All the best
UFC fights in Tokyo today!!
As the Japanese government keeps up its deceiving acts and people who have no reason to risk their wellbeing are going along with them, I'd better prepare myself for a news of Tokyo Olympics.
A japanese information (for japanese readers only, :))
Tepco would do basements explorations :
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/genpatsu-fukushima/20120224/1950_robo.html
A marathon in Tokyo? Oh, please!!... Yeah, right.
One of my loved ones is still taking business trips to Tokyo. Sure, that would have been great a couple of years ago, but now it seems all-out crazy. It's so easy to fool people about who are not informed though...or those who prefer not to think critically or be informed!
actually, I have no idea why some people are UNwilling to check into it regarding their own health....very confusing.
If there happen no more nuclear mishaps in Fukushima or other Japanese nuclear installations, I suppose bribing the IOC will work for sure.
Maybe the Japanese government in turn will even get blackmailed to pay a horrendous sum.
Because it will want to avoid at all cost losing its face by the IOC rejecting the Tokyo application due to radiation concerns.
This marathon just underscores the problem Japan faces. Most of the agricultural and urban heartland of Japan is at least a hundred times more radioactive than before 3/1.
However, the levels are still well below those in southern India or China, some of the world's most naturally radioactive sites, where people have lived without obvious harm for centuries.
So the government conclusion, to studiously ignore the problem, is not irrational. There is nothing useful the government can do in any case.
Consequently, even a minimal effort to implement basic commonsense measures to limit the spreading of contamination is prohibited because that would raise doubts about the basic 'do nothing' stance.
So the citizens are on their own. Logic would recommend supplementary potassium and iodine, under medical supervision, to limit the uptake of radioactive elements. Cesium will be in the food chain at all levels, so minimizing the absorption by flooding the food with potassium and sodium is about the only option.
A mask to cut down on dust inhalation would also be appropriate. Fortunately, those are common in Japan.
There is little else beyond that that is feasible for the individual. Moving is not an option for most people except in case of imminent death, which is not the case here.
This disaster is unusual, both because it damages so many people and because most will never be able to prove that their problems were caused by it.
@netudiant,
Not to be disrespectful but I would like to know how you compare natural radiation against man made radionuclides that spew from Fukushima.. What is the definition? In my mind natural radiation does not include radionuclides that ionize and lead to cell damage. I do not know your stance, but using the natural radiation argument discredits you.
@netudiant, plese tell me you are being ironic, you cannot be serious.... If you are serious you are extremley misinformed and very susceptible to brainwashing.... Now off you go and have your banna sandwich...
"In my mind natural radiation does not include radionuclides that ionize and lead to cell damage."
My god, the ignorance... Go ask Litnivenko how did he feel after he was dosed with natural Polonium-210.
..."natural" meaning radioactive element found in rock such as in granite. TINY AMOUNTS of radioactive element(s) are dispersed within the rock. You can lie around on granite and on radioactive uranium embedded in rock without much effect but you can't hang around mined and concentrated radioactive elements without effect.
They didn't put a pebble containing Polonium-210 in a natural state in Litnivenko'spant pocket, did they? The polonium they used was extracted and concentrated.
Ignorance indeed.
Thus the problem is dose, not if the radionuclides are natural or not.
One thing that is constantly "put under the carpet" (as we germans say) is that evolution of life was not possible before the natural radiation decayed away sufficiently.
Except of K-40 and C-14 the natural radioactive isotopes don't get built into the body in relevant quantities.
Evolution has learnt to deal with these isotopes.
But it hasn't learnt to deal with stuff like radioactive Iodine or Cesium.
Actually, I repeat, evolution of life could begin not before the many "Oklo reactors", which were abundant when Earth was young, died out.
It's not only the dose, it's also the type of radiation that matters and where it concentrates.
K-40 and C-14 do not concentrate and damage in specific organs like the man-made radionuclides and so it is a fatal mistake to equal them.
It's not only the dose, it's also the type of radiation that matters and where it concentrates.
K-40 and C-14 do not concentrate and damage in specific organs like the man-made radionuclides and so it is a fatal mistake to equal them.
Exactly! Well written as usual.
"Thus the problem is dose, not if the radionuclides are natural or not."
Not only dose. As Atomfritz writes, it is type also. We somehow evolved symbiotically with K-40 and C-14 so that these elements cause us no harm. It is incredibly stupid to infer that "bananna" eating should be limited because of K-40! Our ancestors, the primates, had already evolved eating fruit like bananas without ill effect long before we came along.
Exposure to manmade radioactive elements in concentrations never found in nature is dangerous. K-40 in bananas or brazil nuts compared to concentrated mined uranium or manmade plutonium????
@ Atom Fritz
We Americans say 'swept under the rug' to mean the same thing as your 'put under the carpet'.
@ All
There's also an important detail about K-40 that sets it apart from Cesium, Iodine etc. The body has a natural limiting response so it will only take up a small amount of K-40 and it will ignore the rest. For this reason, you can eat as many bananas as you want and your body will not continuously keep increasing the amount of K-40 it absorbs. This biological limiting of uptake does not occur with Cesium, Iodine etc - the body will absorb increasing amounts of those; there is no natural biological limit to the amount of radioactive wastes the body will absorb.
Netudiant said "However, the levels are still well below those in southern India or China, some of the world's most naturally radioactive sites, where people have lived without obvious harm for centuries. "
Netudiant, when nuke apologists on another website kept saying this about certain location and provided Wiki links to 'prove' this point, I read the Wiki and then followed the links that WIki used as reference material to support their article. The scientific study Wiki linked to was actually worthless and proved nothing. The area with higher background radiation had elevated levels because of radon hot springs. Radon hot springs are entirely unrelated to consuming cesium in water and food. Further, the 'scientific study' had a very small population sample (a few thousand) selected from males 27 - 53 years of age when this group would be far less succeptible than young children or females. Further, the 'scientific study' only lasted 6 years, which was not long enough to learn anything. During that six years there was no adjustment for how much radiation participants received because they would basically have to go to the location and possibly spend time in the water. There was no indication how these men were selected or any controls for other factors in their lives. Basically, it was a worthless study used to support the rumor that other people live just fine in other parts of the world where radiation is higher. I don't think this was sloppy science,I think it is much worse. I believe it is pro nuclear propaganda so I object to it being used as if it were valid information that the public can use.
Ionizing radiation is ionizing radiation. The cells of your body don't care if an electron comes from cesium-137 or from potassium-40. The reference to evolution is only important because, as the last poster said, some man-made radionuclides have the potential to accumulate in the body, but in the case of cesium the problem is chronic incorporation through food after several months or years. A single day running in Tokyo is irrelevant. As for external exposure, just check safecast.org to see that the levels of radiation detected in Tokyo are nothing special compared to other parts of the world (probably you would get a higher dose during the hours you spend in the plane at 2-3 microsieverts per hour going there.)
I see where this is going...
Equivalent to eating a banana
Equivalent to eating a couple of Brazil nuts
Equivalent to the amount of radiation a person receives from the natural environment
Equivalent to a round-trip cross-country flight !
(spinach) “you’d have to be Popeye to eat enough to worry”
(milk) “if consumed for one year, equivalent to one CT scan”
(water) “receiving one eighty-eight of a chest x-ray”
(fish) “Sushi Safe From Japan Radiation as Ocean Dilutions Makes Risk Negligible”
same blah blah for strawberries, persimmons, rice, beef, mushrooms, tea..etc..
No one has died from radiation yet
Ionizing radiation is ionizing radiation. The cells of your body don't care if an electron comes from cesium-137 or from potassium-40.
This is too stupid to answer but I'll give it the ol' college try. Potassium-40 is the biggest source of natural beneficial radioactivity for humans and animals. Do you know of any studies(besides idiotic pro-nuke propaganda) showing ionizing radiation coming from K-40 ingested by the human body causes ill effect? Can't say the same for cesium-137. What about plutonium? Yeah equal amounts of ingested plutonium verses K-40(couple of bananas) will be handled the same way by our dumb body cells. Fuck give us a break, will you.
Plutonium is different, specially when inhaled, because of lung damage by alpha radiation. The levels of Plutonium detected in Japan so far after Fukushima are similar to the levels present in the soil before the accident, and only identifiable by the ratio of Pu-238 to Pu-239/240. The same for strontium, which presents a higher risk because of the longer biological half-life, which is being identified as originating from the Fukushima NPP by the ratio of Sr-89 to Sr-90.
About potassium-40 being the biggest source of "natural beneficial radiation for humans and animals" I would like to see some study for that.
@February 26, 2012 3:42 PM
"The levels of Plutonium detected in Japan so far after Fukushima are similar to the levels present in the soil before the accident, and only identifiable by the ratio of Pu-238 to Pu-239/240. "
Where there is Cesium, there is Strontium, (part of fission) and therefore TEPCO and the Japanese gov don't measure strontium that is present when they find tea crops highly contaminated, beef highly contaminated, produce, fish, etc. The reason you don't hear about Strontium, Uranium, and Plutonium above pre Fukushima levels is because TEPCO and the gov don't want you to hear about it. But logically, it is present. Have you heard about startling amounts of Americium and Neptunium? Those are related to plutonium/uranium present.
About potassium-40 being the biggest source of "natural beneficial radiation for humans and animals" I would like to see some study for that.
The fact that you would even need to see a study for this is mind numbing. Like another poster sarcastically wrote--chimps hardly make it to maturity when it's a good year for bananas!
Yes people in India, the Philippines, China, Ecuador, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia and Thailand, some of the heaviest banana consuming and producing countries in the world, have their hospitals filled with people suffering from banana induced ionizing radiation.[more sarc]
For fuck's sake, GIVE IT A REST.
The beneficient radiation meme is presumably a consequence of the radiation hormesis hypothesis, that low doses of radiation are beneficial, perhaps because they stimulate some body repair functions.
Afaik, the basis for this is the recognition that nuclear workers seem to have statistically improved life spans relative to comparable cohorts.
There is no indication that this effect is related to one type of radiation or another. The energy spectrum of each decay varies with the specific isotope involved, trying to tease out which has greater or lesser effect on longevity is not feasible, as the effect is small and the number of possible sources huge.
It is certainly true that the work done on the life expectancies and health profiles of people living in naturally high radiation areas is limited, but it is quite enough to show that there is no large effect. The areas are considerable, well settled and in multiple countries, so the data is pretty clear. Moreover, the radiation from natural sources (mostly thorium from monazite sands prevalent in those areas) is just as effective as that from man made radioactivity. The alpha, beta and gamma radiation has the same effect no matter the source.
Cesium is absorbed into muscle tissue and has a resident half life of less than three months to excretion. It does not build up indefinitely.
Strontium does get incorporated into bone and hence does build up, so it is a concern, but at the radioactivity levels noted, the levels would be very low.
Arguments aside, it is difficult to see what useful steps the government of Japan could take.
One cannot scrape an inch off the surface of Japan, much less five feet, so the contamination is unavoidable. Telling a part of the country that it is outcast, because of contamination, likewise seems unhelpful. It is an extra burden on Japan, the more painful because it will be intergenerational, but still small compared to those the WW2 generation endured.
@netudiant,
They don't have to scratch an inch of the surface of Japan, like they didn't have to scratch an inch of 40% of Europe after Chernobyl: http://www.unscear.org/docs/JfigXI.pdf
The areas more heavily contaminated In Fukushima Prefecture, north of Tochigi and west of Gunma should be left for agricultural products with relatively less cesium absorption or abandoned all together, instead of reacting each time a new produce is detected with cesium contamination, and similar measures should be implemented in the rest of Kanto for produce like mushrooms, which regularly show higher concentrations of cesium.
For decontamination, it seems Japanese firms are slowly coming up with techniques to deal with the problem of soil contamination (while at the same time increasing the problem of stored radioactive waste): http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20120224p2a00m0na022000c.html
http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/toshiba-invents-device-it-claims-can-decontaminate-radioactive-soil
With the trillions of tons they have to deal with, it would be expensive, but since Cs-137 is going to be a problem for more than a century, there is time (cesium-134 would be gone in a decade or two.)
For the ones saying that the "government and Tepco" are hiding the information about plutonium and strontium, just say that every anti-nuclear group or researcher on earth and hundreds of the new ones appeared in Japan after March are taking samples of soil, food, urine and whatever they want everywhere in the country outside of the 20km zone and conducting independent tests, so it would be difficult for them to hide anything. Just check how fast the "black substance" from Minami-soma appeared on Asahi TV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ko_KE37vyI
Netudiant says:
Afaik, the basis for this is the recognition that nuclear workers seem to have statistically improved life spans relative to comparable cohorts.
I say: False. They are not healthier. Congress signed into law an act (US) protecting dept of Defense workers who had claims for cancer denied because their records indicated that they were below industry standards as far as their collective dose over the period of their employment. When congress did so, it included in the act a statement noting that radiation can cause cancer below the dose limit required of their employment. I have had a doctor and 2 medical staff (all working in unrelated areas) tell me that the nuke industry has a dirty little secret medically speaking; workers get cancer and other radiation related illnesses 'too often'. Some news headlines I didn't follow a few months ago said that a European agency had found eye opening levels of illness among it's nuke workers. No - nuke workers are not healthier.
Nutudiant says:
It is certainly true that the work done on the life expectancies and health profiles of people living in naturally high radiation areas is limited, but it is quite enough to show that there is no large effect.
I say: WRONG! Stop ignoring Chernobyl because it's inconvenient to your assertions. You can't compare radon gas 'hot spots' and undocumented assertions to the medical evidence prevalent in the CHernobyl region.
Netudiant says: The areas are considerable, well settled and in multiple countries, so the data is pretty clear.
I say: WRONG. Large geographic areas with irrelevant descriptive terms like 'well settled; have nothing to do with the impact differences between radon in hot springs that people may or may not visit at all or even be near versus eating, drinking cesium contaminates.
Netudiant says:
Moreover, the radiation from natural sources (mostly thorium from monazite sands prevalent in those areas) is just as effective as that from man made radioactivity.
I say: WRONG. First let's remember that people in Fukushima are eating, drinking, and breathing radioactive Cesium, Strontium, etc. and people in these rumored locations are not. Radon or Thorium is treated differently in the body than Potassium or Cesium or Strontium.
Netudiant says: The alpha, beta and gamma radiation has the same effect no matter the source.
Cesium is absorbed into muscle tissue....
I say: So you know this and yet you continue to assert that all radioactive isotopes are generally equal in their effects on humans? Cesium concentrating in the heart muscle is going to damage the heart, Strontium which will collect in the bones will irradiate bone marrow (leukemia). Radon gas is breathed, not eaten and the body limits uptake.
Netudiant says: ...and has a resident half life of less than three months to excretion. It does not build up indefinitely.
I Say: WRONG. The body will not limit how much Cesium it will absorb but will limit how much Potassium 40 it will absorb. Even if some of the cesium decays, you keep eating more, your body keeps accumulating more. At the 3 month mark where half the ORIGINAL cesium consumed has decayed or been excreted, those who continued to consume contaminants throughout the 3 months can now have a net higher dose because they kept adding additional radioactive Cesium atoms to their bodies during that time period.
Netudiant says: Strontium does get incorporated into bone and hence does build up, so it is a concern, but at the radioactivity levels noted, the levels would be very low.
I say: As long as TEPCO and the gov don't release the figures for STrontium it may seem low but it is impossible for it to actually BE low because Cesium AND Strontium result from this kind of nuclear disaster.
Netudiant says:
…still small compared to those the WW2 generation endured.
I say: YOU ARE LYING. WHY?
A runner in his 50s had cardiopulmonary arrest during the marathon. Luckily, a runner nearby was a nurse, and he was able to resuscitate him.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/news/20120227-OYT1T00312.htm?from=tw
The immense suffering of the Japanese population in WW2 is a matter of record.
There were over 100,000 dead in Tokyo alone and over 40 square kilometers burned to the ground during the March 1945 fire bombings.
This is off the scale vs Fukushima imho.
The suffering of the population in WW2 is indeed a matter of record. But the terrible death toll had more to do with structures blown apart and vaporizing heat and less to do with lasting radiation damage although is is present. Despite the damage, atomic bombs leave a small fraction of the radiation behind compared with Fukushima. So WW2 will stop killing people with it's radiation legacy so much sooner than Fukushima...which continues to spew radiation into the air every day with no known end in sight. Instead of cities reduced to rubble, and shadow images remaining where people one stood (WWII), Fukushima will kill and destroy quality of life more slowly, more pervasively, and over a much larger region, for many many generations. Fukushima will cause illnesses and suffering in subtle ways (collapse an immune system so the child dies of some other disease)(early dementia, which is found in Chernobyl) in addition to cancer and let's say it...despair. Following WWII, the Japanese set their sights on recovery and showed the world their strength as they rebuilt Japan along with their lives. They had lead themselves out of WWII into their own kind of triumph. How must they look at the future right now? What sort of strategy will lift their vision toward triumph again. It is going to be much harder for them this time - especially since ongoing issues with Fukushima and a government that will not help or protect them continue to load weight upon their burdens.
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