information about Fukushima published in English in Japanese media info publiée en anglais dans la presse japonaise
17 Juin 2014
June 14, 2014
Editor's note: This is the eighth part of a new series under The Prometheus Trap heading. It centers on the involvement of imperial family members with victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, as well as the Fukushima nuclear accident. The series will appear on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
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It's not easy saying no to the emperor, but in this case his minders had a point.
Emperor Akihito wanted to fly over the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant even though radiation was spewing from the facility following the triple meltdown there. It was a gesture he clearly thought would resonate with residents during his tour of the northeastern prefecture that hosts the stricken plant. But his aides talked him out of it.
This vignette helps to illustrate the intense preparations that Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko made for their trip to Fukushima Prefecture in May 2011, about two months after the earthquake and tsunami disaster that triggered the nuclear crisis.
They patiently sat through explanations offered by about 20 experts and government officials, including a dozen or so specialists of nuclear energy and radiation.
Grand Chamberlain Yutaka Kawashima, 72, confided in one expert that Akihito wanted to visit the nuclear plant, which by this time had been torn apart by hydrogen explosions.
Kawashima then reported to the emperor that such a visit would be difficult. At that point, Akihito inquired about flying over the nuclear plant in a Self-Defense Forces aircraft.
On April 20, 2011, Tokyo Electric Power Co. disclosed that meltdowns had occurred at three reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. Two days later, local residents were prohibited from entering a 20-kilometer radius of the nuclear plant and the evacuation process went into high gear.
It was against this backdrop that the imperial couple prepared for their Fukushima visit.
Makoto Watanabe, 78, a former grand chamberlain, said, "His majesty always thought about the hibakusha in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, so he clearly understood the suffering caused by the after-effects of radiation. He was greatly interested in the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident."
Whenever Akihito met with anyone from Europe who had been affected by the Chernobyl disaster, he would ask about the effects from the accident.
Watanabe also recalled what Akihito said after the Cold War came to an end with the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
"With this, an accident like Chernobyl will no longer occur," the emperor said. "With the wall gone, information flow will be smoother so there will likely be no recurrence of a difficult situation in which people do not know what is happening."
Takao Kikori, 57, an official with the Fukushima prefectural government, was contacted in early April, not even a month after the Great East Japan Earthquake, by an official with the Imperial Household Agency and told that the imperial couple wanted to visit Fukushima Prefecture.
Fukushima Governor Yuhei Sato, 66, was eager to host the visit and show the imperial couple the sights, so to speak. On April 15, he formed a team within the prefectural government to prepare for the visit.
By then, the imperial couple were fully cognizant of what they would be facing.
On March 15, 2011, they were briefed on operations at nuclear plants and safety measures from Shunichi Tanaka, 69, who was then vice chairman of the government's Atomic Energy Commission. Tanaka now serves as chairman of the Nuclear Regulation Authority.
They also listened to various experts talking about radiation and its effect on human health.
Farm minister Michihiko Kano, 72, met with the imperial couple on April 13 and told them how the crisis had affected local agriculture and fisheries industries.
Akihito asked him, "Where will fishermen make their base in seeking to reconstruct their industry?"
On April 26, Kohei Otsuka, 54, senior vice minister of health, was called to explain what measures were being taken for medical care in the disaster-stricken areas.
When Otsuka explained about radiation standards for food, he was asked about the effects on children. That led to questions about radiation exposure levels for workers in the disaster areas as well as the removal of rubble.
Akihito asked, "Are adequate measures being taken to deal with asbestos?"
Otsuka said, "We are being sufficiently aware of the problem. The workers are all wearing face masks."
He was taken aback when Michiko then asked, "Are they using N95 masks?"
She was referring to masks designed to shut out even the smallest particles and which meet standards set in the United States. Ordinarily, a layman would not have this depth of knowledge, which was why Otsuka was so surprised.
After about an hour, a chamberlain entered the room, the signal that the lecture was over. The chamberlain called out, "Your majesty." Although Akihito nodded, the questions directed at Otsuka did not stop.
The third time the chamberlain entered the room, Otsuka finally said, "I believe the time has come." He had extended his stay by 40 minutes.
Two days before the scheduled visit to Fukushima, the imperial couple heard from Yasuhito Sasaki, 77, an executive director of the Japan Radioisotope Association.
"Their majesties were especially concerned about the effects of radiation on children," Sasaki recalled.
June 17, 2014
Editor's note: This is the ninth part of a new series under The Prometheus Trap heading. It centers on the involvement of imperial family members with victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, as well as the Fukushima nuclear accident. The series will appear on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
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Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko stocked up on fresh vegetables when they visited Fukushima Prefecture exactly two months after the nuclear accident triggered by the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami.
Any fears they had about radiation are not recorded.
Their first stop was an evacuation center set up at the Azuma gymnasium in Fukushima city. Because the gymnasium was in the western part of the city, airborne radiation levels were comparatively low.
Takao Kikori, a Fukushima prefectural government official, was anxious about welcoming the imperial couple when radiation was still a major concern.
However, an Imperial Household Agency official told him, "Their Majesties feel there will be no problem in visiting areas where people are still living."
Kikori, now 57, initially proposed that the couple visit a central area, rather than coastal locations that were much closer to the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
An agency official said the imperial couple wanted to visit a coastal area that had been inundated by tsunami. However, the official also said the couple would be using a Self-Defense Forces helicopter to get around in Fukushima.
Kikori was relieved to hear that as radiation exposure would be less of a concern.
Shingo Haketa, the grand steward of the Imperial Household Agency, pondered whether the imperial couple should wear protective gear.
Haketa, now 72, quoted the imperial couple as saying, "There would be no need for excessive caution for ourselves if local residents are going about their daily lives without protective clothing."
In the event, the couple wore their normal clothes throughout the visit.
Fukushima Mayor Takanori Seto had mixed feelings about welcoming the couple to his city. While many of the evacuees were from the coastal part of Fukushima that experienced so much tsunami damage as well as radiation from the nuclear accident, residents of his city also faced similar concerns about radiation exposure.
"Damage from radiation is fundamentally different from tsunami damage," Seto, now 67, said. "Because it is invisible, concerns are amplified. It eats at people's souls and there are negative psychological effects, even with the passage of time. For that reason, it becomes a major barrier to reconstruction."
A pitch was made for the imperial couple to stay overnight, but the idea was shelved because there was no place adequate to accommodate them. Agency officials also initially said not to worry about providing lunch because "bento" box edibles were arriving from Tokyo.
In the end, however, the imperial couple tucked in with locals. Seto lunched with the imperial couple.
"The emperor mentioned that Fukushima was known for its fruit, such as peaches, and he expressed concern about negative publicity that could hurt such produce," Seto said.
The imperial couple had made it known beforehand that they wanted to purchase vegetables grown in Fukushima to take back to Tokyo.
The prefectural government prepared three boxes containing various produce: strawberries, broccoli and other items.
One box was taken back to the Imperial Palace and the two others ended up with Crown Prince Naruhito's family and Prince Fumihito's family.
The final stop in Fukushima Prefecture was the Nakamura Daini Elementary School in Soma. As the imperial couple rode in the SDF helicopter, they also observed a moment of silence at 2:46 p.m., the exact time two months earlier when the magnitude-9.0 earthquake struck the Tohoku region.
After meeting with evacuees at the elementary school, Akihito and Michiko thanked local police, firefighters and volunteers who had assembled at the entrance hall.
Among those who talked to the imperial couple was Toshiaki Kainuma, commander of the 13th Brigade of the Ground SDF based in Hiroshima Prefecture.
Akihito told Kainuma, now 57, "Thank you for all of your efforts to help victims of this calamity."
The 13th Brigade arrived in Soma on March 15, 2011. From May 4, members of the brigade entered Namie, which had been designated a no-entry zone because it fell within a 20-kilometer radius of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant while radioactive materials were spewing. Brigade members searched for the missing and removed rubble washed inland by the tsunami.
They traveled one hour from their base camp to enter the 20-km radius and worked for two hours wearing protective gear before returning to the camp to undergo testing for radiation exposure.
The imperial couple peppered Kainuma with questions.
Akihito asked, "Aren't family members of brigade members worried because they enter the 20-km zone?"
Kainuma responded, "We held an explanatory meeting beforehand for family members and explained that brigade members would be all right because they would wear protective clothing."
Michiko asked, "What sort of measures are you taking against radiation?"
Kainuma said, "We have established maximum accumulated exposure levels for women members to protect their bodies."
Michiko also asked, "What are you doing about health maintenance and psychological care?"
Kainuma was struck by the concern shown by the imperial couple about brigade members as this was a time when the psychological stress they were experiencing was becoming a major issue.
Younger members were not familiar with seeing so many dead bodies. In disaster-stricken areas, it was not uncommon to come across bodies that were severely disfigured or to handle the corpses of infants.
To shield SDF members from the psychological burden, teams of doctors and clinical psychologists had been formed to conduct counseling meetings.
Amid a light drizzle, the imperial couple visited the Haragama and Obama districts of Soma near the coast. When they were told tsunami had claimed 146 lives as of May 11, 2011, the imperial couple folded their umbrellas and bowed silently in the direction of those areas.
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