What it may be like in various places in Japan and why it's so hard to tell

by liberal japonicus

This is a shorter post to give some interesting links, preliminary to writing a post about helping. These aren't related, but they are worthwhile.

This is a great article about why the US TV news fell down so badly on this crisis and why they continue to have problems. It is from the SF Chronicle but is originally from by Tim Goodman and appeared in the Hollywood Reporter, which is strangely ironic. Here's a pull quote

How is it possible that on Monday evening (Tuesday in Japan), with the earthquake, tsunami and worries about radiation poisoning engulfing Japan, a CNN reporter can ask this question: "How scary has this been for you?"

Let's see, my daughter was ripped from my arms in the tsunami, I almost died, I lost my home, my belongings, family, friends. There are constant aftershocks, new tsunami warnings and apparently we're about to have a nuclear meltdown. I don't know, dumbass, how scary does that sound to you?

The article notes that CNN has been the best of a very bad lot, but I should note that the longer piece that I'm watching on CNN is a bit better, noting the difference between Tokyo and the areas up north and putting together a little better picture, it seems, though it has been interrupted by reports from Libya. So it goes.

Here is another interesting site, a blog by a documentary maker living in Tokyo, Ian Thomas Ash. He's gone out and interviewed people and there are subtitles, so it's a great look at what is going on in the capital.

 

There is another point that I will be talking about more in detail, but I'll mention it because I suspect it will have the TV anchors sputtering about it. Death totals from the disaster are going to be very accurate, but there will be this huge discrepancy between informal missing figures and official figures. This is because informal figures, like the one in Minami Sanriku of 9,000 people of the town of 18,000 are estimated by finding how many people are in shelters, and subtracting it from the population. Official missing totals require that a family member officially report the person missing, and so there are going to be whole families that have disappeared. I'm not sure how close the person has to be related, though I wouldn't be surprised that it is limited to relatives in the same household register. This was a problem in the Kobe earthquake, but ameliorated by the maps which locate families. Still, news outlets were baffled when the Kobe earthquake total was in the low hundreds at the end of January, 2 weeks after the earthquake and then jumped to 5000+ a week into February, because private hospitals reported their deaths. It underlines that 'official' means 'we have triple checked this and we know this for certain'. This can be seen with the statement of government officials about Fukushima. Eliot Spitzer was frothing at the mouth because the government official (who was from the embassy, so not actually in Japan) didn't 'come clean' about the nuclear accident and admit to information that could be found on the website of the Japanese Atomic Energy Agency. Somehow, talking heads have difficulty understanding that an 'official' announcement requires everyone up the chain to approve it. This can be maddening and at my university, there have been times when the simplest of things cannot be announced because they are not official. While I have banged my head against it, official is official, and it makes sense if you stop to think about it. Which I supposed is asking a lot given why he moved to CNN. 

This feature from the NYTimes is also amazing and totally heart-breaking. Use the slider to move back and forth. 

I haven't seen this video, but it is much more subtle, and in it's way, much more frightening, when you think that at the moment that was filmed, tsunami alarms were sounding up and down the coast. It shows a Japanese Coast Guard vessel, 3 miles from the coast, turn its bow to head into the wave.

I've mentioned about the tsunami warning system a bit. I met an English teacher who was in Miyagi with me and worked in one of those small seaside towns near Kesennuma and she reminded me of how the speakers all over town would wake everyone up at 6 or 7 am with announcements like 'Good morning everyone! Please be careful today!' and other phatic communiques. In my neighborhood, far from the sea, the chonaikai (neighborhood association) has announcements every other weekend at 6 or 7 in the morning. Here is an article from the Hindustan Times (which is obviously concerned about tsunami warning systems) that talks about the automated warnings. 

This is a good article about the demographic challenges that Japan will be facing. It points to another reason why nuclear plants were "popular" in Japan.

For job-hungry workers, Mr. Aldrich says, the government took another tack: it promoted the construction of nuclear power plants along the coast. Two reactor complexes were built in Fukushima Prefecture; one in Miyagi, near Sendai.

“There’s really no economic engine in these communities,” said Mr. Aldrich, whose 2010 book “Site Fights: Divisive Facilities and Civil Society in Japan and the West” details the government’s strategy for locating reactors in struggling areas. “These facilities bring $20 million or more to depopulating, dying towns. Many people saw these power plants as economic lifelines at a time when their towns are dying.”

Funny how that works. This is the Time article about earthquake prep in Japan, which can give you some ideas to look into further or ask about. And given my handle, I need to point out that the GOP budget calls for cutting half a billion from NOAA, which runs the Pacific Tsunami Warning system. 

That's all, until there's more. Stay safe everyone.

Comments

[Jay C]

Thanks, LJ, for your usual cogent analysis. Just as backup info, I found this piece over at TPM; which, if I hadn't been reading ObWings consistently, and knew you weren't there, would have sworn was by you (it's that clear).

Bottom line: Japanese media coverage of the Great Sendai Earthquake may have been flawed, but non-Japanese media sucked big-time - worse than usual even by today's low standards..

[Nell]

Eliot Spitzer was frothing at the mouth because the government official ... didn't 'come clean' about the nuclear accident... Somehow, talking heads have difficulty understanding that an 'official' announcement requires everyone up the chain to approve it.

Remember the old saying about how difficult it is for people to understand something when their salary depends on their not understanding it?

Spitzer was the governor of one of our largest states, and before that its Attorney General. I'm pretty sure he's familiar with the chain of approval for official statements. But his new gig requires baffled outrage, so baffled outrage it is...

Thanks for a very helpful post, lj.

[wj]

For those trying to get a handle on just how significant the nuclear issues in this mix are, here's a readable chart:
http://xkcd.com/radiation/

It rapidly becomes clear that the critical issues in Japan will be the same as they are after any earthquake or hurricane or other major event. The reactor issue will be relatively minor -- except for the impact on future power generation, both in Japan and elsewhere.

[Sanity Inspector]

This blog by an American residing in Japan has yielded some good insights about news coverage of the disaster.

The Americans are only spectators, but they’re the ones indulging their emotions. The Japanese are the ones who have to deal with it, and their upper lips are stiff. Notice that one of the people I quoted thought the Japanese calmness was “eerie”. One gets the impression that the Americans are excited by all the shock and awe. I think we all know what the tone of American coverage would be like if this were a local disaster.[...]I’ve long thought that the Japanese have a more solid grasp of the brass tacks of life than do Westerners. Now I’m convinced.

[Gary Farber]

For those trying to get a handle on just how significant the nuclear issues in this mix are, here's a readable chart: http://xkcd.com/radiation/

I was thinking of doing a post around that a few days ago, but, again, busy, and besides, Ethan went ahead and did the post already.