Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (March 11, 2011)

[justinstrife]

Originally Posted by Mystique

We are trying our best to anyways, be it Japanese or the remaining foreigners.

Technically the mass exodus may prove good for us, less gaijin = more jobs and opportunities for us perhaps ^^

Will edit this post in a bit with links for websites to donate or some advice on what peeps in japan can do to help

You have my deepest respect. Unlike say Katrina, I've heard no reports, or news from my Japanese friends, about looting, violence, wide-spread panic, etc, etc. My old man and I are both figuring out what organizations to donate funds to, to hopefully help in what little way we can. Keep fighting strong as I believe you will do. And please know, that America is with you and will help anyway we can.

[Mystique]

What you can do to help!

Outside of Japan:

• Donate, donate donate!
  Vexx has already listed the Red Cross, which I will pinch and repost in here
  http://www.jrc.or.jp/english/relief/..._00002070.html
  
  
• Donate to Second Harvest:
  What is Second Harvest:
  

  2HJ is the nation’s first food bank.
  More than 650,000 people in Japan lack "food security", the access to safe, nutritious food through socially acceptable channels.
  At the same time, more than 6,000 metric tons of food is thrown away in Tokyo every day. If we can prevent this wastage and distribute a very small portion of this 6,000,000 kg, hundred-thousands of people may have secure access to food.
  Second Harvest Japan does not pay for “new food” because there is already an ample amount wasted for us to draw from. Second Harvest Japan (2HJ) collects food that would otherwise go to waste from food manufacturers, farmers, and individuals, and distributes them to people in need such as children in orphanages, battered women and their children in shelters, and the homeless in Japan.

  They are a legit company whose work has been published in both Japanese and English press in Japan, praising their efforts over the years. Obviously for now, the money is needed namely for transportation costs to get things up to the people, so donate where you can.
  You can donate via:
  - Credit Card,
  - Bank Transfer
  - or cheques (make sure to record your mail though)

Inside of Japan
There’s tooooons that we can do.

• Donate money as well!
  If you can’t donate via the Red Cross website, you can also donate to the Japan Red Cross at Family Mart if their website reaches full capacity. Go to the green kiosk that looks like an ATM.
  1. Hit the 募金(bokin) button. It has a heart with Angel Wings
  2. Hit the Japanese Red Cross button
  3. Choose amount to donate
  4. Hit OK, print receipt
  5. Take receipt to cashier and pay there
  Along the way there will be several confirmation screens. Just hit the OK button.
  
  
• Donate much needed goods and items!
  Second harvest:
  For us within Japan, they need items more than money.
  
  Their main branch is in Asakusa Bridge, not too far from Akihabara, so to save to postal costs, if you round up a bunch of items, feel free to go to the HQ and donate directly.
  Here’s their latest plea:
  

  A list of food items and other necessities with highest priority
  ・rice, canned foods, pouch-packed foods (unexpired)
  ・ cassette gas, battery cells, Kairos(portable hand warmer)
  ・ baby diapers, infant formula powder milk, baby solid foods, adult diapers(unopened)
  ・ sanitary napkins, toilet paper, wet tissues, face masks, portable toilets (unopened)
  ・ antiseptics, external medications including adhesive bandages(unopened)
  Voices from the ground:
  We’d appreciate it if you can collect as much larger number the SAME items as possible. It is difficult to provide those items if they are not enough to provide all of the recipients. This will also make our sorting-out process a lot easier. It would also be a great help if you could collect donations on a community level(e.g. your community, company and school)and ship them at once. Thank you for your caring and continuous support!

• Offer accommodation
  If you have some room to spare, you can offer accommodation to someone left homeless by the earthquake:
  http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=39703
  
  
• Volunteer as translator/interpreter
  For those that are fluent in Japanese, you can put yourself on a JALT list to volunteer for translating and interpreting. You can specify if you are only available to do online interpreting. Please only volunteer of you are confident of translating/interpreting concisely. JALT Website
  
  
• Be correctly informed
  Common Japanese words and vocabulary that appear in the news, here’s an ongoing compiled list of them. (I’ve sure learnt tones this week alone given all the nuclear stuff going on) :\
  Earthquake Japanese Vocabulary

I was also gonna add the 'donate blood' link, but it only seems to be giving infomation for the Kyuushuu and Nagasaki areas :\
Also I'm not sure of the rules for foreigners donating, but definitely look up and pass by your local blood bank anyways

For those in the 23 wards of Tokyo like me who are the super lucky ones to miss out on the power cuts, conserve energy!
Unplug equipment from sockets when not in use, turn off lights, be strict with your AC usage and carry a torch just in case.
Prepare your emergency bag and pack and stay safe as best as you can.


Remember alike many other places in the world, the suffering doesn't end once the media switch off the cameras.
For one of mankinds biggest earthquakes of all time + major tsunami damage, this tragedy will linger for a long time.
So keep on donating over the year, create your donation drives and keep us in your hearts as much as possible despite going on with your daily lives.

Many thanks!
Mystique

PS: Any Japanese natives/other translators, feel free to translate my post into JP and post around Japanese websites/blogs. Many natives seem to be at a loss of what to do, so here's a lil guiding light for them

[Athena]

Sorry again, but I'm used to use the word 'centrale' which, in French, means 'power plant'.

Well, I think that it's very possible that in Japan, the government is covering something up. More than 10 years ago, in Canada, especially in Quebec, there was a water issue. In winter, it was pretty rough. So what happened is that most people didn't have electricity. The water froze on the electric poles (y'know, the structures which has lines on them to transport electricity) and these poles fell down. The result was no onergy for most of the province. Then, the governement gathered people in schools, building, etc. for those whose house has also collapsed due to the ice.

Then, there was another issue; not enough water. The government needed to make a decision, which is to announce it or not. If they do, than eeryone will panic and take the rest of the water. That's why the governement decided to not announce it and bought all the water bottles in the markets to fill in the water reserve.

Finally there was barely enough water remaining. But, BTW, this is from my teacher, though it should be on wikipedia.

Oh yeah, I'm talking about the governemnt hiding informations, not about the two disaters.

[Mystique]

An interesting thing about all of this is while the West scream 'Japanese govermenment are hiding something!', the West forgets or simply doesn't understand the nature of Japanese as a people.

One of my old Japanese literature professors who has lived here for over 30+ years, said it best perhaps:

It was the tsunami not the earthquake that did the damage. I've been to several of the towns that no longer exist and am sure I lost a few friends, but no proof. This Japanese government is more open than any that I've seen since 1971.
But indirection is a virtue in Japanese language and this I think is causing confusion with overseas press.

I'm willing to give my professor a little more credit than anyone who is speculating while having zero experience of living here.

All goverments lie/cover/bend the truth in some aspect, no matter what the country.
Or even better, promise something "openly" but do jack shit about it once elected.
Methinks what the Japanese government have done is be very Japanese.
Not tell the entire truth straight up, especially for bad news.

Again, whether they have nor not will be left to investigation.
How about spending less time writing speculation kira and more time thinking of how to contribute to the disaster and help the people here.
Before you post, think very carefully of how your writing can help contribute to this thread, not make it pointless.

[WanderingKnight]

That is also something I considered. The press seems pretty annoyed at all the "it might"s, "may"s, and thinking about it it could very well be an issue with translation. There is a somewhat complex system for conveying information one has learned from a third party in Japanese. I haven't studied it in full (I can understand it if I hear it, but I can't really say what the exact rules are) but it is there and it might be causing problems with translations. And in Japanese one usually makes sure not to affirm anything one is entirely sure of.

[RRW]

@Mystique

nice post, someone (mod) should add it as op, or sticky thread, or that alert thing that night wish use for hunt thing. someone must ask mod quick

anyway radiation chart guide

Spoiler for radiation chart guide:

[Tri-ring]

Originally Posted by kira0802

Sorry again, but I'm used to use the word 'centrale' which, in French, means 'power plant'.

Well, I think that it's very possible that in Japan, the government is covering something up. More than 10 years ago, in Canada, especially in Quebec, there was a water issue. In winter, it was pretty rough. So what happened is that most people didn't have electricity. The water froze on the electric poles (y'know, the structures which has lines on them to transport electricity) and these poles fell down. The result was no onergy for most of the province. Then, the governement gathered people in schools, building, etc. for those whose house has also collapsed due to the ice.

Then, there was another issue; not enough water. The government needed to make a decision, which is to announce it or not. If they do, than eeryone will panic and take the rest of the water. That's why the governement decided to not announce it and bought all the water bottles in the markets to fill in the water reserve.

Finally there was barely enough water remaining. But, BTW, this is from my teacher, though it should be on wikipedia.

Oh yeah, I'm talking about the governemnt hiding informations, not about the two disaters.

If you are implying that radioactive material is leaking into the water supply, you only need to look at the location. It's along the shore line. There is no way contaminates can leak into the supply directly which is further inland near the mountain lines.
The present radioactive material was released from venting of the reactor core which is not executed now. So the residual material is the only problem which will be washed into the sea eventually and before hyping radioactive pollution in the sea, you'll find that under sea volcano and hot spots spills out more material then the total amount this accident spilled out all together.

[Dhomochevsky]

There are a lot of posts about "no looting". Now the people from the US may be traumatized by their Katrina disaster, but I don't really understand why everyone else would expect looting in the first place.

Where would that be happening anyway?
From what I've seen, the earthquake itself didn't do widespread damage to areas. So even if there are some damaged buildings, they are few in between and the others around them are still inhabited. No deserted areas where looting might happen.

Then there are those areas that got hit by the tsunami. Those seem to be completely destroyed and I don't think there is much left to loot. The water is mostly gone now however, so people return to the places that did not get harmed.

That only leaves the area around Fukushima, where this could actually happen.

[Vexx]

There isn't looting... but in areas where the government hasn't been able to get supplies as well, they are resorting to scavenging. When there isn't a single standing building, I call it scavenging. And they are ashamed to even be doing that - apologizing profusely when interviewed about it.

[Random32]

Originally Posted by kira0802

If CNN or BBC can't be trusted, then the entire TV news can't be either. CNN has one of the best and the most trusted coverage. It is still the best source for most people of the world.

CNN (MSNBC, FOX, etc) are horrible sources for news. BBC is acceptable. NHK is acceptable at least in these events. I personally like to find the sources of the information themselves and interpret them by myself more than the people that repeat what they say with their own twist to attract viewers.

For example, I check jaif.or.jp/english for their pdf with a lot of info on the reactors.

Originally Posted by Dhomochevsky

There are a lot of posts about "no looting". Now the people from the US may be traumatized by their Katrina disaster, but I don't really understand why everyone else would expect looting in the first place.

Where would that be happening anyway?
From what I've seen, the earthquake itself didn't do widespread damage to areas. So even if there are some damaged buildings, they are few in between and the others around them are still inhabited. No deserted areas where looting might happen.

Then there are those areas that got hit by the tsunami. Those seem to be completely destroyed and I don't think there is much left to loot. The water is mostly gone now however, so people return to the places that did not get harmed.

That only leaves the area around Fukushima, where this could actually happen.

There are areas that aren't destroyed and supplies are very limited. Not much looting in those areas either, most people are patiently waiting in line for supplies to arrive. There are people searching through destroyed homes/etc for stuff, but they seem extremely guilty and ashamed of themselves and apologize profusely when anyone mentions it.

[Grifis]

I no longer believe in the sensational news. I had a conversation with my sister today regarding Japan. I took her there in 09 and she loves the country. We both planned to visit next year. I intended to bring her to see some beautiful gardens there. She said to me "you know I've been real depressed with my job and my life and now with Japan. It makes me even more depressed. Is there anything you can do to turn things back the way they were with Japan?" I said "I wish I can." She asked "will they be able to fix everything?" I said "I'm sure they can fix anything." That's my pure-hearted sister. They can be seen as silly questions but it shows how much she adores the country. I've been feeling down since the disaster struck. Usually I don't care but this time it gets to me. Japan isn't my home country or anything but I have so much affection for it. I've visited it many times and intend to visit it many more times. It saddens me so much that this happened to Japan, this beautiful country. And with all the foreigners fleeing out of the country it just feels so wrong. (Sorry I just feel like whining.)

[NameGoesHere]

I only ever lurk the novel threads in this place, so I've only read the last few pages of this thread, but I wanted to drop off some informational things in case people here haven't-seen/don't-know-where-to-get these?!

Updated readings from Fukushima Prefecture:

Spoiler:

Water test results:

Spoiler:

http://www.mext.go.jp/component/engl...966_1919_1.pdf

Condensed status of reactors:

Spoiler:

Unit converters:

http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i...e&equal=Submit
http://unit-converter.org/en/equival...C2%25B5Sv.html

Map of monitoring points from TEPCO releases:

Spoiler:

Readings:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/monitoring/index-j.html

I guess this too, for the people who don't need to hear about the differences between things like oxidation and fire:
http://www.plainenglishnuclear.net/

Please delete this post if it is not useful.

[j0x]

here is an interesting article it has video on the middle of it that illustrates what is happening on the nuclear plants of Fukushima here it is -> http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-03-...own-video.html

[Jinto]

Originally Posted by ckmox

here is an interesting article it has video on the middle of it that illustrates what is happening on the nuclear plants of Fukushima here it is -> http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-03-...own-video.html

The professor is funny... "there must have been a leakage"... the question is if the leakage was intentional and part of the design. How many times can an emergency venting of the reactor pressure vessel occur until the coolant level becomes critical (only TEPCO employees know how often and how long the ventings were)? Sometimes, I have the feeling, that the interaction of safety mechanisms is poorly tested.

[Kaze]

What's this about robbery I hear?

I thought that there was no looting or criminal acts?

(Except from Scavenging and trying to find things that are still usable)



From Twitter:

JPN_PMO

(Cont) However, it is extremely regrettable that some criminal acts such as robbery in the affected regions have been seen.

[JokerD]

Originally Posted by Chiibi

Sad news: My friend's ex-fiancee's little sis was found in a bus stop at Fukushima. She didn't make it out.... The family's taking it pretty hard because they've lost two out of three children now (the fiancee was hit by a drunk driver several years ago). And my friend was very close to the little sis too. I feel so awful for him.

Damn all tsunamis!!!

My condolences to both your families. A sad loss.

Any word on if the supplies and medical aid is finally reaching the area in sufficient quantities? Most reports I've read is on the nuclear issue and the few about the people indicates that aid is still slow in reaching.

[Jinto]

Originally Posted by JokerD

My condolences to both your families. A sad loss.

Any word on if the supplies and medical aid is finally reaching the area in sufficient quantities? Most reports I've read is on the nuclear issue and the few about the people indicates that aid is still slow in reaching.

Since bad news are good news, no news is actually good news in my oppinion. Don't underestimate the Japanese's organizing abilities (I'ld rank it far better than what you've seen in the aftermath of Katrina).

[Ithekro]

Pretty much anything is better than Katrina. I can understand stealing items required for survival, like food, clothing, water. But breaking into the electronics stores and taking three televisions and some radios? In a place that does not have electricity?

[Zetsubo]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

Pretty much anything is better than Katrina. I can understand stealing items required for survival, like food, clothing, water. But breaking into the electronics stores and taking three televisions and some radios? In a place that does not have electricity?

1. They could be opportunistic criminal outsiders from other prefectures that are going to sell them when they return.

2. There are petty criminals opportunistic in every country. Just that in Japan these things happen on a low scale especially for the given population size of Japan 127,560,000 people ( Census 2009). Thus their criminal percentage is low... and the rest of the world is amazed. However, when things like this happen, there are bound to be found... since people are looking for it really hard.

They want to see, really badly, some kind of base human nature in the people of Japan.

I know that some people in the west really wanted to see looting and such.

I venture to say that some media sources got bored with the overall situation in Japan when no Katrina style problems unfolded.

I could be wrong.

I mean I get the feeling that there are people who just want to see bad behavior occurring. But why ?

[Ithekro]

Bad stuff happening and seeing humans base emotions and general nastiness are considered entertaining when it is not happening to you. See most forms of storytelling through the ages to see that. Greek tragedies, Shakespear, and the Bible (depending on if you take it all as fact or fiction). People are entertained by the misfortune of others, and seeing that on the news is considered entertainment these days.