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Parents live with radiation fear in shadow of Fukushima nuclear plant

39 Comments
By Shingo Ito

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© 2011 AFP

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I would move out period if I lived in Fukushima-city or points east if I had children. Cancer/Radiation poisoning is serious stuff and I don't trust this government enough to take the necessary precautions to prevent this from happening. Better to take a drop in pay/lifestyle comfort now and to live than to have you and your offspring unnecessarily die because you couldn't bring yourself to relocate.

7 ( +7 / -1 )

gaijinmonkey. "I was living in Tokyo and the radiation was making me feel tired and run down. It took about a month to get out of my system after I left and I feel much better know but I am pretty sure that it will have done some long term damage to my body. "

What utter and complete nonsense!! There was never enough radiation in Tokyo to cause you any harm. What was wrong with you is the same thing that was wrong with the rest of us. Exhaustion from the earthquake and subsequent worries.

I really hate the behavior of people who foster irrational panic. It is fine that you left Japan and I think that it was the right choice for many who did. But don't spread BS nonsense about radiation harm in Tokyo. It isn't helpful to anyone and it isn't based upon any kind of reality outside your imagination.

As far as Fukushima is concerned, that community does have something real to worry about. And if I had kids and were living there I would certainly move. The government has been greatly irresponsible in how it is taking care of the welfare of families in irradiated areas.

6 ( +9 / -2 )

I was living in Tokyo and the radiation was making me feel tired and run down. It took about a month to get out of my system after I left and I feel much better know but I am pretty sure that it will have done some long term damage to my body.

This has got to be the worse comment of the year! Do you really believe that? Have any medical data to back up this outlandish claim? I live in Tokyo as well and I feel exactly the same since before March 11.

4 ( +8 / -4 )

The children will get sick..that is why they keep saying "No Immediate Health Risk" ad nauseam...they think it is gonna save their ass.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

And as far as I know, these offers never reached the general population, the ordinary people. They got lost in some government office.

Pride over Suffering, how convenient.... -_-

4 ( +4 / -0 )

The Gov will try to keep these radioactive people "fenced in" and that is what you are seeing. Dosimeters (sticks/card) and the charger are very cheap and should have been dispersed from day 1.

Eat lots of (non-radioactive) fresh veggies, rice, water. Maybe look into zeolite or DMSA to pull out the metals -but be careful since Calcium is also a metal (bone-loss)

I would move out as a family if I could. If that is not possible -move the kids to others and stay behind for the work/home. Get a good radiation meter that is portable and test everything to keep yourself safe.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

I am lost for words to the plight of the Fukishima children and thier parents. I find it hard to understand how any goverment can be so negligent in regards to the long time phisical and mental health deteriation that may be levied upon these families.As far as I can see the the goal posts are being moved constantly in the estimation of acceptable levels of radiation.Advising parents not to over react if thier children experience bleeding or diarhorrheoa is not the sort of advice a parent is likely to trust given the present circumstances. Its time to evacuate and should have been done weeks ago.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Japan’s central government downplayed the concern, with the education and science minister, Yoshiaki Takagi, stating that the level was too low to affect children’s health immediately.

This corrupted government does nothing to protect the people, in fact they prefer to advice the people to stay rather than spend money in evacuating them. Saving money is more important than saving human lives, especially children's lives. The following link, originally provided by TokyoKawasaki, shows how this shameless government subhumans show no difference or emotion at the begging of several Fukushima Residents in a Press Conference.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVuGwc9dlhQ

These overpaid bureaucrats say its safe and secure to stay, but then you have:

One radiation expert, Toshiso Kosako of Tokyo University, quit his government advisory job in tears in April when the radiation limit was raised, saying he wouldn’t expose his own children to those levels.

Government Corruption/Deceit @ its BEST!!! The Japanese Government kills its own people in order to save money!!!

p.s. We don't welcome this government trash in my hometown of Ishigakijima, Okinawa. They must stay out of here!!!

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Japan’s central government downplayed the concern, with the education and science minister, Yoshiaki Takagi, stating that the level was too low to affect children’s health immediately

If I hear the word immediately used as a qualification of the risks of this exposure one more time, I swear I flip out.

Any idiot knows that people are concerned over the long term effects of this exposure. The only people that should be reassured by this are 80+ year olds.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

I would be willing to do anything legal including shoveling pig dung to feed my children. There are plenty of jobs posted at "Hello Work."

If you already carry a mortgage (on a house you can't sell, or that may not even exist any more) plus all the other detritus of life that is fine when things are going well and doesn't disappear overnight when things take a turn downhill, you'd probably find that shovelling pig dung would not pay enough to feed your kids.

There are not plenty of jobs posted at Hello Work. And your 'I've got a good job so anyone who hasn't is lazy/alcoholic/mentally unstable/on drugs' is complacent, offensive and so wide of the mark I'm surprised you're managing to hold down your well-educated professional position, being so removed from reality.

3 ( +7 / -4 )

Japan’s radiation limit was raised from 1.0 to 20 millisieverts per year

Like I said, CONVENIENT~

3 ( +3 / -0 )

So you are saying you are comfortable with sacrificing the health of your children for your credit rating and a bunch of replaceable junk?

No, I'm saying that you're wrong to claim that Kyushu (or anywhere else) has lots of jobs and lots of accommodation just waiting for the people from Fukushima to walk into.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

I meant I WOULD NOT PAY my Mortagage if that is what it took to have enough yen to move away. My ratings would be shot but I would be more healthy in Mind, Body and Spirit.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

I feel really bad for the parents and the dilemma that they face. Three weeks ago I was in Fukushima in a small town just north of Fukushima City and my friends there with kids are sadly resigned to their fate. They don't trust the government at all, and they don't have the money to pack up and leave or even suitable places to evacuate to. This is the J governments shame!

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Can anyone clear something up for me? The other day, I had a big argument with my husband over the 20 millisievert limit they set for kids. He swears he has heard that they have changed their mind and brought the limit back down to 1 mlsvt per year again as a limit for children. But I cant find info on that anywhere, and this article doesnt seem to suggest that is true, if the ranges fluctuate in Fukushima city from 5 to 13 and yet people are still living there.

Is he right? Or is it still set at 20mlsv.

gaijinmonkey: Japan imports lots of different foods so i dont know where this "Japan doesnt import food" thing is coming from? Also, whenever I leave Tokyo I feel better after a few days - it`s city living that did that to you, coupled with stress and anxiety, not radiation! Glad you are feeling better though!

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Japan’s radiation limit was raised from 1.0 to 20 millisieverts per year

That is just criminal, how can you raise the limit 20 times?

2 ( +3 / -1 )

I have an idea! Since Fukushima obviously has been hit hard I propose we move the Diet, all govt, politicians, beaurocrates to Fukushima, they can all make offers & buy homes from families with kids in Fukushima, THEN those families could re-locate some where of their choosing & re-start!

Come Govt, politicians, you going to step up to this plate???? . . . . . .

Thought NOT!

2 ( +2 / -0 )

3Rensho. I think it was probably stress.

My partner got quite sick a week after the main quake. The shaking, the stress and worries. We took a weekend out of the city and she was much better.

Do not underestimate the strain that 3/11 put on all of us. Getting out of that for a while would certainly show up in how you feel. But it has nothing to do with radiation. It has everything to do with stress and trauma.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

Japan is not importing any food

Where did you get that idea? Japan is a net food importer and has been for decades.

As for the idea that radiation on Tokyo was making you sick, I live in Tokyo and like pretty much everyone else here I feel fine other than a slightly increased jumpiness about earthquakes. I think you'll find your issues were stress-related and brought on by worry, not the tiny doses of radiation you may have been exposed to.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Immediately after the disaster, my city offered home for 15 families from Fukushima and other affected areas.We have huge for the Japanese standards kindergarten/nursery , the air is clean and the production is local, plus we were going to cover all their expenses when they come-like electricity, water, food. Basically, it was going to be like long homestay. As far as I know, other such offers have been made from cities in my country and other European countries. And as far as I know, these offers never reached the general population, the ordinary people. They got lost in some government office.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

It's easy to say move away. I personally wouldn't not have paid my mortgage if that is what it took to have enough yen to move away. The TEPCO/J Govt is NOT compensating anyone living outside of the evacuated areas and the No Go Zone is really too small from a humane standpoint. Downplaying this crisis will cost lives which to me are priceless.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Since the crisis started on March 11, authorities have raised the exposure limit for children to that used for atomic plant workers in many countries but have sought to reassure families their children are safe.

This summarizes the authorities' argument that all Fukushima residents have to share some risk of health hazards at the time of nuclear crisis because they receive financial and material benefits (i.e., electricity) produced by a nuclear power plant. No wonder they can't make a choice to bury or destroy the reactors because they put economic interests above the health and safety of residents. Is this the reason why don't see any key agents--the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the MEXT, the Environment Ministry, etc.--other than the METI/NISA behind the scene?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

gaijinmonkey:

" I was living in Tokyo and the radiation was making me feel tired and run down. It took about a month to get out of my system after I left and I feel much better know but I am pretty sure that it will have done some long term damage to my body. "

Oh give us a break. Even assuming you caught some radiation in Tokyo, that would never be enough to give you immediate symptoms. Your symptoms are not radiation, it is Munchhausen syndrome.

0 ( +5 / -4 )

It's been 5 months! Too late to worry now the damage has been done. Keep up to date with your insurance as you will need it in the future. Throw excrement at any politician you see and make them stay as long as possible with you. My heart breaks thinking about the future. Should have, would have, didn't...

Japanese Government has shown itself as a selfish uncaring stupid gang of old men who need months to partially react to an emergency. I want to vomit when I read stories like this.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Really, it is a no brainer; move to kyushu as soon as possible.

Ah yes, because everyone has contacts in Kyushu, with accommodation and employment immediately available.

I was living in Tokyo and the radiation was making me feel tired and run down. It took about a month to get out of my system after I left and I feel much better know but I am pretty sure that it will have done some long term damage to my body.

Rubbish and poppycock. Like others have mentioned, Tokyo has not received enough radiation to make you feel ill. Your worries about it probably brought on psychosomatic symptoms aka hypochondria.

If I spend much more than three days together in Tokyo I start to experience bronchial trouble, have done for the past 30 years so it's nothing to do with radiation. It's just that the capital has too many cars, too many small workshops pumping muck into the atmosphere, and too many people.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

I feel great.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

@cleo Oh please! There are plenty and plenty of housing units and jobs in Kyushu. I guarantee you if people from Fukushima had the gumption to get off their butts and hitchhike with their children to Kyushu they would be housed and employed within a couple of days, no connections required. Everyone is sympathetic with the people in Fukushima and everyone knows of an empty house and has a friend who could use a good worker.

Not speaking for myself here, but I think you may find that a lot of people wouldn't accept those from Fukushima due to the stigma attached to being exposed to radioactivity.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

gaijinmonkey: I was living in Tokyo and the radiation was making me feel tired and run down. It took about a month to get out of my system after I left and I feel much better know but I am pretty sure that it will have done some long term damage to my body.

And of course you didn't suppose that it was just stress and anxiety doing that to you ?

0 ( +2 / -2 )

@cleo So you are saying you are comfortable with sacrificing the health of your children for your credit rating and a bunch of replaceable junk? I am not so cavalier and, would walk away from a mortgage and live in a tent in the mountains long before I would live in Fukushima.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

I think there needs to be a CLEAR message from the government, cause right now they are just feeding everyone BS. It's a crappy situation, sure everyone around the world knows that, but if this happened somewhere else, the government would give the citizens a better understanding of what is really happening and what the real risks are. In Japan they are NOT. I understand the Whole support Tohoku and Fukushima movement, But I think its time to cut the losses, everyone who is in an area that is high risk, should move. I for one don't plan to go near Fukushima for a long time, even though I love that place. I used to live there....

0 ( +1 / -1 )

@cleo Oh please! There are plenty and plenty of housing units and jobs in Kyushu. I guarantee you if people from Fukushima had the gumption to get off their butts and hitchhike with their children to Kyushu they would be housed and employed within a couple of days, no connections required. Everyone is sympathetic with the people in Fukushima and everyone knows of an empty house and has a friend who could use a good worker.

I promise if anyone evacuating Fukushima shows up in my neighbourhood I will have you staying in our community center within an hour, and a house or apartment and a job within a week, no sweat. And I an have your house furnished and children clothed in a week as well.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

If you think the Japanese government is so horrible, then get off your asses and help the people in Fukushima yourselves!

Yes, they are horrible!!! They haven't do anything since March 11th. Shameless corrupted government of our country deserves no sympathy.

Want some more evidence? Here you go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVuGwc9dlhQ (Japanese government killing its own people in Fukushima )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9sTLQSZfwo&feature=related (2011.07.27 国の原発対応に満身の怒り - 児玉龍彦)

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

How is this a nightmare dilemma? The correct course of action is elementary.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Oh please! There are plenty and plenty of housing units and jobs in Kyushu.

Yeah, that's why all those new graduates who couldn't find jobs before March were rushing down south. Oh hang on, no they weren't. Unemployment in Kyushu is higher than the national average. http://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/uploaded/life/1046073_1088021_misc.pdf

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

If you think the Japanese government is so horrible, then get off your asses and help the people in Fukushima yourselves!

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

"I was living in Tokyo and the radiation was making me feel tired and run down. It took about a month to get out of my system after I left and I feel much better now..."

I had the same experience. Each time I went home for any extended period, my health began to improve after approximately four weeks. However, I do not think radiation was the cause; I suspect it is dioxin...

-3 ( +3 / -5 )

"A nightmare dilemma." Really, it is a no brainer; move to kyushu as soon as possible.

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

@cleo Those graduates are just too lazy. I may be funny, being a well educated professional but I would be willing to do anything legal including shoveling pig dung to feed my children. There are plenty of jobs posted at "Hello Work."

Even at 6% unemployment rate there is work aplenty is you consider that at least 6% of the workforce are really really lazy, are alcoholics, have some kind of mental problem, on drugs, are changing jobs or worked for a company that went bankrupt.

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

I left Japan because the radiation is in all the food and depending on the winds it is in the rain and the wind. Japan is not importing any food and I do not trust the government to label where any food comes from or help its people. The government is way out of its depth and they have no idea what to do. They are worried about the mass panic which would happen if they did release the real data and tell the truth about what is happening at Fukushima.

I also think that there is large probability that another huge earthquake will hit Japan and cause more problems with the reactors and the large amounts of used fuel rods which are out of their cooling pools.

I was living in Tokyo and the radiation was making me feel tired and run down. It took about a month to get out of my system after I left and I feel much better know but I am pretty sure that it will have done some long term damage to my body.

I advise anyone who can, to leave - it is not safe.

-7 ( +6 / -13 )

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