Back to work

Hi

The holiday's over and it's back to work. To tell you the truth, I've been in England spending the holidays with my family. The weather was awful: rain, more rain, and hail. And dark too. No wonder Europe has Christmas, a festival of light, to brighten up the winter. When I come back to Japan I'm always struck by the strong light as I get off the plane. And back in Koriyama, the cold (lows of minus 5) is mitigated by the brilliant sunshine, and views of the surrounding snow-covered mountains. 

There was hardly any mention of Japan on mainstream UK news. Prime Minister Abe's visit to Yasukuni Shrine (controversial - war criminals are interred there) hit the headlines one day and another day there were pictures of a Japanese whaling ship's catch courtesy of Sea Shepherd, the Australian anti-whaling activists. But these were the only two bits of news I noticed, neither showing Japan in a good light. I also watched a documentary of amateur video footage of the tsunami. But that was it. At least, all I managed to see.

So I needed to catch up when I got back. Today is the 11th of the month and it's a monthly anniversary (tsuki meinichi 月命日) that's still marked with prayers and search parties two years and ten months after the disaster. The TV and newspapers do special features. Not that much has changed. The Environment Agency has announced delays of three years in the clean up of the exclusion zone. Okuma, Kawauchi and Naraha will be finished by March this year but the rest, including Iidate and Tomioka will not be finished until March 2017. There are no plans for Futaba which I hear is in a bad state. Other figures show air-borne radiation down 50% as a result of decontamination work in Namie and Futaba in the exclusion zone but levels remain high at 3 to 6 microsieverts/hour so no one will be going back soon. You can read these features (in Japanese) here:
Fukushima Minpo 11 Jan2014
Also included in the paper's special is the full text of the government's plan to speed up the recovery - two broadsheet pages of fine print. The detail we get from this local paper is quite remarkable. And I'm sure it's read. People's lives here are affected and they really do follow the news.

Fascinating at the moment is the activity surrounding elections next month for Mayor of Tokyo. The incumbent, Inose, had to step down when it emerged that he had taken a 'loan' from a scandal-tainted hospital group. Yesterday, Hosokawa, who was Prime Minister of Japan for six months in 1993, announced that he intends to stand. And it seems he has the backing of Koizumi, Prime Minister from 2001 to 2006. For the past six months Koizumi has been very publicly advocating a zero nuclear policy. He wants all Japan's nuclear plants closed down for good, forthwith. You will recall that in 2011 the then Prime Minister Noda called for a zero policy and pledged to phase out nuclear power by 2030. 'No more nuclear power!` (datsu genpatsu 脱原発) became the slogan, a feeling supported by most people in Japan. In contrast the present government wants to keep nuclear power plants running. The draft of the basic energy plan announced last month does promise to reduce Japan's reliance on nuclear power and doesn't call for building new ones so in a way it follows the popular line. The question is one of timing. Hosokawa and Koizumi want action now and are opposed to the re-opening of the nuclear plants which could start in the next few months. So you could have the highly unusual scene of two former Prime Ministers pitted against Prime Minister Abe. Watch this space.
Bye for now, from a cold and icy Koriyama.
Anne

Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014

Happy New Year in the year of the horse! 

Of all the traditional dolls made at Dekoyashiki in Miharu, ten kilometres from Koriyama, I like the horse best of all. Isn't he cheeky? 

Wishing you all the best in the coming year.

Anne

Happy Christmas!

Happy Christmas, one and all!

This comes with my very best wishes for happy holidays wherever you are.
As for me, I'll be taking a couple of weeks off from this blog. More in the New Year.
In the meantime, greetings from Koriyama!
Anne

Hmm. West meets East?

An acquaintance from the Junior Chamber of Commerce
getting shoppers in the Christmas mood.
Usui Department Store
Mukaiyama Seisakujo's caramels 

Not in My Back Yard

Hi

Suddenly it's winter. On Friday night there was heavy snowfall in the Aizu area and a couple of inches in Koriyama. My friends from Kitakata came over on Sunday to do some Christmas shopping. 'Samui ne', they complained. 'But you've got over two feet of snow' I exclaimed, 'how can you say it's cold?' But it's true - Koriyama is a windy city: add in the chill factor and it is COLD.

A friend in the Shibamiya area of Koriyama was looking forward to getting her house decontaminated (she has two young sons). But the work seems to have got delayed: only a couple of areas of public housing were remediated and the workers have left for the time being. Maybe the weather, maybe budget restrictions. I'll be interested to hear how they explain the process to her and how long they say the stuff they remove has to remain buried in her garden.

With a bit of luck that wait may be shortened with the recent announcement that the government is to buy up land near Fukushima Daiichi and further south near Fukushima Daini for the so-called 'interim storage facilities' which will store radioactive waste from the whole prefecture for the next 30 years. The purchase of the extra land (19 square kilometres in total) should make construction easier and quicker and they're hoping to have them up and running by January 2015. The Minister of the Environment was up here last weekend to negotiate with the local authorities affected. One of their conditions is that Fukushima will not be the final resting place for the waste: that in 30 years time the stuff will be moved somewhere else. That seems a bit optimistic to me. Would they really shift it in 30 years time?

This is nimbyism writ large and crucial to the nuclear power argument. What to do with the waste? No one wants it in their back yard.

I saw in the paper that Koriyama City too is working on a new facility to store radioactive waste. The City has no dumps as yet and the waste resulting from decontamination work all has to be stored on site, in parks, in gardens, in school yards. Apparently the new facility is to store soil removed when they remediate the roads (it's currently buried in parks). The dump is due to open next year, but, interestingly, the City hasn't announced where it is ...

All the best

Anne

Voices of Fukushima

Hi,

On Monday I showed a German journalist around Koriyama. We were able to interview some evacuees from Tomioka in the temporary shelter here, and we also visited a supermarket which does food testing on the premises. Let me share some of my impressions with you.

The three people we talked to from Tomioka in the exclusion zone were all very positive and resigned to making the best of things. Two years and nine months on, they have made a new life here and none of them contemplates going back to Tomioka. But it's only when you get talking to them that you realise what they have lost. As one man said, he used to live near the sea and in the summer with the windows open you could hear the sound of the waves. Here in Koriyama there are only cars and the noise of traffic. His relatives lived in the same village and when he walked around he knew everybody. Now he lives with his uncle in the shelter but his other relatives are scattered far and wide. Perhaps the most poignant part was when the journalist asked to see photos of his old house. 'But there are none' he said, 'everything was washed away. I lost everything.'

When we got onto the big questions, the opinions were strong but voiced gently, with an undertone of resignation. There was anger that no recovery work had been done in Tomioka, their early optimism now abandoned; there was irritation at the politicians who come and visit but don't listen; and there was unequivocal opposition to nuclear power (even from one man who worked 40 years in the nuclear industry). All they want now is a decent place to live and settle down. 

They were great people and we had a good laugh. Only writing this down now do I feel humbled by the way they're coping.

Next stop, a supermarket in the Kikuta area of Koriyama called Vereshu (ベレッシュ in Japanese). In October 2012 they built a glass-fronted food testing room right at the entrance to the shop so customers can see the food being tested. Actually it's a privately run farmers' market so the farmers bring the produce in, have it monitored on the spot, then put on the shelves. The manager said custom had plummeted after the accident but risen after installing the equipment, and increased considerably this year. Food in Japan has to have less than 100 becquerels per kilogram but almost all produce now tests ND (not detected). According to the manager, the only things that have shown positive these last two years have been blueberries and yuzu citrus, though these are still well below the permissible level. Although the two gamma testing machines were paid for by the prefecture, the organisation paid for the rest of the facility and foots the bill for the running costs including salaries for two staff. Asked how long they contemplated carrying on with the testing, the manager thought ten years at least. Even though almost everything tested is ND, every time a high level is detected and gets in the papers, say in another part of the prefecture, people start to get anxious again. So the message needs to be constantly reinforced. 

As we left, the store manager accosted us in the car park and in the freezing cold asked us to get the message out: 'Food here is safe. We're living normal lives. Just because there are problems at Fukushima Daiichi, it doesn't mean life here is dangerous. Look at the data, be objective, don't be swayed by scare-mongering on the internet.'

You can't help admiring these people for their spirit in the face of adversity, for taking a bad situation and making it better.

Anne
21 January 2014 Saw in the paper that the shop is testing a new machine (GAGG scintillator) which measures the raw veg. No need to chop and liquidise. 

Christmas market

Hi folks

Just take a look at these veggies. Aren't they wonderful? An acquaintance, Koichi Fujita, who is a vegetable sommelier no less, has won prizes for his Koriyama branded vegetables. Today there was a Christmas market in town. As well as wonderfully fresh vegetables at very reasonable prices, there was a delicious aroma of baked sweet potatoes (his new brand Menge which means 'cute' in the local dialect) as well as tarts and sweets made from carrot and sweet potato. No reason to shun Fukushima fruit and veg. These people are doing a great job.  Anne

Fujita-san, me, and another lady in charge of a vegetable growing NPO

New Secrecy Bill

Hi folks

There's a lot of controversy in Japan at the moment about new legislation which will impose a 10 year prison sentence on those who leak 'special secrets' concerning diplomacy, defence, counterterrorism or espionage. It's designed so Japan can share sensitive information with other countries but it was rushed through the Lower House on Tuesday and the Upper House on Thursday and people feel there hasn't been enough discussion. It's contentious because the definition of a 'special secret' (tokutei himitsu 特定秘密） is vague and there is as yet no independent checking body or system of appeal - the Prime Minister, of all people, is to decide what constitutes a 'special secret'. Information was to be declassified after 30 years (though extendable) but after discussions with the Restoration Party (Ｉshin no kai） that got changed to 60 years (with no extensions). 

The bill has drawn widespread protest from the press, citizens' groups, and the public at large. But for some reason there is a Fukushima connection that I can't quite fathom. The day before the bill was presented to the Lower House, last Monday 25 November, the lower house special committee held a public hearing in Fukushima city, the only such hearing in the whole country. Seven prominent people were asked to give their views. But what was the point when the bill went before the house and was passed the very next day? All seven people voiced concern because they are afraid information relating to the nuclear disaster could become classified. Mr Baba, Mayor of Namie in the exclusion zone, was outspoken. Immediately after the earthquake, he said, police and others appeared dressed in what he at the time thought were 'spacesuits'. The residents hadn't been told of any danger. Later they were told to evacuate but were given no information. People ended up travelling under the plume. The Japanese government did not disclose the SPEEDI data until May although other countries had made it public. No wonder he doesn't trust the government. He said on TV that if the storage dumps for nuclear waste were deemed a terrorist target, they could come under the new law. Obviously people here are very keen on preserving their 'right to know' about progress in decommissioning at Fukushima Daiichi. There are worries that workers at the plant won't be able to speak out or that evidence in court cases to do with nuclear plants won't be put forward because it's secret.

And why was Mori Masako, local MP, put in charge of this bill? She is indeed a lawyer, but an expert in consumer rights, and she currently serves as Minister in charge of the declining birth rate, consumer affairs, food safety and gender equality. Seems odd.

All the best

Anne

Local Elections

Hi

Yesterday, Sunday, saw the election for Mayor of Fukushma City. I hadn't really been following it. Fukushima is 25 miles north of Koriyama and I just presumed that the incumbent would be re-elected. But no, he was ousted and Kaoru Kobayashi won by a landslide. Until the summer he was director of the Tohoku regional office of the Environment Ministry, the ministry in charge of decontamination. And this seems to be the issue closest to voters' hearts. Over half said they voted for him because of issues related to the accident, the main one being decontamination. 90,000 houses are to be decontaminated in the city but work has been completed on only 23%. It's taking too long. Moreover, Kobayashi pledged to work personally to get more temporary storage facilities for the radioactive rubbish up and running in the city. Not only has there been no progress on the so-called 'Interim Storage Facilities' to be set up by the government in the exclusion zone to store the prefecture's contaminated soil and rubble for the next 30 years, but closer to home, at the municipal level, there aren't enough dumps either. It's all very well having your gutters cleaned and topsoil removed but no one wants that stuff buried in their own garden. The good people of Fukushima city are hoping, I guess, that Mr Kobayashi has the energy, experience and clout to sort this problem.

Come to think of it, the three largest cities in Fukushima prefecture have all had elections this year - Koriyama, Fukushima and Iwaki - and in all three cities the incumbents have lost. You can't help thinking people are fed up with the government taking so long to get the recovery going and are taking it out on local candidates. The governor of Fukushima prefecture comes up for election next autumn. He must be feeling nervous.

Looking at Mr Kobayashi's resume, he did an MA at Sussex University in England. Not many people up here speak English. I wonder what his English is like now?
Anne
24 November 2013  Two more elections today, two more incumbents toppled - in Nihonmatsu and Hirono. This is getting beyond coincidence.

U-turn on Repatriation

Hi folks

The mountains surrounding Koriyama are dusted with white after the first snowfall earlier in the week. Minowa ski resort on Mount Bandai has opened for the season - though I think they've had the snow machines on full blast.

In the summer the PM pledged to speed up the recovery and the ruling parties' working group has just produced its recommendations. The government's done a U-turn on policy to repatriate the 140,000 evacuees. Up to now, plans were based on the principle that everyone would be re-housed in 'new communities' and at some stage everyone would return to where they lived before the disaster. Now they're saying people must be told if and when they'll be able to go back and given support if they choose to live elsewhere. At long last the government seems to be looking at things realistically, from the residents' perspective, but it has taken so long.  

Regular surveys have shown that a growing number of people don't want to go back. The continuing reports of the troubles at Fukushima Daiichi haven't helped. And decontamination is proving trickier and far more expensive than first thought. 

Local leaders broadly welcome the report but the devil is in the detail, and no details have been announced yet. Not to put too fine a point on it: a lot depends on the compensation package. The current system doesn't provide enough compensation to buy a house elsewhere. This will change. Local leaders warn that those who decide to go back shouldn't lose out.

I still don't really understand what's going to happen. At Chernobyl the 30 km exclusion zone imposed at the time of the accident is still in force although there are some 'stubborn oldies' who live within the zone but receive proper support. I know the damage here was nothing like as bad and the working party say there is no change in the long term aim -  to have people return eventually. Does that mean people will be able to choose, after a certain period, to go back? What a difficult decision. We wait and see. Details have been promised by the end of the year. 

A while back I told you about the delay in building new housing for evacuees due to escalating prices for construction. When Home's not so Sweet  Well, with much fanfare, there was a ceremony today to mark the start of construction of a block of 40 apartments in Koriyama, the first to be built. It will be completed in October next year. More houses for 3,700 families are planned.
Bye for now
Anne

Start of Decommissioning

Hi

Later this month work will start on removing the fuel assemblies in Reactor 4 at Fukushima Daiichi. The building was badly damaged in the hydrogen explosion and you may remember the scare at one time about nuclear fallout if the roof caved in. Well, all the debris has been removed and a brand new building constructed above and alongside the unit. 

There are 1,331 spent fuel assemblies and 202 unused ones being kept cool in a pool above the reactor. The plan is to lift each one out by crane, insert into a special container and transport to a different storage pool 100 metres away. This work, which marks the beginning of decommissioning proper, will take until the end of next year.

According to the local paper (Fukushima Minpo 10 November 2013), radiation on the 5th Floor is  0.1 - 0.13 mSv/hour. 36 people will work in 6 groups with each group working about two hours a day. The maximum exposure allowed for each worker is 0.8 mSv per day. That sounds a lot to me - most people don't want more than 1 mSv in a year! I hope they're well protected.

The two biggest problems in decommissioning Fukushima Daiichi will be removing the melted fuel in reactors 1 to 3, and ensuring there are enough skilled people over the next 30 to 40 years to do the work. Tepco has just announced a raft of measures to improve working conditions. The current 10,000 yen allowance per day (on top of normal pay) is to be doubled to 20,000 yen (200 US$, 126 GBP) per day. Next, the area where full-face masks don't have to be worn is to be increased to two thirds of the site as a result of decontamination. The masks are cumbersome - workers can't communicate with each other easily - and this may have contributed to work errors in the past. New facilities - an 8-storey rest house for 1,200 workers and a cafeteria to provide 3,000 meals  - are also to be built on site. But they won't be ready for over a year. In the meantime, conditions are pretty cramped.

The local evening news showed Bobby Charlton (former football star who helped England win the World Cup in 1966) visiting J-village, which used to be the national youth soccer training centre. He said what an immaculate pitch it used to be and was obviously shocked to see it covered in pre-fabs for the workers at Fukushima Daiichi. He pledged British help in reinstating it.

The national news was full of pictures of the typhoon and tsunami-like flooding in the Philippines. My heart goes out to those people.
Anne