Going to Japan 2012

[Craghack]

Hi everyone,

Next year I plan to live and work in Japan in a place called British Hills for a year, (1-8 Shibakusa, Tarao, Ten-ei Village, Iwase District, Fukushima Pref) after sucessfully being accepted early this year.

However, after the big quake that struck Japan early in March and the radiation leaking out from the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant - I am worried.

I know very little of what the situation is like right now, despite reading the news, most of it is outdated by at least 2-3months and the stuff that's present still leaves you feeling blind.

I can't express how much I want this opportunity. I've always wanted to go to Japan and been learning Japanese at high-school for 4-5 years now. This is my last year at high school before entering University and I really want to take the next year off to enjoy myself and at the same time save enough money to cover my Uni fees and accomodation while I'm stuyding there.

If anyone knows any latest news on the situation in Fukushima, or is living somewhere in Fukushima Prefecture that can share a bit about what it's like there at the moment, that would be truely helpful and greatly appreciated.

Max

[siokan]

Ten-ei Village
radiation measurement data(JP)
http://www.vill.tenei.fukushima.jp/d...kkaichiran.pdf
http://www.vill.tenei.fukushima.jp/d...ekkagurafu.pdf

It goes if length-of-stay is within at half a year if it is me.

[Craghack]

Thank you Siokan,

You have given me some relief as to the situation in Ten-ei Village. If I read the japanese correctly, the radiation levels were measured in micro sievets - and it only keeps getting lower.

A Micro Sievet is 1000 milli sievets and 1000 milli is one sievet. (1 sievet is considered instant radiation sickness)

Phew! Glad we're far from it!

May I ask, where did you get the information from?

Thanks again,

Max

[acjama]

If I might suggest as somebody who had to disregard everything Japanese political sources tell me - do NOT look information inside Japan. Europe and USA both have extensive experience in these matters, the level of knowledge there is much higher. They do not need to be here in order to know better. Both European and US nuclear scientists publicly suspected meltdown when it was actually happening, instead of after several months like their Japanese counterparts. This is a recorded fact. Also, every radiation peak in Kanto area was predicted 12 hours before by combination of American weather data and SILAM simulations done by the Finnish Meteorological Institute (and several others, but I used this). All the peaks were confirmed by KEK institute at Tsukuba. Japanese politicos (government, local governments, Tepco, NISA, Tokyo University) revealed nothing during all this time.

About what you asked: you would probably be OK. You could get good connections as a foreigner who came to Fukushima during this time. The background radiation is 20x normal, but the smallest recorded radiation dose linked with cancer is 100mSv, and that would take about 10 years to accumulate with the present rate.

You would have to eat contaminated food "for the benefit of the local economy" or some crap like that. You would get cell damage, but those cells would die off anyway in about three months, which is their normal life span. Damage to DNA would not be so severe with such a low dose rate, so the regenerated cells would be healthy anyway. Body can fix all but the most severe DNA damage before cell division, so your future kid would probably have all fingers and toes. Unless you're the kind of Japanophile who prefers tentacles. Which might be a bit difficult to guarantee, though.

Gamma radiation from Cesium penetrates everything but the heaviest lead sheets, which is actually good news. Because of the penetration ability, there is 99% chance it won't even notice you while going through you without interacting in any way with your cells. Other radiation types (alpha, beta) are more interactive. But because of just that they can be blocked with, for example, a sheet of paper or a layer of air more than 10cm (4"). Neutron radiation is not good news, so avoid field trips to Fukushima nuclear plant in the next... 40 years or so (Chernobyl is 25 years and still going hot, so no quick fixes for Fukushima, either).

You would accumulate radioactive iodine (type beta) in your thyroid, creating a local radiation hot spot in your throat. Trust me, you don't want that. You might want to consider bringing food/spice products that contain clean iodine (I have not nor will ever recommend iodine medication, that stuff is way too concentrated). You would need a daily dosage of about 150 micrograms of iodine to keep your thyroid happy.

Radiation sickness and damage is NOT contagious. No more than an knife wound is. However, radioactive dust may transfer from clothing to clothing. If you're not in the habit of taking daily showers and using clean clothes, get one.

Wear a mask when it's especially dusty outside, wash your hands and face when coming inside, don't eat dirt, don't play in radiation hot spots, all that... Basically, increase and maintain your personal hygiene levels. Which is always a good idea in all occasions.

[Craghack]

Dear Acjama,

Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge. I realise the danger as you've outlined below - wasn't planning on playing around the Nuclear Plant, so no worries there

Just a quick question: You said the smallest recorded radiation dose linked with cancer is 100mSv. Is that micro or milli Sv?

Thanks again,

Max

[japan1234567]

World nuclear agency and nuclear countries said at least 40 km human free zone around Fukushima should exist. Meanwhile even in far Shizuoka famous green tea plantations are nuclear contaminated. It should maybe take 9 months to stop Fukushima irradiation! So, please be carefull. Kind regards.

[siokan]

Originally Posted by Craghack

May I ask, where did you get the information from?

Ten-ei Village web site
http://www.vill.tenei.fukushima.jp/
http://www.vill.tenei.fukushima.jp/k...isakuhonbu.asp
(Jpn lang only )
It is data that the municipality is originally measuring for the self-protection.

distance
distance.jpg

[Craghack]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and advice.

I need as much as I can gather

British Hills seems to be about 100km away from the damaged Fukushima Nuclear Plant, would you say it's a safe distance? It is also isolated and is 1000m above sea level in Hatori National Park.

[siokan]

If 100mSv radiation is bathed in during year, 1/100 people get sick.
The influence by the low value is not clarified from this in a present science.
In short, you can do nothing but self-judge it. ┐(´ー｀)┌

British Hills radiation measurement data(JP)
http://www.british-hills.co.jp/news/report210.html

British Hills seems to be about 100km away from the damaged Fukushima Nuclear Plant

87.9748 km (｀・ω・´)

Though it is an unrelated story... British Hills seems to be drawn in the anime.

[JohnBraden]

Seems like a bit of picturesque, if not a bit stereotyped, England in Japan. The houses do appear to look English!