Tag Archives: disaster

Fukushima

Japanese public television better prepared than nuclear plant?

NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation in English) has covered hundreds of natural disasters in Japan.   NHK has eight broadcasting centers, 46 local stations, 14 helicopters on permanent standby all over the country, and 460 remote-controlled cameras at ports and other key locations from which it can beam live footage at any moment.  (wow, I wish the stations I worked for here in western U.S. had that stuff!)

There’s also a hotline to the Meteorological Agency and automated access to the earthquake early warning system.  In fact NHK viewers got a 90 seconds warning before the 9.0 quake struck.

One reason why NHK is so prepared to cover disasters: NHK holds emergency broadcast drills every night at midnight.

International

More proof you can’t rely on the government

Kazuhiro Takahashi could be taken for a transient, scavenging for food, but he is just another hungry victim of Japan’s tsunami trying to find food for his family.

“I am so ashamed, but for three days we don’t have enough food. I have no money because my house was washed away by the tsunami and the cash machine is not working.”

Other tsunami survivors dig through smashed-up supermarkets, hoping to find food to supplement the meager government rations. 

“This is so shaming, but I have given up on the government. We cannot rely on them so we have to help ourselves.”

Business/Economics, International

Yakuza beats out Japanese government on disaster response

Hours after the first shock waves hit, several of the largest crime groups in the Japanese mafia, opened their offices to those stranded in Tokyo, and shipped food, water, and blankets to the devastated areas.

The Inagawa-kai (the third largest organized crime group) sent twenty-five trucks filled with diapers, ramen, batteries, flashlights and drinks to the Tohoku region.

The Sumiyoshi-kai (the second-largest crime group) offered refuge to members of the foreign community, which is unheard of amongst the right-wing yakuza.

The Yamaguchi-gumi (largest crime group) opened its offices across the country to the public, and is very quietly sending truckloads of supplies.

Fukushima

Sea water may be cause of pressure in Reactor 3

TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) officials say sea water entering the suppression chamber (containment vessel?) might be causing the pressure build up in reactor 3.

They noticed when spraying of sea water the pressure increased, also, when they stopped the pressure went down, but it is still higher than before the sea water was sprayed.

Business/Economics, Fukushima

Honda stops sales to the United States

Honda is suspending May orders from U.S. Honda dealers.

Typically, dealers order cars six weeks in advance.  Honda hopes to resume partial production in Japan by Wednesday, but doesn’t know when production will return to full capacity due to the developing nuclear disaster.

This will affect the availability of the Fit, CR-Z, Civic Hybrid, Insight, Acura TSX, Acura RL and a small number of CR-Vs.

International

So far help for Tsunami victims, from other countries, is sparse

Japanese officials have released figures of relief supplies from other countries.

The supplies include 25,000 blankets from Canada, 30,000 packets of boil-in-the-bag fried rice and 230,000 water bottles from South Korea, and 500 power generators from Taiwan.

When you realize that some of the cities that got hit with he quake/tsunami had a million residents, you can see that foreign supplies are not much. In fact, Japan’s public news station, NHK, is constantly asking for donations.

International

Death toll 15,000 in Miyagi Prefecture

Kyodo News reporting that in Miyagi Prefecture alone there could be 15,000 dead.  That’s according to local police.

National police say the number of dead and missing is around 20,000.  That doesn’t add up when compared to what local officials are reporting, especially when Miyagi Prefecture is reporting 15,000 dead.

The mayor of Otsuchi in Iwate Prefecture, Koki Kato was found dead. He had been missing after the tsunami hit on March 11.