Re: <nettime> Japan – Fissures in the Planetary Apparatus

[sachiko hayashi <look@e-garde.com>]

hi,

i can second the sentiment david is talking about here.

as an expat from tokyo, ever since the 3:11 earthquake/tsunami happened, i have been busy, most of the time against my own will, trying to calm down the people around me who have been swept into the mass media hysteria in europe and america.  every time the hysteria happens, my impression is things get worse for those who actually live in japan.

the hysteria was at its worst when the us nrc chairman g. b. jaczko publicly put forward his speculation on reactor 4.  this created huge mass hysteria abroad; britain, for example, whose news up until then had been much more sound than american counterparts, changed its attitude. this was followed by the british embassy's sudden recommendation to its citizens to flee tokyo.  just a day before, the embassy had laid a recommendation to its citizens that was in line with the policy of the japanese government.  now everything changed.  the message was somehow clear : "do not trust the japanese government."

being abroad and having opportunities to check into japanese news and press conferences as well as bbc, skynews, cnn, nbc, and swedish news,  i was shocked by the gap between the japanese news and the news outside japan.  to my ears, the news abroad sounded much more emotional and panicky while the japanese news drily concentrated on the facts, numbers, etc.  this despite the fact that many outside japan believed people in japan were not being adequately informed. 

following all of this, i posted daily what i have heard on nhk on my fb wall just to show what kind of information those in japan were receiving.  this seemed to have calmed down some, at least did away with the impression japanese were being excluded from the crucial information about the fukushima daiichi plant.  but now when it is clear  containment of the plant has not been as easy as it was first believed and high radiation being detected around the plant, the hysteria started once again. and this time even with a greater force.  not only the japanese authorities' but also IAEA's and WHO's integrity and credibility are being questioned this time.  many anti-nuclear activists seem to try to grasp this opportunity for their own agenda by forgetting the fact there are real people involved here.

as david says here, we are all trying to get back to normal, even us who don't live in japan but have families there.  i have earlier stopped following the news, trying to get on with my life - but friends in america and sweden (where i live atm) keep sending me links to articles, etc., making it exceedingly difficult to do just that, especially when some of the info described there are complete gibberish or misinformation.  

sachiko

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