What Difference Does It Make?

Still here, and fighting personal, financial and health problems to bring you news from the disaster zone.

Almost three years after 3/11, official government disaster plans are still the same clueless bureaucratic bullshit.

No plan best plan for Kansai nuclear disaster 

Who exactly is cleaning up the radioactive debris in the destroyed Fukushima plant? Untrained, uninsured, homeless people press-ganged by the construction industry's Yakuza buddies, that's who.

Doing the dirty work

Regarding Prime Minister Abe's new secrecy law; NHK's new Chairman is an Abe-approved historical revisionist, so don't expect anything in the way of truth if you tune in to Japan's government-sponsored TV network.

New NHK Boss ignites political firestorm 

Feeling frustrated? Feeling scared? There is a way you can support the suffering families and give yourself a sense of direction …

 and it's here. 

But what difference does it make? 

2014: Welcome to the Pleasuredome

      Why is Prime Minister Abe so intent on antagonizing the Chinese and Koreans with his visits to the Yasakuni Shrine? Why is it currently unsafe to eat seafood along the west coast of the USA? Which parts of the USA have experienced snowfalls with abnormally high levels of radiation? Where exactly did the liquified nuclear fuel go after the Fukushima meltdown? What is a 'hydrovolcanic explosion'?

      These and other questions will not be answered in 2014, if the Japanese government has its way. 

      The new Secrecy Law means that the incompetent, cack-handed methods of Japan's nuclear industry will continue without change. The only difference is that the nuclear lobbyists will be more aggressive about people who ask questions or criticize their judgment.

      That means if you are worried about the consequences of the botched Fukushima clean-up, or if you support investment in renewable energy resouces, or if you are concerned about future health problems resulting from radioactive contamination, you now have a target on your back.

      The Japanese government is commencing a news media blackout so that when the inevitable health problems arise, it will be able to avoid responsibilty. The Japanese public has given up protesting, because they know it's pointless; since the establishment of the military government at the beginning of the Edo period, the purpose of government is to keep the ruling class in power, and the purpose of the samurai/salaryman/housewife is to follow orders without question.

Nothing has changed that. A lot has been said about the samurai philosophy of 'never give up'; in practical terms, this translates to - 'Keep doing the same thing again and again. If anyone has different points of view, ignore them or bully them until they leave Japan.'

      There is speculation that the government does not actually intend to go through with the 2020 Olympics, because in six years time Japan - as a nation - will not exist in its current form. It was only meant as a short-term propaganda coup.  Secret plans are being made, doors are being closed, curtains are being drawn. Journalists such as Jeff Kingston and Jake Adelstein are referrring to this as the beginning of Japan's 'New Dark Age'.

       So what does this mean to foreigners living in Japan, or independent-minded Japanese nationals? Feeling worried yet? Helpless? Angry? What can you do?

       There are two things you can do.  

1) If this has motivated you to help, then consider investing in a copy of the book on the link below. It's a practical guide to disasters both natural and man-made, and the proceeds are going to Tohoku charities.

2) Wait for further instructions, to be issued on March 11th 2014.

      This is The Fallout.

      You will hear from us again soon.

"3/11: The Fallout"; A practical guide for dealing with natural disasters, and much more. 

NEED MORE INFORMATION? Try these links.

Eating seafood on the West coast of the USA - safe or not? 

Did an underground nuclear explosion take place at Fukushima at the end of 2013?  

Abe flips the bird at China, Korea and Washington 

The Tokyo governor who helped the city win the Olympic bid resigns because of a bribery scandal

New candidate for the Tokyo governorship is a historical revisionist right-winger who believes Japan was the victim in World War II
(well, what did you expect??)

Radiation alert hits cities in Nebraska and Utah (Wait, wasn't that where the A-bomb tests were in the Fifties? Allegations collide with speculation…)

2013: Undercover

Good morning. It is customary at the end of December for 3/11: The Fallout to give a review of the year - but this time, we think that the links will do, and further explanations are unnecessary.

America's west coast and marine life contaminated by Fukushima radiation 

We should warn you that this entry has been written by a gentleman who runs a blog called "The Economic Collapse Blog", which will give you some idea of the contents.
Don't forget to read the comments after the article.

Cases of Thyroid Cancer surge amongst Fukushima children 

How many American servicemen and women are suffering from radiation-related illness? The controversy continues here. 

Levels of contamination in northern forests are increasing, spread by rain. 

TEPCO Fukushima clean-up an 'incompetent comedy of errors,' according to Japan-based author, Alex Kerr. 

What we are seeing here is a fight between assumption-based logic and fact-based logic, and the Japanese government will do their best to conceal the facts and persecute anyone who asks questions.

See you in 2014.

Free! Nelson Mandela (1918 - 2013)

As the world mourns the passing of a giant, there are some facts to be considered.

1) The next Nelson Mandela will not be born in Japan. The Ministry of Education is doing an extremely good job of indoctrinating youth in the most valuable element of Japanese society; not honesty, not compassion, but conformity. The nation is full of teenagers who answer comprehension questions in their English language textbooks on Mandela, and Mahatma Ghandi, and Martin Luther King, and they have absolutely no understanding of the values that those individuals represent.

2) Nelson Mandela's legacy includes violence as well as nonviolence. In the Fifties, in his famous "No Easy Walk to Freedom" speech, he rejected the ANC's policy of non-violent protests and strikes. In the early Sixties, after the Sharpetown massacre, Mandela set up the armed militant wing of the ANC, Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation).
So when Shinzo Abe's bully boys stop you on the street and knock on your door and ask for your gaijin card, should we respond with violence?
What would Nelson say?

3) If Japan cannot produce a social reformer fit to be compared with Mandela, how will reform occur? The answer is, the Government want to make sure that change does not occur, because they want everyone to stay in their places, keep fiddling with their smartphones, shut up and do nothing. The link below will take you to an excellent article by Michael Hoffman in today's Japan Times. In it, he mentions one proverb from the late Tokugawa period, circa 1800 -1850;

"Peasants are like sesame seeds. The harder you squeeze them, the more they give."

Yes, that really sums up what Prime Minister Abe thinks about you.

Michael Hoffman's article here

4) Hoffman's article also mentions the undeniable fact that because of the traditionally fierce protection of the status quo, every major social change in Japan has come from outside. The feudal period was brought to an end by Commodore Perry and the Black Ships. The Fascist period was brought to an end by Franklin D Roosevelt, Enola Gay, and General MacArthur, among others. Who will be the next force to wade into Japan and kick Abe to the curb?

The Chinese?

The Koreans?

Could it be you?

We are Excalibur. You will hear from us again soon.

Every Breath You Take

Last week the new Secrecy Act was forcibly passed through the Japanese Parliament, with the ruling party working to avoid discussion or cross-examination. This means that you will not be allowed to obtain information on whether Tokyo's rising radiation levels present a risk to your health.

More commentary here. 

How long will it be until blogs like this one are shut down by the government?

When are you going to make your voice heard?

For more information, a copy of 3/11: The Fallout is available here. All proceeds will go to the suffering, neglected families of the meltdown and tsunami in Tohoku.

Do you still think there's nothing you can do about it?

Official Secrets

You're probably reading this because of the links on Facebook and Twitter (if not, the introduction/explanation is below, in 'Forbidden Colors').  If you're worried or angry about what 's happening around you, you might think - "Sure, but what can I do about it? I feel so helpless. I live in Japan and if I speak out too much about this, I might lose my job."

Yes, we know that. "Gaijin" in Japan are supposed to behave like friendly, bumbling tourist stereotypes. The Japanese line up the hoops and then expect us to jump though them like good little lapdogs. Well, consider this; you can become fluent in japanese, you can work hard, do your best, cultivate good friendships, but at the end of the day, you will STILL have your job taken away when you have outlived your usefulness, because you are an outsider and you always will be. Don't kid yourself that you have integrated yourself into society, becuase you haven't.  

Therefore, if you have want to stop feeling helpless and afraid, Excalibur has three recomendations;

1) If you're a Gaijin resident in Japan, begin your individual campaign of civil disobedience. Refuse to pay your local tax, refuse to pay your electricity bill, refuse to cooperate with police officers or government officials, if necessary refuse to speak the local language. If you can't refuse, try to make as much disruption and inconvenience as you can while engaging with bureaucracy. You might think you have too much to lose by becoming a troublemaker  - really, you haven't.

2)  If you're a foreign national planning to come to Japan to live, work or study, please reconsider your decision. Perhaps you don't know what you're letting yourself in for. Perhaps you think you know how this country works; you're mistaken. 

3)  If you're young, Japanese, and reading this, consider studying or working abroad. Start making your arrangements to leave, and start choosing a destination that's right for you. This is not a country for young people.

4) Lastly, please buy a copy of "3/11: The Fallout". The link to Amazon is here. This book offers practical advice on what to do if you find yourself in the middle of a natural disaster, and raises funds for the homeless families in Tohoku (yes, that's right. They're still homeless. This is Japan, and nobody wants to take responsibilty for rehousing them - what else did you expect?)

You can choose to ignore this post, to laugh at it, to leave comments below or not, to buy the book or not. The choice is yours. It always has been.

We are Excalibur. You will hear from us again soon.

Forbidden Colors

On 25th November 1970, right-wing novelist Yukio Mishima was the last person to commit the ritual samurai suicide known as 'Seppuku'. He drove into the SDF army garrison at Ichigaya, Tokyo with his gang of private bodyguards (known as the Shield Society), took the commanding officer hostage, and called on the troops present to overthrow the government and return Japan to 'traditional discipline and values'.

Mishima's attempted coup failed, but forty-three years later, we have a similar situation - less dramatic, but infinitely more dangerous.

This week, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is rushing new State Secrecy legislation through  the Lower House with no referendum, no public debate, and hardly any press coverage. It will give the government further powers to arrest and imprison anyone who disagrees with what the Government is trying to do.

Most of the bill's contents are preoccupied with the security of the nuclear power industry, because a) Abe wants to switch the atomic plants back on as quickly as possible and b) he wants the power to eliminate whistle blowers who try to warn the public of existing safety problems.

Why the big hurry to restart the nuclear program, while the Fukushima plant is still in such a fragile condition?

Because Japan has almost no fossil fuels of its own. It has deliberately neglected research into renewable energy sources because it's been in bed with the nuclear lobbyists for decades. Since 3/11. Japan has been importing energy, which has inceased its trade deficit (it has the world's largest national debt at one quadrillion yen - that's USD 10.5 trillion). This is crippling Abe's attempts at economic revival. In a situation like this, any country has two choices; generate the power at home (nuclear power being the only option) or go and get the reserves from elsewhere. 

This second choice has caused the current territorial dispute with China concerning the uninhabited Senkaku Islands and the oil and gas reserves said to lie beneath them. On 22nd November, China announced an "air defense identification zone" covering the disputed islands, bringing Japan and China one step closer to armed conflict.

In the current Parliamentary sessions, Abe is overtly attacking three pillars of Japanese democracy: the 1946 Constitution which renounces war, the education law which puts a curb on nationalism, and the security treaty with the United States. Two of his allies are the Shinto Association of Political Leadership, and the Shinto Political Alliance Diet Members’ Association, which are determined to restore “traditional Japanese spiritual values.”

By “traditional Shinto”, of course, they mean the early 20^th Century.  If we go back a couple of thousand years to the origins of Shinto, we find it was an animist, nature-based faith similar to Celtic Paganism. Shinto taught every material thing, every tree, every stone, every river, held a spark of the divine (a Kamisama) and the lives of human beings were linked to the earth by a system of festivals and ceremonies. The emphasis on the Emperor as religious and military head of state was only added recently, after the Meiji Restoration of 1868. 

 Now fast-forward to 2013, and ‘nature’ is as stunted as a bonsai tree, and rural Japan is covered from coast to coast by concrete roads and dams, overhead power lines, electrical pylons, and decaying farm buildings, creating one of the ugliest-looking countries in the world.

This rapid slide from conservatism to fascism was triggered by 3/11. It didn't start it, but it sure did accelerate it. Nobody can predict how such 3/11-style 'Black Swan' events (as they are called by economists) will affect the world in the future. The Philippines has suffered one of the most tragic and devastating typhoons in global history. The aftermath of Superstorm Sandy is a very real problem for many New Yorkers, one year on. Japan’s own coast has been hit by fatal storm surges in the past (which are separate from tsunamis), the last one being at Ise Bay in 1959. There is a very real possibility that you, the person reading this, will be caught up in a natural disaster at some point in the future - and then you'll find out whether the Government can help you or not.

If you're fine with that, or if you think Japan is such an insignificant nation that it doesn't matter what it gets up to, then stop reading now. If what you've read makes you concerned, or worried, then read the next blog post - titled "Official Secrets".