The Economist on Toru Hashimoto: "The scent of blood was in the air at the Tokyo Foreign Correspondents’ Club last week..."

It was the blood of Toru Hashimoto.

It's been a week since Boy-wonder mayor of Osaka City gave a press conference at Foreign Correspondents' Club in Tokyo to lecture them on exploitation of women during wars in general and World War II in particular, only to fall flat on his face (without him realizing it) and did more damage than good (without him realizing that, either).

While most of the correspondents who attended didn't even bother to write about it and the US State Department said "No comment" to a mere local official (that's what Hashimoto is, Mayor of Osaka City), the UK's Financial Times wrote about it the next day.

Now, The Economist weighs in, one week later, and it is brutal. You could sense a sheer disdain in the second paragraph, which effectively summarizes what Hashimoto uttered at the Foreign Correspondents' Club spending three hours.

From The Economist (6/3/2013; emphasis is mine):

Japan's right-wing politicians: Making a hash of history

Jun 3rd 2013, 4:30 by D.M. | TOKYO

THE scent of blood was in the air at the Tokyo Foreign Correspondents’ Club last week. A rising political star tipped as a candidate for prime minister was facing a hostile crowd of reporters after having uttered a series of controversial bon mots [clever remarks; "good words" in French]. Most strikingly, Toru Hashimoto (pictured above), the mayor of Osaka and a leader of the right-wing Japan Restoration Party (JRP), said Japan’s organised rape of wartime sex slaves was a necessary evil. Turning to the present day, he also said that “hot-blooded” American soldiers should themselves be using prostitutes more often in Okinawa, which is today home to 75% of the American bases in Japan. In the great tradition of Japanese politics, Mr Hashimoto was expected to bow before his media inquisitors, apologise and move on. He did no such thing.

In that marathon presser, Mr Hashimoto repeated his claim that there is no evidence of the wartime Japanese state’s involvement in herding what some scholars estimate to have been 200,000 Asian women into military brothels. He was aware of the pain suffered by the so-called comfort women, he assured, but said other countries should look squarely at their past too. “Sexual violation in wartime was not unique to the Japanese army,” he said, citing Britain, America, France and Russia for indulging in what he called, rather jarringly, “sex on the battlefield”. His remarks on Okinawa were merely intended to draw attention to the misdeeds of a “heartless minority” of American soldiers, he insisted. And to strengthen Japan’s military alliance with America, naturally.

Mr Hashimoto survived a vote of no-confidence in the Osaka assembly, but the fully verdict on the whole performance has yet to emerge—many commentators suspect that Mr Hashimoto has torpedoed his political career. This would be especially extraordinary given his party’s having won a shocking 12m votes in the elections of December 2012, a share that put them ahead of the party of the previous government, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) as the country’s second-largest. The lessons, whatever they may be, will be of great import to the government of Shinzo Abe, the prime minister, ahead of general elections on July 21st. Mr Abe has previously expressed views on the comfort women that were similar to Mr Hashimoto’s, and even more abrasive. A majority of his government agrees with him and press the point even further than Mr Hashimoto did. Mr Hashimoto was careful to say Japanese politicians should accept that the nation waged colonial wars of aggression in Asia, for instance, while 13 of the lawmakers in Mr Abe’s cabinet reject Japan’s “apology diplomacy” for the abuse of the comfort women and other war crimes.

Since leading the conservative Liberal Democrats (LDP) back to power in December, Mr Abe has been advised to avoid the terrain that ensnared Mr Hashimoto, but it never seemed likely that he could keep himself entirely free of it. In April, he queried the definition of “aggression” in relation to Japan’s colonial wars in Asia—in effect undermining the basis of Tokyo’s relations with its former victims. His semantic quibble had the effect of corroding Japan’s gold-standard apology for its imperial warmongering and atrocities, the 1995 Murayama statement. Indeed, Mr Abe has hinted that he may retract it.

On May 12th, the LDP’s policy chief, Sanae Takaichi, revealed to millions of television viewers that Mr Abe rejects the verdict of the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, which blamed Japan for the war and sentenced its leaders to hang. Then a record number of LDP lawmakers visited the Yasukuni shrine last month, where those hanged leaders were enshrined clandestinely. A pilgrimage to the shrine is taken to imply a tacit endorsement of the wartime leaders and their aims. To reject the verdict of the war trials themselves would mean setting back to zero Japan’s modern relations with China, Korea and even America. The consequences would be profound.

For this reason, Mr Abe’s government has struggled to keep its actual positions opaque. As the prime minister twists and turns, pulled between his political id and the dreadful reality of making them plain, his spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, has spent the month putting out fires. For example: No, says Mr Suga, the prime minister does not deny war crimes; but, Yes, Japan stands by its war apologies. No, Mr Abe does not want to retract the 1993 Kono statement, in which Japan acknowledged its role in rounding up sex slaves.

Mr Hashimoto, who was wooed by Mr Abe earlier this year as a possible political partner, lamented at his press conference that Japan is once again getting bogged down in discussion about the past. “My generation should look ahead and create a better future for our people,” he said. He said this as if he were unaware that he had just spent almost three hours straight talking about the middle of the 20th century.

Ouch.

The bit about Ms. Sanae Takaichi declaring her boss, PM Shinzo Abe, rejects the verdict of the TOkyo War Crimes Tribunal in front of millions of TV viewers on May 12 was surprising, as I wasn't aware. So I looked for the reporting of the event, and found it at Sankei Shinbun (5/12/2013), a newspaper that's been very happy since the December win of LDP:

自民党の高市早苗政調会長は１２日のＮＨＫ番組で、安倍内閣の歴史認識は歴代内閣と異なるとの認識を示した。太平洋戦争をめぐり日本の指導者の責任を追及した極東国際軍事裁判（東京裁判）を歴代内閣同様、安倍内閣が受け入れているのかどうかを問われ「国家観、歴史観に関し安倍晋三首相は（歴代内閣と）違った点もある」と述べた。

Sanae Takaichi, chairman of the LDP policy bureau, said in an NHK program on May 12 that understanding of history by the Abe administration was different from that by past administrations. When asked if the Abe administration accepts the verdict of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (Tokyo Trials) just as the past administration did, Takaichi answered, "There are things that are different in the Abe administration when it comes to a concept of a nation or a historical perspective."

I suppose Ms. Takaichi or Mr. Abe could cry foul, like Boy-wonder did, and blame foreign media for telling lies.

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"Vent" Holes of JAL's 787 Dreamliner Batter Case Were Taped Shut, JAL Blames Boeing's Shoddy Work

Or I would say "Japan special". Venting not working - where have I seen before?

As the result, the air pressure sensor showed abnormal readings, and JAL swapped the plane.

If you recall, the lithium-ion batteries on board JAL and ANA's 787 Dreamliners caught fire while in operation, and after lengthy investigation and grounding of the entire fleet of 787 around the world, the solution was to put the containment vessel around the battery and install a vent. The real cause of meltdown, I mean, battery fire, is still not known, but the prevailing sentiment among industry participants (particularly those numerous Japanese suppliers to Boeing) seems to be, "Who cares?"

From The Telegraph (6/2/2013; emphasis is mine):

Japan Airlines finds fault on modified Dreamliner

More battery-related problems aboard a Boeing Dreamliner forced Japan Airlines (JAL) to use an alternative aircraft on Sunday, just one day after it resumed full service of the troubled 787 fleet.

JAL found a fault in an air pressure sensor that detects overheating in the aircraft's modified battery container, according to Japanese media reports.

The problem was put down to Boeing's faulty maintenance as two small holes on the container - necessary for air ventilation to prevent overheating - were mistakenly sealed when it repaired the battery system, said broadcaster Kyodo, citing JAL.

Although the issue was not believed to pose a safety risk, the Dreamliner in question was replaced with a Boeing 767 for a scheduled flight between Tokyo and Beijing.

JAL and its rival All Nippon Airways (ANA) both blamed the grounding of their Dreamliner fleets for hitting revenues to the tune of $200m, prompting Boeing to print full-page apologies in major Japanese newspapers. Japan is the single-biggest market for Boeing's newest aircraft.

Airlines across the world grounded their Dreamliner fleets earlier this year while Boeing and national regulators investigated the causes of a series of problems aboard the aircraft, including a small fire aboard a JAL passenger jet parked at Boston's Logan airport.

The Telegraph is quoting Kyodo News (6/2/2013), but neither The Telegraph nor Kyodo mentions the "container" and the "holes" weren't in the original design, that the battery did not have a container with two holes.

Someone working for Boeing (or more likely, one of the subcontractors) seems to have forgotten to remove the tapes over the holes before he/she installed the container.

What is surprising to me is that both JAL and ANA don't seem to have done their own inspection to at least make sure the battery system has been "repaired" according to the spec. They relied on Boeing (and/or its subcontractors) to do everything for them perfectly, even though the repair was all done in Japan.

Where have I seen something like this before? (Turnkey nuclear reactors from GE, perhaps?)

On a separate 787 Dreamliner incident from ANA, part of the switchboard was damaged by heat during the test flight in May. The incident happened on May 4. The captain made his decision that it was no big deal, and continued the flight. And true to form, ANA didn't bother informing anyone about the incident until May 16.

After all, ANA didn't bother to report battery problems in 2012 to anyone until after the battery caught fire in January this year.

For JAL, it was only yesterday (June 1) when the stewardesses, pilots, ground crew donned new uniform and gave away "message cards" with candies to passengers to celebrate the re-introduction of Dreamliner 787.

(Photo from Jiji)

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Idio(syncra)tic Japan: Minister in Charge of "Cool Japan" in Gothic-Lolita "Alice in Wonderland" Cosplay

I've been accused by readers of this blog for being "too cynical" about Japan. Well do I have a choice?

54-year-old Tomomi Inada is the Minister in charge of "Cool Japan" strategy. And it was her idea of this strategy to dress up as, as she said, "Alice in Wonderland" in what she called "Gothic and Lolita" fashion, to promote Japanese fashion at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) on May 31, 2013 in Yokohama City.

Photos from Asahi Shinbun (6/1/2013) looks more like middle-aged Disney "Snow White".

Ms. Inada is from Fukui Prefecture, (in)famous for numerous nuclear power plants that dot the rugged coastline and also famous for textile and weaving. Her dress, she says in the Asahi article, cost 170,000 yen (US$1,700, at least the conversion got so much easier thanks to Mr. Kuroda's bungling the JGB market).

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Police Clashes with Protesters in Turkey, US State Deparment Says "These freedoms are crucial to any healthy democracy"

According to BBC people in Turkey got incensed over a planned shopping center over a small park in central Istanbul.

Aside from the governor of Tokyo and his supporters who believes Turkey is too dangerous to hold an Olympic in 7 years, I wonder who (think they) benefit.

From BBC (5/31/2013):

Turkey police clash with Istanbul Gezi Park protesters

At least 12 people have been injured after Turkish police used tear gas and water cannon against protesters occupying a park in central Istanbul.

Demonstrators had held a four-day sit-in at Gezi Park, angry at plans to redevelop that part of Taksim Square.

An Istanbul court later ordered the temporary suspension of the project to uproot trees in the park.

But there is wider anger against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the unrest has spread to Ankara.

Protests have also been reported in other cities, including Bodrum, Konya and Izmir.

The US later expressed its concern over the reported number of injuries in Istanbul.

"We believe that Turkey's long-term stability, security and prosperity is best guaranteed by upholding the fundamental freedoms of expression, assembly and association, which is what it seems these individuals were doing,'' state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

"These freedoms are crucial to any healthy democracy."

...

What started out as an environmental protest in Istanbul became anti-government in tone, correspondents say.

The controversial redevelopment project is aimed at easing congestion around Taksim Square but also involves building a shopping centre over Gezi Park.

Opponents of Mr Erdogan's plans say the park is one of the few green areas left in central Istanbul.

One banner at Friday's protest included a cartoon of Mr Erdogan dressed as an Ottoman sultan with the slogan: "The people will not bow down to you."

"We do not have a government, we have Tayyip Erdogan," political scientist and protester Koray Caliskan told the Reuters news agency.

"They are not listening to us," he added. "This is the beginning of a summer of discontent."

(Full article at the link)

The US should practice at home what they preach to Turkey.

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"Abenomics" Growth Strategy: "Government United as One" to Push for Nuclear Reactors Restart, By All Means Necessary

Reading the reference documents for Prime Minister Abe's "Competitiveness Committee" make your head spin, and make you think it is still 1960s Japan for them, right before the Tokyo Olympic (1964), with words like "striving to be the world number one", "international competition", "global leader".

And sure enough, at the core of this "international" growth strategy is nuclear power generation, just like in the 1960s.

Asahi Shinbun reports it has obtained the draft of the "Growth Strategy" of the Abe administration to be finalized and formally announced by mid June. The wording, from little what's reported in the article, confirms my suspicion that the Abe administration and LDP, whose members are second- and third-generation politicians and/or academics who have precious little experience in working in the "real" economy, are stuck in 1960s.

(Real economy? Isn't that another name for the stock market?)

From Asahi Shinbun (5/31/2013; part):

安倍政権が６月にまとめる成長戦略の素案に「原発の活用」を盛り込み、原発再稼働に向けて「政府一丸となって最大限取り組む」と約束することがわかった。東京電力福島第一原発事故を受けて脱原発を求める声は根強いが、安倍政権の経済政策「アベノミクス」で目指す経済成長には原発が欠かせないという姿勢を鮮明にする。

It has been revealed that the draft of the growth strategy to be finalized by the Abe administration in June will contain "utilization of nuclear power plants" and a promise that "the government united as one will make utmost effort" to restart the nuclear power plants. After the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident, there is still a persistent view that Japan should move away from nuclear power. But the administration is going to make its stance clear that nuclear power is indispensable for the economic growth under "Abenomics", the economic policy under the Abe administration.

　素案は、成長戦略をまとめる産業競争力会議で５日に示され、１２日までに正式に決めたうえで、１４日にも政府方針として閣議決定する。成長戦略に「原発の活用」が入れば、中長期にわたって原発に頼る経済・社会を続けることになる。

The draft will be presented at the June 5 meeting of the Competitiveness Committee, which is in charge of compiling the growth strategy for Japan. The draft will be officially decided upon by June 12, and a formal cabinet decision will be made on June 14 to make this growth strategy as official government policy. If "utilization of nuclear power plant" is to be part of the growth strategy, that will mean Japanese economy and society will continue to depend on nuclear power in the medium to long term.

　朝日新聞は「成長戦略（素案）」を入手した。エネルギー政策では、成長を担う企業が活動しやすくするため、原発事故後の電力不足を解消したり、火力発電につかう燃料費がかさんで値上がりする電気料金を抑えたりする必要があると指摘している。

Asahin Shinbun has obtained the draft copy of the "Growth Strategy". In the section for energy policy, the strategy calls for measures to meet the electricity demand after a nuclear accident and to suppress the utility cost from rising because of the increasing fuel cost for thermal power generation so that growth companies can operate easily [without disruption].

　そのために必要な政策として「電力システム改革の断行」「高効率の火力発電の導入」などとともに「原子力発電の活用」を盛り込んだ。具体的には、原子力規制委員会が安全と判断した原発は「判断を尊重し、再稼働を進める」としたうえで、地元の理解や協力を得るために「政府一丸となって取り組む」と明記し、原発再稼働を積極的に進める方針を打ち出す。

The measures will include "resolutely carrying out electrical power system reform", "introducing high-efficiency thermal power generation", and "utilizing nuclear power". Specifically, those nuclear power plants deemed safe by the Nuclear Regulatory Authority "will be restarted, as the government honors the decision [by the NRA]", and "the government united as one do whatever necessary" to obtain the understanding and cooperation from the local communities [where the nuclear power plants are located]. The government will make it clear that its policy is to actively promote the restart of nuclear power plants.

The actual sentence in the draft that Asahi Shinbun quotes in the article:

原子力発電の活用
Utilization of nuclear power generation

「原子力規制委員会により安全と認められた場合には、その判断を尊重し原子力発電の再稼働を進める。その際、立地自治体等関係者の理解と協力を得るため、政府一丸となって最大限取り組む」

"If the Nuclear Regulatory Authority decides it is safe, the government will honor the decision and proceed to restart the nuclear power generation. In doing so, the government united as one will make utmost effort to win understanding and cooperation from the interested parties in the local municipalities where nuclear power plants are located.

The "interested parties" simply mean politicians and bureaucrats in the local municipalities.

There is another thing in the so-called "growth strategy" that I find it personally scary:

海底資源「メタンハイドレート」の商業化

Commercialization of methane hydrate

Of all nations, I want Japan to stay out of the risky venture like this.

But that aside, Japan's long-time obsession with "international" this and that is very funny to me, considering how little they actually care about the "international" community, as evidenced by the recent faux pas by Governor of Tokyo and Mayor of Osaka City.

Those foreign "macro" investors (those who invest based on the government and central bank policies of a nation) who have been pouring money into Tokyo Stock Exchange seem to have thoroughly confused these boys and girls of the Abe administration, who have taken the soaring Japanese stock market (until very recently) is the strongest endorsement from the world that so-called "Abenomics" is working.

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Case of Genetically Modified Wheat in Oregon That Is Not Supposed to Exist (But Did)

I read the news yesterday that the Japanese government canceled the order to purchase wheat from Oregon because of the wheat was genetically modified. I didn't think much about it.

Then just now, I read a Businessweek article that says that genetically modified wheat is not supposed to exist in the US but it did in Oregon. A wheat farmer noticed some wheat plants that survived glyphosate when he sprayed the field for preparation for new planting. These wheat plants were those that sprout voluntarily from seeds knocked loose during harvest.

(Wait a minute... That means the last year's crop from this field WAS genetically modified wheat...)

The Businessweek article doesn't give any answer to this enigma. But since the wheat in question is resistant to glyphosate, which Monsanto has been marketing as "Roundup" since 1973, it is pretty much a foregone conclusion that it was from Monsanto. Washington Post seems to think so, too.

From Businessweek (5/30/2013; emphasis is mine):

Genetically Modified Wheat Isn't Supposed to Exist. So What Is It Doing in Oregon?

By Justin Bachman

Wheat farmers, advocates of food safety, and pretty much anyone who eats bread or noodles have turned their attention to Oregon, where a wheat farmer found a genetically engineered strain of wheat in his otherwise unmodified crop. He couldn’t kill it in any of the normal ways, so he sent it to the lab for testing, which sounds like the set-up for a farm-belt horror movie. The reality has caused alarm of a different sort: Genetically modified wheat hasn’t been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, and unlike corn and soy and other so-called GMO foods, there isn’t supposed to be any genetically modified wheat in the U.S. food supply at all.

There are two reasons to care. Food safety folks lobby hard for labeling of genetically modified foods, saying that the jury is out on the long-term health and environmental effects and consumers deserve to know what they’re buying. The companies that make the seeds say they’re perfectly safe. And for wheat farmers and exporters, this potentially cripples the export market: Many foreign buyers don’t want genetically modified wheat and can switch their buying to Russia, Ukraine, Australia, and other large exporters. Japan reacted quickly, canceling an order today for nearly 25,000 tons of wheat, Bloomberg News reported, and wheat futures dropped on the Chicago Board of Trade.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), which is responsible for keeping unapproved GMOs out of the food supply, has begun testing the wheat. In a full-court PR press, the agency has also released a Q&A (PDF) and video to address the issue. Here are a few points to consider:

It’s probably too late to do much about this.

The U.S. has some 1,000 field trials for new gene-altered crops each year, most in multiple sites. The protocols for containing those genes are lax, argue such critics as the Center for Food Safety, which wants a moratorium on field testing of gene-altered crops. ”I would not be at all surprised if there are a number of experimental genes that have contaminated and are happily being passed along at low levels in the food supplies of various crops already, but nobody’s testing,” says Doug Gurian-Sherman, a senior scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington. “It’s really a ‘don’t look, don’t tell’ situation. We just really don’t know.”

After all, this isn’t the first time.

In 2000, a strain of corn called StarLink, engineered by Aventis (SNY) to kill caterpillars, was found in taco shells. In 2006, Bayer’s (BAYN) LibertyLink experimental rice made its way into the food supply, leading to lost exports. In 2012, the German company agreed to pay $750 million to settle claims from 11,000 U.S. farmers in five states. Restoring genetic purity to a crop is a very expensive process and takes time.

Is there a public safety issue?

That’s a matter of debate. Regulators were quick to jump on the Oregon discovery with a battery of tests and extensive investigations that are under way now. Monsanto (MON) designed the Roundup Ready wheat to withstand its Roundup herbicide used to keep fields free of pests, and the gene isn’t considered harmful. “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) confirmed the food and feed safety of Roundup Ready wheat more than a decade ago,” Monsanto said in a May 29 statement.

Critics of gene-altered food argue that the periodic crop discoveries highlight a regulatory system that is woefully inadequate to monitor the expansion of modified crops and to detect any dangerous genes that could materialize. “The question is why APHIS does not tighten its procedures for field trials. It’s incredibly lax, whatever APHIS may try to say,” says Bill Freese, a science policy analyst with the Center for Food Safety.

(Full article at the link)

Monsanto seems to be able to do whatever they want to do anyway. They have the US Supreme Court siding with them, and President Obama keeps the former VP of Monsanto as his Food Safety Czar.

Foreign markets don't want GM crop? Poor Monsanto, suffering from 'baseless rumors'...

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#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: Freeze Soil to Block Groundwater

I can honestly say "I knew that", because that's what one of our long-time readers, netudiant, suggested some time ago.

From Yomiuri Shinbun (5/30/2013):

凍土の遮水壁で汚染水抑制…政府委が設置方針

Control contaminated water by impervious wall of frozen soil, the government committee is to request

東京電力福島第一原子力発電所で増え続ける汚染水の抜本的な抑制策として、政府の汚染水処理対策委員会（委員長・大西有三京都大名誉教授）は、建屋周辺の土壌を凍らせて地下水の流入を防ぐ「凍土の遮水壁」の設置を打ち出す方針を固めた。

As a drastic countermeasure against the contaminated water that continues to accumulate at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, the government committee on contaminated water treatment countermeasures (chairman Yuzo Onishi, professor emeritus at Kyoto University) has decided to propose the installation of the "shield wall of frozen soil", whereby the soil around the reactor buildings will be frozen in order to stop the groundwater from leaking into the buildings.

３０日の会合で最終判断し、東電に実施を求める。

The final decision will be made in the meeting on May 30, and the government will tell TEPCO to implement the plan.

同原発の建屋には、地下水が１日平均４００トンずつ流れ込み、汚染水増加の最大の要因となっている。

400 tonnes of groundwater per day are leaking into the reactor buildings, and it is the biggest contributor to increasing contaminated water.

凍土の遮水壁は、大手ゼネコンが提案した。地中に管を並べて打ち込み、管内に氷点下数十度の冷却材を循環させ、周辺の土壌を一定の深さまで凍らせる。これが、建屋内と外側との水の動きを遮断する壁となる。地下に構造物があっても大きな障害とならず、１～２年程度で設置できる。

The impervious wall of frozen soil was proposed by a large general contractor. Rows of pipes will be driven into the ground, and coolant at dozens of degrees below zero Celsius will be circulated in the pipes to freeze the soil around the pipes to a certain depth. That will become the shield that will block the movement of groundwater. Even the underground structures won't be much of an impediment, and the wall could be set up in 1 to 2 years.

コンクリート製の遮水壁を造るのと違い、凍土法は管をすべて埋設した後、一気に土壌を凍らせ、短期間で壁が完成する。このため、施工中に壁の内側で地下水が減るなどして、建屋内から放射性物質を含む汚染水が外へ漏れ出る危険は少ない。

Unlike the impervious wall made of concrete, the wall of frozen soil will be built in a short period of time by burying all the pipes and freeze the soil all at once. Therefore, there will be little danger that the contaminated water leaks out from the reactor building, as could be the case if the level of groundwater inside the wall gets lower during the construction of the concrete wall.

That large general contractor is Kajima, who has also created the unmanned debris removal system for the Reactor 3 operating floor. Kajima is famous for huge civil engineering projects like tunnels, and this method of freezing the soil is very well known to them. The other major general contractors, Taisei and Shimizu also submitted their proposals, which involved concrete walls like TEPCO has been contemplating and included a study of overseas examples of such impervious walls.

Let's see what TEPCO says, because, as "Happy", unnamed former worker and journalist Ryuichi Kino said in the AP interview, cost-saving comes first for TEPCO. This frozen soil method looks faster and cheaper than the concrete wall or underground bypass.

From TEPCO's 4/26/2013 document on "How to prevent groundwater from coming into the reactor buildings" pages 36-47 , Kajima's excellent presentation (compared to the other two):

Plane view. Surround the reactor buildings and turbine buildings of Reactors 1-4 with frozen soil wall of about 1,400 meters in circumference.

Sectional view.

How to create frozen soil wall.

How continuous wall is possible with frozen soil wall.

According to Kajima (from the presentation),

• As long as the frozen soil remain frozen, the coefficient of permeability is zero (100% block of groundwater from flowing in).

• Even if power is lost, the wall remain frozen for several months up to a year.

• The wall self-repairs.

• Small footprint for installation equipment (2x2 meters, as opposed to 15x15 for normal wall construction), easy to remove.

• There is very little contaminated soil resulting from the construction of the wall.

• Construction of frozen soil wall won't interrupt decommission work
  

• By regularly replacing the coolant and pipes, the wall can be used for a very long time.




• Remote monitoring of temperature is possible.




• Continuous wall is possible.

Almost too good to be true!

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US State Department's Response to Osaka Mayor's So-Called "Apology": Nothing but Unspoken Disdain

The State Department Acting Deputy Spokesperson Patrick Ventrell said they don't comment on the remarks by a mere local official in a foreign country.

From Daily Press Release transcript at the US State Department (5/28/2013), "Comments by Local Official" (emphasis is mine):

QUESTION: Japan?

MR. VENTRELL: Yeah.

QUESTION: Osaka Mayor Hashimoto retracted his remarks that U.S. servicemen in Okinawa should use the adult entertainment industry to avoid the sex crimes, and he apologized to the Americans and the U.S. military. Do you have any comment?

MR. VENTRELL: Well, we’ve addressed his comments previously and really don’t have anything new to add. The one thing I’ll say is that we can’t be commenting on every state and local and provincial official around the world when they make outlandish or offensive or reprehensible comments. So we really can’t say much more beyond that. This is a local official.

QUESTION: Just one more: He canceled his U.S. trip. You have anything to say on his --

MR. VENTRELL: Again, I’m not going to comment on every move or action of some local official. We’ve been clear that the U.S.-Japan alliance remains strong, and we’re committed to that alliance.

QUESTION: Okay. So does that mean that the bar has got to be – it’s got to be a national official? A mayor doesn’t do it for you, but if the guy’s a cabinet minister or a --

MR. VENTRELL: When we have concerns --

QUESTION: -- member of parliament or something like that, then you’ll talk more?

MR. VENTRELL: When we have concerns about somebody at the national level who’s made comments that are disparaging or difficult, we may make a comment.

QUESTION: Can you – where is the bar?

MR. VENTRELL: Well, again, my point being, Matt, is that there are hundreds and thousands of mayors and local officials around the world. We can’t respond to every single one of them.

QUESTION: Yes. Are there hundreds of thousands of local mayors around the world that run a municipality where there are large amounts of U.S. troops?

MR. VENTRELL: Are you trying to make some broader connection about the importance of the mayor of --

QUESTION: I’m saying that I think the mayor of Okinawa – right? That’s who we’re talking about?

MR. VENTRELL: No, this is the mayor of Osaka.

QUESTION: Oh, mayor of Osaka, okay. I stand corrected.

MR. VENTRELL: I was trying to figure out which American troops were in Osaka, but --

QUESTION: I apologize. So, okay – all right, well, if the mayor of Okinawa said something, would that not meet your bar?

MR. VENTRELL: (Laughter.) Now we’re going into wild hypotheticals here.

Ouch. And the reporter thought Hashimoto was the mayor of Okinawa... Ouch.

700 people have petitioned in four days to disbar Mayor Hashimoto from the Osaka Bar Association, and the the Association says it is quite surprised at this unprecedented event, reports Kouta Kinoshita (who is apparently at the press conference of the Bar Association).

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At Least 4 Nuke Plants Will Apply for Restart Under the New Safety Regulations to Be Implemented in July

If they are approved, there will be 8 additional reactors, including one with MOX fuel, will be online in Japan, in addition to two reactors at Ooi Nuclear Power Plant.

These plants are:

1. Takahama Nuclear Power Plant: Reactor 3 (MOX), Reactor 4, operated by Kansai Electric Power Company;

2. Ikata Nuclear Power Plant: Reactor 3, operated by Shikoku Electric Power Company;

3. Sendai Nuclear Power Plant: Reactor 1, Reactor 2, operated by Kyushu Electric Power Company; and

4. Tomari Nuclear Power Plant: Reactors 1, 2 and 3, operated by Hokkaido Electric Power Company.

Hokkaido Electric has postponed the plan to use MOX fuel for Reactor 3, but the plan is not abandoned. With local municipalities counting on MOX fuel subsidies to the tune of 6 billion yen, big money for these small municipalities, there will be a strong pressure for Hokkaido Electric, once the plant is back in operation, to pursue MOX fuel.

Shikoku Electric's Ikata Nuclear Power Plant sits near the tail end of the Median Tectonic Line, one of the biggest fault lines in Japan.

NHK News (5/28/2013) says the operators of these plants are going to apply anyway even though the plants may not satisfy the new safety regulations being compiled by the Nuclear Regulatory Authority.

Some of the problems that even NHK seems to recognize are:

津波対策の基準となる最大規模の津波や、新たに求められた火山について評価や安全対策を終えておらず「検討中」としていて、
Risk evaluation and the safety countermeasures for the maximum size of tsunami or for volcanic eruptions that will be newly required haven't been completed, they are "under consideration";

残る２か月足らずで安全性をどこまで確認できるのか具体的な見通しは立っていません。
How much safety can be ascertained in less than two months is not known;

新基準で義務づけられている、事故時の対策拠点となる「緊急時対策所」を別の施設で代用するケース
There are cases [NHK doesn't say which ones] where "emergency headquarters" as mandated by the new standard will be substituted by other facilities;

「防潮堤」を津波の想定が敷地の高さを下回っているので不要だとしているケース
There are cases where the operators says there is no need for "seawalls" because the expected height of tsunami is lower than the site elevation.

Uh... have we heard the last one before?

I think it is a clever ploy by the plant operators to apply at the same time for 4 plants with 9 total reactors, because the Nuclear Regulatory Authority lacks manpower to be able to assess the safety of each as they solidify the new safety regulations that are still evolving.

According to NHK, the operator of Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant Reactor 2, Japan Atomic Power Company, says it will apply for the restart of that reactor anyway, even though the reactor has been declared by the Nuclear Regulatory Authority's panel of experts to be directly above the active fault line.

And there is TEPCO, who wants to restart Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant with 7 reactors in Niigata Prefecture, even though they too may be sitting on the active fault line.

Fukushima happened, so we're safe for another decade or two at least. That must be the thinking.

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Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto Appears to Have Failed to Impress the Foreign Correspondents Over His Stance on "Comfort Women"

Instead of playing a politician, he played an attorney or bureaucrat, in the fine tradition of Sir Humphrey in the fictional world and Sir Humpphrey's more recent apprentice Jay Carney, President Obama's press secretary.

The tradition is this:

• Never answer a question in a direct way;

• Keep talking, no matter what you're talking, as long as you can until the reporters forget what they asked;

• If they happen to remember what they asked, keep repeating the same, only tangentially relevant talk any way until they give up.

Hashimoto went in there, in front of the foreign correspondents, confident, with his interpreter in tow and his prepared, bilingual statement.

What he may not have noticed is that many of these foreign correspondents are fully bilingual, and they also include fully bilingual and bicultural Japanese correspondents working for major foreign news outlets. They are very well aware what he has been saying in Japan in Japanese, as the UK's Financial Times article makes it rather apparent.

From Financial Times (5/27/2013; emphasis is mine):

Toru Hashimoto: ‘Comfort women’ gaffe wounds Osaka mayor

By Jonathan Soble in Tokyo

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Six months ago Toru Hashimoto, the young, blunt mayor of Osaka, was threatening to upend Japan’s political establishment, the Restoration party he founded in the country’s second city rapidly becoming a national force.

Today, the man many thought would be a kingmaker after elections last December is fighting for his political life – part of a broader withering of Japanese opposition parties under the rule of Shinzo Abe, prime minister, who has led his own efforts to restore Japan as an economic and diplomatic power.

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On Monday, Mr Hashimoto appeared before foreign journalists in Tokyo to explain comments he made about Japan’s wartime use of “comfort women” – the tens of thousands of women who worked in brutal conditions in Japanese military brothels, often after having been tricked or coerced into service.

Mr Hashimoto caused outrage this month when he appeared to defend the exploitation as a necessary and even justifiable outlet for soldiers in wartime. His statements were criticised by everyone from victims’ groups to Mr Abe – a man who has himself questioned the degree of official responsibility Japan bears for the abuse the women suffered.

Support for Restoration has fallen sharply: in one survey only 3 per cent of respondents said they would vote for the party in elections for the upper house of parliament this summer. It is a humiliating collapse for a party that came within a handful of seats of becoming the largest opposition group in December’s lower-house poll.

Some in Japan see Mr Hashimoto’s provocations as a deliberate attempt to rekindle enthusiasm for his cause – an attempt that went too far and backfired. A lawyer who first gained public attention as a sharp-tongued television commentator, he has built his career on a rare and often bracing contrarianism and may have overestimated the public’s appetite for attacks on what he sees as suffocating political correctness.

Masatoshi Honda, an independent political scientist, noted that public support for Restoration was falling even before the comfort women controversy, as Mr Abe and his Liberal Democratic party pursued an aggressive economic growth agenda and co-opted Mr Hashimoto’s appeal to national pride by declaring that “Japan is back” on the global stage.

“Abe says his ultimate goal is to restore Japan,” Mr Honda said. “He is trying to do exactly what [the Restoration party] wanted to do.”

Other opposition parties are also suffering, with the Democratic party Mr Abe defeated in December in disarray and polling at about 6 per cent. The LDP is the preferred party of about half of voters, and 70 per cent say they approve of the job Mr Abe’s administration is doing.

Such numbers give Mr Abe hugely favourable odds of winning the upper house, where the LDP is in the minority, and consolidating his power.

Mr Hashimoto claimed on Monday that he had never endorsed the wartime brothels but had merely described the thinking of military commanders at the time. He called the use of comfort women, many of whom were recruited in Japanese-ruled Korea, “an inexcusable act that violated the dignity and human rights of the women”.

The explanation appeared to conflict with Japanese press transcripts of his original remarks, which quote him as saying that, given the stress and danger experienced by soldiers in battle, “anyone can understand that the comfort women system was necessary”.

Mr Hashimoto further undermined his credibility by saying that US soldiers on Okinawa should use the island’s “adult entertainment industry” in order to reduce incidences of sexual assault on local women.

He apologised for that remark on Monday but stood by a number of other contentious assertions, including that Japan had been unfairly singled out over the comfort women given that other countries’ armies were also guilty of sexual abuses.

A 1993 apology that Japan offered to former comfort women should be “clarified”, he said, to shield Japan from exaggerated claims of state responsibility for the system, which relied heavily on local middlemen, and suggested the International Court of Justice be asked to settle a dispute with South Korea over compensation.

Yun Byung-Se, South Korea’s foreign minister, called the latter suggestion “embarrassing and shameful” and called on Japan to engage in direct reparations talks.

Hashimoto apologized to the US military but told Korea to feel free to take the case to the International Court of Justice, effectively telling them to go take a hike.

Hashimoto also seems to think "comfort women" are only about those from today's South Korea.

Japan's J-Cast News reports reactions from the foreign correspondents at the press conference after an Italian reporter asked about his former client, the so-called "Restaurant Association of Tobita Shinchi", a red-light district in Osaka City where Hashimoto is the mayor where prostitution has continued on even after the Anti-Prostitution Law was enacted in 1956:

「かつては顧問弁護士だったことは事実。それは、飛田の組合という『料理組合』の顧問弁護士。日本において違法なことがあれば、捜査機関が適正に処罰する。料理組合自体は違法でもない」 と主張。記者席は失笑の声がもれた。

[Mayor Hashimoto] insisted, "It is true that I was their legal advisor to "Restaurant Association" in Tobita. If there is anything illegal going on in Japan, the law enforcement will punish appropriately. The Restaurant Association itself is nothing illegal." Some snickered in the audience.

That's one extreme "tatemae", Hashimoto knows it, the reporters know it.

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Reuters: Japan's wartime brothels were wrong, says 91-year-old veteran, who says these women were indeed "sex slaves" with no means of escape

Boy-wonder mayor of Osaka City, who used to be the lawyer for Osaka's red-light district Tobita Shinchi, is busy justifying himself in front of the foreign correspondents in Tokyo right now.

Here's a 91-year-old World War II veteran who was in China during the war as a medic, and he was recently interviewed by Reuters.

He says "the women had no means of escape from the walled town where his military unit was headquartered and were in fact sex slaves."

"No matter if they wanted to flee, there was no way to escape".

Well, Mr. Hashimoto?

From Reuters (5/22/2013; emphasis is mine):

Japan's wartime brothels were wrong, says 91-year-old veteran

By Linda Sieg and Ruairidh Villar

SAGAMIHARA, Japan (Reuters) - When Masayoshi Matsumoto joined the Japanese army in 1943 and was sent to occupied China as a medic, he thought he was taking part in a righteous war to free Asia from the yoke of Western imperialism.

Seven decades later, the 91-year-old retired Christian pastor says it's his mission to speak out about the injustice of the war and the sufferings of women, mostly Asian and many Korean, forced to work in Japanese wartime military brothels.

"I feel like a war criminal. It is painful to speak of such things and I would rather cover it up. It is painful, but I must speak," the slender, white-haired Matsumoto told Reuters in an interview at his daughter's home about 40 km (25 miles) from Tokyo.

"I think that to speak out is the meaning of my being alive," added Matsumoto, who returned to Japan in 1946 and later became the pastor of a Christian church. He is one of a dwindling number of veterans with experience of the brothels.

Outspoken Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto sparked a firestorm of criticism at home and abroad when he said last week that the military brothel system was "necessary" at the time and that Japan has been unfairly singled out for practices common among other militaries during wartime.

The remarks outraged China, where many suffered under Japan's military occupation, and South Koreans, where bitter memories of Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule run deep.

They also sparked a backlash in Japan. Support for Hashimoto's right-leaning Japan Restoration Party, already sliding, has fallen further ahead of an upper house election just two months away and another small party has broken off ties with it.

As a medic stationed in Yu County in China's Shanxi Province during the war, Matsumoto helped doctors examine a half dozen Korean women who provided sexual services for officers and non-commissioned officers, part of an effort to stem the spread of venereal disease among soldiers.

Whatever the rationale at the time, Matsumoto said, the system and the treatment of the women - known euphemistically as "comfort women" - were inexcusable.

"NO EXCUSE"

"It is not just Japan that did something wrong. But Japan also did something wrong ... Just because someone else is a thief, is it all right to be a thief? Because someone else kills people, is it all right to be a murderer? That is no excuse," Matsumoto said.

"The prime minister of Japan should apologize properly as the representative of the nation and compensate those who should be compensated."

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe caused controversy during his first 2006-2007 term by saying there was no proof that Japan's military had kidnapped women for the brothels. Such doubts are common among Japanese ultra-conservatives.

But Abe has sought to distance himself from Hashimoto's remarks, saying his government's stance is different.

"The stance of the government on this issue is that, as we stated previously, we are deeply pained when thinking of the women who experienced immeasurable pain and suffering. On this point, the Abe cabinet has the same position as prior cabinets," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference last week, although he declined direct comment on Hashimoto's remarks.

The issue has often frayed ties between Tokyo and Seoul. Japan says the matter of compensation was settled under a 1965 treaty establishing diplomatic ties. In 1995, Japan set up a fund to make payments to the women from private contributions, but South Korea says that was not official and so not enough.

Matsumoto said the women had no means of escape from the walled town where his military unit was headquartered and were in fact sex slaves. "No matter if they wanted to flee, there was no way to escape," he said.

Recalling the conditions in which the women lived, Matsumoto said soldiers lining up for sex would unfasten their leg wrappings and lower their trousers so as to waste no time when their turns came. "It was like they were going to the toilet," he said.

Only years later did Matsumoto come to believe his country had done something wrong. "We were taught that it was the mission of Japan, the mission of the Japanese people, to liberate Asian countries from European colonialism," he said.

"So we went to war gladly then. When I think of it now, it was monstrous, but I didn't think so then."

In the video, Matsumoto says if these women refused, it was the death sentence.

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Osaka City Mayor Hashimoto at Foreign Correspondents Club in Tokyo to "Apologize" on His Remarks to US Military, Protest the Use of "Sex Slave" Word by the World Media

(UPDATE 5) The very first question was from an Italian reporter who asked about his contract with Tobita Shinchi, and Hashimoto was visibly uncomfortable.

(UPDATE 4) By the way, Boy-wonder used to be the legal advisor to the association of Tobita Shinchi, a red-light district in Osaka City where prostitution is effectively allowed as "free love" between the waitresses and the customers who visits the "restaurants", circumventing the Anti-Prostitution Law of 1956.

(UPDATE 3) Asahi English has his entire prepared statement in English, here. Boy-wonder seems to think "comfort women" are just about some old gripes from South Korea. I'm more interested in what the foreign media writes up tomorrow.

(UPDATE 2) Hashimoto, through an interpreter (not very good, reminds me of NHK's interpreters in the first few days of Fukushima I Nuke Plant accident), just declared he won't answer questions later unless the reporters first thoroughly read the English document that details his points of view. He's blah blah blah-ing how he has met with the media every single day of his mayorship, and how he values the freedom of speech.

(UPDATE) It has just started. And I forgot to mention that Boy-wonder's "daddy" Shintaro Ishihara will be there, watching over him. A old-looking woman is doing the translation. http://live.nicovideo.jp/watch/lv138509152

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

It will start at 12:30PM on May 27, 2013, Japan Standard Time.

Hear all about it!

Link to NicoNico Channel: http://live.nicovideo.jp/watch/lv138509152

Jiji Tsushin (5/27/2013) outlines what Boy-wonder is going to say, and that sure doesn't sound like any apology. Not to me at least:

日本維新の会の橋下徹共同代表（大阪市長）は２７日午後、東京・有楽町の日本外国特派員協会で記者会見する。橋下氏は、在沖縄米軍に風俗業利用を勧めた自らの発言について「不適切な表現だった」として撤回し、米軍と米国民に謝罪する。一方、戦時下の従軍慰安婦制度に関する「当時は必要だった」との発言は取り消さず、「女性の人権をじゅうりんし、許されないものだ」と訴えて理解を求める。

Toru Hashimoto, co-president of Japan Restoration Party and mayor of Osaka City, will hold a press conference at Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Yurakucho, Tokyo in the afternoon of May 27. Mr. Hashimoto is going to withdraw his remarks recommending the US military in Okinawa to make good use of Japanese sex industry as "inappropriate", and apologize to the US military and the US citizens. On the other hand, he will stand by his comments on the comfort women system during the World War II as "necessary at that time", and emphasize that "it was a violation of human rights of women, and not permissible", in the effort to win the understanding [from the reporters].

橋下氏の一連の発言には、内外で厳しい批判が続いている。外国メディアに直接真意を説明し、事態を収拾したい考えで、会見では自らの見解をまとめた文書を英訳版とともに配布する。

Hashimoto's remarks have been heavily criticized both inside and outside Japan. Hashimoto wants to explain his true intentions to the foreign media directly in order to wind down the controversy. During the press conference, he will distribute the document that summarizes his viewpoints, along with the English translation of the document.

橋下氏は２６日にまとめた見解文で、慰安婦発言について「世界各国の軍が必要としていたと発言したところ、私が容認していると誤報された」としており、会見でも同様の主張をする見通し。また「世界各国の兵が戦場で女性を利用してきたことは厳然たる事実」と指摘し、海外報道で慰安婦が「セックススレイブ（性奴隷）」と訳されていることにも異を唱える考えだ。

In the document compiled on May 26, Mr. Hashimoto says, regarding his remarks on comfort women, "What I said was that all military forces in the world needed [comfort women], but it was reported falsely that I condoned such a system." He is expected to make a similar statement in the press conference. Also, he is going to point out that "it is a solid fact that soldiers in armed forces worldwide have used women", and object to the translation of comfort women as "sex slaves" in the foreign media.

Either he doesn't know, or he knows but pretends he doesn't know, that the "comfort women" that the Japanese military "recruited" were not entrepreneuring women willingly offering services.

We'll find out how the foreign correspondents in Tokyo treat him. Perhaps they've been in Japan too long.

It's not that Wikipedia is neutral on all subjects (it is not), but the difference between the Japanese entry on "comfort women" and the English entry is rather significant. If you read both, check them out.

The opening sentence in Japanese wiki entry on comfort women:

制度としての慰安婦は、軍相手の「管理売春」という商行為をおこなう存在であり、慰安婦には報酬が支払われていた。

Comfort women, as the system, conducted commercial transaction of "managed prostitution" for military personnel, and comfort women were paid for their services.

The opening sentence in English wiki:

Comfort women were women and girls forced into a prostitution corps created by the Empire of Japan.

Mind the gap...

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#Radioactive Leak at J-PARC: Staff Let 100 Billion Becquerels Escape Through Ventilation Fans

(For all posts about J-PARC radiation leak, click here.)

To add further disgrace to what's already there aplenty, the researchers at J-PARC, Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex, were fully aware that turning on the ventilation fans without any filter would release radioactive materials outside the facility, but did it anyway.

I wondered aloud in the previous post on this accident: Why didn't these particle physicists (supposedly some of the brightest people in Japan) connect the dots and figure out "Radiation level was high, turned on the fans, radiation level dropped, radioactive materials went from inside the facility to outside"?

Well now I know they did know.

From Chunichi Shiinbun Medical Site (5/26/2013; part, link won't last long):

職員たちは、放射線量が通常時の１０倍の毎時４マイクロシーベルトまで上がっているのが分かると、施設内の線量を下げるために排気ファンを２度にわたって運転。ＫＥＫは「線量がそれほど高くなかった。大気に出ても迷惑はかからないだろうと思った」と説明した。

The staff, on learning the radiation level had risen to 4 microsievert/hour, 10 times the normal, operated the fans twice in order to lower the radiation level inside the facility. KEK [High Energy Accelerator Research Organization] explained, "The radiation level wasn't that high. We figured even if [radioactive materials] leaked into the atmosphere it wouldn't be of much inconvenience to anyone."

ファンは換気用で、放射性物質を吸着するフィルターは取り付けられていない。設備の誤作動も想定しておらず、事故時のマニュアルも用意していなかった。モニタリングポストで線量が上がっているのを確かめたのは、ファンを回して２６時間もたった２４日午後６時だった。

The fans are for ventilation, and there is no filter installed that would absorb radioactive materials. They didn't expect the malfunction of the equipment, and there was no accident manual. It was 26 hours after they operated the fans, at 6PM on May 24, that they finally confirmed the rise in radiation levels at the monitoring post.

ＫＥＫによると、現場では国などに速やかに報告すべきだという声も一部であったが、原子力機構出身の池田裕二郎Ｊ－ＰＡＲＣセンター長ら幹部が「通報に該当する事象ではない」と判断。報告遅れにつながった。

According to KEK, some people who were at the facility suggested the incident be reported to authorities including the national government, but the senior management including Yujiro Ikeda, J-PARC president who came from JAEA, decided it was not the event that requires reporting, leading to the delay in reporting.

But wait, there's always more in Japan when it comes to anything radioactive...

To ignore the warning buzzer and restart the experiment without confirming safety, and to expel radioactive materials from inside the facility using unfiltered ventilation fan is exactly what the operation manual at the facility calls for, according to KEK.

Again, from Chunichi Shinbun Medical Site (5/26/2013; part):

実験を実施していた高エネルギー加速器研究機構によると、２３日午前１１時５５分、Ｊ－ＰＡＲＣ内の原子核素粒子実験設備で金に陽子ビームを当てて素粒子を発生させる実験中、異常を検知して安全装置が作動、警報音が鳴ったため、いったん実験装置を停止した。

According to High Energy Accelerator Research Organization [KEK] who was conducting the experiment at the nuclear and particle physics experiment facility to hit gold with proton beams to generate elementary particles, the safety mechanism detected the abnormality and sounded an alarm at 11:55AM on May 23. The equipment was stopped.

担当者は安全装置作動の原因が分からないまま午後零時８分に警報をリセットし、実験を再開した。その後、施設内で放射線量が上昇し再び運転を停止。午後３時１５分ごろ、排気ファンを作動させて施設内の線量が下がったため、また運転を再開していた。

The researcher in charge, without knowing why the safety mechanism tripped, reset the alarm at 12:08PM and resumed the experiment. Later, when the radiation level rose inside the facility, the experiment was stopped again. At about 3:15PM, the experiment resumed as the radiation level dropped after operating the ventilation fans.

高エネ研の担当者は「マニュアルに従った手順だった」と話している。

The person in charge at High Energy Accelerator Research Organization says, "It was the procedure following the manual."

This by-the-book release of radioactive material was 100 billion becquerels　in the south-westerly direction, one-hundredths of the annual legal limit of radioactive material release, according to Mainichi Shinbun (5/26/2013) quoting JAEA.

Here's the image of the ventilation fans in question (from Chunichi Shinbun):

There are several Japanese nuclear and particle physicists that are widely followed on Twitter, and some of them were apparently scheduled to conduct their experiments using the facility at J-PARC. To a sheer puzzlement of people with some rational mind left, some of these researchers are being ridiculed and bad-mouthed by Twitter mob just because they are nuclear and particle physicists using J-PARC.

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Mizuho's Chief Economist Yasunari Ueno Says Abenomics Is Nothing New, "I'm Not Suffering from Amnesia..."

UK's Financial Times interviewed Yasunari Ueno, highly regarded and widely followed Chief Economist of Mizuho Securities on so-called "Abenomics".

Ueno says it's nothing new, and the risk is high that Bank of Japan cannot manage the inflation in now a very weak, fragile Japanese bond market thanks to BOJ's intervention.

A refreshing departure from the gibberish nonsense that I've been hearing and reading in Japan about "Abenomics".

FT: Why aren't you thrilled with "Abenomics"? Why are you skeptical?

Ueno: I'm not suffering from amnesia. Abenomics is kind of revival of Japanese government's economic policies. We already saw a massive expenditure from fiscal side in 1990s. As for quantitative easing by the central bank, we saw one example between 2001 and 2006. As for the so-called "growth strategy", every Japanese cabinet has made such documents, but without any strong initiatives.

FT: If Abenomics won't work, there are risks associated with it, in the unfolding of the policies. Contrary to Mr. Kuroda's intention, yield curves across the government bonds are rising. What's going on here?

Ueno: It is a malfunction of Japan's bond market. BOJ declared massive buying of JGBs (Japanese government bonds), and the market sentiment is too much dependent on BOJ's operations and actions and some voices from BOJ officials. So the market is not in good shape, very fragile, scant liquidity, high volatility. That means weak power on "buying on dips". So Japan's bond yield is going to be a little higher.

The priority there is first "higher stocks", then "weaker yen". The bottom is the level of long-term yields. So, if the higher long-term yields destroy higher stock price, then BOJ or the government is going to extinguish the fire in the bond market. However, now the stock market is firm, so no big reaction to the higher, long-term yields.

FT: Higher bond yields mean investors are positioning for inflation. But Japan has a deflation problem, doesn't it?

Ueno: Yes, in March we saw -0.5% for core CPI YoY basis. In April it will be 0.2 to 0.3%, in May it will be around flat [unchanged]. In June we are going to see 0.2 to 0.3% positive core CPI number. It will be a little shock to the JGB market. When we see the energy market movement, I confidently forecast the positive change for CPI core. However, this is kind of a supply side shock, not pulled up by demand side, stronger internal demand.

BOJ is targeting 2% within about 2 years, however it is totally impossible in this economic reality.

And if we see a higher consumption indices, then we need higher pay rise. About 5 to 6% strong wage hike is needed, however this year we are going to see about 1.8 or 1.9%. So there is a huge gap between them.

Goooood luck Japan........

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It Was #Radioactive Gold, Mercury, Potassium, and Sodium Leak at J-PARC

(For previous posts on the accident, go here and here.)

Particle physics scientists at J-PARC are trying to show they are not like nuclear scientists (or nuclear plant operators) and released the result of analysis for gamma nuclides using the germanium semiconductor detector on the night of May 23, 2013, the day of the accident.

No mention of tritium, which is beta nuclide.

From the scanned images of the report on paper, published on May 25, 2013:

Hg (mercury) 197: half life 2.706 days
K (potassium) 43: half life 0.9294 day
Au (gold) 198: half life 2.695174 days
Hg (mercury) 195: half life 10.5306 hours
Na (sodium) 24: half life 14.9589 hours

There are numerous spikes indicating other radionuclides. But since it is a scanned image, I can't read the tiny print clearly.

The report also says the external radiation exposure was 0.1 millisievert (max). Almost all radiation exposure for the researchers, therefore, was from internal exposure as they inhaled the air inside the facility without realizing the gold used as target had been partially vaporized and radioactive materials, instead of staying inside the metal, were released in the air.

(English labels are by me)

The accident timeline in the report shows they continued the experiment after the equipment malfunction at 11:55AM, until 4:15PM when they used the survey meter to measure the radiation levels inside the hall. It was between 4 and 6 microsievert/hour, 10 times the normal level.

The ostensible reason for the delay in reporting the accident to authorities was that on May 23 they thought the contamination was only inside the radiation control area. That doesn't quite fly, as they say (in the accident timeline) that the radiation level (gamma) inside the hall dropped when the ventilation fan was used, and rose when they stopped using the fan.

So these particle physics scientists claim they didn't connect the dots at that time, and that they finally decided there had been radioactive materials leak outside the facility when they checked the monitoring post placed outside the facility in the evening of May 24. Another facility inside the J-PARC compound notified the Hadron Facility that their monitoring post showed elevated radiation level on May 23, precisely when the ventilation fan was being used, according to the report.

It looks like a much larger leak than first reported.

J-PARC's Hadron Experimental Facility, from their homepage:

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(Here We Go Again...) "Soh-Teh-Gai" (想定外, Beyond Expectation) Events at J-PARC That Possibly Leaked Tritium and Radioactive Gold

What are the "beyond expectation" events at J-PARC in which radioactive materials leaked after they managed to vaporize gold by hitting it with proton beam that was a bit too strong?

They say (according to Jiji Tsushin, 5/25/2013):

• They didn't even imagine that the equipment could malfunction; and

• They didn't even imagine that proton beam could be so strong that it vaporized the metal; and therefore,

• They didn't even imagine that radioactive materials, which in normal situation remain inside the metal, would leak outside the equipment; therefore,

• The ventilating fan did not have a filter to block the leak of radioactive materials.

NHK's latest news adds more "beyond expectation" events:

• They did check the surface contamination on May 23, the day of the accident, and it showed the contamination 10 times the normal level. But they didn't even suspect internal radiation exposure, and let the researchers go home;

• They didn't check the researchers for internal radiation exposure until 4 researchers asked to be tested;

• They are yet to test 55 others who at the facility.

The highest radiation exposure, of both internal and external radiation, was 2 millisieverts, according to NHK.

NHK also says they noticed there was a leak of radioactive materials when the radiation level in the facility dropped after using the ventilation fan.

(Duh.)

From the tweet of one of the nuclear researchers that I follow (Tomohiro Endo, of Nagoya University), "Calculation of distribution of all nuclides (including stable isotopes and radionuclides) created when 30GeV proton beams hit 1mm-thick gold (30GeVの陽子を1mm厚さの金に当てたときに生成される全核種の分布を計算)":

(Click to enlarge)

He says in another tweet that they are the sum of (1) nuclides created when protons hit gold, and (2) nuclides created when neutrons hit gold.

Most likely radionuclides from the accident are in red and yellow, which he thinks include tritium (proton number 1, neutron number 2) - the orange dot in the lower left corner, and radioactive gold (Au-196), on the left of the orange dot which is stable AU-187 in the upper right corner.

Au-196 has half life of about 6 days. Half life of tritium is about 12 years.

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Idio(syncra)tic Japan: Birds of a Feather at Toru Hashimoto's Party

Boy-wonder mayor of Osaka City Toru Hashimoto has been roundly condemned around the world for his tactless and ignorant remarks on "comfort women" and Japanese sex industry (recommending it to the Marines in Okinawa). As you would expect, his political party, Japan Restoration Party, is solidly behind him.

Here's the latest, literally incredible comment from a senior member of the party. Mr. Nariaki Nakayama is a Tokyo University graduate, former bureaucrat at the powerful Ministry of Finance, and former Minister of Education and Science and former Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism when he was with Liberal Democratic Party.

Mr. Nakayama commented on the meeting cancelled by the former Korean "comfort women" with Boy-wonder. The two women, after having observed how Boy-wonder tries to spin his own words to his advantage, changing stories and blaming others, decided they didn't want to be used in Boy-wonder's scheme to further spin the situation.

As Asahi Shinbun reports (5/25/2013), Nakayama tweeted the following:

元慰安婦と橋下市長の面会が急遽中止になった。支援団体側は、二人とも会いたくない、政治利用される心配もあると説明しているが、面談を申し入れて来たのもこれまで政治利用してきたのも先方側だった。橋下氏に強制連行の中身を鋭く追及されるのを怖れたか？化けの皮が剥がれるところだったのに残念。

Meeting between the former comfort women and Mayor Hashimoto was suddenly canceled. According to the support group, the two women don't want to meet [Mayor Hashimoto], as they are afraid they will be exploited for political purposes. But it was always their side who wanted to meet, and it has always been them who exploit the situation for political purposes. Were they afraid that Mr. Hashimoto would tenaciously question whether they were forcibly brought to [the location where they were made to serve as "comfort women"]? Too bad the meeting was canceled, otherwise their true colors would have been exposed.

Literal translation of the second half of the last sentence would be: "otherwise, their fake skin would have been ripped open [by Hashimoto]".

As to Boy-wonder himself, he now says he wants to apologize to people in the US and the US military, because his words were misunderstood.

Sure.

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#Radioactive Materials Leak at Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC) in Ibaraki, Researchers Accidentally Inhaled Radioactive Gold

(UPDATE 2) For the latest, see my posts here and here.

(UPDATE) From Jiji Tsushin (5/25/2013):

施設内の放射線量が上がった際に担当者が換気扇を回し、外部に放射性物質を放出していたことが25日、分かった。許可を出した三浦太一・高エネ研教授は会見で、「通常運転時も半減期の短い放射性物質で線量が上がることがあり、すぐ減衰するとの認識だった。結果として浅はかだった」と謝罪した。

When the radiation level inside the facility rose, the person in charge turned on the ventilating fan and released radioactive materials outside the facility. Professor Taichi Miura at High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, who authorized the ventilation, apologized in the press conference, saying "Radiation level rises even in the normal operation because of radioactive materials with short half life, so we thought they would decay quickly. But it turned out to be imprudent."

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Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), who operates J-PARC, didn't bother to notify the Nuclear Regulatory Agency (secretariat of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority, mostly made of people from NISA) for 2 days, because they did not think there was any leak of radioactive materials.

According to Asahi, the researchers suffer internal radiation of exposure of 1.7 millisievert, and the contamination of the facility is 40 becquerels per square centimeter.

Apparently, the Ibaraki prefectural government was not too happy about the incident and the fact that JAEA didn't bother to notify the authority and the prefectural government, and held an angry press conference at 2AM on May 25.

The official story of the accident, from Asahi Shinbun (5/25/2013, 1:37AM):

原子力機構で放射性物質漏れ　研究者ら４人が内部被曝

Radioactive materials leak at JAEA facility, 4 researchers suffer internal radiation exposure

日本原子力研究開発機構は２５日、茨城県東海村のＪ―ＰＡＲＣの原子核素粒子実験施設で、放射性物質が施設の外に漏れたと明らかにした。中にいた研究者ら少なくとも４人が内部被曝（ひばく）した。漏洩（ろうえい）は止まっており、拡大の恐れはないという。被曝した４人のうち、最大の被曝量は１・７ミリシーベルトという。原子力機構は外部に漏洩した放射性物質の量を調べている。

Japan Atomic Energy Agency disclosed on May 25 that there was a leak of radioactive materials outside the nuclear and particle research facility at J-PARC in Tokai-mura in Ibaraki Prefecture. At least 4 researchers inside the facility suffered internal radiation exposure. The leak has stopped, and there is no danger of the leak spreading further. The maximum radiation exposure was 1.7 millisievert, according to JAEA. JAEA is currently investigating how much radioactive materials have leaked outside the facility.

原子力機構や原子力規制委員会によると、放射能漏れがあったのは２３日午前１１時５５分ごろ。陽子ビームを金にあて素粒子を発生させる実験をしていた。装置が誤作動を起こして陽子ビームは通常の４００倍の出力になり、金が蒸発。放射性物質が漏れて研究者が吸い込んだ。現場には当時、研究者ら約３０人がいたという。

According to JAEA and the Nuclear Regulatory Authority, the leak took place at 11:55AM on May 23. They were conducting an experiment of generating elementary particles by hitting gold with proton beam. The equipment malfunctioned, and the output of the proton beam increased to 400 times the normal strength, and gold was vaporized. Radioactive materials [radioactive gold vapor] leaked [from the equipment], and were inhaled by the researchers. There were about 30 researchers when the accident happened.

施設の汚染は最大で１平方センチあたり約４０ベクレル。現在、施設内を立ち入り禁止にしている。原子力機構は発生当時、外部への放射能漏れはないと考え、国に報告しなかった。Ｊ―ＰＡＲＣは大型の加速器を備えた素粒子などを調べる実験施設。

Contamination of the facility is about 40 becquerels per square centimeter maximum. Currently the facility is off-limit. At the time of the accident, JAEA didn't think there was a leak of radioactive materials, and did not report to the government. J-PARC is a facility to study elementary particles with large accelerators.

Equipment malfunctioned. That's the official story.

Let us now turn to "baseless rumors" among knowledgeable researchers (like this one, from Professor Hayano of Tokyo University) for what may really have happened. According to the unverified rumors, it was not the equipment that malfunctioned. Researchers made a mistake, and instead of hitting the target (gold) with low, continuous proton beam over a long period of time they accidentally hit it with high-intensity proton pulses.

According to NHK quoting the Ibaraki prefectural government, the monitoring post outside the facility showed a slight increase in radiation level between 3PM and 6PM on May 23. The radiation level is normally between 70 to 130 nanogray/hour, but it rose by 10 nanogray/hour on May 23.

Never trust the Japanese with a gigantic facility like a proton accelerator. Or a nuclear reactor. They are not only incapable of operating them properly, but when an accident happens they don't tell you.

(How do you get rid of radioactive gold in the body? Does anyone know?)

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Japan's PM Abe May Be Planning a Surprise Visit to North Korea Soon

I have a feeling that the US wouldn't like it one bit. The US didn't like a secret visit by Abe's advisor Isao Iijima to Pyongyang, which apparently was news to the US.

After having been treated shabbily by President Obama on his trip to the US in April (or so Abe thinks) and his administration labeled "ultra-nationalists" who could harm the US interests in East Asia in the US Congressional report, Abe must have figured he has nothing further to lose in the eyes of his beloved US.

Abe blew it on his visit to the US, ditto on his visit to Russia, where Prime Minister Vladimir Putin got (or feigned) angry over the question by the Japanese press corp about the Kurile Islands and he refused to give Abe an assurance for selling natural gas to Japan.

Abe needs a friend, and Kim Jong-Un could be the one, I suppose.

Nikkei Shinbun (5/23/2013; part):

首相に北朝鮮訪問観測　元駐日韓国大使発言で

Speculation that Prime Minister Abe may visit North Korea, following the remarks of former South Korean ambassador to Japan

政府や与野党内で安倍晋三首相が北朝鮮を電撃訪問するのではないか、との観測が出ている。きっかけは23日付の韓国紙、朝鮮日報のインタビューで、権哲賢（クォン・チョルヒョン）元駐日韓国大使が「安倍首相が早ければ今月末から６月初めの間に訪朝する可能性が高い」と語ったことだ。

There is a speculation inside the administration and the political parties that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may pay a surprise visit to North Korea. The speculation started with the interview of Kwon Chul-hyun, former South Korean ambassador to Japan, which appeared on the Chosun Ilbo, a South Korean newspaper, on May 23. Ambassador Kwon said, "It is highly likely that Prime Minister Abe will visit North Korea, between the end of May and beginning of June at the earliest."

訪朝した飯島勲内閣官房参与は同日、記者団に「（日朝政府間の）交渉再開など色々評論されているが、私からみると事実上、事務的協議は全部終わった。あとは首相と菅義偉官房長官の判断だ」と指摘。菅長官は権元大使の発言に関して「事柄の性質上発言すべきでない。極めて大事なことだ」と述べるにとどめた。

Isao Iijima, Special Advisor to the Cabinet who just returned from North Korea said to the press on May 23, "There are various comments about resumption of negotiations (between the Japanese government and the North Korean government), but as far as I know, in fact, working level negotiations have been complete. It now all depends on the decision by Prime Minister and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga." Mr. Suga didn't elaborate on the remark by former Ambassador Kwon, and only said, "I shouldn't comment, due to the nature of the issue. It is extremely important."

So, does that mean it is a done deal? Does Abe want to be like Kakuei Tanaka, who made a surprise visit to Communist China in 1972 and established a formal diplomatic relationship between China and Japan? Or does he just want to emulate Junichiro Koizumi, who visited North Korea to win the release of 5 abductees?　

If Abe and his advisors think today's North Korea under the North Korean version of Boy-wonder dictator, shunned by every nation except China, is equivalent to Communist China in the 1970s, and the normalization of relationship will be hailed as a great diplomatic coup and success, they are literally insane.

As Zero Hedge's Tyler says about Abe and Kuroda:

We give up: raging schizophrenia and a sado-maso fetish is now a core prerequisite for anyone who wishes to follow the daily lies these central planning sociopaths spew with impunity.

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Idio(syncra)tic Japan: Nikkei Cannot Even Manage a "Dead Cat Bounce", Down 468 Right Now

(UPDATE) Nikkei ended the day up 128, afternoon swing of over 600 points. Both BOJ's Kuroda and Finance Minister Aso call the moves of yesterday and today as "just normal, daily fluctuations". Daily fluctuations of 1,000, 1,500 points is apparently the "New Normal" for so-called "Abenomics".

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It was down 176 when I started to write the post...

Today's high was 15,007, and the low was 13,981(for now). The intraday swing of 1026 points is about two-thirds of that for yesterday. I was watching the Fibonacci 38.2% bounce from the yesterday's close (around 14,920), and sure enough the index overshot a little in the opening, stayed around that level for the morning but couldn't break that level.

For those of you who wonder "What's the big deal if Nikkei goes back to what it was in early May?", a normal, functioning stock index that reflects fundamentals does not go back to that level in one trading day.

The reason for the afternoon swoon, as I gather from Nikkei Shinbun, is BOJ Governor Kuroda's speech. He apparently only talked about generalities like "It is desirable that the long rate will move in a steady manner". He didn't even mention yesterday's stock market collapse. So, the market participants decided Kuroda had nothing new to offer either to stabilize the long bond rate or the stock market, and started selling index futures.

Earlier in the morning, when the market was up 500 points, Chief Cabinet Secretary of the Abe administration declared it was a sure sign that the Japanese economy was steadily improving. There was even a bizarre comment by a Japanese investment manager that the very fact that Nikkei dropped so much in one day shows they were not in a bubble.

Now, with 25 minutes to go, Nikkei is minus 55. It was jumping 100 points up or down every few seconds for a while. It's broken.

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