How to Climb a Geo-Spiderweb

Shuppatsu!

Yesterday was good.

I unfolded my bike and rode the up-down road to where Honoka is having her gallery. Then I visited an African art museum and after that pedaled over to an interesting outdoor gallery of which I showed you the thumb. An artist of yore bought the land and using the mountains, sky, forest converted the entire area into art. In the very middle of the place is an interesting round building of brick that is apparently a replica of an old winery in France.

I rode back to Honoka's gallery at 1715 but they had closed for the day. However she had her eyes peeled from above and called out to me from her friend's house a bit up the mountain when she saw me at the gallery. We borrowed her friend's car, tossed my bike in and drove up to this JazzBar Chandra where I made a booking to stay. It was a good 30 minutes to get here.

Both of us were hungry so we wandered to a restaurant in the surrounding woods and had a quick dinner, then came back for the Jazz. It was ... not interesting but our conversation was compelling and we probably annoyed the other guests by talking the entire time. Honoka went home about 10:30 and I had a shower and hit the sack about 11pm. As Honoka doesn't live in Japan (Bali, Columbia, NYC) I don't know when Ill see her next but I'm sure she will let me know when she is in the country again.

I'm just enjoying coffee now and then I must be off. I have to ride about 8km to the first geocaching spot. See if you can find Sanbu-ichi, Yamanashi Prefecture on google to get an idea where I am and what I'm doing. It is kind of a famous spot as there were water wars here in the past.

I love you!
Cam

No Comment

I'm conducting a somewhat interesting (to me) experiment. I have often been heard to say (or read to write?) that Japanese seem not to have an opinion on current events, be they local or global. I don't hear people discussing current events at work, nor do they seem to have formed an opinion of any sort if I ask them about their opinion in either English class (in English), or during work. Now of course their English skill level may not be (IS NOT) high enough to express what they are thinking beyond a very rudimentary response, which is why I often attempt to engage them in their own native tongue.

One woman at work (she is in a different building now, so I never see her anymore) studied in England, loves England, and speaks English very well with no Japanese accent. She told me that when she first went to study, she was amazed how all the other non-Japanese foreigners nearly killed each other to get the chance to try and express themselves whenever the teacher would ask "What do you think?" Even though they could barely speak English, it didn't matter. The thing was that they ALL seemed to have their own opinion about topics and news. All but the Japanese students, that is, who sat there quietly. It was at that time that my coworker decided that she needed to start to form her own opinions about world events.

As I said, I have noted a very similar occurrence during my 20 years here. And so, these past two months, since I am much busier at my new job and don't have a quiet (private) spot to access news, have barely had the chance to look at what is going on. This is where the experiment comes in. I believe that were I anywhere else but Japan, global (and local) topics of importance would come to me via other people looking for my thoughts and/or opinions on the events. 

But guess what? Right! That doesn't happen here. It didn't happen in my old office, either. 

Let me give you a good example, or two.

Runner Up Example: I had no idea of the torrential flooding that occurred in Japan due to this most recent bicycle-speed typhoon that passed through until Charles posted a few articles and photos on his Facebook. Nobody talked about it. "Thousands stranded after typhoon; death toll at 41, over 50 missing"

http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/thousands-stranded-after-typhoon-death-toll-at-41-over-50-missing

First prize: I just happened to have a free minute yesterday and turned to the japantoday.com site to quickly skim the topics and see what had happened over the past few days. And guess what? I found out that we now have a NEW Prime Minister, and his popularity rating is 63%! Can you believe it? Not one single person in my office, or even in my building of probably over 500 people has even mentioned this BIG event! Total silence. Absolute and utter silence on this topic.

"Japan's new leadership wins solid backing in more polls"
http://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/japans-new-leadership-wins-solid-backing-in-more-polls

Blows me away.

I will continue with this experiment for a while because, in truth, not knowing the news really isn't going to kill me, though knowing it allows one to have some world knowledge, and have interesting conversations when one gets tired about talking about how hot it is, or how humid it is, or (soon to be) how cold it is. Usually.

I love you!
Cam

P.S. 
"Apple’s iOS 5 to adopt earthquake early warning function"
http://www.japantoday.com/category/technology/view/apple%E2%80%99s-ios-5-to-adopt-earthquake-early-warning-function

Five for Five

With the typhoon gone over to the Fukui side of the island, Megumi and I went out to ride our bikes and do some geocaching. 

Two weeks ago you may remember I went out to do some caching across the Edogawa River in Chiba. I only found one: 1st Saizeriya. The other several I tried I couldn't get. This time, things were different and well... we found five for five today! Yes!! 

The Edogawa near my place is really high from the heavy rains up river, so it was quite dirty and fast, but we crossed over with no difficulty. First of all we went to "Where Am I?" which has an old train on display in a kids playground. My GPS was going haywire the last time, but this time... well, I sat down "on the waves", and thought a bit, trusted the coordinates, reached, and there it was. Pretty simple. 

Next we rode a little further to "Earth, Peace, Futuer" (Misspelled by owner), and saw this little bronze girl standing in a tiny park (concrete) in the corner of a big intersection. I immediately found the cache. Megumi was a bit pissed because as she was getting her gps up and running, I just walked to where I thought it would be, and there it was.

After that we rode to the "Animal in Stone" location, and I showed her the animal. Just to make sure I wasn't wrong, and this wasn't some deviant stone carving of a traditional thing (as can happen here in Japan for reasons unknown to me) that is actually something else, I asked the owner of the carving (who owns a tobacco shop on the corner), if it was really what I thought it was (maneki neko). He said yes. So I put in the coordinates for the next location (this is called a multi-cache, where you go to one place, answer a question, and based on the answer get new coordinates for the next location, which might lead you to a next, and a next, and a so on... ) and we went there (155m away). 

Actually it was right where I was searching last time and couldn't find anything. BUT this time, I recalled where "1st Saizeriya" was hidden, and since the same person hid this one, I knew exactly where to look. But instead of just grabbing it, I gave Megumi some hints and she reached out... and her eyes bulged as she pulled out her first cache! "Cam!! How did you know?!?!?!?" (think like a geocache...) So, we took photos, logged it, added a sticker, and stealthily put it back. There was a lot of people and traffic so I made a bit of a diversion for her, and she slipped it back.

Then I took her to "1st Saizeriya" because she was again a bit miffed that I just found three absolutely by myself. So I gave her the same hint that is on the log page, and reminded her that it was hidden by the same person who hid the "Animal in stone". I told her to look for a similar location. 

I also told her that in the description they say "near the parking lot". So once she saw the parking lot, and recalled what I told her, she found it right away! No old lady in the too expensive (but fresh... for Tokyo) veggie store across the street to stare at us this time. We stealthily put it back and headed on.

After that we went to "Thousand Ginkgo" ... and this shrine is AMAZING! There is a 22m ginkgo tree there that is 10m in diameter, and over 1,200 years old. Yes, that is TWELVE HUNDRED YEARS OLD! It is huge! And gorgeous. She was fiddling with her GPS, and I turned mine on, wandered behind the tree, and realized that the directions were pointing over the high stone fence to another area. So I told her it was over there. We went over to that gorgeous area, and found even more small shrines with lots of trees. 

Very nice! I recalled what the hint said, and remembered what everyone wrote ("took me five minutes to get out..." very hard to find"... etc.) and immediately knew where to look. There were two places. I took one, and Megumi the other. It was in Megumi's spot (whew!). BUT she couldn't get it out. So I told her how to get it out, and we did. This was the best cache so far. It was a "small" cache, and not micro so there was lots of stuff in it. 

There was even a "travel bug" which is a stuffed toy with a dog tag on it that has a number. You can take the bug if you want, then log it, and have to plant it in some other place. This bug has been to the following places: Arizona, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Texas, Washington, Germany, The Netherlands, India,  and Japan. We are going to take it to... Malaysia and drop it off there in a cache on our holiday (IF we can find a big enough cache to put it in). Keep an eye on the photos attached, as well as the video you may see in a bit. 

After putting this one back, and feeling very happy, we headed toward home, but there was another one on the way. So we went to "Osu Disaster Prevention Park" and ... well, I found it right away. Megumi was having trouble with her GPS, but it was pointing in the same direction as mine. We did a bit of triangulation, I felt behind a place, and then realized it wouldn't be there because it would be too easy for the ton of muggles and muggle kids playing in this park. Then I reached somewhere else... and there it was! We photographed it, logged it, and hid it again. 

And then we went for home, and on the way stopped for some dinner because Megumi was so hungry she was feeling sick. She was rather grumpy and had to force the food down, but once we got on the road again, and by the time we got back home, she was OK. 

And that was the geocaching adventure for the day!

I love you.
Cam

GIVING PAULA a BONE

On Friday after my failed attempt to find the TV STARS cache (I'll be back!), I was heading to Gotanda Station and saw this sign that IMMEDIATELY made me think of the most beautifl woman I know in Arizona, Paula! For those of you who don't know, Paula started a pet patisserie called Poochie's a few years ago. It didn't go over well, which was very unfortunate, but looking back I think that Paula can say she learned a LOT from that (mis)(ad)venture. 

The funny thing about this photo, is that although you cannot see it, the shop doesn't look ANYTHING like a bakery. It looks more like an office; a very cluttered, crowded, Japanese business office. With one overweight Japanese middle aged guy sitting behind a desk crammed full of papers, staring at me as I took this photo. In spite of looking around the entire office, there was not a single piece of pet paraphernalia, nor food, nor cooking utensils, nor even a stuffed toy dog to be found. 

So one has to wonder whether this business is so successful that it needs a separate office of this size, or if the signboard is a throwback to a former store, or if it is the name of a business that has absolutely nothing to do with dogs and baking? I don't know. But this is Japan/Tokyo, and nothing surprises me here anymore, though I have developed strong forehead muscles from all the eyebrow raising I have done these past 20 years...

So for you Paula, I salute you with... a bone! To our experiences in life! May we continue to learn a LOT from them, especially from the hard ones.

Tokyo NoNo Chiba Geocaching 110814

http://youtu.be/zGFdgB_AxiA
The second geocache attempt on Monday...

Myoden Park Geocaching 110814

http://youtu.be/zYgPyp70vgo
The first geocache attempt on Sunday

I'm Your Number One Fan*

Yesterday as I was walking between stations to get to the second train that brings me home, there was a gentleman wearing a shirt that I have seen advertised in my Nikkei Weekly "New Goods" section. I took a photo, but didn't hit "save" at the time. My bad. The phone didn't save the picture. So, all I can do is give you my words, and let you use your imagination.

The shirt is a business-casual-style shirt, made of a cotton material. It has a collar so can be worn for work during "cool biz" season. Down around the waist, right about where the kidneys are, on each side, is a built in battery-operated fan, about the diameter of a Starbucks coffee Mug. The fans run, and pull air into the shirt, effectively ventilating the body in an attempt to keep it cool.

I know that from a NA perspective, it may seem ridiculous, or "crazy", but over here, where we have to wear suits and ties in this brutal humidity, you do what you gotta do. This is often when I envy women because they can wear minimal fabric on their bodies (and a hot bra, of course) that allows air under the clothing. (Also, if you are sitting at a desk, you can spread your legs underneath and let some air circulate; something that doesn't happen when we guys spread our legs in slacks). We have to wear long pants, socks, shoes, (a necktie) and tuck our shirt in. This fashion is not conducive to good air circulation. The air doesn't circulate, and the heat "vents" are limited to the head, the armpits (or wrists) and the tiny gap between shirt collar and neck so the body really does heat up something fierce.

The interesting thing about this shirt was that the guy looked a little bit... "puffy".

I love you!

Cam

* The name of a favourite song from The Beautiful South 

Brainwashed By the BoobTube

OK, so I'm at the gym... and I'm doing my second last workout at that particular gym because I have a new membership at a different gym at the station where I will be working as of this Friday. And I'm focusing on my muscle groups, doing my best, having upped the weights again. Feeling the burn, ya know? 

And there's all these TVs going on all over the gym. The volume is turned off, but you can see them. And they are playing a million different channels. Every runner on the tread has their own personal TV. The ellipticals have theirs. There are four in front of the stationary bikes. And so on. 

And I'm sitting working on my pecs, knowing that if I keep building them I'll get the odd look now and then from women in the trains, walking around the stations, in the supermarkets, and such. And it feels good when someone looks at your chest, right? Guys? Yeah, you know what I mean. Well, that is if you aren't sporting man boobs.

Japanese TV has a LOT of food programs. Cooking programs, eating programs, walking around Tokyo in the stupidest outfits, looking like total morons and going to restaurants, and outdoor kiosks and making this face that only Japanese can make, and say that everything is absolutely, totally, overexaggeratedly delicious!!!! Yes, with four (4!) exclamation marks. 

So this half kid talent (half human, have ape - just kidding, a mixed white and Japanese guy) who has become famous and is on TV programs now (damn him and his connections) and this huge fat guy who seems to do nothing but eat on TV programs (what else can fat guys on TV programs do, eh?) and these two women. Eating. Yes. And they are wearing these stupid red and white or white and red polka dot ... farmer john pants. Very dumb, but de rigeur for Japanese TV.

So, up to this point, nothing is new as this program is on EVERY Tuesday I go to the gym. I usually have become immune to it, and just keep working on my muscles, my pecs. For the chicks. Yeah.

Well, today it was a bit different. They went to this little outside stand in the heat where this obaachan (elderly woman) had tons and tons of eggs. And she was selling them right there. But not to take home. What you do, see, is something that probably grosses out 55% of North Americans, and 67.3% of Europeans. What you do is crack the egg into a bowl, mix it up, add some soy sauce, and then pour it over rice and eat that rice. And actually that is really delicious. 

If you've ever had suki yaki at a restaurant, you HAVE eaten raw egg, whether you know it or not. And if you are reading this, it means you aren't dead. So raw eggs, sitting in the heat are not gonna kill you. Get over it. The North American belief that eggs absolutely MUST be immediately put in the fridge or they will be inundated with salmonella is just pure bullshit. Unless of course North American eggs are full of steroids, and salmonella to begin with. And if that's the case, what the fuck are you doing eating steroid-enhanced salmonella-polluted product in the first place? I don't care if "cooking" is the answer, cooking up a pile of shit would probably kill all the stuff in it too, but you aren't going to do that, right? So why would you eat eggs if they already HAVE the shit in them? That's beyond me. Anyways, eggs in Japan are good. We don't refrigerate them in the supermarkets, and we often eat them raw. Yum. I'll show you when you come, guest.

Well, I finished my workout, had my shower, blah blah blah, and then came home. As I only did half of the usual workout, I had time to go to the supermarket and buy some steak before it closed at 10pm. I did. Two. I also bought a pack of 10 eggs (we are metric here so 10 is the right number, not the imperial dozen). 

And then I went home, salted and peppered the steak that by North American standards would be considered a piece of shoe although it was tender frying it in the cast iron pan for just a minute on each side (minute steaks! yeah, right). And while the meat was cooking, I cracked two (raw) eggs into a bowl, mixed them up, added some soy sauce (that's oshoyu for all you Japanophiles) and dipped the rare steak into the raw egg. 

And man was it good!!!!!

Then when the steak was all gone, I added some more oil (olive, extra virgin, not shaken, not stirred) to the pan, and lightly cooked the eggs until I had slushy-scrambled eggs.

And that was my dinner. 

And it was goooooood. 

So, because I saw that woman crack a raw egg into a bowl on TV, I had this burning desire to eat steak dipped in raw egg. 

The TV did it to me! But you know what? That's OK, because I probably had the best "recovery meal" a guy could have. After working on his pecs.

Major Lifestyle Changes Are In Order

Well, big changes are occurring. First off, I didn't get transferred to the International BD (Business Development) Dep't of the new company as I expected. It seems that the person running that division (CEO's wife) thinks I don't have enough experience for that (this is the PC version). Instead, I am to belong to a different company in the group: Contract Sales, which means we do BD with pharmaceutical companies and show them how we can be their Medical Representatives for them in Japan. That sounds exciting! I had the meeting/interview on Friday, and they liked me so much that they decided I should start July 1st. That will cause some "problems" (good problems) because the current company is just starting to need my English again, after a very very long break (not English lessons, but actual English assistance for their work).

The downside of all this is my commuting time will go from 30' to 60'. I have to get up earlier, and leave earlier. Work starts at 9am, but the president and some of the other bosses liked my interview so much and my thoughts on business, as well as my "work mind" that they thought it might be good for me to join in the "asa kai", or morning meeting which starts at 8:20 am. That means to get there I need to leave here just after 7am, instead of the usual 8:20. Ugh.

I cancelled my gym membership in my hood and got a new membership at a bigger gym (different co.) at the Gotanda station where I will be working. I also chose "full regular membership" instead of just "night" as it allows me to go in every day of the week during all working hours, and not just Mon-Fri night after 6:30pm as my current gym offers. The price is more expensive, though. I added on a personal rental locker, and towel service, as well as an option to be able to go to any Tipness (gym name) in Tokyo if I want. Megumi pushed for that because she really wants me to come to her Tipness at her station (same place as my current gym), and be her personal trainer one day a week. She was really happy, and if spending $10 extra a month will make her that happy, it's an excellent way to spend money. Money in exchange for happiness of someone else. Also, regarding the "full regular membership" if I want (it might be tough), I could go in very early, start a 7:15 yoga class (have to leave home about 6am for that... NOOOO!!!!), be done by 8am, have a FAST shower and go to work. Breakfast would be a problem.

I also went to the skin doctor clinic today, just popped in. I had the doctor look at my very itchy scalp. It has been really itchy for about 5-6 months. I think it might be do to the overheating I do at the office every day. He agreed it was quite red, and gave me two types of medicine so I hope that helps. I have to go back in two weeks to let him look at that again. Cost of the doctor's visit: $12. Cost of the medicine: $12. Not expensive at all, especially for a private clinic. I didn't even have to wait more than about 15 minutes, and it was on a Sunday morning, to boot!

That's MY update. I'm hungry, and kind of hungover today because I went out last night with an emerald hunter/jewellery artist and we had a fantastic time talking, drinking and eating at a Spanish bar. Three Spanish beer and sharing two carafe of Spanish white wine did me in. No vomiting, though, just queasy and a pounding headache. I'm glad today was cool at 26-27C. So I need to eat dinner now, then have a shower and get ready for work tomorrow. I sure hope that they let me go from July, and don't keep me there until August. I want to move on to the next challenge.

I love you!
Cam 

ZED

Utterly...

Totally...

Unbelievably...

Phantasically...

Inexplicably...

A

M

A

Z

I

N

G

!!!

From the USA With Globalized Love to the Fukushima Heroes

Practical Hermit & Potato Mousie, 

I LOVE YOU!

Thank you so so SOOOOOO much!

You guys rock!

YouTube Video Blogging for Japan

I received this great email from Google/YouTube Japan asking the YouTube Japan partners in a project they are working on now. I think this is a fantastic idea, and this is how it goes:

"Hello Japan-based video blogger partners,

We at Google and YouTube Japan have been running several crisis response programs for the victims of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that hit Northeastern Japan. Today, we are writing you to ask for your help in a new initiative for Japan.

As you may know, the number of tourists to Japan this March declined by 50% compared to last March. What is most surprising is that many tourists also canceled trips to Osaka, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and other areas that were not directly affected by the disaster.

In order to help tourism in Japan recover from the recent troubles, YouTube/Google Japan will launch a new program called "Japan is Genki, Message from Japan Channel (working title)" to bring together message videos from Japan-based video bloggers who are reporting the conditions of the cities/towns in which they live. The videos will be introductions and promotions of local business, sightseeing spots, events, festivals, restaurants, amusement areas, etc.

If you would like to make a video, please speak your native language and add English subtitles (even if you speak English in the videos, English captions will allow users to translate it to other languages).

Please include in the videos:

- Your name, where you are originally from, where you live in Japan now
- Introduction of the city/town you live now (on-site reports are most welcomed, but shooting in your bedroom is okay too)
- Promotions of local business, site seeing spots, events, festivals, restaurants, amusement areas, and etc
- An encouragement for the audience to visit Japan

We will really appreciate if you can upload the video by May 10. We may introduce some of your videos at the press conference on May 11, at which Google Japan will announcement the project as one of our ongoing initiatives. We are aware that some of you have already made
similar videos, so please feel free to send the videos links if we can include these videos in our program.

We have not decided the official name of the campaign, but will inform you once we have decided. Please add the official program name on your video title, description, or tag. There will be no reward or guarantees paid for your contribution, but you are free to monetize the video. We will promote the video and the central channel including your videos on our homepage, blogs, Twitter, and Facebook.

Please reply back to this email with your video URL when you finish shooting the video. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to reply back to this email too.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

YouTube Japan Team"

******************

And you know me, I can't turn down an opportunity to 1) help people, and 2) pimp myself out to the world!

So, here is my very brief (2') blast, on how wonderful Tokyo is. I hope the world enjoys:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3GtmFzrlZs

I love you!

Down By the River Side

I'm out along the Edogawa river practicing my skating. The blacktop here is much smoother and it makes a huge difference! Wow. I can stop. Sort of.

A Philippina just walked past and chatted my ear off. She will be 38 this July, is getting divorced from her Japanese husband due to his domestic violence, does massage work in the Nihonbashi hotel, makes 1000yen an hour... and... and... and.

The guy who lives above me has been transferred to Sendai to help get the business going again. He was there twice already and he said it looks like a war zone. And it stinks like mud mixed with sewage. And death. He was shocked when he went because he had no idea how to help. It all looks like a huge garbage dump, giant piles of trash. All you can do is pick up one thing at a time and move it fromk the heap to some ordered sense of things. 

They are worried about the staff and the people there because many of the survivors are beginning to show signs of PTSD: can't sleep, nightmares, continually loose bowels, stomach aches, total body breakdown when aftershocks hit (and they keep hitting), and more...

The best I can do now is to be productive in society and continue with my life...

And so I skate.

I love you.
Cam

Yes! Finally Some Balls! Go Fukushima Gov!

This is GOOD news, gang.
It actually brought tears to my eyes:

"Tepco won't be allowed to resume reactor operations: Fukushima Government"

http://tinyurl.com/FukushimaNoGo

TickerTape Update for Japan 2011/03/28

Here are tonight's ticker-tape updates for tonight.

And for the record...

No, the rain is not giving people skin blisters and red, dotted rashes.

No we are not without water.

No we are not running around in panic and evacuating Tokyo.

Anybody who claims any of the aboveis a brazen-faced liar.

Or they have been watching too many conspiracy theory bulletin boards.

Or they have contracted syphilis and are suffering one of the debilitating stages of dementia.

In the case of any of the above, I highly recommend a good swift kick to the arse to eject them from Japan as quickly as possible before they mindlessly infect anyone else.

We WILL fix this mess. We're Japanese.

 

* TEPCO says very high levels of radiation have been observed in water found in a tunnel outside the turbine building for one of the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

* Earlier, Japan's nuclear safety watchdog has said radioactive elements from melted nuclear fuel have possibly found their way from one of the reactors to a turbine building at the nuclear power plant.

* Efforts to cool the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant are being hampered by the leakage of highly radioactive substances.

* Three men exposed to high levels of radiation while working at the damaged nuclear power plant have left the hospital with a clean bill of health.

* The confirmed death toll in Japan's devastating March 11th earthquake and tsunami has climbed to 10,901 people, with 17,649 others listed as missing.

* The construction of temporary housing began on Monday in disaster-stricken Miyagi prefecture.

* All the fishing ports on the Pacific coast of northeastern Japan suffered extensive damage in the March 11th earthquake and tsunami, and the marine products industry has been decimated.

* Japan has received offers of help from 134 nations and territories as well as from 39 international organizations in the wake of the March 11th earthquake and tsunami, the foreign ministry says.

Radioactivity Readings: Tokyo vs Fukui vs Kagoshima

As you can see by looking at these graphs, Tokyo and Fukui are not THAT much different in terms of actual radioactive levels.

The interesting thing to me is that on average, Fukui has HIGHER levels of radioactivity that Tokyo under normal circumstances (though it is actually not that much higher). If you look at the highlighted average scores, you can see the difference.

Cam

Tokyo Radioactive Levels as of 2011/03/26 14:59
(click for a larger image)

 

Fukui Radioactive Levels as of 2011/03/26 14:59
(click for a larger image)

 

And just to give you a reading from far far away, here is Kagoshima at the furthest tip on the island of Kyushu:

Kagoshima Radioactive Levels as of 2011/03/26 14:59
(click for a larger image)

The "usual rates" in Kagoshima are actually higher than those of Tokyo. And the current levels of radioactivity look like they might be "zero" but they probably are up a little bit.

Update (15:11): The previous images didn't enlarge so I grabbed new images and put them here for you to look at. The INTERESTING thing is that these images (updated to 13 minutes before typing this sentence) shows that the level in Tokyo has actually GONE DOWN from yesterday's reading at 20:28. Good news, eh?

Puts things in perspective, don't you think?

I love you!
Cam

Update to the Situation in Japan as of March 25th, 2011

Here is an update of the current situation in Japan as of March 25^th, 2011.

 

RECOVERY & REPAIR EFFORTS

·   Crime in the areas is up, looting continues, so police are stepping up number and frequency of patrols by sending more officers into the area.

·   There are 660,000 households without water and 209,000 households with no power.

·   Two weeks after the earthquake/tsunami, Japan has confirmed that the known death count has exceeded 10,000 and the total number of dead or missing is over 27,000.

·   56 patients in the area have died after being transported to hospitals. The general consensus among doctors is that these deaths are due to insufficient treatment caused by power outages.

·   Support from many countries, businesses and individuals around the world continues to pour in.

·   The Japanese government is preparing special legislation to assist the victims of the tragedy. An example may be exempting survivors from taxes.

·   People’s lives in the affected areas have somewhat stabilized (I use that term loosely) so now they are starting to turn toward thinking of cleaning up, and starting their lives over again.

·   The Tohoku expressway is reopened to all traffic now so fuel, aid and assistance should increase dramatically over land to the affected areas.

·   More food is reaching the areas so people are not surviving on one rice ball per day.

·   The damaged seaports in the area are once again functional so we should see a pickup in recovery and restoration efforts moving forward.

·   General reconstruction is estimated to take over five years and cost about $309 billion USD, the most costly disaster on record.

·   The size of the tsunami has been reassessed at 23m (76ft) instead of the original estimate of 10-15m.

 

RADIATION LEVELS

·   Tokyo has lifted the advice on the water ban for infants in Tokyo as radiation levels have dropped to below the maximum limit for children (100 Becquerel/L)

·   At the same time, levels in five other prefectures and a total of 18 purification plants have risen above the safe level for infants under one year of age. People in those areas have been recommended not to use tap water for their infants.

·   It is important to understand that radiation levels are much more strictly regulated in Japan than the international standard. For example, The Japanese limits radioactive Iodine in drinking water at 300 Becquerel/KG for adults, while the internationally accepted levels are 3,000, or 10X that of the Japanese standard.

·   Several Electric Companies around the country are re-assessing their nuclear policies and either suspending booting up reactors for a while, or putting the production of new reactors on the backburner until more information and government stance is better understood.

·   Public trust in nuclear energy has definitely been shaken.

 

AROUND TOKYO

·   TEPCO has announced that they will continue with their planned power outages until April 3^rd, and then conduct a review as to how they should move forward at that point.

·   A large amount of the escalators that go far down to the train lines in Tokyo are shut down to conserve energy.

·   Many of the ubiquitous drink machines around the city are turned off as well.

·   Retail and entertainment stores continue to close early in order to conserve energy.

·   The flashing lights, neon signs, wall-sized billboard TVs, and internal lighting to many commercial businesses are turned off, or dramatically reduced; The busy parts of Tokyo (e.g. Shibuya, Shinjuku, etc.) seem much darker and quieter than usual.

·   Businesses seem to be doing their best to help keep energy use to a minimum.

·   Supermarket shelves in Tokyo are still devoid of basic staples like bread, rice, milk, noodles, eggs, etc.

·   Bottled water is nearly impossible to find. Many supermarkets have signs outside apologizing for not being able to supply water. (Anecdote: after visiting four supermarkets in my neighbourhood, I could not find a single one with water.)

·   The radiation levels in vegetables from the Tohoku region have already affected shoppers in Tokyo who now are digging through bins looking at details for location of production.

 

PRODUCTS FROM JAPAN

·   Radiation in foods from the four affected prefectures is high, which has caused the Japanese government to put a stop to sales of some products (including milk products) from the Tohoku area.

·   Many countries around the world have placed restrictions or outright bans on Japanese products from that region.

·   The USA, Hong Kong and several other countries have implemented outright bans on many food products from the affected area.

·   The EU has decided to place the onus of responsibility upon the Japanese government for proving thorough documentation and proper labeling to guarantee that the radiation levels are acceptable under EU guidelines. Producers are also required to label their origin of product.

·   Taiwan has been testing food products from Japan since 3/15 and now they have started testing mail, packages, electric appliances and household utensils for excessive amounts of radiation.

·   Canada’s reaction to the situation is entirely reasonable, placing the onus of safety upon the importers to provide documentation from the Japanese government that the products they import are in fact, safe. It makes more sense than an outright ban.

·   Japan’s share of Canadian food imports is only 0.03% of the total. Canada imports over 20X more food from China than it does from Japan, or less than one half of one percent of that coming in from China.

·   Today (3/15) radiation exceeding the legal limit has been found in a vegetable grown in a Tokyo research facility. It is not for sale on the market. This is the first time vegetables from Tokyo have shown excess levels of radioisotopes.

 

RADIATION LEVELS

·   The IAEA, WHO, and Food & Agriculture Organization all agree that the Japanese government is following the correct procedures by measuring the radiation and reporting the results publicly.

·   Pressure at Reactor #1 is still high, so the workers have been pumping more water into the buildings, hoping to keep the temperatures down (while the pressure from water turning to steam goes up). It’s a balancing act because when they stopped sending in water on the 24^th, the internal pressure dropped BELOW the acceptable safe limit.

·   Three workers were exposed to extreme amounts of radiation in water when they where working at the plant. It seems to have seeped through their boots. Two are now hospitalized.

·   Electricity has been restored to Reactor #1 control room and the lights have been turned on.

·   It is currently believed that Reactor #3 may actually be damaged, leading to a leakage of high levels of radiation, says Japan’s Nuclear Safety Agency as of 12:07 on 3/25.

·   Results of radiation counts after 3-4 days have been shown to be about 10-20% of that which was emitted from Chernobyl over a total of 10 days cumulative.

·   The large majority of the radioactivity was dispersed over the Pacific Ocean, diluting it dramatically.

·   Because of the radiation levels in the ocean being elevated, the Japanese authorities will continue to monitor the fish and seafood populations to determine the effects on the marine life.

·   The Norwegian Radiation Protection Authorities say that the peak of radiation emission occurred a few days ago, but has since decreased. “Radiation measurements from around Japan are not very elevated.” claimed the spokesperson. (3/23)

 

 

Cameron Switzer, Tokyo Japan

2011/03/25

My Second Interview with Karen Black of CJOB (mp3 Attached)

I had a second interview with Karen Black of CJOB today (Friday, March 25th) which aired at approximately 15:10 in the afternoon. We discussed the current situation in Japan, radiation levels, products coming and going from the country, and the infrastructure in the Tohoku region.

If you would like to listen to that interview, you can visit www.cjob.com and go to their audio vault, choose Friday March 25, 3pm - 4pm and listen.

Or...

You can download the mp3 of the interview that Karen was so kind to send me.

Have a great evening.

I love you!
Cam

Attachment: cam on the drive 2 CJOB 110325.mp3

My Interview With Karen Black from CJOB

Here is an mp3 file of my interview. Sorry that the quality is poor but we didn't have a good connection. I was able to get a file, though.

Please let me know what you think.

And thanks for hanging in with me this entire week. What a ride!

I love you!
Cam

Attachment: cam on the drive.mp3