Ishihara: "It's Plain Stupid to Abandon Nuclear Plants!" (and Nuclear Technology, Probably)

Donation from electric power companies to his new party must be swelling by the minute.

According to Jiji Tsushin (10/24/2012), Mr. Ishihara, who was still the governor of Tokyo at that time, made the remark in a press conference at J-Village in Naraha-machi, Fukushima, after he toured Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant on October 24, 2012 in suits (without Tyvek) accompanied by the governors of Ibaraki and Gunma Prefectures.

東京都の石原慎太郎知事、茨城県の橋本昌知事、群馬県の大沢正明知事は２４日、福島県の東京電力福島第１原発を視察した。石原氏は視察後、原発事故対応の拠点となっている楢葉町の「Ｊヴィレッジ」で、記者団に「大きな反省点はあるが、その事故をもって人間が開発した現代的な新しい技術体系を放り出すのは愚かだ」と述べ、原発の必要性を強調した。

Governor of Tokyo Shintaro Ishihara, Governor of Ibaraki Masaru Hashimoto, and Governor of Gunma Masaaki Oosawa visited Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant on October 24. After the visit, Mr. Ishihara emphasized the necessity of nuclear power plants to the press at J-Village in Naraha-machi, saying "There are points which we should seriously reflect upon, but to throw away the modern, new technology system created by the mankind just because of the accident is stupid."

Jiji says Ishihara was referring to nuclear power plants, but I'm not so sure. He may have meant nuclear power plants, but given his ultra-hawkish stance on security issues he may have also meant nuclear technologies in general, including nuclear weapon making.

Here's Ishihara, flanked by the governors of Ibaraki and Gunma, telling TEPCO managers and workers at Fukushima I Nuke Plant "You're doing the great job that only Japanese can do, with meticulous attention to detail", (according to the same Jiji article).

From TEPCO's Photos and Videos page on October 24, 2012:

Ishihara looks good for his age.

After witnessing the devastation from the two atomic bombs dropped, there were many people in power in Japan who wanted to have such powerful weapons themselves. Maybe it had a similar impression on then-13-year-old Ishihara.

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Governor of Tokyo Shintaro Ishihara to Quit, Form a New Party and Re-Enter National Politics

Just when he has made a complete mess with the relationship with China over the Senkaku Islands, and when a questionable accounting of Tokyo's failed Olympic bid for 2016 starts to surface, he calls it quits.

From Asahi Shinbun tweet (10/25/2012):

石原都知事は都庁で緊急記者会見を開き、辞職を表明しました。「今日をもって都知事を辞職する。国会に復帰しようと思っている。新党を立ち上げて仲間とやっていく」と話しました。会見は今も続いています。

Governor of Tokyo Ishihara held an emergency press conference and announced that he would resign as the governor. "I resign as the governor as of today. I intend to return to the National Diet. I will form a new party with the like-minded people", he said. The press conference is still ongoing.

Ishihara is probably quite popular with people whose source of information is the traditional media (TV, newspapers, magazines).

The boy-wonder mayor of Osaka City, who is badly trailing in the polls but continues to be a media darling (good or bad), was in talks with 80-year-old Ishihara at one time about possible cooperation.

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Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara: "Decommission Monju? Not a Chance!"

as if he has any say in it. Or maybe he thinks he will shortly. He must be counting on the Liberal Democratic Party becoming the ruling party again, with one of his sons at the helm. (That son was the one who diagnosed people against nuclear power as suffering from hysteria, in July last year.)

As Jiji Tsushin reports, he spoke like the de facto leader of LDP anyway.

From Jiji Tsushin (9/6/2012):

福井でもんじゅ視察＝「廃炉はとんでもない」－石原都知事

Tokyo Governor Ishihara visits Monju in Fukui: "Decommissioning? Not a chance."

東京都の石原慎太郎知事は６日、日本原子力研究開発機構の高速増殖炉「もんじゅ」（福井県敦賀市）を視察した。石原知事は視察後、「もんじゅは世界に先駆けた画期的な技術。廃炉なんてとんでもない」と感想を語った。

Governor of Tokyo Shintaro Ishihara visited Monju fast-breeder reactor of Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) (in Tsuruga City, Fukui Prefecture) on September 6. Governor Ishihara said after the visit, "Monju is the first-in-the-world, epoch-making technology. Not a chance of decommissioning."

　もんじゅは２０１０年に運転を再開したが、試運転の第１段階終了後、停止したままになっている。石原知事は高速増殖炉研究の必要性を主張している。

Monju restarted operation in 2010, but has stopped ever since the first step of the test run was completed. Governor Ishihara has been a strong proponent of the fast-breeder reactor research.　

一方、政府が尖閣諸島（沖縄県石垣市）の購入で地権者と合意したことについて、石原知事は「所有者が決めて売ればいい。どうせ（今の）内閣はもたず、次の選挙で変わるんだから。自民党には買う意思はある。総裁選の争点にしてもらいたい」と話した。

In the meantime, when asked about the national government having come to an agreement with the owner of the Senkaku Islands over the purchase of the island, Governor Ishihara said, "It's up to the owner to decide and sell [if he wants to]. The current administration won't last long anyway, and will be replaced in the next election. LDP has the will to purchase the islands. I want the issue [of the Senkaku Islands] as a focal point in the LDP leadership election."

Never mind that Monju is not the first fast-breeder reactor; it may be epoch-making, but not in the way Ishihara seem to think. Where else has an operator of a fast-breeder reactor that uses liquid sodium as coolant dropped a fuel transfer machine in the reactor? Only in Japan. Or maybe he meant the make-shift technology that JAEA had to devise (or I should say Toshiba and Hitachi had to devise) to fish out the fuel transfer machine without exposing the coolant to the atmosphere.

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PM Noda Will "Nationalize" Senkaku Island, No Matter What China or Taiwan Says

After planning to lower the retirement age for the Japanese to 40 to compete with developing countries on wages, now he says he will nationalize the islands disputed by Japan, China, and Taiwan.

Why? He thinks that will win him the next election. Absolutely tone-deaf, harebrained move by the prime minister who seems to be rather popular in the US and UK (particularly among the financial media) for his resolute moves to combat fiscal deficit by raising taxes and cutting social welfare for the hapless citizens.

The move may give more headaches for the Chinese Communist Party who has been battling the unrest cropping up in the country, and cause the Chinese government to appease the angry public by instituting some anti-Japanese measures.

As the Nikkei article below indicates, Noda's move is to prop up support for him and his party in the next Lower House election. By appearing tough, he thinks he can get the right-wing votes, I suppose.

From Nikkei Shinbun (7/8/2012; part):

尖閣国有化、慎重論押し切った首相　弱腰批判を回避

In nationalization of Senkaku Islands, Prime Minister overcame the faction that preached prudence, to avoid criticism of being weak

政府が尖閣諸島の国有化に向けて動き始めた。尖閣購入に先に乗り出した東京都の石原慎太郎知事に触発され、野田佳彦首相が政府内の慎重論を押し切った。次期衆院選に向けて「弱腰」批判をかわし、領土保全で毅然とした姿勢を印象付ける狙いがある。中国の反発は覚悟のうえで、日中関係悪化という火種を抱える決断となった。

The national government is moving toward nationalizing Senkaku Islands. Inspired by Governor of Tokyo Shintaro Ishihara, who has already to purchase the islands, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda overcame the faction inside his government who are more cautious. The purpose is to deflect the criticism of "being weak-kneed" and to create an image of a resolute leader protecting the national border, in preparation for the next Lower House election. The prime minister [and his supporters, if any?] is prepared for the opposition from China. This decision may worsen the relationship between Japan and China.

...

　玄葉光一郎外相は７日、外務省内で記者団に、中国と台湾が事実関係の説明を求めてきたことを明らかにした。７日は日中戦争の発端となった盧溝橋事件から75周年にあたり、中国外交筋は「最悪のタイミングだ」と語る。

Minister of Foreign Affairs Koichiro Genba told the press corp at the Ministry on July 7 that China and Taiwan had contacted his ministry to explain the situation. July 7 marked the 75th anniversary of Marco Polo Bridge Incident [in 1937) that triggered the [Second] Sino-Japanese War. Chinese diplomatic sources say "It's the worst possible timing."

Shintaro Ishihara says his purchase plan with donation money is still in place. As of July 5, 2012, he has collected 1.325 billion yen (US$16.6 million) from nearly 90,000 entities.

Japan claimed these uninhabited islands as its own in 1885, having determined by several surveys that the islands did not belong to any country. During the occupation period after the World War II, the islands were administered by the United States as part of Okinawa. China and Taiwan started to claim Senkaku Islands as their territories after a survey done by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific in 1969 indicated a potential of huge oil and natural gas reserves under the sea. (From Japanese Wikipedia)

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Governor of Tokyo Has Collected 125,351,220 Yen So Far for His Senkaku Islands Purchase

from 9,349 donors as of May 2, 2012, according to the webpage of the Tokyo Metropolitan government.

125,351,220 yen is about US$1.57 million. To buy all of Senkaku Islands to the satisfaction of the current owner, Ishihara and his vice governor who is totally gung-ho on the idea would need 10 times as much, or 1.5 billion yen.

For more of Ishihara's patriotic project, read my posts here and here.

Mainichi Shinbun reports (5/7/2012) 61% of people surveyed by the paper support the purchase of Senkaku Island by the Tokyo Metropolitan government, with only 31% opposing. No details of how the survey was crafted.

FYI, the vice governor of Tokyo, Naoki Inose, seems also gung-ho on the conscription to secure workers for Fukushima I Nuke Plant decommission. If you read Japanese, go here. Vice governorship in Japan is by political appointment, not by election.

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Tokyo Metropolitan Government Wants Your Donation to Purchase Senkaku Islands

While checking the Tokyo Metropolitan government website for information on falsified cucumbers at the request from a reader, I found this instead.

The Tokyo Metropolitan government has set up a fund to collect donations for the purchase of Senkaku Islands. Nothing better to do for this whacky, jingoistic governor who continues to do absolutely nothing to clean up the contamination in Tokyo.

Oh by the way your donation is tax-deductible.

東京都尖閣諸島寄附金について

平成24年4月27日
知事本局
本日、東京都尖閣諸島寄附金口座を開設いたしますので、以下のとおり、お知らせします。

記

1　寄附金募集の趣旨

この寄附金は、尖閣諸島の購入・活用のためにあてさせていただきます。

2　案内をするホームページアドレス

東京都知事本局ホームページ内
http://www.chijihon.metro.tokyo.jp/senkaku.htm

3　寄附金に関する手続き等について

下記の金融機関の口座振込みにより受付いたします。

みずほ銀行　東京都庁出張所（店番号777） 口座名「東京都尖閣諸島寄附金」 普通預金　口座番号　1053860

• みずほ銀行本支店以外の金融機関のATM、窓口で振込む際は、手数料がかかります。手数料はご本人の負担になります。
• 寄附金が現金で10万円を超える場合など、ATMで取扱いができず、金融機関の窓口での振込みが必要な場合は、専用の振込用紙をお送りしますので、お手数ですが、以下の連絡先までご連絡ください。
  

  連絡先：東京都知事本局尖閣諸島寄附担当 直通電話　03-5388-2206 ファクス　03-5388-1215 郵送宛先　〒163-8001　東京都知事本局 尖閣諸島寄附担当 ファクスにて振込用紙を請求される場合は、別添の様式1をご利用ください。 電話受付：月曜～金曜　9時00分～18時00分（国民の祝日等の閉庁日は除きます。）

  
  
• 窓口での振込みの際には、通帳などが必要になる可能性があります。詳しくは、ご利用になる金融機関にお問合せください。
• この寄附金は、各種税法に規定する寄附金控除または損金算入の対象となります。その際には、都が発行する寄附金領収書が必要となりますので、ご希 望の方は別添の様式2に振込み控の写しを添付し必要事項を記入の上、以下の宛先までお送りください。確認作業の後、こちらから領収書を郵送いたします。
  

送付の宛先

郵便番号163-8001　東京都知事本局 尖閣諸島寄附担当
※別添
様式1（PDF形式：107KB）
様式2（PDF形式：111KB）

4　注意いただきたいこと

• この寄附金は、地方自治法第96条第1項第9号に定める「負担付きの寄附」として、お受けするものではありません。
• 東京都が、尖閣諸島のため皆様から寄附金をいただく口座は、上に掲げた口座のみになります。その他、東京都の名称や東京都知事の名を用いて寄附を募る事例があったとしても、東京都が関与するものではないので、ご注意ください。

問い合わせ先
知事本局尖閣諸島寄附担当
電話　03-5388-2206

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Governor of Tokyo Wants to Buy Senkaku Islands, and Vice Governor Says They Will Have Enough Donations from Citizens to Buy

What is this? What is the point, any point, for the Tokyo Metropolitan government to buy the tiny islands in Okinawa Prefecture?

No, it's not to relocate 40 million residents in the Tokyo metropolitan areas.

Shintaro Ishihara, irascible governor of Tokyo, says he's doing it because the Japanese national government is such a wimp against the foreign claims (form China and Taiwan).

From Daily Yomiuri (4/18/2012):

WASHINGTON--The Tokyo metropolitan government plans to buy three of the Senkaku Islands to "protect them," Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara said in Washington on Monday.

The Senkaku Islands, which are administered by Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, are claimed by China and Taiwan.

Ishihara said in the speech the owner of three islands in the five-islet chain--a man living in Saitama Prefecture--has agreed to sell them to the metropolitan government.

In addition to the three islands--Uotsurijima, the largest in the group, Kita-kojima and Minami-kojima--Tokyo is interested in purchasing Kubajima, another island in the chain, the governor said.

Kubajima is owned by a relative of the man in Saitama Prefecture.

Ishihara is visiting the United States at the invitation of the organizer of the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington.

"The islands are the sovereign territory of Japan, and were returned at the time of Okinawa's reversion [to Japan from the United States in 1972]," he said. "[China] later began to claim them. This is outrageous."

Ishihara said the central government should have purchased the three islands.

"However, the central government is too scared to do anything," the governor said. "The Tokyo metropolitan government will protect the Senkaku Islands. How can anyone complain about the Japanese buying the islands to protect the nation's territory, regardless of which country opposes such a move?"

Following the speech, Ishihara told reporters the metropolitan government would propose that the Okinawa prefectural government or the Ishigaki municipal government jointly manage the three islands.

Asked how much the islands would cost, Ishihara declined to give a figure. "It's not that expensive," he said.

Located about 410 kilometers west of Okinawa Island, the main island in the prefecture, the Senkaku Islands consist of five uninhabited islets. Only one, the 0.06-square-kilometer Taishojima is state-owned.

The central government has been leasing the four other islets from their owners, mainly for maintenance and administration purposes. During fiscal 2010, it paid annual fees of about 21.1 million yen for the 3.82-square-kilometer Uotsurijima; about 1.5 million yen for Kita-kojima (0.31 square kilometers); and about 1.9 million yen for Minami-kojima (0.4 square kilometers).

The rent for 0.91-square-kilometer Kubajima has not been disclosed at the owner's request.

China and Taiwan claimed the Senkaku Islands after it was discovered in 1969 that the continental shelf around the islets is rich in oil reserves.

In September 2010, a Chinese trawler collided with two patrol boats of the Japan Coast Guard near the islands. Other Chinese boats have intruded into Japan's territorial waters.

===

Govt mystified by plan

The government has not been informed of the Tokyo metropolitan government's plan to purchase the three Senkaku Islands, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said Tuesday.

"The government has maintained contact with the owners [of the Senkaku Islands]," Fujimura said during a morning press conference. "However, we aren't aware of [the Tokyo metropolitan government's plan]. Whether we'll discuss [the islands with the local government] is a matter to be considered later."

The governor has already secured the agreement from the owners of the islands after 6-month negotiation, according to Yomiuri Japanese news (4/18/2012).

Vice Governor of Tokyo and academic Naoki Inose says they will be inundated with donations from citizens to buy these three islands, no problem. Each island is estimated at 300 to 500 million yen, so the maximum 1.5 billion yen to buy all three. Not that much, Inose says.

And who is all praise for this "bold" move by Ishihara? The boy wonder of Osaka City whom the Japanese media from NHK on down have been busy hyping up as the next leader of Japan (right one in the photo).

Bright future.

Clearly they have nothing better to do with their time.

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#Radiation in Japan: Tokyo to Accept Miyagi's Disaster Debris in Addition to Iwate's

Governor of Tokyo Shintaro Ishihara is ready for more "disaster" radioactive debris from Tohoku. After having started on Iwate's debris and scolded the residents to shut up and put up, he is eager to sign the deal with Miyagi Prefecture and bring in Onagawa's debris to Tokyo to crush, burn, and dump in the landfill in Tokyo Bay.

Reading the Mainichi article linked below, it is clear that the Tokyo government is going to circumvent the pesky residents completely by running the idea of accepting disaster radioactive debris with the Assembly of Special Ward ("ku") Mayors. There are 23 of these mayors, and as long as they're OK (they seem quite eager to help out Miyagi and Iwate for some reason), Ishihara will just do it. The Tokyo residents and the Metropolitan Assembly will be bypassed.

To remind you, the company who will do the incineration and burying the ashes in the landfill is Tokyo Rinkai Recycle Power, a TEPCO subsidiary receiving subsidies from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Ministry of the Environment and sweetheart land deal with the Tokyo Metropolitan government. Perfect regulatory capture.

From Mainichi Shinbun (11/16/2011):

東日本大震災で発生したがれき（災害廃棄物）の広域処理が進まない問題で、東京都と特別区長会が宮城県女川町のがれきの受け入れを検討していることが分かった。早ければ今月下旬にも正式決定する見込み。都内での受け入れが決まれば、岩手県宮古市のがれきに続き２例目となる。

Regarding the slow progress of wide-area processing of the disaster debris from the March 11 earthquake/tsunami, it has been revealed that the Tokyo Metropolitan government and the Assembly of the Special Ward Mayors have been discussing the acceptance of disaster debris from Onagawa-machi in Miyagi Prefecture. The formal decision may be made by the end of this month. If Tokyo accepts the debris from Onagawa, it will be the second such case since the debris of Miyako City in Iwate Prefecture.

　特別区長会の事務局などによると、宮城県側から１０月にプラスチックなどの可燃物について打診を受け、協議してきた。被災地は処理能力を上回る廃棄物を抱えているが、放射能汚染への懸念から東北以外での広域処理は進んでおらず、事務局では「受け入れ先がなければ被災地の復興がままならない状況にあり、区民の考えを聞きながら検討したい」としている。

According to the secretariat of the Special Ward Mayors, they have been discussing the acceptance of flammable plastics since October at the request from Miyagi Prefecture. The disaster-affected areas have debris that exceed the areas' capacity to process, but concerns of radiation contamination has so far prevented the wide area processing outside Tohoku. The Secretariat of the Special Ward Mayors says, "If there is no place that would accept the debris, there will be no recovery for the disaster-affected area. We would like to listen to the residents [of Special Wards] and decide."

　特別区長会が受け入れを決めれば、都は宮城県と処理に関する協定を結ぶ方針。都は９月３０日に岩手県と同様の協定を結んでおり、１４年３月までの２年半に岩手、宮城両県から約５０万トンの廃棄物の受け入れを表明した。

If the Assembly of the Special Ward Mayors agree, the Tokyo Metropolitan government plans to sign an agreement with Miyagi Prefecture. The Tokyo government signed the similar agreement on September 30 with Iwate Prefecture, and has announced that 500,000 tonnes of debris from Iwate and Miyagi will be accepted in Tokyo in two and a half years until March 2014.

Listening to the residents is as democratic as listening to the residents when a nuclear power plant is being planned; the meetings will be filled with government shills who will support the idea while expressing some concern for the safety. A farce.

Governor Ishihara is also calling the prime minister of Japan "incompetent" over the prime minister's inability, in his view, to explain the difference between the disaster debris and the radioactive debris. (From Sankei Shinbun 11/8/2011 article; Sankei is a paper whose editorial include gems like "Let's share the pain".)

Here's where Onagawa-machi, Miyagi Prefecture is located on Professor Hayakawa's map (blue circle):

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Tokyo Governor to Tokyo Residents Who Protest Against Disaster Debris from Iwate: "Shut Up"

Now that the radioactive disaster debris from Iwate Prefecture is a fait accompli and ready to be crushed and burned and buried, Shintaro Ishihara, irascible 79-year-old governor of Tokyo who almost single-handedly decided to do this mind-boggling project to "assist the recovery" of Iwate, mentioned the complaints that his government has received over the issue in the press conference on November 4 afternoon.

According to Fuji TV news clip on November 4, the governor said,

『黙れ』って言えばいいんですよ、そんなの。

"Shut up" is all we need to say to these complaints.

誰がそれでどうするの? 力のあるところが手伝わなくちゃ、しょうがないじゃないですか

What could one do? A powerful municipality [like Tokyo] must help [Iwate and other disaster-affected areas] because no one else can.

Fuji TV news also says that 3,000 complaints have been sent to the Tokyo Metropolitan government, over 90% of them protesting against the debris from disaster-affected areas to be transported, processed, crushed and burned and buried in Tokyo Bay.

Well, residents of Tokyo who voted for him in the spring election, isn't it time for his recall?

If the Fuji TV news link disappears (quite likely, since it is hosted at Yahoo Japan), there's a youtube clip, here. The comment section is filled with comments from Japanese people who praise the governor's decision and strong words. (Well they have their job to do, I guess.)

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