Read this article in Japanese and German.
By Akio Matsumura
On Monday the United Nations announced they will send Special Rapporteur Anand Grover to assess and report on the public health situation in Japan in the context of last year’s earthquake. I returned from a long visit to Japan last week and, after participating in several panel discussions and conversing with political leaders, I have a good idea what Special Rapporteur will find.
The debate right now in Japan centers not on the continuing issues with the Fukushima-Daiichi site, but whether to close down Japan’s nuclear power plants. While politicians are focusing on national nuclear policy there are growing concerns that the children of Fukushima require greater medical attention and assistance. After the Fukushima accident, concerns grew in the region as to whether higher rates of cancer, especially in the thyroid gland, would be found in children due to exposure to radioactive iodine.
The eminent physician Helen Caldicott wrote that the response by Japanese politicians to the Fukushima disaster has been “ludicrously irresponsible,” not just because of their fundamental ignorance but because of their political ties with TEPCO and the nuclear industry, which tends to orchestrate a large part of the Japanese political agenda. Dr. Caldicott’s article was picked up by major media in Japan and began to focus the public’s attention on the medical issue during my time there. Despite this single success, the media has largely underperformed since the earthquake, allowing TEPCO’s influence to prevent the true story from being told.
I viewed my visit to Japan as a chance to build a national consensus that two types of action must be taken. First, repeating myself from my last visit in April, that an independent assessment team must be created, given an ample budget, and allowed to visit inside the Fukushima Daiichi site. Second, that more than one million children are likely to end up with thyroid cancer and so action must be taken quickly to best stem or prevent this medical catastrophe.
Politicians and business leaders alike were shocked to hear that more than one million children are at risk of thyroid cancer in the next five to ten years. These same concerns about radioactivity, modestly extrapolated by experts studying the results of the Chernobyl accident, also apply to food and the environment.
Politicians worried for public safety: can an already aging population handle one million new cases of childhood cancer? How does one start to prevent a nuclear disaster? I agreed that the enormity of the problem is overwhelming; it is difficult to know where to begin. An independent assessment team is the first step. Then, as Senator Kuniko Tanioka, with whom I presented, made clear at the 20th meeting of the Skilled Veterans Corps for Fukushima (Fukushima Genpatsu Kodotai), the problems we face are not rocket science, or in this case, overly complicated nuclear engineering. One of the biggest scares so far came in September, when the cooling system in Reactor 4 shut down due to corroding valves on the pipeline. They immediately switched to the emergency pipeline, but that too failed for corrosion! Outdated systems will only continue to bring complications. I find it hard to be assured that this will not happen again in 40 years.
It was clear to business leaders how much a radioactive environment would disrupt the economy. I repeated over and over that for current crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi site the government, not TEPCO, should be in charge. And for the medical emergency, that we need more original research and policies to build on and reflect the experiences at Chernobyl. The Soviets used their soldiers there; perhaps Japan needs to be prepared to take this step.
One especially encouraging meeting was with Mr. Yoshimi Watanabe, a Member of Parliament and president of the Your Party. He immediately grasped the situation and edited his ten minute speech he was going to give to Prime Minister Noda and his cabinet members at the next day’s Diet (parliament) session.
In his speech he asked the Prime Minister:
1. To establish an independent assessment team;
2. To describe the plan to remove the spent fuel assemblies at Reactor 4;
3. If the government is prepared to use the military to tackle the worst case scenario;
4. Whether the national government should be responsible for the entire operation concerning the medical emergency, rather than leaving it with the Fukushima municipal government.
There is no doubt that his clear, powerful speech will contribute to a greater public and governmental understanding of the issues.
The party leaders, the businessmen, the general public I met with were all shocked to hear the nature of the crisis and most agreed to take action. (How has the media failed to make this clear?) But the path forward is uncertain. Japan faces a largely invisible crisis. One million cases of childhood cancer will devastate the nation, but how does one begin to contain or prevent it? From where would the money come and to where would it be allocated? How does one convince others to take immense action as a precautionary measure? These questions can and must be answered, but it will take great political will and planning. Unfortunately, politicians are focused on little but the mid-December national election.
Another man who grasped the situation quickly and immediately sprung to action, despite being in the thick of this political race, was former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. After Ambassador Murata and I explained the radiation exposure threat to him, he immediately organized a dinner with several of his faction members, including Tadamasa Kodaira, Minister of the National Commission on Public Safety, and Banri Kaieda, Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry at the time of the disaster. That Ministry oversees TEPCO. Eight other senior members of parliament were also there. Several agreed to write policy and research papers exploring further options. I was impressed with their quick action.
On my last day we met with former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, President of the Liberal Democratic Party, the largest opposition party. His grandfather was Prime Minister Kishi, who helped launch my career at the United Nations. I do not think Prime Minister Abe took the threat seriously.
For many, the crisis is much more direct: Where will they live? How do you start life anew–where do you find hope—when you cannot return to your home? I spoke at a symposium, “Save the Fukushima Children from Radiation,” during my trip. I wasn’t sure how to tell young people that our Japanese descendants will face the problem of having no place in their country, and how to encourage those living now to strive for a new, positive life. The area around Fukushima is closed. Hokkaido, an island far to the north, is Japan’s largest prefecture. It comprises twenty percent of the country’s land but has only five percent of its people. I met with the Fumio Ueda, the Mayor of Sapporro, the prefecture’s largest city. He agreed to be the leader among municipal governments, to take up the cause of the children who will develop thyroid cancer.
In 1876, the Japanese government hired William Smith Clark, the third president of Massachusetts Agricultural College (which became the University of Massachusetts Amherst), as an agricultural adviser at Sapporo Agricultural College. He had a large impact on the island and its development. His parting words were, “Boys, be ambitious.” Japan – its men, its women, its children–must be ambitious at this moment, in caring for its current and future generations and, for many, finding a new way to live.
松村 昭雄 先生
何度もメールを戴きすみません。催しがあったため先ほど帰宅しました。
その節は、先生と貴重な出会いが出来たことに感謝致します。
「知らないこと」と「知ろうとしないこと」は根本に違うと仰った先生の
言葉が、とても印象的でした。わたし自身の宗教者（仏教者）としての「使命」とは
何か？と問われた出会いでありました。「宗教者としていのちを奪う原発と放射能の問題を
どうとらえているのか」、「あなたの宗教的課題、有権者としての政治的責任をどう考えて、
知ろうとしているのか」とずっしりと重い問いを投げかけてくださった出会いでありました。
久朗津 泰秀 拝
Dear Akio, thank you very much for your mail, including your article with your remarks on Fukushima. Lets hope that the new Parliment will be more alert than the former one. If so, it is sure thanks to your everlasting efforts! I salute you for that.
Warm regards, your Erica
松村様、
札幌農学校のクラーク博士が残した「青年よ大志を抱け」という言葉のとおり、北海道の大地が日本の危機を救うような役割を担えればと思います。
しかし、今の日本の現状を見るにつけ、そうした放射能に対する危機感を日常感じることはできません。現状では、誰にも期待など出来ません。衆議院議員の総選挙の論点も、TPPと消費税増税問題が主眼で、放射能危機のことを叫ぶ者など誰もいません。誰も、福島の子ども達など眼中に無いのです。
福島第１原発の１～４号機の爆発後の建物残骸はそのまま放置されたままで、チェルノヴイリの石棺封じ込めのような対策など、誰一人やる気も無く、メルトダウン後の格納容器も水没させただけで、未だに放射線は洩れ続けている状況です。たまに、大量の放射線を含んだ水が海に垂れ流しになっているとして、ニュースにもなりますが、国内では、段々関心も遠のいているようです。
日本は島国なので、陸続きのヨーロッパなどと違い、他国の見方も多分、第３者的なのだと思います。海洋汚染が深刻になった時に、初めて、他国も、事の重大性を認識し、日本に対して圧力をかけるようになるのでしょうね…。とにかく、そういう状況にならない限り、日本も他国も危機感など出てこないと思います。
私ども札幌市は、今後も日本政府の対応には、まったく期待しておりません。ただひとえに、福島の子ども達や周辺の子ども達を救うべく、地方自治体として出来る限りのことをするのみです。今後も、我々は、自分達の道を歩むのみです。日本政府も国民もマスコミも、そして国会議員も、誰も頼りには出来ません。危機感を持って、行動するだけです。
－ 高野薫、札幌市
Dear Mr. Matsumura,
Dr. William S. Clark of the Sapporo Agricultural College (now University of Hokkaido) once said, “Boys, be ambitious!” Accordingly, I hope that Hokkaido will ardently take part in saving Japan from this crisis. Unfortunately, I have observed the current conditions of Japan first-hand, and I do not perceive a sense of impending crisis from the populace regarding nuclear radiation or radiation exposure. Under such circumstances, I simply cannot expect anyone to take any sort of initiative.
TPP and the consumption tax are currently the main issues in the general election campaigns for the House of Representatives. Candidates have avoided discussions regarding Japan’s radiation problem; it appears that the children of Fukushima are not within the scope of their concern.
The debris accumulated after the explosions of Units 1 through 4 at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi Power Plant, and the units themselves, have largely been left neglected. No one has attempted an effort to implement substantial containment methods such as the stone coffin used at the Chernobyl site.
Post-meltdown, containments holding radioactive material have simply been submerged in water and the nuclear material within them continues to leak. Occasionally, the public hears news that radioactive water has been discharged and is draining into the ocean, but the nation’s interest in the subject appears to be waning.
Because Japan is an island country, and, therefore, unlike many European countries with shared borders, I fear that foreign countries have taken somewhat of a third-person stance in this situation; I worry Japan’s isolation lessens its perceived impact on other countries, allowing its stagnation to proceed unchecked. Perhaps once the oceans become gravely contaminated, foreign countries will be compelled to pressure Japan into action. My concern is that Japan and other countries will fail to recognize the severity of the situation until it becomes critical.
We, the City of Sapporo, do not, nor will we, expect anything from the central Japanese government. As a local government, we will continue to do our best to save the children in and around Fukushima. We will not rely on the Japanese Government, the nation’s people, the mass-media, or the members of our diet. We will proceed to conduct ourselves with the urgency of impending crisis.
－Kaoru Takano, Sapporo, Japan
Lieber Herr Matsumura,
Dr. William S. Clark von der Landwirtschaftlichen Hochschule in Sapporo (jetzt Universität
von Hokaido) hat einst gesagt: „Leute, macht weiter!“ Ich hoffe, dass sich Hokkaido im
Sinne dieses Mottos mit Begeisterung daran machen wird, Japan aus dieser Krise zu
retten. Leider – und das weiß ich aus eigener Erfahrung – kann ich nicht erkennen, dass
es in der breiteren Öffentlichkeit so etwas wie einen Sinn für die herrschende Notlage im
Hinblick auf Strahlung und Strahlenbelastung gibt. Unter solchen Umständen kann ich
ganz einfach nicht erwarten, dass irgendwer irgendeine Initiative ergreifen wird.
Die TPP [Trans-Pacific Partnership] und die Verbrauchssteuer sind die Hauptthemen im
laufenden Wahlkampf um das Repräsentantenhaus. Die Kandidaten gehen der Diskussion
um das Strahlenproblem aus dem Weg und es scheint, dass die Kinder von Fukushima
nicht zu ihren Wahlkampfthemen passen.
Das Trümmerfeld, das durch die Explosionen in den Reaktorgebäuden 1 bis 4 auf der
Atomanlage von Fukushima entstanden ist und die Reaktoren selbst, werden meistens
verdrängt. Niemand hat bis jetzt Anstrengungen unternommen, wirkungsvolle
Schutzvorrichtungen – wie es etwa der Sarkophag in Tschernobyl ist – anzugehen.
Nach der Kernschmelze wurde das Material im Containment ganz einfach ins Wasser
abgelassen und das radioaktive Material innerhalb des Containments läuft weiter aus.
Gelegentlich hört die Öffentlichkeit davon, dass radioaktives Wasser entweicht und in den
Ozean rinnt, aber das allgemeine Interesse an dieser Sache scheint zu schwinden.
Im Gegensatz zu vielen europäischen Ländern mit gemeinsamen Landesgrenzen ist
Japan ein Inselstaat. So fürchte ich, dass das Ausland gegenüber unserer Situation die
Haltung einer unbeteiligten „dritten Person“ eingenommen hat. Ich befürchte, eine Isolation
Japans vermindert seinen Einfluss auf andere Länder, was ihm erlaubt, seine Agonie
stillschweigend fortzuführen. Wenn der Ozean eines Tages radioaktiv schwer verseucht
sein wird, werden sich vielleicht andere Staaten aufraffen, Japan zu Handeln zu zwingen.
Ich befürchte, dass Japan und andere Länder den Ernst der Lage nicht erkennen, bis es
wirklich kritisch wird. Wir hier in der Stadt Sapporo erwarten uns jetzt und in Zukunft nichts
von der japanischen Zentralregierung [in Tokyo]. Wir als Kreis-Verwaltung werden
weiterhin alles versuchen, um die Kinder in und um Fukushima zu retten. Wir, die
Menschen dieses Landes, setzen weder auf die japanische Regierung, die Massenmedien
oder die Mitglieder des Parlaments. Wir werden uns weiterhin selbst in dieser Notsituation
helfen müssen.
Kaoru Takano, Sapporo, Japan
In light of the election result especially, Japan is now at a crossroads that could determine its future to an equal or greater extent than December 7 1941. On that date Japan, despite its undoubted technical brilliance and social cohesion, after a long period of descent into political extremism and strategic folly, crossed the point of no return into disaster that almost destroyed it, and cost it its Empire, and much of its wealth and position in the world, as well as millions of lives. It did so lulled into a false sense of overconfidence and security, partly by the world situation, and actions of others, but decisively by its own at the time excessive arrogance and shortsightedness, combined with a social-political conformity that whilst a great strength in normal times and constructively applied, can become a possibly fatal liability in circumstances of exceptional risk and crisis. Now is one such time. Japan faces an extreme risk of national disaster by the fragile situation at Fukushima, which one more large quake could turn into a major nuclear catastrophe beyond anything yet seen, and which could be destructive on a global scale. The amount of toxic radioactive isotopes that could be released if the fuel assemblies are exposed in the event of cooling failure due to another possible even likely large seismic disturbance are by all credible accounts enough to render much of Japan uninhabitable for centuries at least, as well as poison tens of millions of people within and beyond Japan. It must be the no. 1 priority of the new government to take all possible prudent action to reduce and eliminate this threat as urgently as practicable, every day lost could be the last. It has been quoted in the media that there are plans to remove the fuel assemblies by 2014, this is at least one year too late, it should already have been done. And furthermore, Japan’s nuclear industry must be upgraded and rendered safe such that another such disaster is not merely unlikely, but impossible. It was thought such a disaster would not occur, but it did. That means it can certainly happen again. The reactor design was and remains a poor one with enormous safety liabilities, an urgent priority should be to a) shut down any plants that are at serious (ie similar) risk of natural disaster, b) render fuel assemblies safe and adequately dispersed to prevent the possibility of another such disaster, and c) introduce new and safer plant designs. An overall threat assessment in light of the unforeseen events and revised contingency planning would also be in order. The new government must not go back to ‘business as usual’, for that would clearly and forseeably be to risk a repeat on an even more devastating scale.
JAPAN WAKE UP NOW TO THE MASSIVE RISK OF RENEWED AND EVEN NATIONALLY FATAL DISASTER!
JAPANESE LEADERS AND PEOPLE TAKE ESSENTIAL PREVENTIVE ACTION NOW WHILE THERE IS TIME!
DO NOT LET PETTY CONSIDERATIONS OF ANY SORT OBSTRUCT VITAL ACTION!
JAPAN IS AT THE CROSSROADS AGAIN, THIS TIME CHOOSE THE RIGHT AND SOUND COURSE!
DO NOT LET THIS GOVERNMENT GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS JAPAN’S LAST AND MOST RECKLESS!
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