Yesterday's News: Japanese "flock" from Fukushima to Okinawa

I have not made a current events blog or vlog for a while but after the continuous posting of this story and having had received comments and messages regarding the current state of Okinawa as a result of this story I could not help myself. 

Before I get into the story itself let's go back to March 11 2011. For those of you who are not already familiar this was the date when a huge earthquake shoot the northern part of Japan and resulted in a devastating tsunami. The tsunami then resulted in a nuclear disaster in an area known as Fukushima. Many people lost their lives as a result of the horrible disaster and radiation concerns caused many people to leave their homes in the area. Many other people in the surrounding areas also became concerned and decided to relocate as a precaution. These people relocated to various areas throughout the country to include the southern islands of Okinawa. Again, this started in 2011 after the disaster. 

Now fast forward to December 2012. The AP (which was the first place I saw the story released although I am also aware that The Japan Times also released it as well) releases a story which it titled "Radiation-averse evacuees flock to Okinawa". The article, which pictured a young mother and her beautiful son, goes on explaining about how Okinawa is as far south from Fukushima as you can get and explains about how the prefecture is offering financial assistance to those who have relocated on the island. More information is included such as quotes from the mother and other important details that will be disregarded by many of the readers. 

As I have been living here for as long as I have and keeping up with the news as I do there was not much thought that I invested into the story. Most of what was said was pretty much old news aside from the fact that those who applied for aide by a certain date got another year of assistance from the Okinawa Prefecture. Among others, however, this seemed to be big news. In fact a viewer over on my YouTube channel even went so far as to hound me for not covering the "real story" about what is happening in Okinawa. I took a few weeks to think about what it was that I wanted to say if I wanted to take on the story at all. Now here I am. You're about to read the "real story" of what has been happening here in Okinawa. **Spoiler Alert** you're going to be disappointed. 

First and foremost, as mentioned in the articles, Okinawa is the furthest away from Fukushima as you can get without leaving the country. Couple that with the fact that Okinawa does not have nuclear power and is a very popular vacation destination, then it doesn't seem difficult to understand why some would choose the location to relocate here. The question is how many people are, as the article says "flocking" to Okinawa? According to the article in question "more than 1,000 people". Now what I find interesting about this statement is the the lack of timeframe given during which these people have come down to Okinawa. Common sense and knowledge of the local news tells me that they are referring to the number of people who have come down since 2011 when the disaster first occurred but for the sake of being through I did some research to see what I could come up with. Turns out that they are in fact talking about the total people since 2011. In fact in an article released by The Asahi Shimbun in November of 2012 it was stated that "About 700 Fukushima evacuees still live on Okinawa Prefecture". If we bring this full circle 1000 people moving down to Okinawa over the course of what is about to be 2 years isn't much of a "flock" is it? 

It's also important to understand that a number of people who relocated to Okinawa chose to relocate here. There was never a time where planes full of people from the Fukushima area simply dumped them at the Naha International Airport with nothing but the clothes on their backs and nowhere to go. Some stayed with families and friends and others undoubtably stayed at the many hotels on the island until they could sort out the aid that was available to them from the Okinawa Prefecture. Does this mean that there were no people who came down here without a plan? No. But it is a misconception that people just magically appeared here hopeless and afraid. 

Now, when it comes to the "real story" as to how life has been effected here in Okinawa by these evacuees the answer is simply. . . not at all. There have been no shortages or lack of resources and no overwhelming swarms of evacuees roaming the streets with nowhere to go. Again the number of people who have come down here is relatively insignificant on an island with a population of 1,400,000 people (give or take) not to mention the tourists. The aquarium alone gets about 2.5 million visitors a year. This is not to say that there is absolutely no effect on Okinawa. Certainly the financial assistance that the prefecture if offering will have an effect on the prefecture itself. However, when it comes to the matter of every day life there has been no change or at very least the change has been incredibly minimal. 

As I said it's disappointing isn't it? Most stories are when they are not embellished or when important details which offer context to the story are taken out. Funny how leaving a few words out like "since 2011" can turn a flock into a trickle. Unfortunately that's the nature of the news when things are slow; drudge up what you can to make a headline. 

 

 

 

From Magazines to Radiation this is Fan Mail Friday!

It's Friday over here in Okinawa and you know what that means, it's time for Fan Mail Friday. If you are still not familiar with Fan Mail Friday it's a time when I sit down and answer all of the questions that you have sent to me throughout the past week. This week you guys asked some awesome questions so let's get right into it!

A while back I had posted a video about magazines here in Japan. If you haven't watched it or if you don't already know magazines here are a load of fun and many of them come with some sort of gift such as a hand bag or mirror. For men's magazines you might get a hand bag also (as that is part of the fashion here) or you might find yourself with some sort of a DVD. One viewer asked where I get these magazines and unfortunately I was unable to respond to their comment because of some sort of error or glitch but I would like to answer that question now. All of the magazines that I get are usually purchased from FamilyMart or Lawsons. Of course you can purchase magazines in various other places like at book stores or shopping centers but as the convenient stores are by my house I usually find myself purchasing them from there. As I am sure that at least one of you reading are curious I am not sure if any of these magazines can be purchased online but if you purchase them here they are very affordable especially with the handbags and other items that come with them.

Another viewer asked me What are some good places to visit/live in Japan? This is an interesting question. The fact of the matter is that good places to visit or live in Japan are really different from person to person. If you like living in the city then you are most likely going to like living in one of Japan's cities where as if you like to live in the countryside then one of Japan's countryside's are going to be better suited for you. It's really not as simple as saying that one part of Japan is better than the other. Comparing Tokyo to Okinawa, for example is apples to oranges. The same is true for visiting a part of Japan. If you find yourself uncomfortable in the city, for example, you are not going to be comfortable in Tokyo because it's a city and there is a lot of hustle and bustle. In my own personal opinion I would be happy to live anywhere in Japan other than Hokkaido but that is just because I cannot stand the cold. If it were not for the cold weather I would happily live there too if I could. As for visiting Japan, again in my personal opinion, I believe that all parts of Japan are good also. Each different part of Japan has a different culture and different characteristics of how they go about daily life and to experience that is definitely something worth taking time to do if you have the means. Again it is all up to you.

I received another question from a viewer who asked am I concerned about the radiation in Tokyo. The person had also posted on another video that I needed to "get out now". Since the disaster that had happened over a year ago I had not approached this topic because aside from family back home in the US I had never been asked about it but I wanted to take a moment now to answer this question. I am in no way concerned about the supposed levels of radiation in Tokyo. There really is no more simple way to say it than that. The people of Tokyo have not been at risk of any grave danger due to radiation since this disaster over a year ago. That is not to say that there have not been precautions taken. This ensures that children, who are most susceptible to harm, are taken care of but this is precautions. I am not concerned about the food, I am not concerned about the water, I am not concerned about the air quality. Then there is the comment of how I need to "get out now". I am going to give  this person the benefit of the doubt and assume that they meant to ask me what my feelings are on staying in Japan rather than trying to tell me that I need to leave my home and life here in Japan. There is no reason to leave Okinawa or any other part of Japan for that matter (other than Fukushima) after the disaster that happened over a year ago. I do realize that for most of you who are on the outside looking in it seems like the easy route to say to get out of Japan because you may not be familiar with the geography of the country or the many other places where it is safe to live within the country. Imagine for a moment something happened in Boston and others were suggesting that the entire state of Massachusetts was evacuated. That sounds a little ridiculous as is the suggestion that Japan should be evacuated. My true and honest opinion of this is that there is a lot of panic created due to a lack of understanding. There is no denying that this is a topic that most do not understand, in fact I would wager that many people have learned more about nuclear energy and radiation now than ever before. What is troubling is where this information is being gathered from. I had watched one video of a person who sited an article by "Steve" with no last name who happened to hold a variety of degrees in the subject matter but did not state where the degrees came from. It does not take a lot to tell that this is not a good source of information. Nevertheless this information gets spread because it is the most alarming and at the end of the day the shock factor is what gets the ratings both on Youtube or on your local news station.

Now, as you will notice above there is not a lot of factual information presented to make my case nor are there sited sources as to what I have read over the past year which has given my the opinion and view that I currently have. I have done this for a reason. My blog and VLOG post are not the kind of informative that will give you a lesson on everything radioactive and nuclear. If you would like to learn about that there are a number of specialists out there who can help you out. Here in my blog you are going to get the information through my eyes and as far as this situation goes my eyes see that there are a lot of people who are on the outside looking in kicking and screaming about something that they do not fully understand.

This is basically all that I have for you right now. I have another topic that I am going to be discussing in another post because of the length but keep an eye out for that. Thanks for reading!

 

 

Thoughts on Tokyo Safety

I have recently been asked a question regarding travel to Tokyo. The reader who had sent me an email asking my thoughts on radiation and food safety in the Tokyo area. After reading this question it took me a minute to really collect me thoughts on how I do feel about the radiation and food safety in the Tokyo area. I have not made any videos about this topic to date nor have I really taken the time to talk about it in any form of media but seeing as how I received the question via email I figure now is as good a time as any.

When it comes to radiation in Tokyo I quite honestly have absolutely no concern whatsoever. I realize that this may not be the interesting answer that some of you were hoping for but it is my answer regardless. In fact I have absolutely no concern for radiation or food safety in the area of Tokyo. To be completely honest and terribly boring that is really all that there is to say. Why do I not have concern? Well, why are you (some of you at least) not concerned about the amount of radiation which you receive going through a full body scanner like the ones now used in the US or the amount of radiation you then receive going up in a plane and flying cross country and/or across the ocean. I really think that it all comes down to asking yourself the right questions.

If there is a harmful amount of radiation in Tokyo (and I am not saying that there is) it would not be enough to kill you on the spot because there are thousands still living, working and visiting the city daily so it's a matter of what long term risks you might encounter. Maybe there is a chance you could get cancer. . . . . ok. There is always a chance that you can get cancer. Cell phones, tattoo ink, fried foods, microwaves, motorcycles, car engines, preservatives, smoking, breathing in polluted city air and plastic bottles (just to name a few) are all some of the things that can also cause cancer and we are consumed by these things each and ever day not to mention the things that could kill us on the spot like car accidents. The question then becomes where you are willing to draw the line. Are you willing to possibly not experience something amazing because there is a little off chance that it could end badly? For me the answer is no. I am not willing to not do something because of the off chance that in the lottery of what we call life I might just pull a card which could give me negative health risks. The same goes for food and food safety. I know what foods to avoid just in case and I know what foods I am going to enjoy. I also know that there is as much higher risk of me getting sick from food that is not cooked properly than there is from me eating something that happened to be irradiated. Again it comes down to what risks you are willing to take.

My real concern while I am in Tokyo. . . . earthquakes. I know that there have been a great deal of earthquakes still happening in the central to northern part of Japan and this causes some concern for me. I want to make sure that not only am I safe but so is my mother who is not used to the feel of the ground shaking under her feet. I have taken real life preparations for this installing various applications which detect earthquakes on my phone as well as having a plan for what to do in the event that there is an earthquake and tsunami during the time that we are in Tokyo. Again does the fact that there are still earthquakes concern me, yes but will it change my plans to travel to Tokyo, no.

Ultimately you only live once and you can choose to sit in the house or you can go and see the world.