Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Japanese Politicians' "Performance" This Year Is to Measure Radiation of Disaster Debris on the Street Corner

Remember the "performance" by politicians (then-Prime Minister Kan, for one) in spring and early summer last year of eating "delicious and safe" fruits and vegetables from Fukushima? Many celebrities and TV personalities joined in, putting pressure on people to eat Fukushima produce.

This year, the spring performance by politicians is to measure the radiation dose of disaster debris on the street corner to convince citizens that "disaster debris is just as contaminated as air in your city". The event captured by Iwakami Yasumi's IWJ live was in Kawasaki City on March 18, 2012.



(I substituted the video with the one with the subtitle by Tokyo Brown Tabby.)

The mayor of Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture who stands to the right of Hosono in the video is originally from Fukushima Prefecture. As soon as April last year, he declared that his city would accept debris from FUKUSHIMA and burn it in the city to help Fukushima recover. That's how one of the earliest anti-disaster debris movement started in Kawasaki, by alarmed residents there. For more about this former career bureaucrat mayor, see my post from 2/20/2012.

Watching this video, I felt sick. These politicians, with Minister of the Environment Goshi Hosono in the middle, just act according to the script as the residents keep heckling them -"What's the point of measuring air radiation dose?" "If you burn it, radioactive materials will get concentrated!"

The one with the microphone in the beginning is, I think, the No.3 guy in the Ministry who said "No one trusts the government data". Here he is, shouting into the microphone peddling the government data.

The Ministry of the Environment wants to push disaster debris contaminated with radioactive materials (240 to 480 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium, no other nuclides measured). By this bizarre demonstration, the ministry is trying to tell the residents that the survey meter that measures air radiation levels can detect 240 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium which they consider "safe" in post-Fukushima surrealistic Japan.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Boy, did those comedians convince me! Where can I get about 50 tons of that wonderful stuff to burn in my backyard? My geiger counter is showing 0.13 microseiverts per hour (Mitaka, Tokyo). Perhaps the reading will go down to 0.06 if I burn some of that lovely Fukushima debris and surround my house with the smoke.

Chibaguy said...

At the 0:40 mark you can see that Hosono himself is expressing extreme doubt. I would too after all of the lies.

This all looks like a commercial to me. How the reaffirm each other makes me sick. At least the audience was loud enough even to be picked up by the CB (maybe) they were using.

Scientifically speaking, I can see no independent verification of anything and you cannot convert Bq to Sv without knowing what you are measuring.

tokyobrowntabby said...

I have an English-subbed version of this video on my channel, though my English is not very good.
http://youtu.be/o-AJHq543So

m a x l i said...

Now we need to find a way to cut this miraculous block of debris there on the table in 120 million equal, tiny pieces, give every japanese citizen their share and everyone will be safe.

What a circus!

Anonymous said...

I would like to take what m a x l i said at March 21, 2012 1:28 AM a bit further:

We could do the same with the corium. This process will make it even safer!

Now isn't /THAT/ a motivator !!

warning: may contain traces of nuts

Anonymous said...

at March 20, 2012 11:54 PM Chibaguy said...

"At the 0:40 mark you can see that Hosono himself is expressing extreme doubt."

Thanks Chibaguy. I am sure that body language is a good way into evaluating how much the propagandists believe in their script. My earlier comments about Hosono's vocal quality in the Take My Rubbish commercial were designed to draw attention to this but I was not confident in my ability to interpret a Japanese speaker's range of vocal skills.

In a sense, making the propagandists aware that they are being watched very closely can have the effect of increasing their nervous pressure and the likelihood of a slip up.

So this aspect of commentary, seemingly far fetched, might be very useful.

Thanks for the stimulus.

Misitu.

Anonymous said...

I'm going to see what a frame analysis tells me, now I can identify the character of interest (sorry for this admission!). "BRB" or not, as the case may be: other things to do at home. But have saved a copy and will definitely look. Will be searching for traces of posture and gestures that "seem" inappropriate.

I think Hosono is a good subject if my previous guesses as to his discomfort in this role are near the mark.

Cheers
misitu

Chibaguy said...

@Mitsui - please start watching him at around the 1:00 mark when he passes the CB?. Either he has a sudden cold or he is expressing shame or guilt. It really doesn't matter as he has sold himself out already. Even the Japanese cannot surpress body language. Body language is my hobby and I do not claim to be an expert but his confidence goes out the window when he stops talking.

Anonymous said...

Why doesn't anyone try to import into Japan materials contaminated to the same levels, including food, and see what happens?

Hang on, if it is "normal" it cannot be "contaminated"...mmmh

Chibaguy said...

I do not want to go too far with my analysis, but all the videos and PCs I have seen up to now suggest Hosono believes nothing that he speaks . He is a lawyer and has no idea re what he is talking about. I have never seen a politician more eager to turn off the mic other GWB. Edano on the other hand fooled everyone. He was born to lie. Kan is difficult to read but Noda is like reading a 2nd grader's lies.

Anonymous said...

I think Kan was the only honest one. That's why they got rid of him. These others want trying for treason.
Like why dont they offer this radiation infested garbage to foreign friends? They are exporting jack shit these days anyway.

Anonymous said...

Look,look here!
We found it!
Japan is not irradiated and this small chunk of Japan proves it,so there!

Atomfritz said...

IMHO these guys are actually better actors than those in the average US soap operas where the facial expressions are so obviously wrong that it's just awful to watch.

It's always very interesting to watch the actors without sound, to concentrate on the visual impressions.
Even Edano, who indeed is a master liar, sometimes showed these treacherous smile-like expressions and the uncomfortability that all but the most talented liars show.
I really enjoyed the difference between what he said and what his face said when he ate that radioactive Fukushima tomato.

These politicians all seem to perceive themselves as some kind of actors, instead of directors, in this game of panem et circenses. Would like to know who they regard as director...

Anonymous said...

Atomfritz, lol, you watch soap operas? Like, The Bold and The Beautiful?
:-)

Anonymous said...

Kan was the only honest one? Oh please. Give me and the world (except BBC, NYT, etc) a break.

m a x l i said...

Happy Country

Watching that video for a second time, I realised no one looks happy. Did nobody tell those people? Don't they know that sickness might come to people who are not happy?

I also realised the loud and angry voices from the surroundings. I do not understand a single word, but get a feeling that there are at least a few people who have doubts about the validity of and the intentions behind that public performance--which makes me happy.

We should treasure such video documents, make copys and keep them safe. Low level radiation can take years to tens of years to take effect in living organisms. After a while it might become more obvious to all of us that nuclear fission didn't bring us cheap energy and a prosperous and long live, as promised. Who knows? In that case people might start to ask: "How could this happen? Who is responsible?" If that happens, to have video documents of that kind makes every judge and prosecutor happy.

Anonymous said...

When Politicians are seen waving Geiger Counters you have to know their actions speak louder than their words.

The lesson here for the vast swathes of tax beneficiaries who are calling themselves government is not one of denial but one of banning public awareness of unfolding nuclear disasters.

If Hartlepool in the North East of England were to flip it's lid we would no doubt not be informed as there would be no reparations to be made and no remediation to be done,the public right to know is moot.

Atomfritz said...

@ anon 10:39
Sometimes quite interesting to watch for five minutes, studying this "programming" and being amazed/saddened how many american people mimic this "body language" in a more or less ridiculous manner...

@ anon 1:56
I doubt there will be much different than in good old Windscale times.
You know, there were no evacuations, except the few families of the nuclear employees who were informed about the danger.
The measurements results of the many samplings taken back then are still classified, 55 years after the accident.

If an UK gas reactor blows up, it won't be such a quasi non-accident like Fukushima. It will probably be more like Chernobyl with all that metallic uranium and graphite blazing in open air.

If Hartlepool burns off, English people might be even luckier than the Japanese, as Germany/Scandinavia will take most of the airborne dirt due to the prevailing wind direction.

Anonymous said...

I guess North Sea Crabs would be off the menu.

m a x l i said...

Watching that video, I sense a clear lack of happiness in the figures you see in the video--that kind of happiness people's faces normally cannot hide, when they are about to bring you good news.

To show our trust in and to support our government, and to make them happy, we should follow their example and put more pieces of debris and their radiation readings on display in public places.

Only an imbecile would want to criticise or ridicule us, when we are doing exactly the same, our government is doing, right?

Anonymous said...

Watching that video, I sense a clear lack of happiness in those men and women in the video--that kind of happiness peoples faces normally cannot hide, when they are about to bring you good news.

In order to support our government, to show our trust and to make them happy, we should follow their example and put more pieces of debris and their radiation readings on display in public places.

Only an imbecile would want to criticise or ridicule us, if we are doing exactly the same the government is doing, right?

Anonymous said...

Something was lost in translation,this was the Nippon Kraftwerk tribute band with their rendition of Showroom Dummies.

Anonymous said...

3:30 PM, LOL !

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