tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75848621312049005712024-02-08T09:18:40.517+09:00臨床心理士Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00724240422680263269noreply@blogger.comBlogger261125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7584862131204900571.post-35209131517330699232012-06-14T10:42:00.001+09:002012-06-14T10:42:27.613+09:00Fukushima expedition to climb and name 4 unscaled Karakorum mountain peaks<div class='posterous_autopost'><table class="layout" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: Times;"> <tr> <td class="main" style="padding: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><a name="main"><img src="http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/g/d.gif" height="1" alt="Main" width="525" /></a><br /> <div class="article-def" style="padding-top: 10px;"> <h1 style="border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-color: #cccccc; padding: 0px 0px 2px 5px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-size: 24px;">Fukushima expedition to climb 4 unscaled Karakorum peaks</h1> <p class="byline" style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">The Yomiuri Shimbun</p> <div class="box-r" style="float: right; text-align: center; margin: 5px 0px 10px 10px;"> <div class="w300" style="margin-left: 10px;"><img class="photo-ph" src="http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/photo/DY20120609102752005L0.jpg" border="0" height="186" alt="" style="clear: both; margin: 3px auto 2px;" width="300" /><br class="cl" style="clear: both;" /></div> </div> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">FUKUSHIMA--The Fukushima Prefecture chapter of the Japanese Alpine Club will send an expedition to climb four unscaled peaks in Pakistan's Karakorum mountain range, in a bid to encourage the victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake, it has been learned.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">The expedition is also meant to show the world the determination of the people affected by the disaster.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">Scheduled to depart in July, the expedition will take on the 6,000-meter-class peaks in a joint team with Pakistani climbers.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">If they conquer the unnamed peaks for the first time, the climbers will be given the right to name them by the Pakistani government. The alpine club hopes to name the peaks with words related to "restoration" and "hope" if local people agree with the idea. "We'd like to encourage Fukushima residents," said Tsuneo Miyamori, 80, captain of the expedition, who conceived the idea of the mission.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">The expedition comprises about 20 people, including about 15 Japanese members mainly in their 60s.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">Miyamori, the oldest member of the expedition, successfully climbed three unscaled 6,000-meter-class peaks in Pakistan's Hindukush mountain range in 1967. In 1977, he joined an expedition to climb K2, the world's second-highest mountain, as a technical member in charge of surveying.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">That expedition was also sponsored by the alpine club.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">While he was mapping glaciers during more than 40 visits to Pakistan, he noticed that the four peaks, whose heights range from 6,006 meters to 6,057 meters, were unscaled.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">The Fukushima chapter planned the July expedition as its first overseas expedition to mark its 65th anniversary and started preparation with the Pakistani side in the autumn of 2010.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">However, after the earthquake and tsunami and the outbreak of the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in March last year, organizers began considering canceling the expedition.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">Miyamori, who runs an antique store in Aizu-Wakamatsu, Fukushima Prefecture, was one of the many who suffered damage from the earthquake. Some of the ceramics displayed in his store were broken, and he was forced to close a part of the store.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">Kazuo Sato, 64, who heads the climbing team and hails from the city of Fukushima, was also affected by the disaster.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">Concerned about the effects of radiation from the crippled nuclear power plant, his daughter, 38, who had lived in his neighborhood, evacuated to Akita with her two daughters.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">Shortly after the earthquake, Sato received an e-mail from a Pakistani member of the expedition, who was concerned about the effect of radiation on Sato's health. The e-mail said, "Emigrate to Pakistan as soon as possible."</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">However, all members of the expedition agreed they wanted to show the world that Fukushima will never give in to the disaster. In April last year, the decision to carry out the expedition project was officially made.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">The Pakistani ambassador to Japan, who knew about the project, invited Miyamori to the embassy in Tokyo in April this year and encouraged him.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">The expedition is scheduled to leave Japan on July 9 and return on Aug. 3. The climbers plan to plant a flag with an image of Kibitan, Fukushima Prefecture's mascot character, on it together with the national flags of both countries on each peak.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">Miyamori and Sato said they wanted to tell the world from the mountaintops that "Fukushima is doing OK."</p> <div class="date-def" style="margin: 7px 0px 25px 7px;">(Jun. 9, 2012)</div> </div> </td> </tr> </table></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00724240422680263269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7584862131204900571.post-69788076813580669002012-06-14T10:41:00.001+09:002012-06-14T10:41:59.505+09:00Fukushima expedition to climb and name 4 unscaled Karakorum mountain peaks<div class='posterous_autopost'><table class="layout" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: Times;"> <tr> <td class="main" style="padding: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><a name="main"><img src="http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/g/d.gif" height="1" alt="Main" width="525" /></a><br /> <div class="article-def" style="padding-top: 10px;"> <h1 style="border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-color: #cccccc; padding: 0px 0px 2px 5px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-size: 24px;">Fukushima expedition to climb 4 unscaled Karakorum peaks</h1> <p class="byline" style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">The Yomiuri Shimbun</p> <div class="box-r" style="float: right; text-align: center; margin: 5px 0px 10px 10px;"> <div class="w300" style="margin-left: 10px;"><img class="photo-ph" src="http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/photo/DY20120609102752005L0.jpg" border="0" height="186" alt="" style="clear: both; margin: 3px auto 2px;" width="300" /><br class="cl" style="clear: both;" /></div> </div> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">FUKUSHIMA--The Fukushima Prefecture chapter of the Japanese Alpine Club will send an expedition to climb four unscaled peaks in Pakistan's Karakorum mountain range, in a bid to encourage the victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake, it has been learned.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">The expedition is also meant to show the world the determination of the people affected by the disaster.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">Scheduled to depart in July, the expedition will take on the 6,000-meter-class peaks in a joint team with Pakistani climbers.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">If they conquer the unnamed peaks for the first time, the climbers will be given the right to name them by the Pakistani government. The alpine club hopes to name the peaks with words related to "restoration" and "hope" if local people agree with the idea. "We'd like to encourage Fukushima residents," said Tsuneo Miyamori, 80, captain of the expedition, who conceived the idea of the mission.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">The expedition comprises about 20 people, including about 15 Japanese members mainly in their 60s.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">Miyamori, the oldest member of the expedition, successfully climbed three unscaled 6,000-meter-class peaks in Pakistan's Hindukush mountain range in 1967. In 1977, he joined an expedition to climb K2, the world's second-highest mountain, as a technical member in charge of surveying.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">That expedition was also sponsored by the alpine club.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">While he was mapping glaciers during more than 40 visits to Pakistan, he noticed that the four peaks, whose heights range from 6,006 meters to 6,057 meters, were unscaled.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">The Fukushima chapter planned the July expedition as its first overseas expedition to mark its 65th anniversary and started preparation with the Pakistani side in the autumn of 2010.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">However, after the earthquake and tsunami and the outbreak of the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in March last year, organizers began considering canceling the expedition.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">Miyamori, who runs an antique store in Aizu-Wakamatsu, Fukushima Prefecture, was one of the many who suffered damage from the earthquake. Some of the ceramics displayed in his store were broken, and he was forced to close a part of the store.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">Kazuo Sato, 64, who heads the climbing team and hails from the city of Fukushima, was also affected by the disaster.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">Concerned about the effects of radiation from the crippled nuclear power plant, his daughter, 38, who had lived in his neighborhood, evacuated to Akita with her two daughters.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">Shortly after the earthquake, Sato received an e-mail from a Pakistani member of the expedition, who was concerned about the effect of radiation on Sato's health. The e-mail said, "Emigrate to Pakistan as soon as possible."</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">However, all members of the expedition agreed they wanted to show the world that Fukushima will never give in to the disaster. In April last year, the decision to carry out the expedition project was officially made.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">The Pakistani ambassador to Japan, who knew about the project, invited Miyamori to the embassy in Tokyo in April this year and encouraged him.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">The expedition is scheduled to leave Japan on July 9 and return on Aug. 3. The climbers plan to plant a flag with an image of Kibitan, Fukushima Prefecture's mascot character, on it together with the national flags of both countries on each peak.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">Miyamori and Sato said they wanted to tell the world from the mountaintops that "Fukushima is doing OK."</p> <div class="date-def" style="margin: 7px 0px 25px 7px;">(Jun. 9, 2012)</div> </div> </td> </tr> </table></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00724240422680263269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7584862131204900571.post-86744300246565891562012-06-12T10:17:00.001+09:002012-06-12T10:17:36.103+09:00Fukushima Reactor Global Security Issue: Japanese Former Diplomat<div class='posterous_autopost'><p class="fs-l mt10 ml10" style="">Environment</p> <p class="fs-lllb mt5 ml10 st mr10" style="">Fukushima Reactor Global Security Issue: Japanese Former Diplomat</p> <p class="fs-m mt5 ml10" style="">Thursday, June 7, 2012</p> <div style=""><img class="mt10 ml10" src="http://www.panorientnews.com/upimg/news/cate1_120607182834.jpg" height="200" alt="" style="margin: 10px 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; display: block; border-style: none;" width="180" /></div> <p class="fs-l mt5 ml10 mr10" style="">Tokyo- (PanOrient News) The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant Number 4 reactor presents a security problem for the entire world, Mitsuhei Murata, Japan's former ambassador to Switzerland said.<p />Fukushima Daiichi plants are "not under control at all... and the situation with nuclear reactors in Japan is like vehicles being driven without a license," Mr. Murata told a news conference at the foreign correspondents' club of Japan on June 5. <p />Four nuclear plants in Fukushima Daiichi were damaged by last year’s great earthquake and tsunami. Recently, people have expressed concerns about Unit 4’s spent fuel pool which stores more than 1500 rods. The unit would be too fragile to withstand an M7-class earthquake.<p />The Japanese government also thinks that the Unit 4 problem is critical, and are planning to move many of the rods from the pool in 2013. <p />324 Civic organizations from all over the world have submitted a petition called "An Urgent Request for UN Intervention to Stabilize the Fukushima Unit 4 Spent Nuclear Fuel", Mr. Murata said noting that those organizations are also demanding a moratorium on Japan's nuclear reactors. "This reflects a loss of confidence in the government and Tokyo Electric Power Company, TEPCO,” he said. <p />Expressing strong anxiety regarding Japan's nuclear policy, Murata revealed he had advised PM Yoshihiko Noda that the only way to restore honor for Japan and himself as prime minister is to establish a national policy by August of non-dependence on nuclear energy. <p />Warning of the acute danger of Unit 4. at Fukushima Daiichi, Murata said that recent revised estimates by the Japanese government found that the probability of a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Fukushima within the next three years is 90%. "But Unit 4 reactor, which was substantially damaged by the tsunami and subsequent explosion will not survive a 7.0 magnitude earthquake," he said. <p />He pointed out "the nuclear village and nuclear dictatorship is exposed, and public opinion and their movements are strong.”Nuclear village is a term for the Japanese distorted social structure in which the pronuclear politicians, scholars and companies have more power than those who are skeptical of nuclear energy. Anti-nuclear protests have been ignored for more than 40 years.<p />He concluded that "the lessons of Fukushima have reminded the whole world of the great principle for humanity. The possibility for unbearable consequences must be zero" and stressed the need for “the shift from priority of economy to priority toward life. The true cause for the present crisis is lack of ethics."<p />Mr. Murata was Japan’s ambassador to Switzerland form 1996 to 1999.<p /></p> <p><br style="" /></p> <p class="fs-s mt5 ml10" style=""> </p> <p /> <p> </p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00724240422680263269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7584862131204900571.post-74548598335656929492012-06-05T13:47:00.001+09:002012-06-05T13:47:39.831+09:00City in Fukushima seeks 243 million yen compensation from TEPCO<div class='posterous_autopost'><p> <div style=""> <h1 class="NewsTitle" style="margin: 0px 0px 0.1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 20px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px;">City in Fukushima to seek redress from TEPCO over damage to hospital, water supply operations</h1> </div> <div class="NewsBody clr" style=""> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.9em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px;">IWAKI, Fukushima -- The city of Iwaki in Fukushima Prefecture said June 4 that it will seek about 243 million yen in compensation from Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), saying its hospital and water supply operations have suffered damage from the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant.</p> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.9em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px;">Iwaki officials said the city government is seeking redress for sagging revenue because of a drop in the number of patients at city-run hospitals and installation costs it has shouldered for radiation dosimetry gear at water supply facilities.</p> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.9em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px;">They said the city will seek additional compensation if it confirms fresh damage from the Fukushima nuclear crisis.</p> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.9em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px;">The town of Futaba and other municipalities in the prefecture have demanded similar compensation for damages against the operator of the crippled nuclear power plant.</p> </div> <p class="Credit" style="">June 04, 2012(Mainichi Japan)</p> <p class="JaLink" style=""><a href="http://mainichi.jp/select/news/20120604k0000e040195000c.html" style="">Click here for the original Japanese story</a> <p /> </p> </p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00724240422680263269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7584862131204900571.post-68056265186571314482012-06-05T06:54:00.001+09:002012-06-05T06:54:24.333+09:00Japan Crisis Hotline faces overload -20.000 calls received each day by post Earthquake call center<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="article-def" style="padding-top: 10px;"> <h2 style="border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-color: #cccccc; padding: 0px 0px 2px 5px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-size: 24px;">Crisis hotline faces overload / 20,000 calls received each day by call center set up after <strong>earthquake</strong></h2> <strong><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Times; line-height: 22px; font-size: medium;">"Tomoko Endo, secretariat chief of the support center, said: "I'm sure there are many other people who have serious problems. I want the government to expand this kind of support system."</span></strong><br /> <p class="byline" style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">The Yomiuri Shimbun</p> <div class="box-r" style="float: right; text-align: center; margin: 5px 0px 10px 10px;"> <div class="w400" style="margin-left: 10px;"><img class="photo-ph" src="http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/photo/DY20120604100732133L0.jpg" border="0" height="430" alt="" style="clear: both; margin: 3px auto 2px;" width="380" /><br class="cl" style="clear: both;" /></div> </div> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">A government-subsidized free telephone consultation service that started in March in response to growing social problems after the Great East Japan Earthquake is being overwhelmed, it has been learned.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">Calls from people with various worries have surpassed the hotline's capacity. This reflects the severity of the current social climate, as the hotline takes many calls about serious concerns such as "I want to die" and "I haven't eaten anything for five days."</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">The around-the-clock service, named "Yorisoi (staying together) Hotline," is operated by the Shakaiteki Hosetsu (social inclusion) Support Center, a general incorporated association based in Tokyo.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">As a support service that accepts calls about issues such as poverty, unemployment and bullying, the hotline has become a well-known resource. About 20,000 calls are received each day but only about 1,200 of them are connected.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">At each of the hotline's 38 call centers located throughout the nation, 30 lines are open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. At other times 10 lines are available. Two consultants are in charge of one line and a total of about 1,200 counseling staff take turns accepting calls.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">Local lawyers who have cooperated with the project provide advice when needed. If problems are life-threatening, support staff from welfare organizations rush to callers' locations.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">As awareness of the hotline spread through word of mouth on the Internet and other means, it became difficult to get through to a consultant. Currently, a call is only connected after 20 attempts on average.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">About 70 percent of problems concern everyday issues, with many of the callers in their 30s to 50s. Their problems are mainly about poverty and solitude. Their troubles include "I lost my house after I became unemployed," "There is no point in living" and "I just wanted to talk with someone."</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">A man in his 30s who lost his job and has applied for welfare called for help, saying, "I have no money and haven't eaten anything for days." The consultant who took his call judged the man was in a life-threatening condition from his worn-out voice. The consultant contacted a support center, which delivered some food to him. The man was grateful, saying, "No one had helped me before even though I consulted some offices."</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">Twenty percent of consultations are about suicide. A man in his 30s called the hotline at the end of March, saying, "I have prepared a kitchen knife as I intend to kill myself." The man was quoted by a consultant as saying he was a bachelor whose parents had passed away. He had to quit his job due to illness. The consultant listened to his woes for two hours before contacting a support center. A staff member then raced to help the man. The man is now starting to regain his will to live, according to the support center.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">Consultations about violence against women and sexual issues each account for 6 percent of calls.</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">Tomoko Endo, secretariat chief of the support center, said: "I'm sure there are many other people who have serious problems. I want the government to expand this kind of support system."</p> <p style="line-height: 22px; margin-left: 7px;">The center started the hotline service in Sendai in October last year. The hotline was chosen as an assistance project by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, which aims to help people solve their problems when facing difficulties. After receiving subsidies of around 2.1 billion yen from the government, the hotline service has expanded nationwide.</p> <div class="date-def" style="margin: 7px 0px 25px 7px;">(Jun. 4, 2012)</div> <div class="date-def" style="margin: 7px 0px 25px 7px;"><a href="http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120603002354.htm">http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120603002354.htm</a></div> </div> <div class="hd-def2" style="clear: both; background-color: #eaeaea; padding-top: 2px; margin-bottom: 15px;"> <h2 style="margin: 0px; padding: 1px 7px; font-size: 14px; float: left; color: #333333; font-family: Times;"><a href="http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/adv/adsense/google/" target="_blank" style="color: #333333; text-decoration: none; display: block; background-image: none; padding-left: 0px;">Ads by Google</a> </h2><p /> </div> <p> </p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00724240422680263269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7584862131204900571.post-22836192988369294252012-06-04T13:34:00.001+09:002012-06-04T13:34:41.809+09:00Dounreay staff Scotland offer advice on Japan's Fukushima Number One Nuclear plant<div class='posterous_autopost'><p class="introduction" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helmet, Freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.077em; clear: left; font-weight: bold;"> </p> <h1 class="story-header" style="">Dounreay staff offer advice on Japan's Fukushima</h1> <p> </p> <p class="introduction" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helmet, Freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.077em; clear: left; font-weight: bold;"><img src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/60646000/jpg/_60646171_fukushimatwo_ap_464.jpg" height="261" alt="People in protective suits at Fukushima" width="464" /></p> <p> </p> <p class="introduction" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helmet, Freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.077em; clear: left; font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #505050; font-weight: normal; line-height: 16px;">Japan is trying to deal with the aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi disaster</span></p> <p class="introduction" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helmet, Freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.077em; clear: left; font-weight: bold;">Efforts to clean up a seabed off Scotland's coast could provide Japan with solutions to dealing with its earthquake-hit Fukushima nuclear plant.</p> <p style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helmet, Freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.077em; clear: left;">Radioactive particles were flushed from Dounreay in Caithness into the sea through the plant's liquid discharge pipe in the 1960s and 1970s.</p> <p style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helmet, Freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.077em; clear: left;">The fragments contaminated local beaches and seabed. Work to recover the seabed particles started in 2008.</p> <p style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helmet, Freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.077em; clear: left;">Staff from Dounreay have been to Japan to offer advice.</p> <p style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helmet, Freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.077em; clear: left;">The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was crippled after being hit by a tsunami in the aftermath of a huge earthquake in March 2011.</p> <p style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helmet, Freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.077em; clear: left;">Radiation leaks were recorded following subsequent explosions and fires.</p> <p style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helmet, Freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.077em; clear: left;">Late last month, power company Tepco said reactors at the plant were stable.</p> <p style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helmet, Freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.077em; clear: left;">But there was concern about the spent fuel pool on the top floor of the badly damaged reactor number four building.</p> <div class="caption body-narrow-width" style=""><img src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/60646000/jpg/_60646174_dounreayrov2_304.jpg" height="171" alt="ROV being lowered from barge" style="font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px; font-style: italic;" width="304" /><span style="display: block;">Work to clean up the seabed near Dounreay started in 2008</span></div> <p style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helmet, Freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.077em; clear: left;">If it collapses, it could cause another catastrophe, officials have warned. But Tepco said it has reinforced the structure against another earthquake.</p> <p style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helmet, Freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.077em; clear: left;">Meanwhile, tens of thousands of residents remain evacuated from an exclusion zone around the plant.</p> <p style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helmet, Freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.077em; clear: left;">Phil Cartwright, senior manager in charge of contaminated land clean up at Dounreay, said lessons learned in Scotland could help Japan deal with radioactive contamination.</p> <p style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helmet, Freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.077em; clear: left;">He said: "At Dounreay, we had a release of radioactive material beyond the site, increasing public anxiety in the late 1990s about the potential health effects and controls put in place to protect public health."</p> <p style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helmet, Freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.077em; clear: left;">A strategy was produced to deal with contamination, including efforts to detect and recover particles from the seabed near the site, he said.</p> <p style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helmet, Freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.077em; clear: left;">Mr Cartwright added: "Japan is at the start of a much bigger clean-up project with significant challenges both on and off site but the issues they face are similar to those we had to work through, even though ours were on a much smaller and more localised scale.</p> <p style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helmet, Freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.077em; clear: left;">"They were very interested in our experience."</p> <p style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helmet, Freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.077em; clear: left;">Dounreay has already donated equipment to Japan for use in dealing with the damaged Fukushima Daiichi complex.</p> <p style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helmet, Freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.077em; clear: left;">Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL) gathered a van-load of respirators, hand-held radiation survey kit, masks and suits.</p> <p style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helmet, Freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1.077em; clear: left;">The equipment was driven to Sellafield, in Cumbria, for distribution.</p> <p> </p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00724240422680263269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7584862131204900571.post-51443271309848227022012-06-01T19:36:00.001+09:002012-06-01T19:36:32.284+09:00International Therapy Dog Association<div class='posterous_autopost'><p><span style=""> </span><span style="">Soon-to-open center to turn disaster-hit dogs into therapy dogs</span></p> <div class="NewsBody clr" style=""> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.9em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px;">TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The Tokyo-based International Therapy Dog Association plans to open a center in the Japanese capital this summer aimed at turning dogs without owners after the March 2011 disaster into therapy dogs, officials of the group said.</p> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.9em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px;">The group plans to take custody of about 100 such dogs in Fukushima Prefecture and train them over a two-year period to help in provision of mental health care for disaster victims, they said.</p> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.9em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px;">The group has so far trained about 100 abandoned dogs facing euthanasia to become therapy dogs, sending them to nursing homes and hospitals.</p> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.9em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px;">Toru Oki, a blues singer who represents the association, has visited disaster-hit areas as a volunteer and took custody of 10 dogs left behind or born in areas where residents evacuated following the Fukushima nuclear accident.</p> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.9em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px;">Convinced that dogs are also victims of the disaster, Oki took steps to establish the center in order to save them.</p> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.9em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px;">With support from the government, the center is expected to open in Tokyo by around September, and about 10 full-time staff members will train the dogs for a "homecoming" assignment to Fukushima. Once the dogs fulfill their duties, they will be looked after at the center for the rest of their lives.</p> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.9em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px;">"The mental health care of disaster victims will enter a crucial period from now on," Oki said. "By spending time with therapy dogs, which are capable of sensing people's pain, we hope to relax the minds of victims as much as we can," he said.</p> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.9em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px;">The association is currently asking for donations to support its activities. For inquiries, call 03-5537-2815.</p> </div> <p class="Credit" style="">June 01, 2012(Mainichi Japan</p> <p class="Credit" style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: left;"><span style=""><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;"><a href="http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20120601p2g00m0dm040000c.html">http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20120601p2g00m0dm040000c.html</a></span></span></p> <p> </p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00724240422680263269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7584862131204900571.post-74968919318458651582012-06-01T19:35:00.003+09:002012-06-01T19:35:52.705+09:00International Therapy Dog Association<div class='posterous_autopost'><p><span style=""> </span><span style="">Soon-to-open center to turn disaster-hit dogs into therapy dogs</span></p> <div class="NewsBody clr" style=""> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.9em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px;">TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The Tokyo-based International Therapy Dog Association plans to open a center in the Japanese capital this summer aimed at turning dogs without owners after the March 2011 disaster into therapy dogs, officials of the group said.</p> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.9em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px;">The group plans to take custody of about 100 such dogs in Fukushima Prefecture and train them over a two-year period to help in provision of mental health care for disaster victims, they said.</p> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.9em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px;">The group has so far trained about 100 abandoned dogs facing euthanasia to become therapy dogs, sending them to nursing homes and hospitals.</p> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.9em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px;">Toru Oki, a blues singer who represents the association, has visited disaster-hit areas as a volunteer and took custody of 10 dogs left behind or born in areas where residents evacuated following the Fukushima nuclear accident.</p> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.9em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px;">Convinced that dogs are also victims of the disaster, Oki took steps to establish the center in order to save them.</p> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.9em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px;">With support from the government, the center is expected to open in Tokyo by around September, and about 10 full-time staff members will train the dogs for a "homecoming" assignment to Fukushima. Once the dogs fulfill their duties, they will be looked after at the center for the rest of their lives.</p> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.9em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px;">"The mental health care of disaster victims will enter a crucial period from now on," Oki said. "By spending time with therapy dogs, which are capable of sensing people's pain, we hope to relax the minds of victims as much as we can," he said.</p> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.9em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px;">The association is currently asking for donations to support its activities. For inquiries, call 03-5537-2815.</p> </div> <p class="Credit" style="">June 01, 2012(Mainichi Japan</p> <p class="Credit" style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: left;"><span style=""><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;"><a href="http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20120601p2g00m0dm040000c.html">http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20120601p2g00m0dm040000c.html</a></span></span></p> <p> </p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00724240422680263269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7584862131204900571.post-10619792615886990602012-06-01T19:35:00.001+09:002012-06-01T19:35:30.692+09:00International Therapy Dog Association<div class='posterous_autopost'><p><span style=""> </span><span style="">Soon-to-open center to turn disaster-hit dogs into therapy dogs</span></p> <div class="NewsBody clr" style=""> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.9em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px;">TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The Tokyo-based International Therapy Dog Association plans to open a center in the Japanese capital this summer aimed at turning dogs without owners after the March 2011 disaster into therapy dogs, officials of the group said.</p> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.9em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px;">The group plans to take custody of about 100 such dogs in Fukushima Prefecture and train them over a two-year period to help in provision of mental health care for disaster victims, they said.</p> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.9em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px;">The group has so far trained about 100 abandoned dogs facing euthanasia to become therapy dogs, sending them to nursing homes and hospitals.</p> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.9em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px;">Toru Oki, a blues singer who represents the association, has visited disaster-hit areas as a volunteer and took custody of 10 dogs left behind or born in areas where residents evacuated following the Fukushima nuclear accident.</p> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.9em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px;">Convinced that dogs are also victims of the disaster, Oki took steps to establish the center in order to save them.</p> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.9em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px;">With support from the government, the center is expected to open in Tokyo by around September, and about 10 full-time staff members will train the dogs for a "homecoming" assignment to Fukushima. Once the dogs fulfill their duties, they will be looked after at the center for the rest of their lives.</p> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.9em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px;">"The mental health care of disaster victims will enter a crucial period from now on," Oki said. "By spending time with therapy dogs, which are capable of sensing people's pain, we hope to relax the minds of victims as much as we can," he said.</p> <p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.9em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px;">The association is currently asking for donations to support its activities. For inquiries, call 03-5537-2815.</p> </div> <p class="Credit" style="">June 01, 2012(Mainichi Japan</p> <p class="Credit" style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: left;"><span style=""><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;"><a href="http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20120601p2g00m0dm040000c.html">http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20120601p2g00m0dm040000c.html</a></span></span></p> <p> </p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00724240422680263269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7584862131204900571.post-52136262225652035962012-05-26T20:39:00.001+09:002012-05-26T20:39:17.875+09:0040 Years on Death Row Mr Masaru Okunishi 7th Appeal Rejected by Nagoya Japan Court<div class='posterous_autopost'><p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 20px; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> <div style="font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 15px;">Saturday, May 26, 2012</div> <br style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px;" /></p> <table border="0" align="center" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" width="540"> <tr> <td style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.85em; line-height: 1.35em;"><img src="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/images/photos2012/nn20120526a1a.jpg" border="0" height="404" alt="News photo" width="540" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.85em; line-height: 1.35em;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><strong>All for naught: Supporters of an 86-year-old man who has been on death row 40 years are stunned after the Nagoya High Court rejected his retrial appeal Friday over his conviction of fatally poisoning five women in 1961 in Nabari, Mie Prefecture. </strong>KYODO</span></td> </tr> </table> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 20px; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> <h3 style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 19px;">At first cleared, 40-year death-row inmate loses anew</h3> <h1 style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; font-size: 25px; line-height: 30px;">Confession retracted but stands for killer, 86</h1> <div class="JTcredit" style="font-size: 14px; margin: 5px 0px 8px; line-height: 15px;">Kyodo</div> <div style="clear: both; margin-top: 10px; line-height: 15px;"> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 20px;">NAGOYA — The Nagoya High Court rejected a retrial appeal Friday of an 86-year-old man who has been on death row for four decades for the fatal poisoning of five women in 1961 in Nabari, Mie Prefecture, ruling his retracted confession made under initial grillings remains "basically trustworthy."</p> </div> </p> <table border="0" align="right" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 10px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" width="250"> <tr> <td style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.85em; line-height: 1.35em;"><img src="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/images/photos2012/nn20120526a1b.jpg" border="0" height="331" alt="News photo" width="250" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.85em; line-height: 1.35em;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><strong>Masaru Okunishi</strong></span></td> </tr> </table> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 20px; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Even though Masaru Okunishi was initially acquitted and the high court in 2005 opted to reopen the case, presiding Judge Yasuo Shimoyama said Friday, "It is unquestionable that only Okunishi could have mixed pesticide into the wine" that poisoned the victims.</p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 20px; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Okunishi's confession, made when he was under interrogation, "is basically trustworthy," Shimoyama added.</p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 20px; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The defense counsel will file a special interlocutory appeal with the Supreme Court.</p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 20px; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The high-profile case involves the poisoning of 17 women on March 28, 1961, at a community meeting in Nabari. Five of the women, including Okunishi's wife, died, and 12 fell sick.</p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 20px; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Okunishi confessed to investigators that he had laced the wine with an agricultural chemical to resolve a love triangle involving himself, his wife and his girlfriend, but retracted his confession before being indicted.</p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 20px; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Protesting his innocence, Okunishi was initially acquitted by the Tsu District Court in 1964 on grounds of insufficient evidence, but the Nagoya High Court overturned that ruling and sentenced him to hang in 1969. The Supreme Court finalized the verdict in 1972.</p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 20px; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Okunishi subsequently filed seven petitions for a retrial, finally leading the high court to reopen the case in 2005. But another presiding judge at that court nullified the decision in response to an objection filed by prosecutors.</p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 20px; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">After the appeal by Okunishi's counsel, the Supreme Court turned the case back to the high court in 2010, arguing it should examine the toxic substance used in the crime more scientifically.</p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 20px; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">In the latest deliberation, the defense submitted new evidence to the high court, claiming the type of pesticide used in the crime was different from the one Okunishi had confessed to using. It argued that a characteristic component of the substance was not detected in the wine.</p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 20px; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Shimoyama rejected the argument, however, saying that the defense failed to prove the pesticide Okunishi had claimed to have used was different from the one actually used.</p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 20px; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Okunishi told one of his lawyers at the Nagoya Detention House on Friday that he regretted the high court decision but said he is confident of winning at the final stage and called for continued support.</p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 20px; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Osamu Watanabe, a law school professor at Konan University, said Friday the high court should have reopened the case as it has not been scientifically disproven that a different type of pesticide was mixed in the wine.</p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 20px; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">As long as there remains a possibility that Okunishi was the victim of a miscarriage of justice, the case should be reopened in line with the principle of innocent until proven guilty, he said.</p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 20px; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">But Takeshi Tsuchimoto, a former prosecutor at the Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office and now a professor emeritus at Tsukuba University, called Friday's decision is reasonable.</p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 20px; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">"The high court determined in a firm voice after examining all the evidence — old and new — that Okunishi is (definitely) the real culprit," he said.</p> </p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00724240422680263269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7584862131204900571.post-47729791478006589132012-05-21T05:57:00.001+09:002012-05-21T05:57:36.632+09:00Nuclear Crisis Caused by Tsunami Prone Japan<div class='posterous_autopost'><div style="font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 15px;">Sunday, Feb. 19, 2012</div> <p><br style="font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px;" /></p> <h1 style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; font-size: 25px; line-height: 30px; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nuke crisis caused by Japan, not quake: Kan</h1> <div class="JTcredit" style="font-size: 14px; margin: 5px 0px 8px; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 15px;">AP</div> <div style="font-size: 16px; clear: both; margin-top: 10px; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 15px;"> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 20px;">Former Prime Minister Naoto Kan has admitted that Japan was woefully unprepared for last year's nuclear disaster and suggested that the crippled Fukushima No. 1 plant should not have been built so close to a tsunami-prone coastline.</p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 20px;"> </p> <table border="0" align="right" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 10px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" width="350"> <tr> <td style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.85em; line-height: 1.35em;"><img src="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/images/photos2012/nn20120219a2a.jpg" border="0" height="501" alt="News photo" width="350" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.85em; line-height: 1.35em;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><strong>Straight shooter: Former Prime Minister Naoto Kan is interviewed at his office in Tokyo on Friday. </strong>AP</span></td> </tr> </table> <p style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"> </p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 20px;">In an exclusive interview, Kan acknowledged flaws in the authorities' handling of the crisis, including poor communication and coordination among nuclear regulators, Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s management and the government Kan was heading at the time.</p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 20px;">But he said the disaster — the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986 — laid bare a host of even bigger vulnerabilities in the nuclear power industry and its regulations, ranging from inadequate safety guidelines to crisis management, all of which he said need to be overhauled.</p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 20px;">"Before 3/11, we were totally unprepared," he said. "Not only in terms of the hardware, but our system and the organization were not prepared. That was the biggest problem."</p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 20px;">Kan said the disaster made him realize that Japan needs to dramatically reduce its dependence on nuclear power, which accounted for 30 percent of the country's electricity supply before the crisis, and has turned him into a believer in renewable energy.</p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 20px;">He also acknowledged that information was sometimes slowly disclosed and at other times erroneous, particularly in the days immediately after the crisis started. He blamed a lack of reliable data at the time and denied the government ever hid any information from the public.</p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 20px;">Kan said the very location of the Fukushima plant was problematic.</p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 20px;">"If they had thought about it, they wouldn't have intentionally built it at such a low location," Kan said. "The plant was built on the assumption that there was no need to anticipate a major tsunami, and that was the actual start of the problem.</p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 20px;">"We should have taken more adequate safety steps, and we failed to do so," he added. "It was a big mistake and I must admit that (the accident) was due to human error."</p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 20px;">Early on in the crisis, Kan said he had considered the possibility of a worst-case scenario in which all six of the plant's reactors and rods in their spent-fuel pools would have melted down completely out of control. That probably would have resulted in radioactive fallout spreading over a wider area, requiring the evacuation of millions of people, including possibly the population of Tokyo.</p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 20px;">But Kan said he never instructed officials to produce a blueprint for evacuating the 30 million people living in the greater Tokyo area, although an internal report submitted March 25 by the head of the Japan Atomic Energy Commission warned of such a possibility if the disaster deteriorated. Fearing panic, the report was buried and kept a secret.</p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 20px;">"My mission was to stop (such an evacuation) from happening and to think how to do it," Kan said. "We were lucky to manage to get the crisis under control before things worsened."</p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 20px;">He said the crisis was at its most dire stage around the time a third hydrogen explosion was detected at the Fukushima plant in mid-March. "Up until around March 15, we were losing ground to the invisible enemy," he said.</p> </div> <p> </p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00724240422680263269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7584862131204900571.post-18707152610260507712012-05-18T12:51:00.001+09:002012-05-18T12:51:47.581+09:00Ex-METI Minister Kaieda... distrusted Tepco at start of nuclear crisis<div class='posterous_autopost'><div style="font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 15px;">Friday, May 18, 2012</div> <p><br style="font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px;" /></p> <h1 style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; font-size: 25px; line-height: 30px; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ex-METI Minister Kaieda admits he distrusted Tepco at start of nuclear crisis</h1> <div class="JTcredit" style="font-size: 14px; margin: 5px 0px 8px; font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 15px;">Kyodo</div> <div style="clear: both; margin-top: 10px;"> <p class="JTparagraph" style="font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 20px;">Former industry minister Banri Kaieda admitted Thursday there were moments during the early days in March 2011 of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant disaster when he suspected Tokyo Electric Power Co. was trying to downplay the triple-meltdown crisis.</p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 20px;"> </p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Testifying before a Diet-appointed panel investigating the nuclear disaster, Kaieda said he thought Tepco may be trying to make the crisis appear "less serious" than it actually was when an emergency venting operation to prevent damage to one of the reactor containment vessels was delayed.</p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">"I felt Tokyo Electric was somewhat hesitant, although actually that was not true," said the former economy, trade and industry minister, who was the first politician to attend the panel's hearings, which are open to the public.</p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Kaieda also expressed regret that information-sharing between officials at the prime minister's office, the utility's head office in Tokyo and the crippled plant was "thoroughly lacking."</p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">"It was like we were playing a game of whispers," he recalled, suggesting his frustration at the time.</p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Kaieda, a Lower House member of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, served as industry minister until last September. The nuclear regulatory body falls under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.</p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Another panel, which has been tasked by the government to investigate the disaster, has already questioned Kaieda, but the hearing was closed to the public.</p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The Diet-appointed panel plans to conduct a hearing on May 27 with current METI Minister Yukio Edano, who was chief Cabinet secretary when the nuclear crisis was triggered by the March 11, 2011, megaquake and tsunami.</p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Three of the six reactors at the plant suffered meltdowns, making it the world's worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.</p> <p> </p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 15px; border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"> </p> <p class="JTparagraph" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span style="font-family: Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 14px;"><a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120518a5.html">http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120518a5.html</a></span></span></p> </div> <p> </p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00724240422680263269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7584862131204900571.post-83778641761352729702012-05-17T17:37:00.001+09:002012-05-17T17:37:13.535+09:00Mental Health in Japan<div class='posterous_autopost'><h3 class="post-title entry-title" style="margin: 0px; font-family: PT Sans Narrow; font-size: 30px; color: #cc0000;">What You Should Know About Mental Health in Japan and How to Find Help [Podcast Interview]</h3> <p> </p> <p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 16px;">As expats, sometimes life can get stressful. Really stressful. Perhaps to the point of needing help in the form of counseling. But how do you get that kind of help in a foreign country, especially if the country's native language isn't English, or your native language?</span><p /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 16px;">I wondered about this myself when I was dealing with a bout of labrynthitis a couple years ago and the doctors kept telling me the reason I felt so bad was due to a mental issue. They were wrong, although I suppose it was technically, "all in my head." However, it got me thinking, what if I ever needed counseling here in Japan? Would I be able to find help? Someone that would understand me and not form opinions based on one culture?</span><p /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 16px;">So I sought out answers from an expert: psychotherapist and clinical psychologist </span><strong style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 16px;">Andrew Grimes </strong><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 16px;">of</span><strong style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 16px;">Tokyo Counseling Services</strong><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 16px;">. We discussed a few different things, including:</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 16px;" /></p> <p> </p> <ul style="padding: 0px 2.5em; margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: 16px; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"> <li style="padding: 0.25em 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; border: none;">The most common psychological issues expats in Japan experience</li> <li style="padding: 0.25em 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; border: none;">How the work culture in Japan affects emotional well-being</li> <li style="padding: 0.25em 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; border: none;">How counseling and psychotherapy are addressed in Japan versus western countries</li> <li style="padding: 0.25em 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; border: none;">How to find an English-speaking counselor if you don't live in Tokyo or another major city</li> <li style="padding: 0.25em 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; border: none;">What you should be aware of when preparing a move to Japan and ways you should prepare, especially if you have a family</li> <li style="padding: 0.25em 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; border: none;">Culture shock, when it happens, what it might look like and how to deal with it</li> <li style="padding: 0.25em 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; border: none;">Why getting out of the "expat bubble" sometimes can be good for your mental/emotional health</li> <li style="padding: 0.25em 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; border: none;">What mental health professionals in Japan have been doing to help the recovery process in Tohoku</li> </ul> <p> </p> <p><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 16px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 16px;">Today we're doing something a little different with this interview - you'll find it below in audio form rather than text (although hopefully I can get it transcribed eventually). It's my first audio interview, so you'll have to excuse the fact I'm not quite as talented as the Japan podcasters out there, but I think the content in this interview if insightful and worth a listen.</span><p /><a href="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2687490/AndrewGrimesInterview.mp3" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none; color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 16px;">Click here to listen to the interview</a>:</p> <p>Surviving in Japan: What You Should Know About Mental Health in Japan and How to Find Help (Podcast Interview with Andrew Grimes, Director of Tokyo Counseling Services).</p> <p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;"><a href="http://www.survivingnjapan.com/2012/05/what-you-should-know-about-mental.html">http://www.survivingnjapan.com/2012/05/what-you-should-know-about-mental.html</a></span></span><p /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 16px;">*******</span><p /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 16px;">Please check out Tokyo Counseling Services:</span><p /><a href="http://tokyocounseling.com/english/index.html" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none; color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 16px;">Tokyo Counseling Services</a><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 16px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 16px;">Address: KS Residence, Daizawa 2-30-21, Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, Japan. 155-0032</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 16px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 16px;">Phone: 03-5431-3096</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 16px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 16px;">Fax: 03-5431-3097</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 16px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 16px;">Email: <a href="mailto:tokyocounselingservices@gmail.com">tokyocounselingservices@gmail.com</a></span><p /></p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00724240422680263269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7584862131204900571.post-9303800944759167642012-05-14T13:43:00.001+09:002012-05-14T13:43:31.686+09:00Japan Nuclear Plant May Be Worse Off Than Thought<div class='posterous_autopost'><p> <div class="columnGroup first" style="margin-bottom: 12px; clear: both; margin-right: 7px; margin-left: 10px; text-align: left;"> <div class="articleBody" style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.7em;"> <p style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; color: #000000;"><img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/03/30/world/30nuclear/30nuclear-articleLarge.jpg" border="0" height="330" alt="" style="font-size: 10px; line-height: 15px; color: #333333;" width="600" /></p> <div class="articleSpanImage" style="color: #333333; font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: 10px; line-height: 15px;"><span> </span><div class="credit" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.9em; line-height: 1.223em; text-align: right; color: #909090; margin-bottom: 3px;">TEPCO, via European Pressphoto Agency</div> <p class="caption" style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.2727em; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: #666666; margin: 0px;">A handout image supplied Thursday by Tokyo Electric Power Company shows conditions at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.</p> </div> <span> </span><h6 class="byline" style="margin-top: 2px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 0px; color: #808080; font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.2em; font-weight: normal; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">By <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/t/hiroko_tabuchi/index.html?inline=nyt-per" class="meta-per" title="More Articles by Hiroko Tabuchi" rel="author" style="color: #666699; text-decoration: none;">HIROKO TABUCHI</a></h6> <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: 10px; line-height: 15px;"> </span></span> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif;"><span style="font-size: 20px; line-height: 28px;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/30/world/asia/inquiry-suggests-worse-damage-at-japan-nuclear-plant.html">http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/30/world/asia/inquiry-suggests-worse-damage-at...</a></span></span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: #000000;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;">TOKYO — The damage to one of three stricken reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant could be worse than previously thought, a recent internal investigation has shown, raising new concerns over the plant’s stability and complicating the post-disaster cleanup.</span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: #000000;">The government has said that the plant’s three badly damaged reactors have been in a relatively stable state, called a cold shutdown, for months, and officials say that continues. But new tests suggest that the plant — which was ravaged last March when a powerful earthquake and tsunami hit the area — might not be as stable as the government or the operator of the plant, Tokyo Electric Power Company, or Tepco, had hoped.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: #000000;">The key to keeping the reactors stable is keeping their fuel rods cool with water.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: #000000;">The company announced this week that an examination of one reactor, No. 2, showed that the water level in an outer containment vessel was far lower than estimated, which could indicate that the already badly damaged uranium fuel might not be completely submerged and, therefore, is in danger of heating up.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: #000000;">Cooling water in that vessel, called the drywell, was just two feet deep, rather than the 33-foot level estimated by Tepco officials when the government declared the plant stable in December. That is probably not a problem for the fuel that the company says has leaked into the drywell from an inner containment vessel because Tepco says that melted fuel is unlikely to be higher than two feet.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: #000000;">But Tepco officials said the low water in the drywell left open the possibility that the water level in the leaking inner containment vessel, where most of the fuel is thought to be, was also low. Experts say that could leave the fuel there exposed and lead to more damage. The fuel would likely then leach more radioactive materials into the water that is flowing through the reactor to cool it.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: #000000;">That scenario would be particularly problematic since the company has long feared that some of the tons of water it is using to cool the reactors is escaping into the ground or into the ocean at the seaside plant.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: #000000;">Throughout the nuclear crisis, both Tepco and the government were accused of playing down the dangers posed by the meltdowns at the plant. Subsequent disclosures that the event was indeed far more severe than they let on have badly damaged their credibility.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: #000000;">Fukushima Daiichi’s vital cooling systems were knocked out in the early stages of the crisis last year. The cooling systems there now were put in place months after the accident. Although they are designed to be closed loops, circulating water in and out of the reactors, the reactors themselves were damaged when operators lost control of the plant and are likely leaking.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: #000000;">The internal investigation also found current radiation levels of 72.0 sieverts inside the drywell, enough to kill a person in a matter of minutes, as well as for electronic equipment to malfunction. The high readings could be a reflection of the low water level, since the water acts as a shield against radiation.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: #000000;">The high levels of radiation would complicate work to locate and remove the damaged fuel and decommission the plant’s six reactors — a process that is expected to take decades.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: #000000;">Cleanup will probably require flooding the inner reactor vessel and lowering tools into it to scoop up parts of the radioactive rubble. That strategy worked well at Three Mile Island after the 1979 accident there. But at Fukushima, the reactor vessels are known to have cracked, because they were overpressurized. Filling them with water would be difficult, unless the surrounding drywell can also be filled.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: #000000;">The fact that the drywell at No. 2 has so little water could mean that technicians will need to develop a new technique. “With levels of radiation extremely high, we would need to develop equipment that can tolerate high radiation,” Junichi Matsumoto, an executive at Tepco, said Tuesday.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: #000000;">To gauge water levels inside the drywell at reactor No. 2, workers in hazmat suits inserted an endoscope equipped with a tiny video camera, a thermometer, a dosimeter for measuring radiation and a water gauge.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: #000000;">It is unclear if they will be able to perform the same test at the other badly damaged reactors — No. 1 and No. 3 — because nearby radiation levels are higher there.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: #000000;">Experts also worry about a fourth reactor that was not operating at the time of the tsunami, but nevertheless poses a risk because of the large number of spent nuclear fuel rods stored in a pool there.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: #000000;">The spent fuel rods pose a particular threat, experts say, because they lie outside the unit’s containment vessels. Experts have become especially worried in recent weeks, as earthquakes continue to hit the area, that the damaged reactor building could collapse, draining the pool and possibly leading to another large leak of radioactive materials.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: #000000;">Tepco has been working to fortify the crumpled outer shell of the building of that reactor, No. 4.</p> <p style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: #000000;">“The plant is still in a precarious state,” said Kazuhiko Kudo, a professor of nuclear engineering at Kyushu University in southwestern <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/japan/index.html?inline=nyt-geo" class="meta-loc" title="More news and information about Japan." style="color: #666699;">Japan</a>. “Unfortunately, all we can do is to keep pumping water inside the reactors,” he said, “and hope we don’t have another big earthquake.”</p> <div class="authorIdentification" style="margin-bottom: 2.8em;"> <p style="font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: #000000; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;">Matthew L. Wald contributed reporting from Washington.</p> <p /> </div> <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="line-height: 15px;"></span></span></div> </div> <p /> </p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00724240422680263269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7584862131204900571.post-35571261591899730822012-05-13T13:42:00.001+09:002012-05-13T13:42:01.314+09:00Fukushima sake maker relaunches business after quake disaster<div class='posterous_autopost'><p> <div class="NewsArticle" style="font-size: 17px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"> <div style="font-size: 17px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"> <h1 class="NewsTitle" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 20px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">Fukushima sake maker relaunches business after quake disaster</h1> </div> <div class="NewsBody clr" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 26px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 17px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; padding: 0px;"> <div class="PhotoRight" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 15px; font-size: 17px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: #fbfbfb; float: right; text-align: center; clear: right; padding: 0px; border: 1px solid #ededed;"> <div class="PhotoRightWrap" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; padding-top: 12px; padding-right: 11px; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 11px; font-size: 17px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;"><a href="http://mainichi.jp/graph/2012/05/12/20120512p2a00m0na014000c/001.html" style="font-size: 17px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; color: #804099; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><img class="NewsPhoto" src="http://img.mainichi.jp/mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/images/20120512p2a00m0na013000p_size5.jpg" height="250" alt="Chieko Sasaki holds a bottle of the doburoku sake that she has begun producing again for the first time since the Great East Japan Earthquake. (Mainichi)" style="font-size: 17px; vertical-align: bottom; background-color: transparent; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" width="168" /></a> <div class="caption" style="padding-top: 7px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: left; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px;">Chieko Sasaki holds a bottle of the doburoku sake that she has begun producing again for the first time since the Great East Japan Earthquake. (Mainichi)</div> <div class="PhotoBtn" style=""><a href="http://mainichi.jp/graph/2012/05/12/20120512p2a00m0na014000c/001.html" class="Magnify" style="">拡大写真</a></div> </div> </div> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">FUKUSHIMA -- A sake manufacturer from the Fukushima Prefecture village of Iitate, who had given up production last year due to the nuclear disaster, has begun making sake again, albeit this time in the prefecture's capital city of Fukushima where she is still in evacuation.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">Back in production and on sale again is 66-year-old Chieko Sasaki's doburoku sake, also known as nigorizake, a type of rice wine that is not filtered after fermentation and therefore remains cloudy. Sasaki had given up on production last year when the entire village was forced to evacuate, but in April received authorization -- required under the Liquor Tax Law -- to produce doburoku in the prefecture's capital where she is currently staying, and began selling her products "Dobuche" and "Hakuro" in May.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">Iitate was designated a "special doburoku zone" in 2005, the first municipality in Fukushima to receive such designation. The following year, Sasaki, who farmed and ran a local eatery, obtained a license to produce and sell doburoku. In hopes of making the beverage a local specialty, at the age of 60, she went into debt and the world of doburoku making. Her products went on to become popular as gifts on celebratory occasions, and it was when she was nearly finished paying off her loans that the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami hit, triggering a nuclear disaster at a power plant less than 40 kilometers away.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">Sasaki left Iitate, which was given government designation as an evacuation preparatory zone, and moved into a rental apartment for disaster victims in Fukushima city. Her former life that had been filled with farm chores, cooking at her eatery, and making sake was now gone, and Sasaki had nothing to do. News that she would be compensated for the sake-making equipment and the brewery that was left idle in Iitate failed to uplift her. When she finally decided last December that she wanted to make sake again, she felt a heaviness leave her body.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">The Liquor Tax Law, however, prohibits the home production of doburoku outside of special doburoku zones. Sasaki consulted with officials from the Iitate and Fukushima municipal governments and the national government about her situation, successfully obtaining a special doburoku zone license in Fukushima city on the condition that she would rent a brewing facility close to her apartment.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">Rice harvested in 2010 and stocked by Sasaki for making doburoku had been spared radioactive contamination because she had stored it in a refrigerator made of thick concrete. She took samples of her doburoku to two different testing centers, where their safety was confirmed. Starting next year, however, Sasaki will have to use rice made elsewhere for her sake because high levels of radiation in Iitate have prevented rice farmers from planting rice.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">Sasaki is now back to her daily routine of checking up on the brewery morning, day, and night, and taking note of changes in temperature.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">"Doburoku is a living creature," Sasaki says. "Its flavor changes when the brewery changes. What I've liked about it from the very beginning is the fact that not even its alcohol percentage is consistent from batch to batch." Ironically, she herself can't hold her liquor, and her face turns red just from spending time inside the brewery.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">Sasaki adds that she has a dream, saying, "I want to go back to my hometown after it's been decontaminated, and make doburoku there again."</p> </div> <p class="Credit" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 13px; padding: 0px;">May 12, 2012(Mainichi Japan)</p> <p class="JaLink" style="font-size: 17px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><a href="http://mainichi.jp/select/news/20120510k0000e040160000c.html" style="">Click here for the original Japanese story</a></p> <p /> <p> </p> </div> </p> <p> </p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00724240422680263269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7584862131204900571.post-51131145740895918152012-05-13T13:41:00.001+09:002012-05-13T13:41:24.951+09:00Fukushima sake maker relaunches business after quake disaster<div class='posterous_autopost'><p> <div class="NewsArticle" style="font-size: 17px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"> <div style="font-size: 17px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"> <h1 class="NewsTitle" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 20px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">Fukushima sake maker relaunches business after quake disaster</h1> </div> <div class="NewsBody clr" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 26px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 17px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; padding: 0px;"> <div class="PhotoRight" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 15px; font-size: 17px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: #fbfbfb; float: right; text-align: center; clear: right; padding: 0px; border: 1px solid #ededed;"> <div class="PhotoRightWrap" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; padding-top: 12px; padding-right: 11px; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 11px; font-size: 17px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;"><a href="http://mainichi.jp/graph/2012/05/12/20120512p2a00m0na014000c/001.html" style="font-size: 17px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; color: #804099; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><img class="NewsPhoto" src="http://img.mainichi.jp/mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/images/20120512p2a00m0na013000p_size5.jpg" height="250" alt="Chieko Sasaki holds a bottle of the doburoku sake that she has begun producing again for the first time since the Great East Japan Earthquake. (Mainichi)" style="font-size: 17px; vertical-align: bottom; background-color: transparent; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" width="168" /></a> <div class="caption" style="padding-top: 7px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: left; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px;">Chieko Sasaki holds a bottle of the doburoku sake that she has begun producing again for the first time since the Great East Japan Earthquake. (Mainichi)</div> <div class="PhotoBtn" style=""><a href="http://mainichi.jp/graph/2012/05/12/20120512p2a00m0na014000c/001.html" class="Magnify" style="">拡大写真</a></div> </div> </div> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">FUKUSHIMA -- A sake manufacturer from the Fukushima Prefecture village of Iitate, who had given up production last year due to the nuclear disaster, has begun making sake again, albeit this time in the prefecture's capital city of Fukushima where she is still in evacuation.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">Back in production and on sale again is 66-year-old Chieko Sasaki's doburoku sake, also known as nigorizake, a type of rice wine that is not filtered after fermentation and therefore remains cloudy. Sasaki had given up on production last year when the entire village was forced to evacuate, but in April received authorization -- required under the Liquor Tax Law -- to produce doburoku in the prefecture's capital where she is currently staying, and began selling her products "Dobuche" and "Hakuro" in May.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">Iitate was designated a "special doburoku zone" in 2005, the first municipality in Fukushima to receive such designation. The following year, Sasaki, who farmed and ran a local eatery, obtained a license to produce and sell doburoku. In hopes of making the beverage a local specialty, at the age of 60, she went into debt and the world of doburoku making. Her products went on to become popular as gifts on celebratory occasions, and it was when she was nearly finished paying off her loans that the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami hit, triggering a nuclear disaster at a power plant less than 40 kilometers away.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">Sasaki left Iitate, which was given government designation as an evacuation preparatory zone, and moved into a rental apartment for disaster victims in Fukushima city. Her former life that had been filled with farm chores, cooking at her eatery, and making sake was now gone, and Sasaki had nothing to do. News that she would be compensated for the sake-making equipment and the brewery that was left idle in Iitate failed to uplift her. When she finally decided last December that she wanted to make sake again, she felt a heaviness leave her body.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">The Liquor Tax Law, however, prohibits the home production of doburoku outside of special doburoku zones. Sasaki consulted with officials from the Iitate and Fukushima municipal governments and the national government about her situation, successfully obtaining a special doburoku zone license in Fukushima city on the condition that she would rent a brewing facility close to her apartment.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">Rice harvested in 2010 and stocked by Sasaki for making doburoku had been spared radioactive contamination because she had stored it in a refrigerator made of thick concrete. She took samples of her doburoku to two different testing centers, where their safety was confirmed. Starting next year, however, Sasaki will have to use rice made elsewhere for her sake because high levels of radiation in Iitate have prevented rice farmers from planting rice.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">Sasaki is now back to her daily routine of checking up on the brewery morning, day, and night, and taking note of changes in temperature.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">"Doburoku is a living creature," Sasaki says. "Its flavor changes when the brewery changes. What I've liked about it from the very beginning is the fact that not even its alcohol percentage is consistent from batch to batch." Ironically, she herself can't hold her liquor, and her face turns red just from spending time inside the brewery.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">Sasaki adds that she has a dream, saying, "I want to go back to my hometown after it's been decontaminated, and make doburoku there again."</p> </div> <p class="Credit" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 13px; padding: 0px;">May 12, 2012(Mainichi Japan)</p> <p class="JaLink" style="font-size: 17px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><a href="http://mainichi.jp/select/news/20120510k0000e040160000c.html" style="">Click here for the original Japanese story</a> </p><p /> </div></p> </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00724240422680263269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7584862131204900571.post-73676512728611471332012-05-11T13:35:00.001+09:002012-05-11T13:35:14.624+09:00Bereaved family of Fukushima woman who committed suicide to sue TEPCO<div class='posterous_autopost'><p><span style=""></span><span style="">FUKUSHIMA -- Mikio Watanabe, 61, and his family are poised to file a lawsuit against Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) on May 18 demanding about 72.5 million yen in compensation for his wife's suicide soon after the outbreak of the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, it has been learned.</span></p> <div class="NewsBody clr" style=""> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">Along with three other family members, Mikio Watanabe plans to bring the case to the Fukushima District Court on May 18. Watanabe and his family argue that the Fukushima nuclear disaster led his wife, Hamako, to suffer depression and commit suicide at the age of 58. According to a group of lawyers supporting victims of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, it will be the first lawsuit to be filed over suicides related to the nuclear crisis.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">According to the group of lawyers, on the morning of July 1, 2011 Hamako committed suicide by pouring gasoline over her body and setting herself on fire at a garbage incinerator near her house, to which she made a temporary visit with Mikio from their apartment that the local government had rented for them in the city of Fukushima.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">The couple had taken shelter at their relatives' homes and gymnasiums in Fukushima Prefecture since March 15, 2011. They then returned to their home once, but because the Yamakiya district, about 40 kilometers northwest of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, where their home was located, was designated as a planned evacuation zone in April last year, they moved to the rented apartment in the city of Fukushima in June after a few months of waiting.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">During this period, Hamako's place of work was closed down and she had to live apart from her 37-year-old eldest son and other relatives, and she started to show symptoms of insomnia and had a poor appetite. The group of lawyers says, "Because she was deprived of the basics of life such as her residence and job, she suffered an extremely heavy psychological burden." Thus the group of lawyers says that's why she started to develop depression. Therefore, they argue that there are causal relations between the nuclear disaster and her depression and her suicide.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">Her husband, Mikio, said, "The accident changed everything in our lives. I decided to go to court because I thought no more victims should cry themselves to sleep."</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">On the planned lawsuit, an official of the public relations department at TEPCO only said, "We are not aware of it. Therefore we would like to decline comment."</p> </div> <p class="Credit" style="">May 10, 2012(Mainichi Japan)</p> <p class="JaLink" style=""><a href="http://mainichi.jp/select/news/20120510k0000m040073000c.html" style="">Click here for the original Japanese story</a></p> <p /> <p> </p> <p> </p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00724240422680263269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7584862131204900571.post-13180345631219784062012-05-11T13:33:00.001+09:002012-05-11T13:33:58.934+09:00Bereaved family of Fukushima woman who committed suicide to sue TEPCO<div class='posterous_autopost'><p><span style=""></span><span style="">FUKUSHIMA -- Mikio Watanabe, 61, and his family are poised to file a lawsuit against Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) on May 18 demanding about 72.5 million yen in compensation for his wife's suicide soon after the outbreak of the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, it has been learned.</span></p> <div class="NewsBody clr" style=""> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">Along with three other family members, Mikio Watanabe plans to bring the case to the Fukushima District Court on May 18. Watanabe and his family argue that the Fukushima nuclear disaster led his wife, Hamako, to suffer depression and commit suicide at the age of 58. According to a group of lawyers supporting victims of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, it will be the first lawsuit to be filed over suicides related to the nuclear crisis.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">According to the group of lawyers, on the morning of July 1, 2011 Hamako committed suicide by pouring gasoline over her body and setting herself on fire at a garbage incinerator near her house, to which she made a temporary visit with Mikio from their apartment that the local government had rented for them in the city of Fukushima.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">The couple had taken shelter at their relatives' homes and gymnasiums in Fukushima Prefecture since March 15, 2011. They then returned to their home once, but because the Yamakiya district, about 40 kilometers northwest of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, where their home was located, was designated as a planned evacuation zone in April last year, they moved to the rented apartment in the city of Fukushima in June after a few months of waiting.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">During this period, Hamako's place of work was closed down and she had to live apart from her 37-year-old eldest son and other relatives, and she started to show symptoms of insomnia and had a poor appetite. The group of lawyers says, "Because she was deprived of the basics of life such as her residence and job, she suffered an extremely heavy psychological burden." Thus the group of lawyers says that's why she started to develop depression. Therefore, they argue that there are causal relations between the nuclear disaster and her depression and her suicide.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">Her husband, Mikio, said, "The accident changed everything in our lives. I decided to go to court because I thought no more victims should cry themselves to sleep."</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">On the planned lawsuit, an official of the public relations department at TEPCO only said, "We are not aware of it. Therefore we would like to decline comment."</p> </div> <p class="Credit" style="">May 10, 2012(Mainichi Japan)</p> <p class="JaLink" style=""><a href="http://mainichi.jp/select/news/20120510k0000m040073000c.html" style="">Click here for the original Japanese story</a></p> <p /> <p> </p> <p> </p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00724240422680263269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7584862131204900571.post-83360769247996204692012-05-06T22:57:00.001+09:002012-05-06T22:57:25.111+09:00Health Labor & Welfare Ministry proposed mental health test draws criticism from experts<div class='posterous_autopost'><p><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 20px; line-height: 24px;">Labor ministry's proposed mental health test draws criticism from experts</span></p> <div class="NewsBody clr" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 26px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 17px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; padding: 0px;"> <p style="">A law amendment being promoted by the health ministry that would require workers to undergo a standardized mental health test with very little scientific backing is attracting criticism from mental health experts.</p> <p style="">The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare submitted the draft revision to the Industrial Health and Safety Law to the Diet late last year. While the Diet has yet to engage in full-fledged debate on the issue, if the proposal is passed, employers would be legally bound to provide a specified mental health test to its employees in addition to regular health examinations.</p> <div> <div class="NewsBody clr" style=""> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">In the test, the health ministry has identified nine symptoms such as "I'm extremely tired" and "I feel melancholy," on which workers would be asked to rate themselves on a four-level scale. The results of the test would not be revealed to employers without the employees' consent, and if necessary, test takers would be interviewed by a doctor.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">The ministry maintains that the purpose of the standardized test is the early detection of people with high levels of stress, as part of its efforts to reduce suicides and depression.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">However, Norito Kawakami, a professor of mental health at the University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Medicine, says, "People with high levels of stress are not necessarily at the highest risk for depression. Of those who are determined to be 'depressed' according to mental health tests that are currently used in the private sector, 5 to 20 percent of people are actually diagnosed with depression." Moreover, there have been no studies to show that looking into the nine items proposed for the test leads to the prevention of depression or suicide.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">According to the health ministry's calculations, the cost of testing, which includes an interview with a doctor, comes out to 350 yen per person. Approximately 30 million workers would be subject to the test, and if implemented, the tests would cost business operators a total of 10.5 billion yen.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">"It's wasteful to put money into a system whose efficacy has yet to be proven," Kawakami says.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">Meanwhile, Jun Nakamura, a psychiatry professor at the University of Occupational and Environmental Health, warns of the confusion that such tests could cause for the medical industry. "If people are mechanically advised to consult psychiatrists based on their test results, it could throw medical facilities into confusion," he says. He adds that workers could be rejected by others in the workplace if tests are implemented before there is more widespread understanding for psychiatric illness, and advocates caution. "It would not be too late to make (a mental health test) mandatory after we obtain evidence from model projects."</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">Cases of suicide and depression in Japan saw a steep rise beginning in the late 1990s, when it became clear that the Japanese economy was suffering from stagnation. The labor ministry's current anti-depression policy planning began at the behest of former Labor Minister Akira Nagatsuma, who aimed to turn that situation around.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">Then Labor Minister Nagatsuma demanded that mental health screening be included in companies' regular health examinations for their employees, which was reflected in a report produced in May 2010 by a ministry project team. An expert panel that was then established met six times in just a month and a half, coming up with a framework for the mental health test.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">The then Cabinet of Prime Minister Naoto Kan approved a "new growth strategy" for the country that included raising the number of workplaces implementing mental health measures to 100 percent by the year 2020. The initiative in its beginnings appeared to be a largely politician-led one, and one member of the expert panel recalls having the impression that it was a "rash process" in which the conclusion was already decided before the deliberations began.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">Asked about the criticisms directed against the proposed mental health test, an official at the labor ministry's Industrial Health Division said, "We obtained the deliberation committee's understanding on the validity (of the test)."</p> <p /> </div> </div> </div> <p> </p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00724240422680263269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7584862131204900571.post-17262376578756605002012-05-04T13:55:00.001+09:002012-05-04T13:55:42.644+09:00Grief<div class='posterous_autopost'><p><span style="">Kaleidoscope of the Heart: Having one's own sanctuary for grief</span></p> <div class="NewsBody clr" style=""> <div class="PhotoRight" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 15px; font-size: 17px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: #fbfbfb; float: right; text-align: center; clear: right; padding: 0px; border: 1px solid #ededed;"> <div class="PhotoRightWrap" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; padding-top: 12px; padding-right: 11px; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 11px; font-size: 17px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;"><img class="NewsPhoto" src="http://img.mainichi.jp/mainichi.jp/english/english/perspectives/images/20120331p2a00m0na019000p_size5.jpg" height="250" alt="Rika Kayama" style="font-size: 17px; vertical-align: bottom; background-color: transparent; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" width="167" /> <div class="caption" style="padding-top: 7px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: left; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px;">Rika Kayama</div> </div> </div> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">At a recent symposium that I attended, I learned some shocking information from Yasuyuki Shimizu, the head of a suicide prevention nonprofit organization called Lifelink.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">Among those who call the group for help, there are many bereaved family members who lost their loved ones to last year's devastating earthquake and tsunami. What was particularly significant for me was that, according to Mr. Shimizu, one year after the disasters, not much has changed for many of those grieving.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">The bereaved family members often describe their conditions as "being at a loss as to what to do." The feeling of being completely stumped by how to start to heal their emotional wounds lingers even a year after the disasters.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">As I was listening to Mr. Shimizu, part of me was surprised, but part of me also thought that such a state of mind is rather natural. In fact, it is rather impossible to <span style="line-height: 24px;">expect people who have lost a loved one to suddenly be healed in a year or so.</span><span style="line-height: 24px;"> </span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">We often hear words along the lines of "The clock has stopped since then," or "Since that day, I haven't moved a single step forward." However, if one comes to think about it, this is a rather normal human response -- and it is not only limited to those who lost a dear one in last year's disasters.</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">In our lives we are always surrounded by countless possibilities of unexpected personal loss, disease and major failure. When something devastating like this happens to us, we are often told by others to fight on and not give in to it, but the reality is that it always takes time to overcome such incidents.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">There will be a certain period of time -- sometimes half a year, sometimes a year, or even longer -- when we won't be able to do anything but blankly stare into space. Sometimes it can take years before we once again become aware of the changing seasons.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">In my consultation room, I often wonder whether a period of grief should be as short as possible. Whenever we treat patients who have suffered a major shock in their lives, we psychiatrists always tell them the following: "You must have suffered a great deal. However, if you take this medicine, you will feel a bit better. It will shorten the grief period and help you get better soon."</p> <p> </p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">While this is not a lie per se, that is how we prescribe anti-depressants and other medications, while we sometimes also think that what the person really needs is to embrace the grief and take as much time as he or she needs to deal with the emotional pain.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">Unfortunately, however, modern society does not allow people the privilege of a long recovery from a sad and painful event in life. If people tell their employers that they are in need of a half year's leave to recover from a personal loss, they will most likely be recommended to quit their job or see a doctor and do something about it as soon as possible.</p> <p> </p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">I sometimes think how wonderful it would be if people had their own "sanctuary for grief" -- a place far away from daily house chores and work, where they can be free to think about their grief as much as they need.</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <div class="NewsBody clr" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 26px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 17px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;"> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">Perhaps, at the moment, Lifelink is the closest thing we have to such a place. (By Rika Kayama, psychiatrist)</p> </div> <p class="Credit" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 13px; padding: 0px;">April 01, 2012(Mainichi Japan)</p> <p class="JaLink" style="font-size: 17px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><a href="http://mainichi.jp/area/tokyo/news/20120327ddlk13070365000c.html" style="">Click here for the original Japanese story</a></p> <p /> <p> </p> <p> </p> </div> <p> </p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00724240422680263269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7584862131204900571.post-58123853428476427582012-05-04T13:43:00.001+09:002012-05-04T13:43:11.401+09:00Grief<div class='posterous_autopost'><p><span style="">Kaleidoscope of the Heart: Having one's own sanctuary for grief</span></p> <div class="NewsBody clr" style=""> <div class="PhotoRight" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 15px; font-size: 17px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: #fbfbfb; float: right; text-align: center; clear: right; padding: 0px; border: 1px solid #ededed;"> <div class="PhotoRightWrap" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; padding-top: 12px; padding-right: 11px; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 11px; font-size: 17px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;"><img class="NewsPhoto" src="http://img.mainichi.jp/mainichi.jp/english/english/perspectives/images/20120331p2a00m0na019000p_size5.jpg" height="250" alt="Rika Kayama" style="font-size: 17px; vertical-align: bottom; background-color: transparent; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" width="167" /> <div class="caption" style="padding-top: 7px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: left; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px;">Rika Kayama</div> </div> </div> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">At a recent symposium that I attended, I learned some shocking information from Yasuyuki Shimizu, the head of a suicide prevention nonprofit organization called Lifelink.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">Among those who call the group for help, there are many bereaved family members who lost their loved ones to last year's devastating earthquake and tsunami. What was particularly significant for me was that, according to Mr. Shimizu, one year after the disasters, not much has changed for many of those grieving.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">The bereaved family members often describe their conditions as "being at a loss as to what to do." The feeling of being completely stumped by how to start to heal their emotional wounds lingers even a year after the disasters.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">As I was listening to Mr. Shimizu, part of me was surprised, but part of me also thought that such a state of mind is rather natural. In fact, it is rather impossible to <span style="line-height: 24px;">expect people who have lost a loved one to suddenly be healed in a year or so.</span><span style="line-height: 24px;"> </span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">We often hear words along the lines of "The clock has stopped since then," or "Since that day, I haven't moved a single step forward." However, if one comes to think about it, this is a rather normal human response -- and it is not only limited to those who lost a dear one in last year's disasters.</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">In our lives we are always surrounded by countless possibilities of unexpected personal loss, disease and major failure. When something devastating like this happens to us, we are often told by others to fight on and not give in to it, but the reality is that it always takes time to overcome such incidents.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">There will be a certain period of time -- sometimes half a year, sometimes a year, or even longer -- when we won't be able to do anything but blankly stare into space. Sometimes it can take years before we once again become aware of the changing seasons.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">In my consultation room, I often wonder whether a period of grief should be as short as possible. Whenever we treat patients who have suffered a major shock in their lives, we psychiatrists always tell them the following: "You must have suffered a great deal. However, if you take this medicine, you will feel a bit better. It will shorten the grief period and help you get better soon."</p> <p> </p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">While this is not a lie per se, that is how we prescribe anti-depressants and other medications, while we sometimes also think that what the person really needs is to embrace the grief and take as much time as he or she needs to deal with the emotional pain.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">Unfortunately, however, modern society does not allow people the privilege of a long recovery from a sad and painful event in life. If people tell their employers that they are in need of a half year's leave to recover from a personal loss, they will most likely be recommended to quit their job or see a doctor and do something about it as soon as possible.</p> <p> </p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">I sometimes think how wonderful it would be if people had their own "sanctuary for grief" -- a place far away from daily house chores and work, where they can be free to think about their grief as much as they need.</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;"> </p> <div class="NewsBody clr" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 26px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 17px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 16px; padding: 0px;"> <p style="margin-top: 0.9em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">Perhaps, at the moment, Lifelink is the closest thing we have to such a place. (By Rika Kayama, psychiatrist)</p> </div> <p class="Credit" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 13px; padding: 0px;">April 01, 2012(Mainichi Japan)</p> <p class="JaLink" style="font-size: 17px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><a href="http://mainichi.jp/area/tokyo/news/20120327ddlk13070365000c.html" style="">Click here for the original Japanese story</a></p> <p /> <p> </p> <p> </p> </div> <p> </p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00724240422680263269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7584862131204900571.post-28888296381734335052012-04-03T09:43:00.001+09:002012-04-03T09:43:06.234+09:00Perspectives of Japanese Mothers With Severe Mental Illness<div class='posterous_autopost'><h1 class="svTitle" style="font-size: 1.4em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #5c5c5c; line-height: 1.5em; clear: both; font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Arial Unicode, Arial, URW Gothic L, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; padding: 0px;"> <div class="publisherLogo" style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: 100; vertical-align: middle; float: left; color: #2e2e2e; line-height: 20px; padding: 9px; margin: 0px;"><img src="http://cdn.els-cdn.com/sd/elsevier.gif" alt="" style="vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" /></div> <div class="publicationHead" style=""> <div class="title" style="font-size: 1.5em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center; padding: 9px; margin: 0px;"><a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/08839417" title="Go to Archives of Psychiatric Nursing on SciVerse ScienceDirect" style="color: #2e2e2e; text-decoration: none; font-weight: 100; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Archives of Psychiatric Nursing</a></div> <p style="">Available online 27 March 2012</p> <p class="articlePress" style=""><span style="font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">In Press, Corrected Proof</span> — <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883941712000118#FCANote" style="color: #316c9d; text-decoration: none; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Note to users</a></p> </div> <span style="color: #2e2e2e; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: 100; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></h1> <h1 class="svTitle" style="font-size: 1.4em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #5c5c5c; line-height: 1.5em; clear: both; font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Arial Unicode, Arial, URW Gothic L, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; padding: 0px;">Perspectives of Japanese Mothers With Severe Mental Illness Regarding the Disclosure of Their Mental Health Status to Their Children</h1> <ul class="authorGroup" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #2e2e2e; font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Arial Unicode, Arial, URW Gothic L, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px;"> <li style="vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Rie Ueno<a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883941712000118#cr0005" class="intra_ref" title="Corresponding author contact information" style="color: #316c9d; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><img src="http://cdn.els-cdn.com/sd/entities/REcor.gif" alt="Corresponding author contact information" style="vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" /></a><sup style="font-size: 0.75em; line-height: 0; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">, </sup><a href="mailto:uenor@adm.ncn.ac.jp" style="color: #316c9d; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><img src="http://cdn.els-cdn.com/sd/entities/REemail.gif" alt="E-mail the corresponding author" style="vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" /></a>, </li> <li style="vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Kiyoko Kamibeppu <a href="mailto:kkamibeppu-tky@umin.ac.jp" style="color: #316c9d; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><img src="http://cdn.els-cdn.com/sd/entities/REemail.gif" alt="E-mail the corresponding author" style="vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" /></a></li> </ul> <ul class="affiliation" style="font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #5c5c5c; font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Arial Unicode, Arial, URW Gothic L, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px;"> <li style="font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Department of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, National College of Nursing, Kiyose, Tokyo, Japan</li> <li style="font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Department of Family Nursing, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan</li> <li style="font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Department of Family Nursing, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan.</li> </ul> <ul class="articleDates" style="font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #5c5c5c; font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Arial Unicode, Arial, URW Gothic L, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px;"> <li style="font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Available online 27 March 2012.</li> </ul> <p> </p> <div class="title" style="font-size: 1.5em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center; color: #2e2e2e; font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Arial Unicode, Arial, URW Gothic L, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 20px; padding: 9px; margin: 0px;"><a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/08839417" title="Go to Archives of Psychiatric Nursing on SciVerse ScienceDirect" style="color: #2e2e2e; text-decoration: none; font-weight: 100; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Archives of Psychiatric Nursing</a></div> <p style="font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 9px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center; color: #2e2e2e; font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Arial Unicode, Arial, URW Gothic L, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px;">Available online 27 March 2012</p> <p> </p> <p><a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883941712000118">http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883941712000118</a></p> <p> </p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00724240422680263269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7584862131204900571.post-80196314837062417152012-04-03T09:42:00.001+09:002012-04-03T09:42:44.280+09:00Perspectives of Japanese Mothers With Severe Mental Illness<div class='posterous_autopost'><h1 class="svTitle" style="font-size: 1.4em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #5c5c5c; line-height: 1.5em; clear: both; font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Arial Unicode, Arial, URW Gothic L, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; padding: 0px;"> <div class="publisherLogo" style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: 100; vertical-align: middle; float: left; color: #2e2e2e; line-height: 20px; padding: 9px; margin: 0px;"><img src="http://cdn.els-cdn.com/sd/elsevier.gif" alt="" style="vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" /></div> <div class="publicationHead" style=""> <div class="title" style="font-size: 1.5em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center; padding: 9px; margin: 0px;"><a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/08839417" title="Go to Archives of Psychiatric Nursing on SciVerse ScienceDirect" style="color: #2e2e2e; text-decoration: none; font-weight: 100; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Archives of Psychiatric Nursing</a></div> <p style="">Available online 27 March 2012</p> <p class="articlePress" style=""><span style="font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">In Press, Corrected Proof</span> — <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883941712000118#FCANote" style="color: #316c9d; text-decoration: none; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Note to users</a></p> </div> <span style="color: #2e2e2e; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: 100; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></h1> <h1 class="svTitle" style="font-size: 1.4em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #5c5c5c; line-height: 1.5em; clear: both; font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Arial Unicode, Arial, URW Gothic L, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; padding: 0px;">Perspectives of Japanese Mothers With Severe Mental Illness Regarding the Disclosure of Their Mental Health Status to Their Children</h1> <ul class="authorGroup" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #2e2e2e; font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Arial Unicode, Arial, URW Gothic L, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px;"> <li style="vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Rie Ueno<a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883941712000118#cr0005" class="intra_ref" title="Corresponding author contact information" style="color: #316c9d; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><img src="http://cdn.els-cdn.com/sd/entities/REcor.gif" alt="Corresponding author contact information" style="vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" /></a><sup style="font-size: 0.75em; line-height: 0; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">, </sup><a href="mailto:uenor@adm.ncn.ac.jp" style="color: #316c9d; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><img src="http://cdn.els-cdn.com/sd/entities/REemail.gif" alt="E-mail the corresponding author" style="vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" /></a>, </li> <li style="vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Kiyoko Kamibeppu <a href="mailto:kkamibeppu-tky@umin.ac.jp" style="color: #316c9d; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><img src="http://cdn.els-cdn.com/sd/entities/REemail.gif" alt="E-mail the corresponding author" style="vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" /></a></li> </ul> <ul class="affiliation" style="font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #5c5c5c; font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Arial Unicode, Arial, URW Gothic L, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px;"> <li style="font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Department of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, National College of Nursing, Kiyose, Tokyo, Japan</li> <li style="font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Department of Family Nursing, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan</li> <li style="font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Department of Family Nursing, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan.</li> </ul> <ul class="articleDates" style="font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #5c5c5c; font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Arial Unicode, Arial, URW Gothic L, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px;"> <li style="font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Available online 27 March 2012.</li> </ul> <p> </p> <div class="title" style="font-size: 1.5em; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center; color: #2e2e2e; font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Arial Unicode, Arial, URW Gothic L, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 20px; padding: 9px; margin: 0px;"><a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/08839417" title="Go to Archives of Psychiatric Nursing on SciVerse ScienceDirect" style="color: #2e2e2e; text-decoration: none; font-weight: 100; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Archives of Psychiatric Nursing</a></div> <p style="font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 9px; margin-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center; color: #2e2e2e; font-family: Arial Unicode MS, Arial Unicode, Arial, URW Gothic L, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 20px; padding: 0px;">Available online 27 March 2012</p> <p> </p> <p><a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883941712000118">http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883941712000118</a></p> <p> </p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00724240422680263269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7584862131204900571.post-74784612685084764442012-04-01T19:25:00.001+09:002012-04-01T19:25:09.155+09:00National Drug Rehabilitation Psychotherapy<div class='posterous_autopost'></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00724240422680263269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7584862131204900571.post-25706540139368408092012-03-25T21:21:00.001+09:002012-03-25T21:21:54.465+09:00Kudokushi<div class='posterous_autopost'><h2 class="NewsTitle" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 30px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 20px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif; text-align: left; padding: 0px;">Support system needed to banish 'lonely deaths' from Japan's cities</h2> <div class="NewsBody" style="font-size: 14px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif; text-align: left; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"> <div class="PhotoRight" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; float: right; padding: 0px;"><img class="NewsPhoto" src="http://mdn.mainichi.jp/perspectives/news/images/20120317p2a00m0na009000p_size5.jpg" height="191" alt="The home where the man and his mother were found dead is pictured in Yokohama's Asahi Ward on March 17. (Mainichi)" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" width="250" /> <div class="caption" style="font-size: 11px; background-color: #ebebeb; line-height: 13px; padding: 5px; margin: 0px;">The home where the man and his mother were found dead is pictured in Yokohama's Asahi Ward on March 17. (Mainichi)</div> </div> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">A number of so-called "lonely deaths" have been discovered across Japan this year, some weeks or even months after the people passed away. In many of these cases, a physically or mentally impaired person has died following the passing of their sole caregiver. Without the means to feed themselves or keep warm, they departed our world unnoticed, and in pitiable conditions.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">The realities of Japan's aging society are about to hit the country's urban centers in earnest, and methods for supporting the families of the elderly and the disabled -- two groups vulnerable to social isolation -- must be prepared sooner rather than later.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">In one case in Sapporo, a 42-year-old woman and her mentally disabled sister, 40, were found in their apartment about a month after they'd died. The elder sister had apparently passed away from an illness, leaving her sibling to fend for herself. She could not, and is thought to have frozen to death.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">In another case at an apartment in Tachikawa, Tokyo, a 4-year-old mentally disabled boy died after his mother, 45, passed away. In the same Tokyo city, the bodies of two women thought to be a mentally disabled mother, 95, and daughter, 63, were found in a public housing unit.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">In all these incidents, the bodies were not discovered for one to two months after the people had died. There was a similar incident in Yokohama, where a 77-year-old woman and her mentally impaired son, 44, were found dead.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">The first common feature of all these incidents is that they all happened in apartments in urban areas. The second is that they all involve pairs of people, one of whom was an elderly or disabled person being cared for by the other. The third is that none of the households were receiving social services or welfare payments, and fourth, none of the dead had significant social interactions with their neighbors.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">There are many households just like these all over Japan's cities. And these days, as much of society goes about its business in relative tranquility, sometimes no one notices when the caregiver in one of these homes falls ill or has a debilitating accident. Then, there is nothing left but to die, shut away in their apartment, their disabled charge following soon after.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">Much attention has been paid to the aging of Japan's rural population, but it is the major cities that are now the front line in this trend; the Tokyo area, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Sapporo and so on. City dwellers often have only ephemeral connections to their neighbors, and internal family supports are also weak. The average number of people per household in Tokyo, for example, is 1.99.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">There were clues to the lonely deaths mentioned above. Utility bills stopped getting paid and the electricity and gas were shut off, mail started to pile up, and neighborhood council membership fees weren't submitted. In some cases, worried neighbors consulted municipal officials. However, privacy concerns prevented anyone from reaching out to help. Certainly, the municipal governments concerned deserve criticism for their negligence, but every local body needs to take the initiative and work out policies on what to do in similar situations.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">Home nursing insurance and social services have slowly improved. Compared to the "pinpoint" support provided by homecare workers and day centers, however, the "blanket" support of group homes for the elderly and disabled remains insufficient in local areas. There are a number of reasons for this, including opposition from local communities, severe anti-disaster and architectural regulations, and tiny budgets holding down staff numbers.</p> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">Social services that directly address the needs of people caring for an elderly or disabled family member are also required. Under present conditions, it should surprise no one if we see more lonely deaths like the tragedies uncovered this year.</p> </div> <p class="EJLink" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; text-align: right; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://mainichi.jp/select/opinion/editorial/news/20120322k0000m070143000c.html" style="font-size: 16px; color: #0066cc; text-decoration: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><img src="http://mdn.mainichi.jp/image/icon_Japan.gif" height="13" alt="" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" width="17" />Click here for the original Japanese story</a></p> <div class="Credit" style="font-size: 14px; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif; text-align: left; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"> <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">(Mainichi Japan) March 22, 2012</p> </div> <p> </p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00724240422680263269noreply@blogger.com0