* This post deviates a bit from my usual fare;
I tend not to write about politics.
Please take it as you will. It is one opinion in a sea of many.
I try not to offer unsolicited opinions…. but I did one recent night, in the middle of the night. I couldn’t sleep, images of Japan flashing back in my mind.
I tend not to write about politics.
Please take it as you will. It is one opinion in a sea of many.
I try not to offer unsolicited opinions…. but I did one recent night, in the middle of the night. I couldn’t sleep, images of Japan flashing back in my mind.
It was just after the Fukushima earthquake and tsunami— this story has been told time and time again to anyone who knows me…. I was living in Tokyo and experienced the earthquake first hand— a gigantic one; soon after we were informed about the Fukushima tsunami and disaster. A wave of sadness hung over the entire country, doomsday had come. A period of mourning set in along with frequent BIG aftershocks —hourly aftershocks--- and the horrific news about the nuclear power plant began to dominate the media. The news was not good. They were having trouble stopping the enormous amounts of radiation leaking out of the plants— brave souls were in the plants, sacrificing their lives to stop the leaking. When would they be able to make it stop? we all wondered. In a few days, a week at the most, two weeks at the worst, we all hoped, and it would all be under control. Weeks passed and nothing was fixed, and the aftershocks kept coming. We were not supposed to go outside due to the “radiation winds” and the shelves on the supermarkets were close to bare. How on earth did I end up in Ray Bradbury’s worst nightmare? I kept wondering. And then, I recall the moment I was watching TV, and the worst news of all came in. Scientists from all over the world were working on the problem along with the Japanese scientists and they took their turns speaking. Chills ran down my spine.
Every scientist said the same thing: “These reactors that are leaking, because of how they’re set up— well, we are not going to be able to stop the radiation leaking issue for some years now."
Years?
Yes, years.
How many years?
We don’t know.
After that, I moved back to Southern Japan, where I had lived previously, and then, moved back to the US. After moving back to the US, with the exception of an occasional news article, I heard virtually no news coming from Japan about any of it anymore— I won’t get into Japanese politics at all here, but simply put, the issue “went away” at least in the media. And, so, to the rest of the world, the “disaster” was over. It was terrible, but now it was over with.
But, guess what?
The reactors are still leaking.
Not just leaking a little, but in enormous amounts.
An article came out recently, confirming my worst fears:
And… my friends in Japan know. Believe it or not, many of my Japanese friends living in Japan have actually stopped eating or reduced their consumption of fish or seafood of any kind due to fears of contamination. . . and for someone who is brought up eating a diet of 70% fish, this is no easy feat.
So, when I casually mentioned to a couple of my good friends in Japan that one of my Portland friends was going to Japan for the first time to visit, and he planned on spending most of his time in Tohoku Prefecture, their reactions roughly and midly translated were:
“Tell him to stay the heck out of Tohoku. I mean, unless he’s terminally ill already."
I care deeply about Japan and my friends there; they are still a part of me in a sense, so it makes sense to me that I should care about the radiation situation, but in the past, I’ve never felt so strongly about truth and injustice. Upon reflection, though, I think I know where it stems from. In the very recent past, I was in a relationship with a person who concealed the truth almost constantly. After that very confusing breakup, over a period of months, I realized that his concealing the truth was a means of manipulation. When you conceal the truth, you give people less options, and they are not allowed the freedom to make their own choices.
The truth, no matter how terrible or terrifying (and I can’t think of many truths worse than what’s going on at Fukushima) should be known, not hidden.
So, I emailed my Portland friend in the middle of the night. My conscience wouldn’t let me off the hook unless I did.
