Cruel Summer

This is Winston Saint. In order to keep this blog going, we need your input and your opinions. Please leave comments on the Japan crisis here and follow us on Twitter. The Twitter link is here ...

Follow us on Twitter

The latest news on the slow and painful recovery of Tohoku (and WHY is it so slow and painful?) can be found here.

Tohoku's Green Connections Project

"3/11: The Fallout" is a charitable publication designed to help send money to the people who need it the most. Copies can be purchased here.

"3/11: The Fallout" by Patrick Fox

Another excellent book on the same subject, which you really should buy and read, can be found here.

"Fukushima: Japan's tsunami and the inside story of Japan's nuclear meltdowns", by Mark Willacy.

Keep the faith.

Radioactive Water pouring into Pacific Ocean

Q: How many tons of radioactive water from the damaged Fukushima reactor is entering the pacific every day?

A: Three hundred tons.

Q: How many politicians or TEPCO officials have been charged with criminal negligence so far?

A: None.

2 years and five months after 3/11, the crisis is not over; it's only just beginning.

We're not asking you to do much - just to follow us on Twitter and spread the word.

#311the fallout

If you DO want to make a contribution, the book can be found here.

3/11: The Fallout on Amazon.

This is Winston Saint.

Connect with Us

If there is no post this week, it is because we are trying to connect with the rest of the world, and we are fighting for attention in a media sphere that is saturated with distracting information blinded by The Spectacle. You will notice that the title of this blog has changed. This blog is now dedicated to promoting the charitable publication "3/11: the Fallout". If you are looking for the publisher, Excalibur Books, go here:

Excalibur Books - the new website

If you want to like or follow our Facebook page (and we hope you do!), go here:

3/11: The Fallout on Facebook

Here's a blurb for the book:

Why does this book exist?

Or to be more precise, why is it necessary for this book to exist?

Today, as we look around Japan, we see a country that has still not recovered from the 3/11 triple disaster.  Instead of the rival political parties uniting to help their traumatized people recover, the hard right engaged in a vicious slanging match with the ruling party, and kicked them out at the recent general election.

Two and a half years of bureaucratic wrangling have resulted in large areas of northern Japan still barren and empty because reconstruction efforts have been stalled. Thousands of families are still living in temporary shelters in Iwate, Fukushima, and Miyagi, waiting for benefits that are slow to arrive, and sometimes never arrive at all. The agricultural and residential land contaminated by radiation will remain off limits for decades.

The nationalists that control Japan’s government are taking steps to maintain their own power as the nation’s economy enters a permanent decline. The Japanese media want to avoid discussion and confrontation, and carry on with their main business of selling mindless pop culture fluff. A large part of help for the Tohoku communities is coming from outside the region, because the area’s infrastructure is so chronically understaffed.

All proceeds – and we do mean all proceeds from the sale of this book – will go to international charities committed to the rebuilding and Renaissance of northern Japan. This book is looking for moral support for Tohoku – practical suggestions, not “Pray for Japan” platitudes. This book is looking for foreign investors willing to lend a hand to Tohoku residents – because the Japanese politicians are too busy fighting among themselves to care about their own people.

This book is not an easy read. It’s the stinging gadfly, the thorn in the nation’s flesh, the fly in the ointment, the spanner in the works. It shouldn’t have to exist. But it does.

And you’re going to keep hearing about it.  

If you'd like to buy a copy of the book and make a contribution, you can find it here.

3/11: The Fallout on Amazon.

This is Winston Saint.

Drowning

This is Excalibur.

Today, Sunday July 21st, sees the nation going to the polls to vote in the Upper House election. The previous Lower House election, three months ago, was a landslide for the ruling LDP, and today's election is set to strengthen Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's iron grip on the national government. The majority of the public just want political stability and economic recovery; a vocal minority are more than concerned about Abe's racist, nationalist views and his revisionist policies.

Election victory expected 

On the energy front, TEPCO is lobbying hard to restart the nuclear program. Fossil fuels have taken up the shortfall in supplying energy needs, as Japan's government has consistently failed to bring renewable energy sources up to the level where they could be a viable alternative. So, while TEPCO gets ready to switch on the reactors again, news from Fukushima No. 1 plant shows that the crisis is still not over ...

Radiation increasing 

 It also shows the real cost of nuclear accidents; the contamination of the surrounding ocean in increasing and likely to get worse. 

Contaminated groundwater has reached the sea

In the meanwhile, do you remember the people who had their homes and lives destroyed by the 3/11 tsunami? Well, the Japanese government doesn't. 

The slow pace of rebuilding for the future

 Let me reiterate Excalibur's position; we are not opposed to nuclear power as such. We are pointing out that the people in charge of the nuclear program are incompetent, and cannot guarantee the nation's safety.

We are pointing out that the government will lead the nation down the road that leads back to the Edo Jidai - and the Japanese people will sit back and do nothing to stop it.

Unless you think differently. If you wish to protest or make a contribution, or to help the families still suffering, check out the book below, available on Amazon.

3/11: The Fallout by Patrick Fox. 

This is Winston Saint reporting. 

Big Science

Excalibur is back from its tour of Japan, and once more ready to take up the sword. Our report from the disaster zone, for early July 2013, is as follows.

The crisis at the stricken Fukushima # 1 nuclear plant is far from over, as TEPCO's efforts at preventing further seawater contamination seemed destined to failure. Tests have showed frighteningly high levels of strontium-90 at a monitoring well 27 meters from the seashore.

Strontium in groundwater soars

The politician's sound trucks have taken to the streets again - blasting public areas with propaganda at deafening volumes - because the Upper House election (following May's Lower House election) will take place later in July. Many Japan-watchers are predicting that if the incumbent party wins, proving that there is no longer any effective opposition to them, then Prime Minster Abe will get to work on his real agenda - the dismantling of international ties and the revision of all school textbooks describing Japan's aggressive role in World War II.

The campaigning intensifies

Suffering Fukushima residents ignored by national politicians

Abe also has his sights on the National Constitution, and this detailed article by Colin P A Jones outlines the proposed changes.

The LDP charter; things to come (link not available - article released July 2)


In other corruption news, the verdict has been returned on the executives who carried out the Olympus fraud scandal. Did they go to prison? Did they ****.

Olympus criminals avoid prison

This is Winston Saint, and this is ...

to be continued.

The Lunatics Have Taken Over The Asylum

NB: As Excalibur will be on the road for the rest of this month, this blog post will cover the period from Monday 17th to the end of June.

ITEM! A senior TEPCO employee admits that he lost the confidential information of compensation claims from families made homeless after the nuclear meltdown, because he "left his bag on a train". The article does not state whether he had been out drinking with his senpai and kohai. 

TEPCO loses data

ITEM! Japan's War on Dance continues, with the cops determined not just to stamp out protest, but any trace of creative self-expression whatsoever.

Crackdown on dance clubs continues

ITEM! The Feminist writer Germaine Greer once wrote that "Women have no idea how much men hate them". This article explores how much Japanese politicians hate women, and how far they will go to render them powerless.

The glass ceiling 

ITEM! Nuclear protest in Japan is older than you think. This timely-reprinted article dates back to June 24th, 1988.

This day in history

The Art of Parties

Welcome to this week’s blog post, as Excalibur struggles against health and social problems to bring you the latest information on post-3/11 Japan.

The world has been riveted to the scenes taking place in Turkey, with free thinkers everywhere sending their moral or financial support to the people of Istanbul against –

Who?

What shall we call them?

The police? An oppressive government? The forces of Global Capitalism? The Evil Empire? “Them”?

I leave it to your own ideological inclination to name them, but whatever you call them, let me draw your attention to the differences ands similarities between events in Istanbul and Tokyo.

An Istanbul Blogger's appeal to the world

Sunday June 2^nd saw a massive anti-nuclear demonstration (pictured above) outside the government offices in Nagatacho, central Tokyo, which included a speech by Nobel laureate and anti-nuclear campaigner Kenzaburo Oe. Although there were no violent clashes with police, the event suffered from a media blackout, as Japan’s mainstream media failed once again to report it.

Nuclear foes march in Tokyo

An article here attempts to explain why Japan’s politicians are so contemptuous of their own people.

Link: Abe as a politician

Research here has discovered that thyroid cancer rates in children are going up, even though medical authorities allege 3/11 is not to blame.

Link: Increase in thyroid cancer

In “3/11:The Fallout”, Patrick Fox examines the nature of Revolutionary Art. What do “they” have? Police, lawyers, armies, water cannons, guns, gold reserves, unlimited funds. What do we have? Fists. Sticks. Molotov cocktails. Words. Images. Ideas. Paintings.

Graffiti.

This article here showcases Mr. 281, the Japanese version of Banksy, who is being pursued by both the police, and the Japanese right-wing nationalist hate groups.

Link: Japan's Banksy

(To represent the other side of what 281 is doing, you should read this engrossing comment below from Sam Gilman, which I have taken the liberty of stealing from the JT forums).

"It’s different for those of us who live here. The reconstruction effort matters. Some of us live or have family in Tohoku, and these people have been suffering from the efforts of anti-nuclear activists like this 281 person. Debris has needed to be disposed of safely to allow proper rebuilding. However, many places have been refusing to take the debris for incineration because, in spite of it not being radioactive (via independent testing), they believe it is radioactive because anti-nuclear activists (based on no evidence) told them it was.

 Children evacuated from the area are being bullied at their new schools for being radioactive because, even though these children are under no threat and pose no threat to others, anti-nuclear activists like this 281 person and the author (Jon Mitchell) have been wildly exaggerating the dangers of the releases that happened. Health investigators to the area report widespread fear and fear responses – depression, alcoholism, and severe child behavioral problems in people who are not actually at risk of developing radiation-relation illnesses. Why are they so scared? Because anti-nuclear activists like this 281 person spread fear, and tell them lots of people are going to die. It’s good business for him. He’s famous now. It goes on: farmers trying to sell produce that has been tested and tested and tested and is safe, are struggling to regain their livelihoods because anti-nuclear opportunists like this 281 person thrive, build careers on, spreading unwarranted and unscientific fear. Children in areas which are safe from radioactivity are getting fat and storing up future health problems because their parents are scared to put them outside. Why are they scared? Yep, it’s those anti-nuclear activists."

Does any of this make you angry? Does any of this make you care? If you want to do something to help, please consider buying a copy of “3/11: The Fallout”, which can be found here. 

Link to 3/11: The Fallout

The money will go directly to the suffering families and children of northern Japan.