An ATS member reports from central Tokyo: Part 2

reply to post by silent thunder

Hey that's great news! The shelves being stocked up is going to give people more confidence in the system for sure. What a relief.

I loved the note about the mother fussing over her children in Kimonos - that means normal things are going on

With all the talk of iodine and cesium showing up in Tokyo tap water - is there any discussion of that going around?

Very interesting posts these last couple of pages ST; especially your examination of the psychological effects of all of this. My impression is that the Japanese may try harder than most cultures to put on a good face while staring down adversity, but that even their stoicism has its limits.

The thought of possibly losing that control must be very frightening to them.

Double post sorry

reply to post by wayno


I would assume extremes entail their opposite in any human society... the seeds of extreme chaos are embedded in social constructs designed to impart extreme order; extreme civility by its very nature implies it's dark mirror image. History all too readily supplies example after example.

Seems like maybe every society oscillates between various pairs of opposites that define it...Japanese history is characterized by long periods of peace and relative prosperity (Heian era, Tokugawa Shogunate, post-WWII Showa era) punctuated by grimmer episodes (Onin war, Sengoku era, imperial 20th century, etc.). If you put stock in these "long cycle" theories of history the implications are unsettling.

From what I have seen, though, it's going to take something more jarring than what has already happened to bring things to that pass. This is why I have particular concerns about mass flight from Tokyo. Barring an event of that magnitude, the Japanese are better equipped to deal with this than I would have imagined possible. The level of courage, discipline, and cohesion in display is both inspiring and deeply impressive.

Do you know if they were monitoring the milk and spinach for radiation prior to the leak?

(Sorry for interrupting the D&M)


Curious to know what the levels were before in comparison to now.

Thanks

MM

... NO NEWS about radiation in Tokyo. My wife listens to the radio all day and she's heard nought.

... But she knows enough to know there might be another war beginning in the M.E..

So - we have nuke plants spewing out radiation into the atmosphere practically unimpeded. A new Gulf Oil spill. Another war in Arabland and Africastan. Earthquakes popping up all over the place. So what is it THEY're trying to hide?

Or rather just how far are THEY going to have to go to distract us from the most recent potentially world-ending disaster?

this is the headline from afp.com

I cant see anything further as I am not a subscriber..

OSAKA (AFP) - White smoke was seen rising from the number 2 reactor at the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant on Tuesday, Japan's nuclear safety agency said.

I followed news.com.au to it. Is it recent?

MM

I sm curious about this issue of supplies. From your stuff, I see that Tokyo seems to have inturruptions and there appear to be serious shortages in Tohoku, but the other hand the stores look good in your pictures and from your discription. Do you have any sense of the way logistics works there? Do you know how crippled those kinds of lines are? Because I think thisis a piece of the puzzle that is very important but we are not hearing about it in the news. It could be that shortages and panic might be more of a short-term problem than the radiation itself in terms of causing general mayhem in society.

reply to post by nmyfthst


what do any of your posts have to do with this thread in particular, and Japan in general? couldn't you post this nonsense somewhere else?

Click here for more information.

reply to post by MissMegs


Dear MissMegs, here is a link which has the latest news.
www3.nhk.or.jp...
There are links given by others if you care to read the earlier posts

reply to post by silent thunder


Dear ST, Short video clips of what you think is interesting taken with your handphone would be nice if it is not too much of a hassle. Please keep in touch with this thread whenever you have the free time so that we can know exactly what is transpiring in tokyo. Things may turn from bad to worst in the continuing days.

Thank You for giving us so much of your valuable time

You can't help but wonder about the quality and safety of the food they are restocking the shelves with. Taiwan reports finding radiation in Japanese beans. China rejects a whole cargo plane because of excessive radiation; yet who tests the food that gets moved around within Japan?

Is anyone doing this or are they just letting the people eat it as is? Were I there I would be more paranoid about this than just about anything else. You avoid the contaminated part of the country but the winds and the food chain bring the contamination right to your doorstep and your pantry!!

Originally posted by D377MC


I guess I'll have to search elsewhere for current information on these dramatic events.

If you have a specific line of inquiry, instead of bashing, ask the questions. What current information, specifically, are you looking for that a "man on the street" can provide you?