Thursday, January 12, 2012

10 Elementary Schools in Edogawa-ku, Tokyo Are Sending Kids to "Winter School" to Ski in Fukushima Prefecture

Information obtained from the Togetter log from concerned residents and local representatives in Edogawa-ku, situated in the eastern Tokyo where the radiation levels are much higher than the rest of Tokyo.

It's clearly not enough for the Edogawa municipal government and the Board of Education there to have exposed children since March last year to elevated radiation levels and have done next to nothing to mitigate the situation:

(From a local representative) I've been asking the Board of Education again and again to reconsider the "winter school" in Fukushima Prefecture for the elementary school children in Edogawa, but all they say is "If we cancel, that will fan the baseless rumors", "It's up to the school principals to decide".

However, the schools say, "It was the Edogawa-ku government who decided and booked the facilities in fall last year. We didn't have any say."

A principal of one of the schools says, "It is the decision by the Tokyo Metropolitan government and the Edogawa municipal government that it is safe, so I will abide by their decision."

He also says, "The Edogawa government instructed us not do anything [regarding the winter school] until after the end of August last year. In fall, there was no alternative left because everywhere else [outside Fukushima] had been booked already."

Food that will be served in the "winter school" in Fukushima: Fukushima produce that's sold in the market there. Milk is from Fukushima. The grocer there says "They are safe because they are sold in the market."

From the looks of it, the principals at these schools do have a decision-making power, but they do not exercise it for the fear of getting into trouble with the Board of Education. The Board of Education sits pretty because technically it is the decision by the individual school, even though it, along with the Edogawa government, strongly "suggests" what to do.

The air radiation levels in the area where the pupils will be sent vary from 0.06 microsievert/hr to 0.33 microsievert/hr, according to one of the tweets.

Net net, no one will be ever responsible.

Well, for Edogawa-ku, absolutely nothing happened on March 11, 2011 and ever since.

There you go. As long as you have captive consumers like elementary school pupils, you have no problem selling contaminated food (school lunches) and operating tourist outfits in the contaminated areas (summer schools, winter schools). You don't even need to launch a pricey promotional campaign.

Even the Imperial Japanese government toward the end of the World War II tried to save the future soldiers and factory workers and evacuated elementary school children from the heavily bombarded cities. But now, they are sending these small "soldiers" in the potential harm's way to conquer radiation, all to help Fukushima Prefecture's "recovery" and "reconstruction".

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

- Utter lunacy

- Zero regards for the well being of children

- Zero regards for pregnant women and women of child-bearing age

- Zero regards for science

- Zero regards for humanity

- Zero regards for environment

- Non existence of true quality in education, technology, corporate governance, industry responsibility, government, and democracy beyond nominal facade

Japan often sites its 'uniqueness' in international negotiation, tourism promotion, and trade. They can now add these to their credentials.

Japan has lost credibility in the world's eyes not by the mega disasters, but by their own actions. Don't try to sell the world any more Toyota, Honda, Nissan and any other Japanese goods, touting high quality and technology. You have no credibility now.

This from a Japanese mom.

kintaman said...

If I had a child going to one of these schools I would personally go to the board office and deliver a baseball bat beating to those who are making these decisions. No mercy for this.

Anonymous said...

maybe someone could draw up a comic series featuring a disgusted Japanese citizen hero named "batman". except, of course, this batman wields, you got it, a bat. it's the new zatoichi.

what i wouldn't give to see any one, or all, of the tepco execs get such a beating. but who has the guts to actually do it, eh?

Anonymous said...

Kudos Kintaman! A batman is however too lenient. Japan needs the Seven Samurai to deliver their own brand of justice to the genicidal nuclear mafia.

SP

Anonymous said...

You know who I'd love to watch getting beaten with a bat by an angry citizen hero(baseball batman)? That toady panderer Dr. Yamashita.

Wouldn't that be a sight for nuke weary eyes! And who says there can't be more than one baseball batman? What's better than watching Yamashita get the crap beaten out of him by 1 concerned citizen? 5 concerned citizens!

Anonymous said...

citizen baseball batman action is just a dream. out of millions of people you won't get even one who will do it. sorry kintaman i don't believe you would do it either. gas innocent people on a subway, yeah you'll find nuts to justify that but real concerns are not acted upon.

Chibaguy said...

This is why 絆 and 頑張ろう will end up leading to many unnecessary deaths.

Anonymous said...

Easy solution for parents. "My child is off on another (private) excursion at that time. I'm sorry, but we will not participate."
And don't pay the excursion fee.

kintaman said...

Chibaguy. How are you holding up? I was so sorry to read your comment about your situation being stuck in Chiba now. Are you still making plans to leave?

I made the painful decision to leave back in March. It was very difficult to do but I was fortunate in that I held off on buying a manshon (condo) and stayed with renting.

That said, I probably would have still left even if I had bought. Are you not able to sell it or is the market gone to shit?

Please take care of yourself and your family. I hope you can get out of Tokyo (Chiba) and either to the south or out of Japan completely. Please keep us updated! Best of luck to you.

Anonymous said...

Is lunacy a new educational theme in Japan? Hate to point this out, but these adults in the Japanese schools and board of education essentially are saying that "the life of Japanese children are cheap, they are indispensable." Don't they understand this? Glad I am no longer in Japan.

Anonymous said...

"the life of Japanese children are cheap, they are indispensable."

Sorry, I don't mean to be a word nazi but you must mean "dispensible". If Japanese children were "indispensible" no senseless board of education moron would be sending them to Fukushima.

Anonymous said...

Future soliders and factory workers?

No more war.

No more consumerism.

No more future.

Admin said...

We've kept our kid home on some where teen boarding school stayed open and the weather conditions were bad.

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