I have felt many emotions since last Friday when the big quake hit Japan. I’ve been confused. I’ve been sad. I’ve been grief stricken. I’ve been scared. I’ve been logical. I’ve been thoughtful. I’ve also been pissed off.
That’s right, a few things have made me very angry about the events that have unfolded during the past eight days.
I of course cannot be angry about the actual catastrophe because it was out of the hands of all of us. Mother Nature had a beef to grind and unfortunately the people of Japan had to face the brunt of it.
I can’t be upset at the people of Japan. They did nothing to deserve this. I also cannot be upset at the fact that there were nuclear reactors near the water. There are nuclear reactors in many countries throughout the world and aside from two notable cases; there have never really been major problems with nuclear energy (someof you will probably disagree). There was also a large tsunami wall built in front of the reactor.
Japan, one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world is BY FAR the most prepared for earthquakes and tsunamis. They have building codes unlike anywhere else in the world. They have a tsunami early warning system. They have FREAKIN Nintendo, Sony and Honda robots!
None of this could have prepared them for a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and what we are now finding out, a 15 meter high tsunami in some parts along the coast.
So, I have shared with you that none of these events have made me angry. What does make me angry though is the irrational and sensational coverage of this catastrophe by some news organizations and (mostly) the way some European governments have handled the situation.
I realize that the situation around the nuclear plant in Fukushima is bad. If I were anywhere close to there I would also want to get the “Hell out of Dodge.” Things begun to get a little out of hand when several European countries began telling ALL of their nationals, no matter where they were, to get out of Japan. That was irrational and exaggerated.
Today I listened to the March 17th episode of CBC’s (Canadian Broadcasting Corportation) As It Happens and got more than a little ticked off. I wasn’t angry about the show because I am a HUGE fan of the hosts, Carol Off and Jeff Douglas, but a person they interviewed on yesterday’s show annoyed me.
On the March 17th, 2011 episode (14 minutes into Part 1), a Japanese woman married to a French national was interviewed. Now they had lived in the area close to the Fukushima reactor and were evacuated to Kyoto. I can obviously understand that. What got me was the fact that the woman explained how they were fleeing Japan to France on an emergency flight arranged by the French government because all of Japan was SOOOOOO dangerous! This woman and her family were now in Kyoto and wanted to get further away. She said it was because of the way her husband and all of his French friends felt and the “knowledge” they had of the situation.
This woman, who is also pregnant, said she had to get away from Japan so her baby would not be born deformed! Jeesh!!! Come on!
I can understand this woman being somewhat scared, but her interview was very uncharacteristic compared to most Japanese people I’ve heard interviewed or spoken to in person (I live in Japan and am married to a Japanese person). She explained that she felt this way because of her husband and his French friends in Japan. They were all getting the “Hell out of Dodge”!
Now, I’m not writing this to shit on French nationals or France. I’m pissed off because it is obvious that French media and the government (and many other media organizations) are doing a piss poor job off telling this story accurately.
Don’t get me wrong; I’m sure that the Japanese media and government are guilty of, at times, underplaying things, but……COME ON!!!!! Let’s not just make shit up!
Most expats living in Japan have very upset families in their native countries. In some cases I can understand. I live very far away from this crisis and do not want my friends and family to worry about me. My Kansai-based friends and I are very safe. Shoddy media reports about Japan cause a lot of concern and worry for our families. That’s why I’m miffed!
Here are a couple of examples of media exaggeration during the past week.
This one is from a British newspaper.
This one is a comparison of the BBC and the Huffington Post.
By the way, I have listened to CBC As It Happens everyday this week (I download their podcast) and I have found they’ve done a fine job covering Japan(I was just miffed about that woman they interviewed).
Showing posts with label panic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label panic. Show all posts
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Sunday, May 17, 2009
More Kobe Flu and a Sea of Masks
There are more people wearing masks in Kobe than you can shake a stick at! Of course, on any normal day of the year, no matter where you are, you'll see lots of people wearing masks. they are either fearful of spreading infections or acquiring them. Today is a little different. With 4 confirmed cases of domestic H1N1 here in Kobe (as of today).
Most schools in Kobe city and Osaka city have been closed due to the flu "hysteria"...and it truly is hysteria here in Japan, mostly to the sensationalizing of H1N1 by the Japanese media (they are really blowing things out of proportion!). I work just outside of Kobe City and am scheduled to work as usual tomorrow morning, but I have a feeling things might change later this week as the new flu seems to be spreading throughout Hyogo Prefecture.
I was told hat I had to wear a mask while working tomorrow so my wife and I struck out to find some at a local pharmacy. It wasn't such an easy task. Masks are going like hotcakes in these parts (medical masks are the Japanese "hotcake" for sure!). Eventually, after 5 or 6 pharmacies we visited apologized to us (in the ever polite Japanese way) about being completely sold out, we were able to find one package of masks for me at a pharmacy (or chemist for any fine folks from the British Isles who may be reading this)close to my house. I'll be ready to look like a doctor while going to work tomorrow morning. The question is, how many students will actually show up tomorrow?
Here's the latest news on the Kobe H1N1 from JapanToday:
Japan confirms 13 more flu cases; total domestic cases rise to 21
Sunday 17th May, 03:38 PM JST
OSAKA —
A total of 13 students from a high school in Osaka Prefecture and one in Hyogo Prefecture were confirmed to have been infected with the new strain of influenza A, the health ministry and local authorities said Sunday, bringing the total number of domestic infections in Japan to 21 in the two prefectures.
The confirmation follows the discovery of Japan’s first eight domestic cases of the new flu in Hyogo, which adjoins Osaka, on Saturday.
‘‘We need to be fully prepared to prevent the further spread of infections,’’ Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura told reporters.
The 21 cases exclude four cases discovered during onboard quarantine inspections at Narita International Airport among a group of Japanese students and teachers who flew home from the United States after a trip to Canada.
Of the 13 new cases, nine are from Kansai Okura Senior High School in the city of Ibaraki and none have traveled overseas recently, the Osaka prefectural government said.
About 110 students at the high school have shown symptoms of influenza since around Monday, according to the privately-run school.
The school will be closed from Monday through Saturday. Experts suspect a group infection at the school.
The other four of the 13 are from Kobe High School, a public-run school whose three students are among the first eight people confirmed to have the new flu.
The government on Saturday shifted the stage of its new-flu action program from ‘‘a period of overseas outbreak’’ to ‘‘an early period of domestic outbreak’’ and called for companies and schools in the areas concerned to allow individuals to avoid commuting during rush hours.
Commenting on the discovery of the first domestic infections in Japan, Masato Tashiro, chief of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases’ influenza virus research laboratory, said that community-level transmissions may have begun in Japan.
Tashiro, a member of the World Health Organization’s emergency committee, told reporters at the organization’s headquarters on Saturday that several hundred people in Japan may already be infected with the H1N1 strain of influenza A.See original...
Here is the latest coverage from the Japan Times Online:
Teens in Kobe test positive for H1N1
First in-country swine flu cases shut schools
Kyodo News
Schools in the Kansai region were shut down in three wards in Kobe and in the nearby city of Ashiya after a local high school student became the first of a spate of nine domestic cases of H1N1 swine flu.
The student, who has been hospitalized, is a 17-year-old male from prefecture-run Kobe High School who has never been overseas, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said.
Two other students from the school, a male and a female, also tested positive later in the day, along with five more people from a different high school in Kobe, and a high school student from Osaka Prefecture, the ministry said. Read More Here...
Most schools in Kobe city and Osaka city have been closed due to the flu "hysteria"...and it truly is hysteria here in Japan, mostly to the sensationalizing of H1N1 by the Japanese media (they are really blowing things out of proportion!). I work just outside of Kobe City and am scheduled to work as usual tomorrow morning, but I have a feeling things might change later this week as the new flu seems to be spreading throughout Hyogo Prefecture.
I was told hat I had to wear a mask while working tomorrow so my wife and I struck out to find some at a local pharmacy. It wasn't such an easy task. Masks are going like hotcakes in these parts (medical masks are the Japanese "hotcake" for sure!). Eventually, after 5 or 6 pharmacies we visited apologized to us (in the ever polite Japanese way) about being completely sold out, we were able to find one package of masks for me at a pharmacy (or chemist for any fine folks from the British Isles who may be reading this)close to my house. I'll be ready to look like a doctor while going to work tomorrow morning. The question is, how many students will actually show up tomorrow?
Here's the latest news on the Kobe H1N1 from JapanToday:
Japan confirms 13 more flu cases; total domestic cases rise to 21
Sunday 17th May, 03:38 PM JST
OSAKA —
A total of 13 students from a high school in Osaka Prefecture and one in Hyogo Prefecture were confirmed to have been infected with the new strain of influenza A, the health ministry and local authorities said Sunday, bringing the total number of domestic infections in Japan to 21 in the two prefectures.
The confirmation follows the discovery of Japan’s first eight domestic cases of the new flu in Hyogo, which adjoins Osaka, on Saturday.
‘‘We need to be fully prepared to prevent the further spread of infections,’’ Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura told reporters.
The 21 cases exclude four cases discovered during onboard quarantine inspections at Narita International Airport among a group of Japanese students and teachers who flew home from the United States after a trip to Canada.
Of the 13 new cases, nine are from Kansai Okura Senior High School in the city of Ibaraki and none have traveled overseas recently, the Osaka prefectural government said.
About 110 students at the high school have shown symptoms of influenza since around Monday, according to the privately-run school.
The school will be closed from Monday through Saturday. Experts suspect a group infection at the school.
The other four of the 13 are from Kobe High School, a public-run school whose three students are among the first eight people confirmed to have the new flu.
The government on Saturday shifted the stage of its new-flu action program from ‘‘a period of overseas outbreak’’ to ‘‘an early period of domestic outbreak’’ and called for companies and schools in the areas concerned to allow individuals to avoid commuting during rush hours.
Commenting on the discovery of the first domestic infections in Japan, Masato Tashiro, chief of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases’ influenza virus research laboratory, said that community-level transmissions may have begun in Japan.
Tashiro, a member of the World Health Organization’s emergency committee, told reporters at the organization’s headquarters on Saturday that several hundred people in Japan may already be infected with the H1N1 strain of influenza A.See original...
Here is the latest coverage from the Japan Times Online:
Teens in Kobe test positive for H1N1
First in-country swine flu cases shut schools
Kyodo News
Schools in the Kansai region were shut down in three wards in Kobe and in the nearby city of Ashiya after a local high school student became the first of a spate of nine domestic cases of H1N1 swine flu.
The student, who has been hospitalized, is a 17-year-old male from prefecture-run Kobe High School who has never been overseas, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said.
Two other students from the school, a male and a female, also tested positive later in the day, along with five more people from a different high school in Kobe, and a high school student from Osaka Prefecture, the ministry said. Read More Here...
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