Empty shelves at a supermarket in Kawasaki
Five days on from the Great Tohoku Earthquake, the aftershocks in Tokyo keep coming, both seismic and mental. Last night, Shizuoka prefecture (to Tokyo’s west) shook under the power of a M6.4 quake, and earlier today Chiba and Ibaraki (both affected by the March 11th earthquake) were rattled by a M6.0 aftershock. All the while major aftershocks, enough to be considered major earthquakes in their own rights, continue to hit the regions most affected by Friday’s quake. Physically, Tokyo and Kanagawa remain largely unaffected, but the mental repercussions are taking their toll.
The panic buying continues – while supplies are coming in and there remains plenty of food on the table, the basic essentials and stocks useful for surviving are in short supply. Different areas are affected to varying degrees, the central Tokyo area seems to be better off than the suburbs. The list of affected products is quite long, but includes: rice, toilet paper, sausages, ham, instant noodles, bottled water, baked goods, batteries and chargers, among many others.
My wife returned from our small local supermarket last night to report that it was empty. The shop staff told her that they kept getting supplies, but they would be snapped up within the hour. It made the plans for dinner that night all the more difficult: I chose to half the portion of meat and try to conserve what we have. It’s good for my health, but it also reminds me that no matter how difficult it makes life, it is nothing compared to Fukushima, Iwate and Miyagi prefectures where people are queuing many blocks over in order to get day-to-day food.
Consumerism isn’t the only area where panic is manifesting as concerns over radiation leaks from the troubled nuclear reactors in Fukushima. Many, particularly among the foreign community, decided that they wouldn’t take any chances and made the decision to flee their prefectures, the Kanto region, and even Japan.
People queue for express tickets, presumably to leave Kanto, at Musashi Nakahara station in Kawasaki
Yesterday I had to visit immigration to apply for a renewal of my visa, and I was greeted by about 70 people stood in a queue to apply for their reentry permits (allowing those with a visa to return once they leave the country). That line grew to perhaps as many as 250 people by time I left. The office struggled to cope with the load, telling those in line to bear with them. Of three counters, two immigration officials were devoted to these reentry permit applicants, only one for regular immigration concerns. Most of these foreign residents seemed to be hedging their bets – preparing to flee – but many seemed to have concrete plans, flights booked, and arrangements made. Some of the talk was focused on why anyone would want to stay.
With the English language media’s overwhelmingly hysterical approach to the problems at the nuclear reactor, it is unsurprising that many decided they had had enough, particularly for those with children. Many Japanese too felt that they should make their way west too. There is a retail shortage of potassium iodine tablets, which can be used to reduce radiation exposure in the event of an emergency. There are also queues at ticket offices supplying tickets for the Shinkansen, the bullet train.
For me, this is my home – I have my wife, my hamster, my computer, electricity, water, food, everything I need. We are a long way from Fukushima and as Hilary Walker of the British Department of Health told the British Embassy:
I just wanted to emphasise what we’ve just been talking is about outside the area it’s not a health problem. Those of you who are living in Tokyo, you are a long way away from the reactor, and although there have been reports that there have been slightly increased levels of radiation, this is trivial in terms of a health effect. So we would like to reassure people that well away from the reactor there is not an issue for people living around there.
It’s a personal choice for all of us, but for me there is little reason to flee. I am not any more worried than I was two days ago. The majority of level-headed Japanese are not about to run either. For those in Fukushima though, the situation is still bleak with heavy snow adding to the disaster, radiation and supply crisis. Even more so for the TEPCO workers who are battling to save the people of Fukushima from an even worse fate. If you are able to help, please do – you’ll find a list of reputable organizations here.
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A former contributor to World Intelligence (Japan Military Review), James Simpson joined Japan Security Watch in 2011, migrating with his blog Defending Japan. He has a Masters in Security Studies from Aberystwyth University and is currently living in Kawasaki, Japan.
His primary interests include the so-called 'normalization' of Japanese security (i.e. militarization), and the political impact of the abduction issue with North Korea.
James Simpson has 254 post(s) on Japan Security Watch
3 comments
Sam says:
Mar 15, 2011
Well put. I wish there was some way that we in Kyoto could provide so much of our extra food to everyone up there in the north. It is horrible to say, but for us in the Kansai, it is as if nothing has happened down here. Gasoline and food are plentiful. If it were not for the fact that many are talking about the quake and the tsunami, one would hardly know that Japan was in the midst of its worst postwar disaster.
By chance, I live in front of the Uji Self Defense Force Engineers base as well as the Kyoto University Natural Disaster Prevention Center. While life for most in town goes on as usual, I am sure that many people working at these two sites are actively involved in helping the victims of the tsunami.
Down here in Kyoto, far away from the worst of the aftershocks, food shortages, and risk of any potential exposure to leaked radiation, many foreign students are deciding to leave on their own initiative, or in the case of German and French students, they are being ordered home by their own governments. In the building I live in, what used to be a lively place has now become much quieter in over the past five days. The German and French students are preparing to depart or have left already. Some of the Chinese and Korean students are also pondering leaving, while others left this morning. It is beginning to feel like that many are overreacting down here.
For many, the erroneous report disseminated by the French embassy and some American news outlets about a dangerous radioactive cloud heading towards Tokyo sent many into a near panic. This seems to have been enough to make many go out and book their tickets home without stopping to double check to see if any other media sources were corroborating the story. Unfortunately, many international students here are spooked. It is totally understandable that many are very concerned about their safety, but based on many conversations I have had with people, few seem to comprehend the geographical relationship of Kyoto and Fukushima, or the fact that in general, the prevailing winds blow from west to east.
While certainly Japanese people down here are showing signs of frustration at the lack of information about the Fukushima plant, so far no one is talking about the need to escape further south from here.
My recent post Shades of Haiti in Japan
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Life goes on… « Books and Bamboo says:
Mar 17, 2011
[...] Keeping Calm When Others Can’t Japan Security Watch [...]
Gray says:
Mar 17, 2011
Also in Kyoto myself and astounded by the ability of many foreigners, even here, to wonder about possible danger. I've had friends in Tokyo contacting me to arrange weekend visits as well and apparently several foreign universities are urging exchange students to leave Japan as a whole.
The media coverage has been appalling and continues to detract from the very real dangers to the survivors of the Tsunami.
Current reports have radiation in the 30km zone are topping out at 0.17 millisieverts per hour (and dropping at the plant itself). The government has stated that six hours exposure to a 0.17 level would reach the annual healthy maximum. As with all radiation related protocols this errs massively on the side of extreme caution.
According to the US National Center on Radiation protection and Measurements, you would need 122 days of exposure at this level before you got to 500 milliseverts and experience any noticeable effects. The effects of this amount of exposure (if it happened at once rather than over 4 months) would be a slight decrease in blood cell counts that would return to normal after a few days and an increase in lifetime cancer risk from the average of 42% to 42.004%. This latter is vastly smaller than the increased risk from both active and even passive smoking.
The only immediate radiation danger is to the workers at Fukushima. In a worst possible case scenario the area around the plant may become badly polluted making residence or consumption of food from the area [b]potentially [/b]harmful.
The continued hype of a possible 'nuclear catastrophe' is almost criminally negligent in the level of unjustified hysteria is has created.
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