#Fukushima Namie-Machi on Google Street View

Google announced on March 4 this year that it was sending the crew to capture "Street View" of Namie-machi, Fukushima Prefecture, at the request of Mayor Baba.

Not all of Namie-machi is captured yet, but here it is. There is no one there, and houses and stores are broken, deserted; there is nothing left in the farmland along the coast. In the center of the town, there are stores side by side, one utterly collapsed, the other seemingly intact.


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I don't know if Google Japan plans to send people to the high radiation spots within Namie-machi, such as Akougi and Tsushima.

There are many in Japan who seems to think anything done by a company based in the US has something to do with "conspiracy" to defraud Japan. According to such people, the reason why Google Japan has already started showing the Street View (they said it would take a few months) is because the mayor of Namie-machi has sided with the national government, so all the goodies like Google Street View will be quickly done, as some kind of perks.

Sided with the national government? It seems that for such people, having to agree to the reorganization of the no-entry zone into three new zones in preparation for future return (as if these mayors have any choice), as pushed by the national government, is the same as colluding with the national government.

I thought of responding to someone who clearly seems to think that way, but then I looked at the desolation captured by the Street View. I'd rather thank Google instead. Thank you.

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#Radioactive Japan: Google Japan Is Recording "Street View" in Namie-machi, One of the Most Contaminated Fukushima Towns

Mayor Baba of Namie-machi asked Google to film his town, so that the town's residents can see their neighborhoods and people in Japan and the world remember the Fukushima nuclear accident.

The entire town of Namie-machi (population 21,000) has been evacuated. Part of town is inside the 20-kilometer radius no entry zone, and the rest is inside the planned evacuation zone. Unlike Iitate-mura which is designated as planned evacuation zone but thanks to the enterprising mayor (I don't necessarily mean in a good way) has kept several factories operational ever since the accident despite the high radiation levels, I don't believe there is any business still operating in Namie-machi. (For early days after the March 11, 2011 disaster, read "Trap of Prometeus" series by Asahi Shinbun - see the right column of the blog for the link to my translation.)

The town looks just like as it was abandoned in the days after the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

From Google Japan's blog, posted by Keiichi Kawai, group product manager (3/4/2013):

Google では、本日より、福島県双葉郡浪江町内のストリートビューの撮影を開始しました。

Today, Google will start capturing the Street View inside Namie-machi in Futaba-gun [district or county], Fukushima Prefecture.

浪江町は、現在、その半分が福島第一原子力発電所から20 キロ圏内にあたる「警戒区域」と、残り半分が「計画的避難区域」に指定されています。この度、浪江町のご依頼をいただき、Google マップのストリートビューで両区域内を撮影します。撮影は数週間程度を予定しており、数カ月後の公開を目指します。

Currently, half of Namie-machi is in the "no entry zone" inside the 20 kilometer radius from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, and the other half is designated as "planned evacuation zone". This time, we received the request from Namie-machi, and we will capture both zones inside Namie-machi for Google Map Street View. It will take several weeks to capture, and we are aiming at making it public in several months.

Google Street View car in Namie-machi (Click to enlarge):

More views in the video (by Google), with Mayor Baba's message:

I wonder if Google is going to measure radiation levels as they drive through Namie and capture images. I hope they do. Without that information, as one can't see radiation, Namie-machi's devastation is indistinguishable from other towns in Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate that were destroyed by the earthquake and tsunami. Mayor Baba wants people to remember the nuclear accident and what it has done to his town and townsfolk.

On March 12, 2011 morning, several hours before TEPCO did the vent on Reactor 1, the Fukushima prefectural government was sending personnel to measure radiation levels in Futaba-gun. I think it is total BS that the governor of Fukushima insisted he and his government weren't informed of any trouble at the　nuclear plants (Fukushima I and II). They were measuring from 8AM that day in the areas surrounding both plants.

They came to Namie-machi also. At 8:39AM in Nishihara in Takase Section of Namie-machi, it was 0.04 microsievert/hour. At 8:50AM, in the same place, the radiation jumped 200-fold, to 8 microsieverts/hour. (Details are in my Japanese blog, 7/12/2012.)

Unlike Okuma-machi and Futaba-machi, Namie-machi was not told immediately to evacuate. Namie was not on the TEPCO's list to fax nuclear emergency information (the list only contained the municipalities where the plants were located - Okuma, Futaba, and Tomioka). People took time, without knowing the radiation that was already spreading. Some were taking shelters in a location they thought was safe, but it turned out that they were living in a place with 330 microsieverts/hour radiation (Akougi District in Namie-machi, according to Ministry of Education). They didn't know it, until the NHK TV crew with Shinzo Kimura came and told them about the high radiation level (Kimura measured 80 microsieverts/hour just outside the house) on March 28, 2011.

Just outside the house, Kimura measured the soil. Radioactive cesium (134+137) was 4 million becquerels/kg, iodine-131 was 23.2 million becquerels/kg.

Mayor Baba remains bitter, and we can't blame him.

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19,507 Bq Radioactive Cesium from a Man in Fukushima Who's Been Eating Shiitake Mushrooms with More Than 140,000 Bq/kg of Cesium

Mind-boggling numbers, but I'm sure they will be dismissed as "no effect on health" because the man is in his 70s.

Another man was found with 11,191 becquerels. Their wives were also found with high levels of radioactive materials in their bodies.

Why? They have been eating food that they grow.

From Mainichi Shinbun (8/22/2012; link added) reporting the news that the health section at Asahi Shinbun reported in early August:

内部被ばく：自家栽培の野菜食べ　福島の男性２人

Two men in Fukushima with internal radiation exposure from eating home-grown vegetables

市場に流通しない自家栽培の野菜を食べた福島県の７０代男性２人が、比較的高い１万ベクレル超の放射性物質を取り込む内部被ばくをしていたことが、東京大医科学研究所の調査で分かった。うち１人は約２万ベクレルに達したが、これによる被ばく線量は年０．８５ミリシーベルトで、国が設けた食品からの被ばく限度（年１ミリシーベルト）は下回った。調べた坪倉正治医師は「健康被害が出るレベルではないが、自家栽培の野菜などを食べる場合は検査してほしい」と話す。

A survey by the Tokyo University Institute of Medical Science has revealed that two men in their 70s in Fukushima Prefecture who have been eating home-grown vegetables that are not sold to the market have internal radiation exposure with relatively high amount of radioactive materials, exceeding 10,000 becquerels. One of them has about 20,000 becquerels, which would translate to 0.85 millisievert [internal] exposure in one year. It is still lower than the internal radiation exposure limit from food (1 millisievert/year) set by the national government. Dr. Masaharu Tsubokura, who conducted the survey, says, "It may not be the level that would affect health, but I would like people to test the food they grow before eating them."

２人の男性は、同県川俣町と二本松市在住。今年７〜８月、内部被ばく量を測定する装置「ホールボディーカウンター」を使い、体内の放射性セシウム（１３４と１３７）の量を調べた。その結果、川俣町の男性からは１万９５０７ベクレル、その妻からは７７２４ベクレルが検出された。二本松市の男性の内部被ばく量は１万１１９１ベクレル、妻は６７７１ベクレルだった。いずれも東京電力福島第１原発事故で放出された放射性セシウムを食品から取り込んだとみられる。

One of the two men lives in Kawamata-machi, and the other lives in Nihonmatsu City. They were tested for internal radiation exposure by using the Whole Body Counter to measure radioactive cesium (cesium-134 and -137) in their bodies in July and August this year. The man in Kawamata-machi was found with 19,507 becquerels, and his wife was found with 7,724 becquerels. The man in Nihonmatsu City was found with 11,191 becquerels, and his wife 6,771 becquerels. For all of them, it is assumed that they have ingested radioactive cesium released by the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident through food.

川俣町の夫婦は、同県浪江町の原木で自家用に栽培したシイタケや自宅近くで採ったタケノコ、干し柿などを毎日食べており、シイタケからは１４万ベクレルを超す放射性物質が検出された。二本松市の夫婦は、この夫婦からもらった野菜を食べていたという。

The husband and wife in Kawamata-machi have been eating shiitake mushrooms they grow on the logs from Namie-machi [in Fukushima Prefecture], bamboo shoots harvested near their home, and dried persimmons. From the mushrooms, over 140,000 becquerels/kg of radioactive materials [cesium] was found. The couple in Nihonmatsu City has been eating the vegetables given by the couple in Kawamata-machi.

Shiitake logs from Namie-machi... It seems no one bothered to tell them that Namie-machi is probably more heavily contaminated than some of the towns closer to the Fukushima plant. Being in their 70s, their news sources are likely to be the traditional media such as newspapers and TV.

Kawamata-machi is located just west of Iitate-mura, another heavily contaminated location in Fukushima.

Dr. Tsubokura says in the original Asahi article that these levels of internal radiation exposure are seen in Belarus.

However, one of the strange things I've noticed since April 1 this year when the new safety standard of 100 Bq/kg of radioactive cesium was put in place is that people in general don't care much about food contamination any more. It was a big deal, literally up until March 31, the last day under the provisional 500 Bq/kg safety level. If a food item was found with double-digit cesium per kilogram, people were worried.

But now, with the safety limit of 100 Bq/kg and the detection limit of 20 bq/kg using NaI scintillation survey meters (which I think is too high for comfort), less and less people care if a food item is found with, say 60, 70 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium. It doesn't make a headline news any more (though it is duly reported in the media).

Instead, they worry about a nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture, boy-wonder mayor of Osaka, Friday "single issue" protests at the Prime Minister's Official Residence in Tokyo.

They are good ways to not have to deal with the issues at hand, which remain, in my personal opinion, radioactive materials from the nuclear accident in the environment and how to deal with them.

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Goshi Hosono on NHK, Trying to Spin Radiation Exposure in #Fukushima Last Year, Ooi Restart This Year

Goshi Hosono, Minister of the Environment and Minister in charge of nuclear accident, and former personal assistant to former PM Naoto Kan when the Fukushima nuclear accident started, appeared on NHK's program "Close-Up Gendai" on June 18, 2012. Here's the segment where he blurts out a story he must have carefully memorized (in an occasionally mangled speech) to impress the NHK viewers on the sincerity of the government when it says Ooi Nuclear Power Plant is safe.

In it, Hosono speaks of radiation exposure "kindly experienced by the residents" of Namie-machi, Fukushima Prefecture.

I transcribed what Hosono said in the video and translated below.

First he briefly talks about the restart of Ooi Nuclear Power Plant:

すべてが出来ているとは申しません。課題があるのは事実です。しかし、今の段階でやれることは国もやっているし、そして地元の福井県もやっていただいてるというように、思っています。

I am not saying we've done everything. It is true that there are problems. However, all that can be done at this stage is being done by the national government, and the local prefecture, Fukui Prefecture, is also kindly doing it, I believe.

The first two sentences seem true enough. But the third? From the governor of Fukui Prefecture, we know that all Fukui Prefecture did was to rubber stamp what the "experts" said, and to rely on the word of the KEPCO president that he would try his best. Hosono says everything that can be done is being done, and that is what he believes. What if he's wrong? "Out of expectation" - 想定外 (soh-tei-gai) of course.

Then he refers to the residents of Namie-machi in Fukushima in particular, and says he cannot forget about them:

あのー、特に浪江町の方々のことがですね、私頭から離れないんですよ。あの時１０キロ、そして２０キロという避難のですね、判断をしたわけですけれども、政府は。その時にあの、きちっと方角を示すべきだったのが示されなかったと。あのそこでたくさん被曝をしていただいたという状況ではない、と言うことはですね、後ほど確認は出来ましたが、それを経験をした皆さんの思いというのはですね、我々はほんとに忘れてはならないと思ってます。

Uh, about people in Namie-machi, I cannot help thinking about them. Back then [first few days of the nuclear crisis], first 10-kilometer, then 20-kilometer evacuation areas were determined and set, by the national government. At that time, uh, the direction [in which Namie-residents should evacuate] should have been given but it wasn't. Uh, it's not that much radiation exposure was kindly experienced by the residents, that we were able to confirm later. But the thoughts and feelings of people who experienced it, I think we should never forget.

Again, the first two sentences seem true enough. It was the government under PM Kan whom he served as a personal advisor who confidently (at that time, I remember) declared 10 kilometer-radius evacuation zone was more than sufficient, and the further away people went from the crippled plant the far less risk they would have from radiation exposure. Hosono now says the government should have told the residents which direction to go. Well it did. It told the residents to move as far away from the plant as they reasonably could, i.e. all directions.

As to whether Namie-machi residents were exposed to much radiation, I don't believe it has been "confirmed". There is no meaningful data on early radiation exposure suffered by the residents in Fukushima Prefecture, because government officials, from the national government on down, didn't allow researchers to conduct a meaningful survey of enough people in the early days and weeks of the accident. Namie-machi is where the radiation level of 330 microsieverts/hour were measured on March 15, 2011 by an official from the Ministry of the Education and Science. Not only many Namie residents remained for weeks after the start of the accident, but they were eating the food and drinking water that were contaminated, without knowing.

Then, Hosono tries to reassure the audience by mentioning the special surveillance system for Ooi Nuclear Power Plant:

だからこそですね、政府としては特別な監視体制というのをひいてまして、えーしっかりと原発の状況をですね、政府として、えー監視をするということをやってます。そして、あの、事故がないという状況を作らなければなりませんが、万万が一、なんらかのトラブルがあった場合は、それをそれぞれの自治体にですね、的確に情報が伝わるような仕組みも作っているんですね。

For that very reason, the national government is implementing the special surveillance system [for Ooi Nuke Plant], uh, to closely monitor the situation at the nuclear plant. And, uh, we have to create a situation of no accident, but if by any remote chance there is a trouble, we are building a system so that the accurate information will reach the affected municipalities.

We also know what this "special surveillance system" that Hosono is talking about. It is the Ooi Nuke Plant Off-Site Center, 7 kilometers away from the plant, at the foot of the peninsula where the nuclear power plant is located, manned by the senior vice minister from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry assisted by a KEPCO vice president and NISA bureaucrats, all of whom will be babysat by managers from the plant manufacturers. Just like the Off-Site Center for Fukushima I Nuke Plant, everything relies on the electricity not cut off even in the case of a severe accident.

Hosono looks as if he doesn't understand anything he is saying. The female interviewer, a veteran announcer at NHK I think, is not there to ask questions but to help Hosono along so that he can regurgitate what he's been fed as quickly as possible.

(H/T anon reader for the video)

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(Now They Tell Us) Minister of Reconstruction Tells #Fukushima Town Mayor, "Decontamination Has Its Limits"

From Asahi Shinbun (6/17/2012):

東京電力福島第一原発事故に伴う除染について、平野達男復興相は１７日、福島県浪江町の馬場有町長と同県二本松市で会談し、「除染技術の限界も明らかになった」とするモデル事業結果を伝えた。

Minister of Reconstruction Tatsuo Hirano met with Mayor of Namie-machi Tamotsu Baba on June 17 in Nihonmatsu City in Fukushima Prefecture and discussed the decontamination effort. Minister Hirano reported to Mayor Baba the result of the model decontamination that showed what decontamination could do and could not do.

それによると、２分半の道路の除染で空間放射線量が約３分の２まで下がるものの、以降はほとんど除染効果がなかった。住宅でも、屋根や壁の拭き取りなどで下がった割合は１９～６６％とばらつきがあることなどから「同じ除染を繰り返しても効果はそれほど期待できない」とした。平野氏は面会後、記者団に「除染ですぐにでも（年間放射線量が）１ミリシーベルトまで下がるという誤解を政府が与えていたかもしれない」と限界を認めた。

According to the result, by decontaminating a road [surface] for 2 and a half minutes the air radiation level would go down by one-third, but beyond that there was hardly any effect of decontamination. The reduction of radiation by wiping off the roofs and walls of a residence varied significantly, between 19 and 66 percent, and the conclusion was that "not much effect in reducing the radiation can be expected by repeating the same decontamination". After meeting with the Namie-machi Mayor, Mr. Hirano spoke with the press. He said, "Maybe the national government has given a wrong understanding [impression] that decontamination will instantly reduce (the annual cumulative radiation exposure) to less than 1 millisievert", admitting to the limit to what decontamination could do.

一方で、国が除染基本方針で掲げている「１ミリシーベルト以下を目指す」との長期目標は維持する方針だ。ただ、その工程については「新技術の研究をする」（平野氏）として具体的道筋は示さなかった。

On the other hand, the long-term goal of decontamination policy of the national government "to aim for 1 millisievert [per year] and below" [of radiation exposure of the general public] would be maintained, Hirano said. As to how to achieve the goal, however, he didn't specify other than to say "We will develop new technologies."

What decontamination by the national government has achieved, other than giving a lot of contracts and money to the large national general construction companies? Not much, a government minister has finally admitted.

So far, the high-tech Japan's tools for decontamination have been:

• high-pressure washer
• screw driver
• shovel
• broom and dustpan
• paper towel
• backhoe
• plastic bags
• blue tarp
• volunteers

New decon technologies? I think the most effective of all is "time".

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Professor Yukio Hayakawa Takes #Radioactive Drive in Namie-machi, Iitate-mura in #Fukushima, and Finds Young Policemen at High-Radiation Checkpoint

Professor Hayakawa woke up on Monday June 11 and decided to drive to Namie-machi and Iitate-mura in Fukushima Prefecture with his personal survey meter and two pieces of bread for lunch.

I noticed he was up somewhere in Fukushima when I saw his tweet yesterday with his survey meter showing 8.157 microsieverts/hour with a school building in the background. "Tsushima Elementary School", he wrote. It did turn out to be the school in Tsushima District of Namie-machi.

Hayakawa says in his series of tweets that it took him 14 hours round-trip from Saitama Prefecture, from 6 in the morning to 8 at night.

浪江町津島と飯舘村 at EveryTrail
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Hayakawa has always said the designation of the 20-kilometer radius "no-entry" zone is a joke and doesn't fit the reality. On his trip yesterday, he says he spoke with the policemen guarding the checkpoint at the "no-entry zone" in Tsushima District in Namie-machi. According to him, the police was like "20-kilometer radius? What is 20-kilometer radius?":

20キロ警戒区域は現場では無意味。ゲートに立っていた警察官3人（北海道から派遣）は「20キロてなんですか？」状態。国道114号の20キロは発電所あたりなのだが、ゲートは津島保育所。28キロあたり。おかげで赤宇木の調査ができなかった。(tweet)

20-kilometer radius no-entry zone doesn't mean a thing in reality. Three policemen at the gate [checkpoint] were like "What '20 kilometer'?" 20-kilometer [location] on Route 114 is at a power plant [not Fuku-I, but Hirusone hydroelectric plant], but the gate is at the Tsushima Nursery School, at about 28 kilometers. So I couldn't go to Akougi [the location that exceeded 300 microsieverts/hour on March 15 last year].

現場みたかんじ、20キロ警戒区域を設定したのは名実ともに市町村長じゃない。法律の定めと異なる実態がもう13か月も横行してる。こんなんじゃ、だめだ。まったくだめだ。(tweet)

It was clear by being there that, both in name and in substance, it was decidedly not the local mayors who set the 20-kilometer radius no-entry zone. The laws and regulations have little to do with the reality, and that's been going on for 13 months now. This is no good. No good at all.

津島保育所のゲートに立っていた警察官はまだ20代のようにみえた。上官が北海道からだといったから、彼もそうなのだろう。あんな若いひとをあんな場所にずっと立たせるなんて、この国はなんてひどいんだ。(tweet)

The policeman standing at the gate near the Tsushima Nursery School looked to be in his 20s. His superior said he was from Hokkaido, so the young policeman must be also from there. To have such a young person standing on such a location [high radiation], what a cruel country this is.

そのあと、津島をまだうろうろしてたら、パトカーに職務質問された。免許証の呈示を求められたので素直に応じた。警視庁（東京）の二人だった。二週間の出張で、福島飯坂温泉に泊まっているといってた。放射線量が高いことは定性的には知っていたが、定量的な認識はないようにみえた。(tweet)

I was still wandering about in Tsushima when a police car came up and questioned me. They wanted to see my driver's license so I showed it to them obediently. The two policemen were from the Metropolitan Police Department (Tokyo). They said they were on the 2-week tour of duty, and were staying at Iizaka Onsen [hot spring resort near Fukushima City]. They knew about the high radiation [at that location] qualitatively, but didn't seem to have a quantitative understanding.

帰り際、「ここは線量が高いですから、お気を付けください」と私が言ったら、いきなり「誹謗中傷」と小隊長が言った。おどろいた。よほどこういう指摘を受けているのだろうと思った。(tweet)

On my way out, I said to them, "The radiation levels are high here, so please take care." Out of the blue, their commander said, "Slander and calumny!" I was taken aback. I figured they had been told [about the high radiation levels] many, many times.

小隊長は、道路わきの建物の中から出てきた。自分はそれなりに線量の低いところで1日の大部分をすごしているようだった。若い人は99マスクしてた。小隊長はしてなかった。(tweet)

The commander came out from a roadside building. He seemed to spend most of his day in a relatively low-radiation environment [i.e. inside the building]. The young policemen were wearing 99 masks [masks that can cut 99% of particles as small as 0.1 micron in diameter ]. The commander wasn't.

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Namie-Machi Resident's Suicide Considered as Protest Against #Fukushima Nuke Plant/Accident By Town's Residents, According to Asahi's "Trap of Prometheus"

Since Asahi has moved the worthy series to the paid subscribers-only section and has been aggressively going after any blog sites that dare re-post the installments of the series, all I can do is to do the meta-analysis - referring to the post of someone who has read the article and commented on it.

Here's one from a non-fiction writer Ryuichi Akiba, commenting on the April 23 installment of "Trap of Prometheus". The headline of this particular installment, according to Akiba, is "Everything was completely robbed".

From Mr. Akiba's blog on April 23, 2012:

浪江町の住民が原発への抗議のため腹を刺して自殺をした

A resident of Namie-machi committed suicide by stabbing his stomach with a kitchen knife to protest against nuclear power plant

けさ（４月２３日）の朝日新聞連載「プロメテウスの罠」は、「根こそぎ奪われた」という見出しである。
The title of this morning (April 23)'s "Trap of Prometheus" series by Asahi Shinbun is "Everything was completely robbed".

この記事は「福島県浪江町では原発事故後、松本英之のほかにもう１人が自殺している。赤宇木（あこうぎ）の男性だ。　男性は昨年１１月、避難先から自宅に戻り、包丁で腹を刺して死んだ。５８歳だった。遺書はなかった」で始まる。

The article begins with this passage: "In Namie-machi in Fukushima Prefecture, there is another person who committed suicide after the nuclear accident, in addition to Hideyuki Matsumoto. He was from Akougi District. Last November, he returned home from the temporary shelter, and stabbed his stomach to death with a kitchen knife. He was 58 years old. There was no suicide note."

これでこの地区からふたり目の自殺者である。

So that makes the two who committed suicide from this district.

親族は、「原発事故さえなければ自殺なんかしなかった」と言う。そしてこの地区の住民は男性の自殺についてこう口にした。

His relatives say, "If there were no nuclear accident, he wouldn't have done it." The residents of the district speak about the man's suicide,

「あれの自殺は、これは最大の抵抗だ。切腹して死んだ思いを、私たちは大切にしなければいけない」 （長老）

"His suicide is the loudest protest. We have to keep his memory alive, how he must have felt when he committed "seppuku"." (Elder in the district)

「彼の死は原発への抗議だ」（区長）

"His death is the protest against the nuclear power plant." (District chief)

「人間には、耐えられる限界というものがある。それを考えて、行政も対応していかないといけない」（馬場町長）

"There is a limit to which a human can endure. The government has to keep that in mind." (Mayor Baba)

この地区の線量は馬場町長いわく「推定年間２００ミリシーベルト」。原発は人をそして住空間を殺した。

According to Mayor Baba, the radiation level of the district is "estimated to be 200 millisieverts per year". The nuclear plant killed people, and killed their living space.

さて、ぼくたちは割腹自殺した男性の思いを大切にするにはどうすればいいのだろうか。それは原発を即刻やめることだろう。福島に原発がなければ、彼は自殺する必要はなかったのだから。

Now, what could we do to to keep alive the memory of the man who committed "seppuku"? I believe it is to quit nuclear power generation right away. If there was no nuclear plant in Fukushima, he didn't need to commit suicide.

The suicide of the man described in Asahi's "Trap of Prometheus" installment is describing is this one. What's not reported in the original news of the suicide back in December last year is the reaction of the town's residents, that they consider his death as "seppuku", as protest against the nuclear plant and the accident.

The first reported suicide that was clearly the result of the nuclear accident was not even in the high-radiation areas in Fukushima. It was a cabbage farmer in Sukagawa City in Fukushima Prefecture, on March 24, 2011 (one day after the government issued a restriction on consumption of vegetables from Fukushima).

In June there was a report of the suicide of a dairy farmer in Soma City, outside the evacuation zones, after he had to give up on dairy farming because of the nuclear accident.

For many people including nuclear scientists and engineers, there has been no death because of the Fukushima nuke accident unless one dies of an acute radiation sickness. To them, death by suicide doesn't count.

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Radiation in Namie-machi, Fukushima Almost Exceeded OSHA 90-Day Limit for Radiation Worker in 14 Days Last Year

The cumulative radiation dose at MP (monitoring post) 32 in Fukushima Prefecture from March 23 to April 4, 2011 was 11,630 microsieverts (or 11.63 millisieverts), almost exceeding the OSHA 90-day limit for radiation worker of 12,500 microsieverts in 14 days.

My guess is if the radiation had been measured from March 11, 2011, it would have surpassed that limit long before March 23, 2011.

From Enformable's digging of the NRC FOIA documents, 3-page email dated April 9, 2011 says on page 3:

MP32

The U.S. 50-mile radius adequately protects public health, but the Japanese 20-kilometer (12 mile) radius may not protect the health of the general public, pregnant female radiation workers, or radiation workers who remain longer than 2 weeks near MP32.

MP32 remained MP32 in the Ministry of Education and Science (MEXT) monitoring data, until April 11, 2011 when the location was finally named. It was Akougi District of Namie-machi in Fukushima. Why was the location finally named that day? Because that was the day the government announced the planned evacuation zone that included Akougi and most of Namie-machi that was not already inside the 20-kilometer no-entry zone.

Akougi is located at 31 kilometers northwest of Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, outside the no-entry zone. The district was finally declared planned evacuation zone on April 11, 2011, because the annual cumulative radiation dose was expected to exceed 20 millisieverts.

There was a evacuation shelter in Akougi, with people living there until March 30, 2011.

According to the MEXT data, as of March 26, 2012, the cumulative dose at MP32 since March 24, 2011 is 125,760 microsieverts, or 125.76 millisieverts.

Chuck Casto E-Mail - Pages From C141933-02BX-24

Here's the same information released by the Ministry of Education on April 6, 2011.

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Woman in Her 50s Dies Inside the No-Entry Zone in #Fukushima Prefecture

There is no information whether she was the former resident of Namie-machi, but I think it is likely.

From Kyodo News (3/20/2012):

警戒区域入った女性死亡　福島県浪江町

A woman who entered the no-entry zone died in Namie-machi, Fukushima

　２０日午前１１時ごろ、東京電力福島第１原発事故の警戒区域に指定されている福島県浪江町で、重機を区域外に持ち出すために許可を受けて入域していた５０代の女性が倒れたと１１９番があった。女性は救急車で同県南相馬市の病院に搬送されたが、午後１時に死亡が確認された。

At 11AM on March 20, there was a 119 call [equivalent of the US 911 call, for ambulance for medical emergency] that a woman in her 50s collapsed in Namie-machi in Fukushima Prefecture. Namie-machi is designated as "no-entry zone". The woman entered with a permit to remove heavy equipment out of the zone. She was transported in an ambulance to a hospital in Minami Soma City, but confirmed dead at 1PM.

　政府の原子力災害現地対策本部によると、原発作業員を除けば、警戒区域に立ち入った人が死亡するのは初めて。

According to the local headquarters for the nuclear emergency response, it is the first time someone other than the plant workers died inside the no-entry zone.

　同本部によると、女性は同僚数人と事業者向けの立ち入り許可を受けて入域。急に「気分が悪い」と訴えてトイレに入り意識を失ったという。

According to the headquarters, the woman entered the zone with her colleagues with a permit issued to businesses. She suddenly fell ill, and went to the bathroom, where she lost consciousness and collapsed.

Two questions:

1. Why were they allowed to remove the equipment out of the no-entry zone to begin with? After more than one year, don't they and the government know there are such things as radiation contamination?

2. Why would they allow a woman to enter the no-entry zone?

Equal rights for women, I suppose. Since TEPCO is bringing female workers back to Fukushima I Nuke Plant, why not?

Namie-machi had extremely high levels of radiation in the first 2 weeks of the accident, and the residents weren't told about it until months later. Asahi's "Trap of Prometheus" says the Ministry of Education was measuring the radiation level in Akogi District of Namie-machi on March 15, 2011, and it was 330 microsieverts/hour air radiation. That would be over 55 millisieverts in one week, and there were people who remained in Namie-machi for more than a week, lulled by then Cabinet Secretary Edano's word that "there is no immediate effect on health".

Let's see, how would people like Dr. Yamashita and Dr. Kimura going to explain the death?

She had a feminine stress.
She had an autoimmune disease.
She didn't smile enough.
She drank and smoked too much.
Pure coincidence. There is no way that radiation affect anyone this fast.

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89 Millisieverts Equivalent Dose at Thyroid from a Resident in Namie-machi, Fukushima, Says Hirosaki University Researchers

Professor Shinji Tokonami, Department of Radiation Physics, Institute of Radiation Emergency Medicine, Hirosaki University and his researchers say people who escaped from the coastal areas of Fukushima Prefecture after the accident and people who continued to live in Namie-machi after the March 11, 2011 nuclear accident were found with high levels of radiation exposure on the thyroid.

They tested 65 residents in April 2011, and it is in the news on March 9, 2012. Another case of nearly one-year delay in disclosing the information that would have made the difference if known earlier. Like 11 months ago.

From Asahi Shinbun (3/9/2012):

東京電力福島第一原発事故で、放射性ヨウ素によって甲状腺に９０ミリシーベルト近い被曝（ひばく）をしていた人がいることが分かった。弘前大学被ばく医療総合研究所の床次眞司（とこなみ・しんじ）教授らが、事故の約１カ月後に行った住民６５人の測定結果を分析した。被曝した人の約半数が１０ミリシーベルト以下だったが、５人が５０ミリシーベルトを超えていた。

It has been disclosed that someone was exposed to nearly 90 millisievert radiation [equivalent dose] on the thyroid from radioactive iodine during the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident. Professor Shinji Tokonami, Department of Radiation Physics, Institute of Radiation Emergency Medicine, Hirosaki University and his researchers analyzed the test result of 65 Fukushima residents. The test was conducted 1 month after the accident. Of people who were exposed to radiation, about half had equivalent dose of 10 millisieverts or less, but 5 people had equivalent dose exceeding 50 millisieverts.

　甲状腺被曝はがんのリスクがあるが、ヨウ素は半減期が短く、事故直後の混乱などで、きちんとした計測はされておらず、詳しい実態は分かっていなかった。

The radiation exposure on the thyroid increases the risk of cancer. However, radioactive iodine has a short half life, and the exposure was not measured properly in the confusion right after the accident and the details were not known.

　床次さんらは昨年４月１１～１６日、原発のある福島県浜通り地区から福島市に避難してきた４８人と、原発から３０キロ圏周辺の浪江町津島地区に残っていた住民１７人を対象に、甲状腺内の放射性ヨウ素の濃度を調べた。この結果、８割近い５０人からヨウ素が検出された。

From April 11 to 16 last year, Professor Tokonami's group measured the density of radioactive iodine in the thyroid of 48 people who evacuated from Hamadori (coastal 1/3 of Fukushima) to Fukushima City and 17 people who remained in Tsushima District of Namie-machi, right outside the 30 kilometer radius from the nuclear power plant. Radioactive iodine was found in 50 people, nearly 80% of people tested.

　この実測値から、甲状腺の内部被曝線量を計算した。事故直後の３月１２日にヨウ素を吸い込み、被曝したという条件で計算すると、３４人は２０ミリシーベルト以下で、５人が、健康影響の予防策をとる国際的な目安の５０ミリシーベルトを超えていた。

From the actual measurement, the researchers calculated the equivalent dose at the thyroid. Assuming they had inhaled radioactive iodine immediately after the accident on March 12 and were exposed to radiation, the calculation showed that 34 people had equivalent dose of 20 millisieverts and less, and 5 people exceeded 50 millisieverts, which is an international standard for intervention to prevent negative effect on health.

　最高は８７ミリシーベルトで、事故後、浪江町に残っていた成人だった。２番目に高かったのは７７ミリシーベルトの成人で、福島市への避難前に同町津島地区に２週間以上滞在していた。子どもの最高は４７ミリシーベルト。詳しい行動は不明だ。

The maximum equivalent dose was 87 millisieverts, from an adult who remained in Namie-machi after the accident. The second highest was 77 millisieverts from an adult who had spent more than 2 weeks in Tsushima District of Namie-machi on his/her way to evacuate to Fukushima City. The highest dose in children was 47 millisieverts. There is no information of whereabouts of the child during the weeks in March and April.

　国が昨年３月下旬、いわき市、川俣町、飯舘村の子ども１０８０人に行った測定では、３５ミリシーベルトが最高値と公表されていた。

In the test done by the national government late last March on 1,080 children in Iwaki City, Kawamata-machi, and Iitate-mura, 35 millisievert equivalent dose was announced as the maximum.

From Asahi's extremely convoluted tabulation, here's what I've figured out (I think, maybe):

• 48 people from Hamadori (coastal 1/3), 17 people who remained in Tsushima District of Namie-machi, total 65 people

• Radioactive iodine detected in 50 people

• 25 people below 10 millisieverts equivalent dose
  

• 9 people between 10 and 20

• 11 people between 20 and 50

• 5 people above 50

Why can't Asahi say it straight? (Rhetorical question in case you're wondering.)

NHK, reporting on the same news, says the researchers are yet to tell the residents about the test result:

調査チームでは、今後、検査を行った住民に対し結果を報告することにしています。

The researchers plans to tell the residents about the test result in the near future.

How nice of them.

Hirosaki University is one of the 86 national universities in Japan.

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Plutonium-241 of Fukushima Origin Found 32 Kilometers from the Plant, Says National Institute of Radiological Sciences After Nearly One Year

The National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS) knew about it since May last year, but decided to keep quiet. Why? It's yet another case of the researchers waiting until their data collection is published in a peer-review scientific magazine (the paper is linked at the bottom of the post).

For the NIRS researchers, their data has just been published in the UK's Scientific Reports (electronic version), reports Kyodo News (3/8/2012):

放射線医学総合研究所（千葉市）は、東京電力福島第１原発から北西や南に２０～３２キロ離れた福島県内の３地点で、事故で放出されたとみられるプルトニウム２４１を初めて検出したと、８日付の英科学誌「サイエンティフィック・リポーツ」の電子版に発表した。

The National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS, in Chiba City, Chiba) published the result of their measurement of plutonium-241 at three locations in Fukushima Prefecture 20 to 32 kilometers northwest and south of Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant in the electronic version of the UK's science magazine "Scientific Reports" issued on March 8, 2012.

　人体に影響のないレベルだが、プルトニウム２４１は他の同位体に比べて半減期が１４年と比較的短く、崩壊してできるアメリシウム２４１は土壌を経由して主に豆類に取り込まれやすい。放医研は「内部被ばくを避けるためにも 原発２０キロ圏内での分布状況を確かめる必要がある」としている。

The level [of plutonium-241] will not affect human health. Plutonium-241 has relatively short half life of 14 years compared to other isotopes of plutonium. It decays into americium-241, which is easily absorbed through soil into legumes. The NIRS says "To avoid internal radiation exposure, it is necessary to survey the spread of plutonium-241 inside the 20 kilometer zone around the plant."

　昨年４～５月に採取した福島県飯舘村、浪江町の森林の落ち葉と、スポーツ施設で現在事故対応拠点となったＪヴィレッジ（広野町など）の土から検出。他の同位体プルトニウム２３９（半減期２万４千年）、２４０（同６６００年）も検出 、同位体の比率から今回の事故が原因と分かった。

[Plutonium-241] was detected from the samples they collected in April and May last year - the dead leaves from the forests in Iitate-mura and Namie-machi, and the soil at J-village, which has been used as the staging area for the work after the Fukushima I Nuke Plant accident. Other isotopes of plutonium, plutonium-239 (half life 24,000 years) and plutonium-240 (half life 6,600 years), were also detected. From the ratio of isotopes, the NIRS researchers concluded that they were from the Fukushima nuclear accident.

　濃度は、過去に行われた大気圏内核実験の影響により国内で検出されるプルトニウム２４１よりも高い。ただ半減期が短く、１９６０年代当時に核実験で飛来した濃度よりは低いレベルという。

The density of plutonium-241 [detected this time] is higher than that being detected in Japan after the atmospheric nuclear tests in the past. However, plutonium-241 has a short half life, and the density is lower than that during the 1960s when the radioactive fallout from the nuclear tests fell on Japan.

　プルトニウムは天然にはほとんど存在しない放射性物質で、原子炉では燃料のウランが中性子を吸収してできる。

Plutonium is a radionuclide that hardly exists in nature. It is created when uranium in the reactor fuel absorbs neutrons.

Hmmm. If you want to avoid internal radiation exposure by ingesting food that may contain americium-241, a decay product of plutonium-241, don't you want to survey the area outside the 20 kilometer zone? After all, outside the 20 kilometer zone, Fukushima farmers will be tilling the land, ready to grow crops of all kinds again this year.

Half life of americium-241 is 432.7 years. As it decays, americium-241 emits alpha and gamma rays.

Asahi Shinbun has the numbers for plutonium-241:

• Dead leaves in Namie-machi (26 kilometers NW of the plant): 34.8 becquerels/kg

• Dead leaves in Iitate-mura (32 kilometers NW of the plant): 20.2 becquerels/kg

• Soil at J-Village (20 kilometer south of the plant: 4.52 becquerels/kg

Farmers in Fukushima, are you still going to grow stuff on your land?

Researchers at the NIRS, did you think of at least informally telling the local authorities or the farmers about your findings? Or did you just sit and wait until your paper was published by a peer-review magazine?

(I know I'm wasting my breath.)

Scientific Reports carries their full paper online.

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214,200 Bq/Kg of Radioactive Cesium from Crushed Stones from Namie-machi, Fukushima

Remember the radioactive apartment complex in Nihonmatsu City, Fukushima, where the concrete foundation contained the supposed "radioactive" crushed stone from the stone pit in Namie-machi, bordering the "no-entry" zone?

Fukushima Prefecture finally released the data on the radioactivity of the stones, and it was indeed high. The survey by the Fukushima prefectural government and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is still ongoing, in an effort to identify the elevated radiation levels coming off the concrete that used these crushed stones. Good luck.

Jiji Tsushin (2/15/2012) reports:

...県は、１月２０日に実施した砕石場の現地調査の結果も公表。屋根のない保管場所では生コン用砕石から１キロ当たり最大１２万２００ベクレル、路盤材用砕石からは同２１万４２００ベクレルの放射性セシウムが検出されたという。

...Fukushima Prefecture also announced the result of the survey at the stone pit [in Namie-machi] conducted on January 20. The crushed stones for concrete stored in the open without a roof were found with the maximum 120,200 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium, while the crushed stones used as subbase course materials were found with 214,200 becquerels/kg.

(At least) 7 tonnes of stones (for building exterior) from Fukushima Prefecture were sold in Tokyo last year, as I reported in my post on January 22, 2012. I haven't heard news of whatever happened to them.

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#Radioactive Construction Sites: 1,000 Sites May Have Used "Contaminated" Crushed Stones in Fukushima

From Kyodo News (1/18/2012):

汚染石の使用現場は千カ所か　経産省、流通の特定難航

1,000 sites may have used the contaminated crushed stones. The Ministry of Economy having trouble identifying the buyers

福島県浪江町の砕石場で放射性物質に汚染されたとみられる石がマンションなどに使われた問題で、この砕石場の石やコンクリートが県内千カ所近くの工事現場で使われていた可能性のあることが１８日、経済産業省への取材で分かった。

Concerning the crushed stones from the stone pit in Namie-machi in Fukushima suspected to have been contaminated by radioactive materials and which were used in the construction of the apartment [in Nihonmatsu City] and other buildings, it was revealed on January 18 in the interview with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry officials that 1,000 construction sites in Fukushima Prefecture may have used the crushed stones or the concrete with the crush stones from this stone pit.

　経産省が流通ルートを調べているが、少量販売の場合、建設会社の間で伝票などの記録を残さずに取引していたケースもあるといい、流通範囲の特定は難航している。

The Ministry is investigating the sales channels, but having trouble identifying the buyers. If the sales were in small lots, there may not be any receipt left for the transactions between the construction companies.

　また、浪江町の砕石場から出荷された石が、同県二本松市内にある民家の庭先の敷き砂利として使われたことが新たに判明、ゴルフ場に出荷されたことも分かった。

It has been newly discovered that the crushed stones have been used as gravels in the front yard of a personal residence in Nihonmatsu City, and that they have been shipped to a golf course.

As I wrote in yesterday's post, it may not be just the crushed stones from this particular stone pit but all construction materials that were stored outside that may have turned radioactive from the fallout.

"Beyond expectation" for the elite at the Ministry, and the not-so-elite at the prefectural government, and the construction companies in Fukushima. Or so they say.

I suspect it was another "help the producers at the expense of the consumers" scheme during the period right after the March 11 nuclear accident and before the designation of the "planned evacuation zone" between the 20 and 30 kilometer radius. The national government and the Fukushima prefectural government was doing their best to encourage cattle farmers in the soon-to-be designated planned evacuation zone including Namie-machi and Iitate-mura to sell their cows and pigs to farmers outside Fukushima Prefecture. Many were sold and were processed at the meat processing centers in big cities throughout Japan, which were later found with radioactive cesium.

It may be that the government turned the blind eye, while the producers rushed to sell their inventory. And they all say, "Who could have known?"

Any and everybody but them, perhaps?

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Latest Decon Technology Out of Japan: Hands

Jiji Tsushin's site has several photos of the Self Defense Force soldiers carrying out decontamination work.

I wrote a post on Monday about them doing decontamination at the Iitate-mura village office using screwdrivers. Here in Jiji's photo, they are decontaminating the town office in Namie-machi.

The tools: their hands.

There is no information whether the SDF were ever told of the radiation levels - air radiation, density of radioactive materials from the sludge and dead leaves they were made to remove, or they were fitted with personal survey meters to control radiation exposure.

Probably not. They are the soldiers stationed either in Fukushima City or Koriyama City in Fukushima Prefecture. One is 44th Infantry Regiment (Fukushima) and the other is 6th Artillery Regiment (Koriyama), according to the tweet by the Japan Ground Self Defense Force. You can be pretty sure that they are not trained in decontamination, not necessarily of radioactive materials but of more ordinary chemical spills, etc.

From Jiji Tsushin; the photo was taken on December 8 at the town hall in Namie-machi, 8 kilometers north of Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. It was raining slightly, the photo caption says.

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A Man Committed Suicide in His Home in Namie-Machi, Fukushima

His home was in Tsushima District of Namie-machi, northwest of Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant.

If you haven't read it, Asahi Shinbun's "Trap of Prometheus" Series 1 was about Tsushima District. That's where people from other parts of Namie-machi that are closer to the plant as well as from other towns and cities escaped to, not knowing the radiation was extremely high in Tsushima, exceeding 100 microsieverts/hour. The government knew, because it had SPEEDI simulation results and it actually sent an official there to measure the radiation levels. But it decided to keep quiet. (You can read the whole series here, as per my translation.)

Fukushima Minyu (12/16/2011) reports:

東京電力福島第１原発事故により計画的避難区域に指定される、浪江町津島地区の自宅で今月上旬、福島市の避難先から帰宅していた５０代男性が遺体で見つかったことが１５日、分かった。双葉署によると、現場の状況から自殺とみられる。

It has been disclosed that a man in his fifties were found dead earlier this month in his home in Tsushima District in Namie-machi, which is designated as "planned evacuation zone" after the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident. The man had come back from his temporary stay in Fukushima City where he had evacuated. According to the Futaba Police Department, the death is considered suicide.

同署によると、自宅にあった包丁を使い、腹を刺して自殺を図ったとみられる。遺書などはなかったという。男性は、福島市の親類宅に避難していたが、「自 宅に行ってくる」と言って出掛けた。帰りが遅いため不審に思った親類が自宅を訪ねると、男性が倒れていたという。

According to the Police, he must have used a kitchen knife at home and stabbed himself in the stomach. There was no suicide note left. The man was staying at his relative's house in Fukushima City, but he left, saying he was going to take a look at his home. When he didn't come back, the relative visited his home in Tsushima, and found him dead.

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"Trap of Prometheus" Series Part 2 - Resignation of a Researcher: NISA Was About to Set Evacuation Zone Based on SPEEDI on March 11 Evening (1/4)

Asahi Shinbun's "Trap of Prometheus" series is still on-going, and right now it's Part 3 about suppressing the scientific data. It continues to be an excellent article, and it continues to be printed on the "third page" (see my post on the Part 1 of the series).

I just finished reading the Part 2 "Resignation of a Researcher", which has 21 installments. Even though Asahi Shinbun is busy taking down the blog sites that compile all the series articles for convenient reading, they cannot suppress them all, and I read it on this blog.

In it, there is a very curious piece of information about SPEEDI simulation, the NISA and the PM's Office's decision to set the evacuation zone in concentric circles. In short,

• The Ministry of Education had ordered the SPEEDI simulations from the beginning and knew exactly where to send the official to do the actual measurements in Namie-machi, Fukushima;

• Not only the Ministry of Education ordered SPEEDI simulation calculations but also the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency ordered its own SPEEDI simulation calculations with much more accuracy;

• NISA was setting the evacuation zone on March 11 evening based on the simulation;

• NISA stopped their work as soon as the PM's Office, based on no credible information or agreed-on procedure, announced the concentric circle evacuation zones.

Reading the Part 2 of the series, it sure looks as if almost everything bad that happened afterwards could have been prevented if the politicians and bureaucrats on the initial (and crucial) 1st and 2nd days of the nuclear accident had acted to protect the public, which I think is their constitutional duty. Instead, they played games, a turf war as if this was just another ordinary day in Kasumigaseki.

This post is my quick translation of the Installment 11. Installments 12, 13, and 14 will be in the next 3 posts.

研究者の辞表（１１）ピンポイントの指示

"Resignation of a Researcher" (11) Instruction with pinpoint precision

放射線衛生学の研究者、木村真三（４４）らが福島に入った３月１５日は、朝６時すぎに福島第一原発の２号機が破損、大量の放射性物質が放出されていた。

Shinzo Kimura and others entered Fukushima on March 15. That day, Reactor 2 at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant was damaged at around 6AM and a large amount of radioactive materials were being released.

原発から５キロの場所には１１日夜に国の現地対策本部ができていた。しかし１４日夜には２号機の状態を懸念して撤退方針を決める。同日夜から撤退を始め、１５日午後には原発から６０キロ離れた福島県庁に退いた。

At a location 5 kilometers from the plant, the headquarters for nuclear disaster countermeasures was set up by the national government in the evening of March 11. However, in the evening of March 14, they decided to retreat out of fear of the condition of Reactor 2. The retreat started that night, and the headquarters was moved inside the Fukushima prefectural government building, 60 kilometers from the plant, by March 15 afternoon.

撤退組の一人、渡辺眞樹男（５７）は福島県庁に移った後の１５日夜に指示を受けた。「大変な事態になっている。測定に行ってくれ」

Makio Watanabe, one of the officials at the headquarters, received the instruction on March 15 evening at the Fukushima prefectural government building. "The situation is extremely serious. Go measure the radiation."

渡辺は文部科学省茨城原子力安全管理事務所から応援に来ていた。指示された場所は浪江町山間部の３カ所。ピンポイントだった。神奈川北原子力事務所の車 で現地に行き、午後９時ごろ放射線量を測る。数値を見て驚いた。３カ所とも高く、特に赤宇木（あこうぎ）は毎時３３０マイクロシーベルト。

Watanabe had been sent to the headquarters from the Ministry of Education's office for nuclear safety management in Ibaraki. He was instructed to go and measure at 3 locations in the mountainous area in Namie-machi. The instruction was pinpoint, very precise. He drove there, and start measuring the radiation at about 9PM. He was alarmed to see the numbers. All three locations had very high radiation, and Akogi District in Namie-machi measured 330 microsieverts/hour.

「いやもう、信じられなかった」と渡辺は振り返る。すぐ報告しようとしたが、携帯はつながらない。雨模様だったので衛星携帯も使えなかった。急いで川俣町の山木屋まで戻り、公衆電話から報告をした。戻る途中、点々と人家の明かりが見えた。まだ大勢の人が残っていた。

Looking back, Watanabe says "I just couldn't believe it." He wanted to report right away, but his cellphone didn't connect. He couldn't use his satelite phone because it was raining. He hastily drove back to Kawamata-machi, and used the public phone there to report. On the way back to Kawamata-machi, he saw lights in people's houses. There were still many people remaining [in Namie-machi].

「とにかく住民の方々に被曝（ひばく）をしてほしくなかった。線量が高いと報告し、早くこの線量を発表してください、とお願いをしました」

"I just didn't want the residents to get irradiated. I reported that the radiation levels were extremely high, and asked the headquarters please to make the radiation measurements public as soon as possible."

実はこのとき渡辺は防護服を着ていなかった。県庁への撤退が慌ただしかったため、防護服の類は現地本部に放棄していたからだ。

Watanabe wasn't even wearing the protective clothing. Since the retreat to the Fukushima prefectural government building was done so hastily that they left protective gear.

「不思議と自分のことは考えていないですよね。こんな時だからこそやらなきゃいけない、と」

"I didn't think about my safety at that time. I felt I had to do it."

必死の思いで渡辺が伝えた数値は、しかし住民避難に使われはしなかった。文科省は１６日にその数値を発表したが、地区名は伏せたまま。浪江町に知らせる こともなかった。町は危険を認識せず、一帯に残る住民に伝えることもなかった。なにより官房長官は「直ちに人体に影響を与えるような数値ではない」と会見 で述べていた。

However, the numbers that Watanabe had measured at grave danger and reported were never used for evacuation of the residents. The Ministry of Education announced the numbers on March 16 but it didn't say exactly where. The Ministry never notified Namie-machi. Namie-machi didn't know the danger, and so it didn't inform the residents about the danger. More than anything else, the Chief Cabinet Secretary [Edano] kept saying in the press conference, "They are not the levels that would affect the body immediately."

それにしても、なぜ対策本部は高線量の場所をピンポイントで知っていたのか。渡辺は言う。「ポイントをどなたが決めて指示されたのか、私もいまだに分かりません」

Still, how come the headquarters knew the locations of high radiation with such precision? Watanabe says, "Who decided which point to measure and instructed me? I do not know even this day."

元をたどると、指示は文科の本省だった。根拠に使われたのはＳＰＥＥＤＩ（緊急時迅速放射能影響予測システム）。同省は汚染の概要をつかんでいた。（依光隆明）

The reporter tracked down the source, and it was from the Ministry of Education in Tokyo. The instruction was based on SPEEDI, and the Ministry knew the extend of radiation contamination.

I remember the face of Yukio Edano in the press conferences in the early days of the accident. He was saying "No immediate effect". People were relieved. People even worried for his health, and told him to get some sleep. Then one day in mid April, there was a news clip of him visiting Fukushima (Minami Soma City), with protective clothing and a face mask. People ridiculed him at first, for it seemed to contradict his statement of "no immediate risk".

He knew. And he lied. And people know that now, albeit too late.

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Must Read: Asahi Shinbun "Trap of Prometheus" Series Part 1 - Men in Protective Clothing (11,12) "Who Were Those Men?"

(Installment 1, Installments 2 and 3, Installments 4 and 5, Installment 6, Installments 7 and 8, Installments 9 and 10, Installments 11 and 12)

Asahi Shinbun's series "Trap of Prometheus" - Men in Protective Clothing documents what happened in Namie-machi in Fukushima Prefecture right after the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident.

Installment 12 says the district chief still remains in Namie-machi. Part regret, part frustration that his community is now gone. He wonders, along with Mizue Kanno, why the authorities did not tell them about high radiation, when they could and should. The district chief also regrets that he didn't take the warning of the men in protective clothing, as told by Mizue, seriously.

If you read Japanese, you can read all installments (1-12) in one location, at this blog.

Even if the series is written by a reporter at a major Japanese newspaper, not many Japanese are aware of it, which, after the initial launch, was buried in the 3rd page of the printed version. (For more on the "3rd page", go to the note before the Installments 9 and 10, here.)

=====================================

防護服の男（１１） あの２人のおかげで

Men in Protective Clothing (11) Thanks to those two men

菅野みずえの家に避難した２５人は、「白い防護服の男」の情報とみずえの判断でそれぞれ再避難し、危険な状況から逃げることができた。

25 people who evacuated to Mizue Kanno's house were able to escape from a dangerous situation by evacuating again thanks to the information from the "men in protective clothing" and Mizue's urging.

　大量の放射性物質が飛び散り、住民が被曝（ひばく）するかもしれない緊急の時期だった。しかし政府も東京電力も、それを住民に教えなかった。

It was a period of emergency when a large amount of radioactive materials were being dispersed and endangering the residents. But neither the national government nor TEPCO told the residents about it.

　しかし２５人は、混乱を起こすこともなく、冷静に動いている。

However, these 25 people have acted calmly, without panic.

　みずえは今、福島市に近い桑折町（こおりまち）の仮設住宅で暮らす。

Mizue now lives in the temporary housing in Kori-machi, near Fukushima City.

　「ほら、見てください」。みずえは空き地で遊ぶ子どもたちを指さす。

"Take a look over there", Mizue says, pointing to children in the open space.

　「あんな小さな子が、避難生活の苦労を背負ってこれから生きていくんですよ。もし被曝していたら……」

"Small children like that will have to live with the hardship as evacuees. What if they've been irradiated on top of it..."

　それにしても、あの白い防護服の男たちは一体だれだったのか。みずえは今も考える。

Who were those men in white protective clothing anyway? Mizue still wonders.

　そのころ福島県内は、文部科学省や福島県、日本原子力研究開発機構、東京電力、東北電力などの計測車が走り回っていた。

At that time, radiation monitoring cars from the Ministry of Education and Science, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, TEPCO, and Tohoku Electric Power were all over Fukushima Prefecture.

　例えば新潟県からの応援車もきていた。３月１２日夕のちょうどその時刻、津島地区を通っている。

There was even a monitoring car from Niigata Prefecture. Around the time when the men in white protective clothing visited Mizue in the evening of March 12, the car from Niigata passed through Tsushima District.

　新潟県の職員２人は、原発事故対応の支援のため、ワゴン車に乗って福島県に入った。１１４号を浪江町に進み、津島地区を通った。午後４時ごろ、その先の川房地区で警官に止められて引き返している。

Two personnel from Niigata Prefecture came to Fukushima in a wagon in order to support the effort to deal with the nuclear plant accident. They proceeded on Route 114 to enter Namie-machi, and passed through Tsushima District. About 4PM, they were stopped by the police in Kawabusa District and turned back.

　その職員に話を聞くことができた。ただ、内部被曝してしまったので、名前が出るのは困るとのことだった。

The reporter was able to talk with the two. However, they asked me to withhold their names because they suffered internal radiation.

　職員によると、当時、測定器は激しく鳴りっぱなしで、焦っていた。

According to them, their radiation survey meter was constantly beeping and they were fretting.

　津島地区を通ったとき、車がたくさん止まっていたので避難所だと思った。

When they passed through Tsushima District, they saw a lot of cars parked. They assumed it was an evacuation shelter.

　「防護服？　いいえ、着ていませんでした。車を降りてもいません」

"Protective clothing? No we weren't wearing. We didn't get out of our car, either."

　１４日未明には、放射線医学総合研究所のモニタリングカーが津島地区を通過している。まだ大勢の避難民がいたころだ。

In the early hours of March 14, a monitoring car from National Institute of Radiological Sciences was passing through Tsushima District. There were still many evacuees remaining.

　車には測定器などを積み込んでいたが、「資材を運ぶのが目的だった。放射線量は測っていない」（広報課）という。

The car carried the radiation measurement equipoment, but according to their PR department, "The purpose was to carry the equipment, and they didn't measure the radiation level."

　みずえが会った２人は、そうした計測チームの一つだった可能性が高い。

The two that Mizue met are likely to have been one of those survey teams.

　「あの２人の警告のおかげで逃げられた。それをなぜ国や東京電力は組織としてしてくれなかったのだろうか。もっと多くの人が逃げることができたのに」（前田基行）

"Because of the warning of the two men, we were able to escape. Why didn't the national government or TEPCO give a warning like that? So many more could have escaped."

(Reporting by Motoyuki Maeda)

------------------------------------

防護服の男（１２）区長は逃げなかった

Men in Protective Clothing (12) District chief remained

菅野家の２５人が再避難した３月１３日、下津島区長、今野秀則（６４）は、家を訪ねてきた菅野みずえから白い防護服の男の話を聞かされた。

On March 13 when the 25 evacuees at Kanno's house re-evacuated, Hidenori Konno (age 64), district chief of Shimo Tsushima, heard about what the men in white protective clothing had told Mizue, who came to visit him.

　しかし、逃げなかった。確かな情報もなしに右往左往すべきではないと思った。なにより、区長として先に逃げるわけにいかなかった。

But he stayed. He thought he should not run around in confusion without solid information. More than anything else, as the district chief, he felt he couldn't escape before anyone else.

　３月１５日の午前１０時。津島支所の対策本部に呼ばれ、支所が二本松市に避難すると告げられた。

At 10AM on March 15, he was called to the headquarters for countermeasures at the Tsushima Branch, and was told that the Branch would move to Nihonmatsu City.

　なぜだ。原発から３０キロ離れた津島は安全のはずではなかったのか。しばらく事態がのみ込めなかった。

Why? Wasn't Tsushima safe, being 30 kilometers away from the nuke plant? He couldn't grasp the situation for a while.

　そのとき、テレビが政府の会見を放映していた。２０～３０キロに屋内退避の指示。職員が食い入るように画面を見つめている。これなのか。

The TV was showing the press conference by the national government. Instruction to stay indoors for the residents in 20 to 30 kilometer radius from the plant. The branch personnel were staring into the TV screen. Was this the reason?

　午後から下津島の５０軒を１人で回り、避難を呼びかけた。

In the afternoon, he went to each of the 50 households in Shimo Tsushima, and asked them to evacuate.

　大半の家はカーテンが引かれ、避難していたが、１０軒が残っていた。避難を促したが、拒まれた。３軒は「牛がいるので避難できねえ」といった。寝たきりの老人もいた。

Curtains were drawn in most houses and people had already evacuated, but 10 households still remained. He urged evacuation, but was refused. 3 households said to him, "We can't go anywhere because of our cows". There was a bedridden old man.

　今野は妻（５５）と長女（２３）を先に逃がし、そのまま津島に残る。

Konno evacuated his wife (age 55) and his eldest daughter (age 23), and remained in Tsushima.

　大勢の避難民でごった返した地区から物音が消えた。夜、雨が雪に変わり、路面は真っ白になった。静かだった。

The district, which had been crowded with many evacuees , went completely silent. At night, rain turned to snow, and the roads were covered with white snow. It was quiet.

　昨日はたまたま留守だった家があるかもしれない。１６日、もう一度、５０軒を回った。いったん避難した５軒が戻ってきていた。

There may be households who happened to be away yesterday. So, on March 16, he visited the 50 households again. 5 families who had evacuated had come back.

　妻が車いすで、避難所ではトイレに行くのも大変だから帰ってきた――。１軒で、老夫婦がそう答えた。夫は「いいんだよ放射能なんか。もう年だし、ここで生活する」といった。今野は、車いすでも不自由しない別の施設をさがして伝えた。

In one household, they told him they had come back because the wife was wheelchair-bound, and had a hard time at the shelter even to go to the bathroom. The husband said, "It's OK if there's radiation. We're old. We will live here". Konno told them of another shelter that was wheelchair-friendly.

　「地域が消滅してしまう」

"The community will disappear."

　無人となった地区を車で走りながら、今野は悔しかった。

Running around in the empty district in his car, Konno was frustrated.

　今野は元県庁職員で、今後は地元の伝統芸能保存活動に力を入れるつもりだった。しかし、そんな老後の夢は消え去った。

Konno used to be an official at the prefectural government. He was planning to be active in preserving the local traditional performance art. But his dream was gone now.

　今野は町から測定器を借り、７月から毎月、地区の一軒一軒の放射線量を測り、その住人の避難先に郵送で知らせている。

Konno borrowed a survey meter from Namie-machi, and he's been measuring the radiation level at each house in the district since July. He mails the results to the residents at their temporary addresses.

　県や町からいわれたわけではない。防護服の男の話を聞いたとき、津島が高い線量だと知っていたら、もっと強く避難を呼びかけたのに……。そんな後悔があるからだ。

It's not that he was asked to do so by the prefectural government or Namie municipal government. It is from his regret. When he heard about the men in protective clothing, if he had known that Tsushima had a high radiation, he would have told people to evacuate more strongly.

　ひと月前と比べ、どの家の軒先も雑草が生い茂っている。３年前に亡くなった父が大事に育てていた庭の植木も枯れた。（前田基行）

Compared to a month ago, weeds infest the front yard of the houses in the district. The plant in the garden of his house died; his late father, who died three years ago, had grown the plant with great care.

(Reporting by Motoyuki Maeda)

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Must Read: Asahi Shinbun "Trap of Prometheus" Series Part 1 - Men in Protective Clothing (9, 10) "500 Microsieverts/Hr Radiation"

(Installment 1, Installments 2 and 3, Installments 4 and 5, Installment 6, Installments 7 and 8, Installments 9 and 10, Installments 11 and 12)

Asahi Shinbun's series "Trap of Prometheus" - Men in Protective Clothing documents what happened in Namie-machi in Fukushima Prefecture right after the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident.

In these 9th and 10th installments, the Namie-machi residents learn all too late that the radiation levels of their area were extremely high (in hundreds of microsieverts/hour) but the authorities (police, Self Defense Force, etc.) did not tell them because the government told them not to reveal.

If you read Japanese, you can read all installments (1-12) in one location, at this blog.

Even if the series is written by a reporter at a major Japanese newspaper, not many Japanese are aware of it, which, after the initial launch, was buried in the 3rd page of the printed version.

"To be buried in the 3rd page" is symbolic in the context of the history of Japanese newspapers. Traditionally, particularly before the newspapers were beefed up with many pages, the articles that appeared in "the 3rd page" of a newspaper was considered "insignificant" - with "significant" or "important" articles being politics (1st page) and economics (2nd page). The "3rd page" was filled with "other" articles - crimes, corruption, sex, gossips, and articles that the newspaper editors didn't want to attract much attention from the public. The newspaper would fulfill its social obligation of reporting the news but the news is "buried in the 3rd page" so as not to attract too much attention.

That's where this series appears in Asahi Shinbun, I was told.

================================

防護服の男（９）
Men in Protective Clothing (9)

　浪江町の赤宇木（あこうぎ）地区に住む三瓶（さんぺい）ヤスコ（７７）は隣の飯舘村から嫁いで５５年になる。菅野みずえとは公民館の民謡サークル仲間だ。

It's been 55 years since Yasuko Sanpei (age 77) married and moved from the neighboring Iitate-mura. She lived in Akogi District of Namie-machi. She and Mizue Kanno were members of a "minyo" [traditional Japanese folk music] singing circle.

　ヤスコは８月初めまで、細い山道を上った一軒家に１人で住んでいた。

Yasuko lived in her home at the end of a narrow mountain road all by herself, until the beginning of August.

　地震直後は、神奈川県の孫娘の１ＤＫのアパートに、富岡町の長女と孫息子の３人で避難した。

Right after the earthquake, she and her eldest daughter and the daughter's son moved to a 1-room (plus dining and kitchen) apartment of her granddaughter in Kanagawa Prefecture.

　しかし、隣室の食事の音まで聞こえる。周りにも気を使う。「この年になると都会の生活は合わない」。犬と猫のことも気になり、４月末に赤宇木に戻った。

However, you could hear the noise of the next-door neighbors, and you would have to be careful not to offend people around you [in a big city]. "I cannot adjust to city living at my age." She went back to Akogi at the end of April. She wanted to take care of her dog and her cat, too.

　そのころは、まだ地区に数世帯が残っていた。そのうち１軒減り、２軒減り、誰もいなくなった。警察が３０キロ付近で通行規制を始めると、車も通らなくなった。

Around that time, there were still a few families remaining in the district. But one family left, then another, and finally there was none. When the police started to control traffic at around 30 kilometers [from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant], there was no car passing through the district.

　さみしくなった。夜は真っ暗だ。何も考えないように思っても手が震え、食べ物がつかえた。

She felt lonely. There was no light. No matter how she tried not to think about things, her hands shook, and she couldn't eat much.

　気晴らしに近くをドライブした。しかし、帰り道はどの家も明かりはない。山道を落ちてもだれも助けにきてくれないと思うと、ドライブが怖くなった。

She went for a ride in her car to relax. But on the way back from the drive she saw dark houses with no light. If her car fell off the cliff in the mountain, no one would come to rescue her. She became afraid of driving.

　日曜になると、背中に「文部科学省」と書かれた作業服の男たちが、地区に放射線量を計測にきた。ヤスコは車がくると出て行き、「今日はなんぼですか」と尋ねる。

On Sundays, men in work clothes with "Ministry of Education and Science" on the back came to measure the radiation. Every time when their car came, Yasuko would go out and ask "How much is it today?"

　「１５マイクロシーベルトだよ」。男は気軽に教えてくれた。

"15 microsieverts/hour", answered the man.

　「私の家も測ってくれんかね」

"Can you measure my house?"

　別の日、男は家の周辺を測ってくれた。家の外で１０マイクロシーベルト、居間で５．５マイクロシーベルトあった。平常値をはるかに上回る量だ。

On another Sunday, the man measured around her house. 10 microsieverts/hour outside the house, 5.5 microsieverts/hour in her living room. They far exceeded the normal level.

　男はそれを紙に書いてヤスコに渡した。

The man wrote down the number on a piece of paper and handed it to Yasuko.

　６月初めのある日曜日、男がポツリと言った。

On one Sunday in early June, the man told Yasuko unexpectedly.

　「今だからいうけど、ここは初め１００マイクロシーベルトを超していたんだ。そのときは言えなかった。すまなかった」

"It was over 100 microsieverts/hour here, in the beginning. I couldn't tell you at that time. I am sorry."

　その後も、男は「参考にして」といって、各地域の放射線量が書かれた地図をヤスコにくれた。

Afterwards, the man gave Yasuko the map that had radiation levels in various locations for her reference.

　だが、ヤスコは８月初めまで赤宇木にとどまる。

However, Yasuko ended up stayin Akogi until early August.

　「放射能は目に見えるわけでないし、数値を聞いてもよく分からなかったのよ」

"You can't see radiation. Besides, I didn't know what the numbers meant."

　８月初め、二本松市の仮設住宅に当たったため、赤宇木を出た。

She left Akogi in early August when she was selected for the temporary housing in Nihonmatsu City.

　しかし、今も２日おきに、約２５キロ離れた自宅まで車で通う。

But she still commutes to her home by car, 25 kilometers from Nihonmatsu, every 2 days.

　犬と猫にえさをやるためだ。

To feed her dog and her cat.

（前田基行） (Reporting by Motoyuki Maeda)

-----------------------------------

防護服の男（１０）口止めされた警察官

Men in Protective Clothing (10) Policeman who was told to be quiet

関場和代（５２）は３月１４日、会津若松市の親類宅に避難した。家は菅野みずえの家に近い浪江町南津島にあった。

Kazuyo Sekiba (age 52) moved to her relative's house in Aizu Wakamatsu City on March 14. Her house was in Minami Tsushima in Namie-machi, close to Mizue Kanno's house.

　その後も避難指示がないため４月２日、ひとまず自宅に戻った。数日して、家の前に自衛隊のジープがとまり、隊員が降りてきた。安否確認で来たという。

But since there was no formal instruction to evacuate, she came back home on April 2. Several days later, a Self Defense Force jeep stopped in front of her house, and a SDF soldier alighted from the jeep. He said he came to make sure the residents were safe.

　そのころ浪江町の放射線量が高いことが報道されていた。それが心配で、おそるおそる尋ねた。

Around that time, it was being reported that the radiation level in Namie-machi was high. Worried, she asked the soldier nervously.

　「この辺の線量はどのくらいですか」。隊員はにっこり笑い、ここは大丈夫だと答えた。

"What is the radiation level around here?" The solder smiled brightly, and answered it was all right.

　「私たちは線量計を付けています。１日にどのくらい線量を浴びたか分かるんですよ」。和代はそれで安心した。家に閉じこもるのをやめ、近所に出かけていった。

"We are fitted with dosimeter. We know how much radiation we get every day." Kazuyo was relieved. She stopped staying indoors all the time, and went about in the neighborhood.

　４月１７日。近くの橋の上にいると、男が近づいてきた。フリージャーナリストの豊田直巳（５５）だった。和代が、自宅の線量を測ってほしいと頼んだ。豊田は敷地のあちこちを測りはじめた。

April 17. When she was on the bridge near her house, a man approached her. He was Naomi Toyoda (age 55), a freelance journalist. Kazuyo asked him if he could measure the radiation at her house. Toyoda started to measure at various locations at her house.

　玄関の雨どいの下を測ったとき、豊田が「ワッ、これは大変だ！」と叫んで立ち上がった。

After he measured the level under the rain gutter at the front entrance, Toyoda stood up in surprise, shouting "Oh my goodness!"

　ためらう豊田に、和代は「本当のこといってください」と頼んだ。

Kazuyo begged the hesitant Toyoda. "Please tell me the truth."

　「２時間いたら、１ミリ吸います」と豊田は答えた。

"If you stay here for 2 hours, you will get 1 millisievert", answered Toyoda.

　豊田によると、そのときの線量は毎時５００マイクロシーベルトを超えていた。２時間いただけで年間許容量の１ミリシーベルトを超える値だ。

According to Toyoda, the radiation level was over 500 microsieverts/hour. If one remained there for 2 hours, he/she would get more than 1 millisievert which was the annual radiation exposure limit set by the government.

　具体的な数字を初めて聞かされ、大変なことだと初めて自覚した。和代はあわてて身支度し、豊田に見送られて家を飛び出した。

On hearing the actual number for the first time, Kazuyo realized this was a big deal. She hastily packed her belongings and fled the house as Toyoda saw her off.

　数日後、ネコを引き取りに再び家に帰った。警視庁のパトカーが敷地に入ってきた。

Several days later, she came back to get her cat. A police patrol car came in.

　「ここって高かったんですね」と３０代ぐらいの警察官に聞いてみた。

"So the radiation was high here, wasn't it?" She tried to draw information out of the policeman who looked in his 30s.

　「そうなんです、高いですよ。でも政府から止められていていえなかったんです」

"Yes it was. But we couldn't tell you because the government told us not to."

　警察官はそう答えた。

The policeman answered.

　和代はびっくりした。ジープの自衛官がいったことは何だったのか。

Kazuyo was shocked. Then what was it that the SDF soldier had told her?

　「もし自分の家族だったら、同じことがいえますか。真っ先に逃がすでしょう。私らのことは、しょせんひとごとなんですかね」

"Would he have said the same thing to his family members? No. He would have made them escape as soon as possible. But us, we are just strangers, I guess."

　７月、中国の高速鉄道事故で証拠隠しが発覚した。日本のメディアは中国政府の対応を厳しく批判した。和代は腹が立ってくる。

In July, the Chinese government was found hiding the evidence of the high-speed rail accident. The Japanese media heavily criticized the response by the Chinese government. Kazuyo was angry.

　「日本だって同じじゃないの」

"It's the same thing in Japan."

（前田基行） (Reporting by Motoyuki Maeda)

====================================

It's the same thing, or worse in Japan, for the pretense that what they have is so-called "democracy".

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Must Read: Asahi Shinbun "Trap of Prometheus" Series Part 1 - Men in Protective Clothing (7, 8) "No One Helped My Parents"

(Installment 1, Installments 2 and 3, Installments 4 and 5, Installment 6, Installments 7 and 8, Installments 9 and 10, Installments 11 and 12)

Asahi Shinbun's series "Trap of Prometheus" - Men in Protective Clothing documents what happened in Namie-machi in Fukushima Prefecture right after the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident.

If you read Japanese, you can read all installments (1-12) in one location, at this blog.

Even if the series is written by a reporter at a major Japanese newspaper, not many Japanese are aware of it, which, after the initial launch, was buried in the 3rd page of the printed version.

===================================

防護服の男（７） 早く東京へ来なさい

Men in Protective Clothing (7) Come to Tokyo ASAP

東京に住む娘の携帯電話の指示で転々と避難を続けた者もいた。菅野みずえの家に避難した門馬洋（もんま・ひろし）（６７）と昌子（しょうこ）（６８）の夫婦だ。

There are people who moved from one place to another on instructions from their daughter in Tokyo via cellphone. Hiroshi (age 67) and Shoko (age 68) Monma, for example, who evacuated to Mizue Sugano's house [in Namie-machi].

　自宅は浪江町の権現堂地区で、原発まで１０キロない。３月１２日朝、町の防災無線が「津島に逃げてください」と避難を呼びかけた。車で知り合いのみずえの家に避難した。

The couple's house was in Gongendo District of Namie-machi, less than 10 kilometers from the nuclear plant. In the morning of March 12, the town's emergency radio communication system alerted the residents to evacuate to Tsushima District. The couple went to Mizue's house in Tsushima; Mizue was their acquaintance.

　菅野家には昼前に着いた。昌子はみずえの炊き出しを手伝い、お握りを握った。夕食後、２５人の避難民たちが自己紹介しあった。知り合いが何人もいた。

They arrived at the Suganos before noon. Shoko helped Mizue prepare food for the evacuees. After supper, 25 evacuees introduced themselves to each other. There were many that the couple knew.

　みずえから白い防護服の男たちの話を聞かされたときは、夫婦はずるずる居残った。

When Mizue told them about the men in white protective clothing, they stayed on.

　しかし、翌１３日朝、再びみずえから逃げるようにいわれ、昼前に菅野家を出発した。

But the next morning on March 13, Mizue told them again to flee, and they departed before noon.

　とにかく北へ逃げようと、南相馬市を目指した。コンビニも商店も閉まっていた。レストランを見つけた。納豆定食が残っていたので、それを食べた。３軒のホテルに断られ、ようやく見つけたホテルに泊まった。

They headed north toward Minami Soma City. Convenience stores and shops were all closed. They found a restaurant that was still open, and ate the only available set meal. 3 hotels turned them down, the 4th agreed to put them up for the night.

　１４日夜、福島空港から飛行機に乗り、１５日に東京の長女と合流した。

They hopped on the plane at the Fukushima Airport on March 14 night, and met with their eldest daughter in Tokyo on March 15.

　長女の真理子（３６）は地震のあと、両親の携帯を呼び続けた。１１日の地震直後に、一度通じただけで連絡が途絶える。あとはメールだけだった。

Their eldest daughter Mariko (age 36) kept calling the parents' cellphone after the quake. She got connected only once, right after the March 11 quake; after that, only by emails.

　しかし、メールの返信も途絶えた１２日の午前８時４３分。

But the last reply to her email was at 8:43AM on March 12.

　「お父さんとお母さんの無事を神様にお祈りしています」

"I'm praying for your safety."

　テレビやインターネットで、原発事故の新しい情報を必死で探し、両親に送り続けた。

She did her best to look for the latest information on the nuke plant accident from TV and the Internet, and kept sending it to her parents.

　１号機が水素爆発した１２日の午後９時。真理子はテレビで専門家が「大丈夫」と言っているのを聞いた。「爆発は外壁だけで、放射能をまき散らすものではなかったと判明」。そんなメールを送った。大変な誤りだった。

At 9PM on March 12 after Reactor 1 had a hydrogen explosion, Mariko heard the experts on TV saying, "Not a problem". "The explosion just blew out the outer walls, and not the kind that would release radioactive material", she wrote to her parents. That turned out to be totally false.

　両親が南相馬市に再避難した１３日には「女川原発まで放射能が飛んでいる。そこも危ない。東京に来なさい」。

When her parents evacuated to Minami Soma City on March 13, she wrote to them, "Radioactive fallout even to Onagawa Nuke Plant. It's dangerous there. Come to Tokyo."

　そして１４日の正午。「３号機が１１時半に爆発した。早く東京へ」

And at noon on March 14, "Reactor 3 exploded at 11:30. Come to Tokyo ASAP."

　父は「そこまで行かなくてもいいじゃないか」と返してきた。真理子は「とにかく早く来なさい！」と叱った。

Her father replied, "I don't think we need to go that far". Mariko scolded her father. "Just do as I say!"

　責任のある人たちは、だれも両親を助けてくれようとしなかった。真理子にはその不信感だけが残る。（前田基行）

People in the position of authority did nothing to help her parents. That feeling of distrust is what Mariko is left with. (Reporting by Motoyuki Maeda)

---------------

防護服の男（８） 「ふるさと」歌えない

Men in Protective Clothing (8) Can't Sing a Song About Home

　菅野みずえの家に避難した門馬洋（６７）は元高校教師だ。福島第一原発がつくられた４０年前から反原発運動にかかわっていた。

Hiroshi Monma (age 67), who first evacuated to Mizue Sugano's house, used to be a high school teacher. He had also been involved in anti-nuclear movement for 40 years since Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant was built.

　当時住んでいた楢葉町（ならはまち）の町営住宅に、住民３人が集まって始めた運動だ。県知事や町長らに危険性を訴え続けた。東京電力とは数年前から毎月１回交渉し、３月２２日も交渉が予定されていた。

It started with 3 residents when they got together in Monma's then-house in Naraha-machi. They continued to appeal the danger of the nuclear plant to the governor of the prefecture and the town's mayor. They had also been meeting with TEPCO once a month for several years, and the monthly meeting was scheduled on March 22.

　原告４０４人で隣の福島第二原発について裁判を起こしたが負けた。そのとき仙台高裁の裁判長が述べた言葉を今もはっきり覚えている。

The group of 404 people sued over Fukushima II Nuclear Power Plant and lost. Monma still clearly remembers what the chief justice of the Sendai High Court said.

　「反対ばかりしていないで落ち着いて考える必要がある。原発をやめるわけにはいかないだろうから」

"Instead of just blindly protesting against the nuclear power plant, we need to calm down and think. For we probably cannot afford to stop the nuclear power plant."

　それから２１年。原発は安全だという幻想はあっけなく崩壊した。

It's been 21 years since the verdict. The illusion that nuclear power plants are safe has been shattered all too easily.

　「東京電力の想定がいかに甘いか。そのために多くの人に、どれだけの被害を与えたか。いったいどう責任を取るつもりなのか」

"It shows how optimistic TEPCO's assumption was. Because of that, so many people have suffered so much damage. How is the company going to take responsibility?"

　しかし、浪江町が今回の事故で「殺人行為だ」と国や東京電力を非難していることについても、同様に違和感がある。

However, he also feels ill at ease with the accusation of Namie-machi against the national government and TEPCO, saying what they did [or didn't do] was "homicide".

　浪江町にも、東北電力の原発建設計画が４０年前からあった。浪江町議会が誘致を求めていたものだった。

There is a plan for Tohoku Electric to build a nuclear power plant in Namie-machi; the plan was first floated 40 years ago. The Namie-machi Town Assembly has been actively inviting the plant.

　昨年、町内会の会合で町議が洋を見ながらいった。「原発で浪江町の未来は明るくなる。門馬先生は反対でしょうが……」

Last year, one assemblyman told Hiroshi in a neighborhood meeting. "The nuclear power plant will brighten up the future for Namie-machi. I know you are against it, but..."

　７月に一時帰宅したとき線量を測った。家の近くで毎時４マイクロシーベルトあった。

When he returned to his home temporarily in July, he measured the radiation. Near the house, it was 4 microsieverts/hour.

　畑には大きな柿の木がある。長女の真理子（３６）が生まれたときに植えたものだ。３００個以上の実をつけた年もあった。

There is a big persimmon tree in the field. He planted the tree when his eldest daughter Mariko (age 36) was born. There were years when the tree had more than 300 persimmon fruits.

　「もう実がなっても食べられませんね。汚染されてしまったから」

"We can't eat the fruits anymore. They have been contaminated."

　３０年ほど前、町内の体育館を借り、東京の劇団を呼んで放射能漏れ事故をテーマにした劇をやったことがあった。原発事故で町民が逃げ惑うというストーリーだった。それが現実になった。

About 30 years ago, [his anti-nuke group?] rented a school gym and invited a theatrical company from Tokyo to put on the play about an accident where radioactive materials leaked from a nuclear power plant. It was a story of town's residents running around trying to escape a nuclear accident. It now became the reality.

　夫婦は東京都北区の団地に身を落ち着けている。

The husband and wife now lives in a housing development complex in Kita-ku in Tokyo.

　家賃は１３万５千円と高いが、長女の家の近くに住むため、そこに決めた。東京電力からもらった仮払金１００万円を家賃の支払いにあてる。

The monthly rent is rather high at 135,000 yen [US$1,774], but they decided on that location to be close to their eldest daughter. 1 million yen temporary advance from TEPCO is being used to pay the rent.

　洋は福島にいたころから合唱が好きだった。７月、北区で合唱団の催しがあるのを知り、妻の昌子（６８）と参加してみた。

Hiroshi always liked singing in a chorus when he lived in Fukushima. In July, he knew about a chorus in Kita-ku, and tried it out with his wife Shoko (age 68).

　兎（うさぎ）追いしかの山、の「故郷（ふるさと）」を歌った。洋も昌子も途中で歌えなくなった。（前田基行）

They sang "Furusato (Home)". "The mountain that I used to chase a rabbit.." Hiroshi and Shoko could not finish the song. (Reporting by Motoyuki Maeda)

==================================

The song is in formal, written-style Japanese, and it roughly runs like this in English (which just doesn't do justice to the original Japanese):

The mountain that I used to chase a rabbit
The river that I used to fish
I still dream of my old home
I cannot forget my old home

How are my parents who still live there?
How are my old friends?
When it rains, when the wind blows
I always think about my old home

Someday when I achieve my dream
I shall return to my old home
Where the mountains are green
Where the water is clear

Well, they have destroyed my "home", too. I don't have a clean, radiation-free place to come home to any more. And they are running around like chickens with heads cut off, promising "decontamination" to people and promising domestic tax hikes to foreign politicians, selling nuke plants, and telling people it's OK to eat contaminated food and forcing school children to attend schools in high radiation areas.

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Must Read: Asahi Shinbun "Trap of Prometheus" Series Part 1 - Men in Protective Clothing (6) "It Could Have Been Us"

(Installment 1, Installments 2 and 3, Installments 4 and 5, Installment 6, Installments 7 and 8, Installments 9 and 10, Installments 11 and 12)

Asahi Shinbun's series "Trap of Prometheus" - Men in Protective Clothing, which documents what happened in Namie-machi in Fukushima Prefecture right after the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident.

If you read Japanese, you can read all installments (1-12) in one location, at this blog.

Even if the series is written by a reporter at a major Japanese newspaper, not many Japanese are aware of it, which, after the initial launch, was buried in the 3rd page of the printed version.

===========================================

防護服の男（６）ハエがたかっていた

Men in Protective Clothing (6) Flies were swarming

谷田（やつだ）みさ子（６２）は浪江町で生まれ育った。中学生のころ、東京電力が福島第一原発づくりを始めた。

Misako Yatsuda (age 62) was born and raised in Namie-machi. When she was in junior high school, TEPCO started to build Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant [1960s].

　高校卒業後、上京して就職したが、１年半で浪江町に戻った。そのあとは東電一色の生活だった。

After graduating from high school, she went to Tokyo to work, but came back to Namie-machi after one and a half year. Since then, her life evolved around TEPCO.

　結婚し、３人の子を育てながら焼き鳥屋をやった。客は原発で働く作業員たちだった。

She got married, opened a yakitori restaurant while raising 3 children. The customers were the workers at the plant.

　その後は東電の社員寮に勤める。

Then she worked at the employee dormitories of TEPCO.

　昨年の夏まで１０年間働いた。食事をつくり、若い社員らに「やつだっち」と呼ばれて慕われた。女子寮には、女子サッカーのなでしこジャパンで活躍した鮫島彩選手らがいた。「みんないい子でかわいかったです」

She worked there for 10 years until the summer of 2010. She cooked for them, and she was loved by the young TEPCO workers. In the women's dormitory there were female soccer players who went on to win the Women's World Cup Soccer. "There were all good people, very dear to me."

　子供たちの手が離れてからは、東電の管理職の寮に住み込んだ。

After her children grew up, she became a live-in employee at the dormitory for TEPCO managers.

　思い出すのは選挙の時の東電の力の入れようだ。

She still remembers how hard TEPCO worked the elections.

　町長選挙や県議会議員選挙があると、寮の食堂が東電幹部らの待機場所となった。支援候補が当選すると、幹部はそろってお祝いに駆けつけた。「電力会社は政治とがっちりつながっているんだな」と感心した。

Whenever there was a mayoral election or a prefectural assembly election, the dining hall of the dorm was turned into a staging area for the TEPCO management. When the candidate that TEPCO backed won, the management rushed to the candidate and celebrated. She was impressed. "An electric power company has such a strong connection with the politicians."

　これまでの人生の半分以上を東電とかかわってきた。にもかかわらず、今度の事故では東電から何の情報もなかった。

More than half her life, she has been involved with TEPCO. Nonetheless, there was no information from TEPCO on this nuclear accident.

　愛知県春日井市に避難してからはいっそう情報が入らなくなった。福島県の地元紙を郵送してもらい、隅から隅まで目を通す。

Information is even more scarce in Kasugai City in Aichi Prefecture where she evacuated. She has the local Fukushima newspaper mailed to her, and reads every page.

　これから生活はどうなるのか。補償はどうなるのか。不安だらけだ。

How is she going to make a living? What about compensation? She is full of anxiety.

　６月、浪江町の家に一時帰宅した。冷凍庫は地震でひっくり返ったままで、腐った食材にハエがたかっていた。

In June, she temporarily returned to her home in Namie-machi. The refrigerator was overturned by the earthquake. Flies were swarming on the rotten food stuff.

　８月末、自分の車を引き取りに再び福島に戻った。夫が車を運転し、春日井市から高速道路で８時間かかった。広野町の体育館で防護服に着替え、用意されたバスに乗り込んだ。

At the end of August, she went back to Fukushima again to get her car. Her husband drove, and it took them 8 hours on the highway from Kasugai City. She changed into a protective clothing in a school gym in Hirono-machi, and got on a bus arranged by [the government].

　バスが止まると、首輪をつけた２匹の犬が足元に寄ってきた。途中、道ばたで猫が２匹死んでいるのを見た。

When the bus stopped [at the destination], two dogs with collars came to her. She saw two cats dead on the side of the road.

　「一歩間違えたら、私たちがああなっていたのかな」

"It could have been us."

　事故後、長女は郡山に、次女は新潟に、家族は散り散りになっている。

After the accident, her eldest daughter's family lives in Koriyama City. Her second daughter's family lives in Niigata Prefecture. Her family has been scattered.

　９月、福島県の仮設住宅に入居を申し込んだ。

In September, she applied for the temporary housing in Fukushima Prefecture.

　「福島は何十年も暮らした土地ですから。戻りたい」。涙がこぼれた。（前田基行）

"I have lived in Fukushima for decades. I want to go back." She cried. (reported by Motoyuki Maeda)

=======================================

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