Steven Thompson comments

I look forward to a day when we can talk about Fukushima normally. Most people don't study radiation, or look at anything besides news stories, and so it all sounds really scary and like this crazy invisible danger.

The truth of the situation is pretty close to what Christina Tsuchida described. Hundreds and hundreds of people working slowly and carefully, studying the effects with every step that they take. There's no conspiracy, just an awful accident that the people living and working there are desperately trying to overcome with every year. You want to help? Study, donate, or visit.

Don't trust the government? Fact is, you CAN test the areas yourself. There's no one stopping you. But, then again, you'd have to A) live in Japan and B) know anything about how nuclear power, radiation, or waste disposal works.

"They should test the sand" Yes, I'm sure it's just you, random person at home, who has thought of that for the first time. Definitely none of the international scientists working for the past 6 years.

Commenting here, you're not helping anyone. You're doing nothing to help Fukushima. Frankly, it has a more negative effect than anything, and that's unfair to the hundreds of people who spend every day working hard to fix the situation there.

There used to be a rippin' party there every summer called The Iwaki Beach Bomb...Anyone know if it's still going on?

Oh man! Is this where Beach Bomb used to be? I never got to go to the old one!

Also, John, I liked that you skipped over the "organized by a super nice ex-pat" bit, since it was clearly about you