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Asahi: Fukushima meltdowns seen by many in Japan as nation’s great debacle — Worse than atomic bombings

Published: July 20th, 2012 at 9:58 am ET
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(Subscription Only) Title: Directing a documentary based on ‘lies’ captured by photojournalist
Source: Asahi AJW
Author: LOUIS TEMPLADO/ AJW Staff Writer
Date: July 19, 2012

A certain protocol exists for Japanese documentary screenings: When the lights come back on, audience members are handed a survey sheet to politely fill in. Director Saburo Hasegawa will have none of that. He wants people who see his movies to leave the theater and actively, if not aggressively, engage their world.

After all, that’s what the old man who is the subject of Hasegawa’s latest work, “Japan Lies: The Photojournalism of Kikujiro Fukushima, Age 90,” has been doing for decades.

[...]

Last summer, the director led the venerable photographer, who can barely walk, to farming communities in Fukushima Prefecture that were evacuated soon after the triple meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant following the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami of March 11.

For many in Japan, the Fukushima nuclear accident is the nation’s great debacle. For the photojournalist, however, it’s just one of three great “defeats” he’s lived through.

The first “defeat” was the unchecked militarism that led Japan into World War II and brought about the atomic bombings. Next came the folly of the high growth decades, bringing wealth but also complacency. And lastly came the events of last year in the Tohoku region.

[...]

Published: July 20th, 2012 at 9:58 am ET
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23 comments

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July 20th, 2012 | Category: Japan (Fukushima)
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23 comments to Asahi: Fukushima meltdowns seen by many in Japan as nation’s great debacle — Worse than atomic bombings

  • maax maax
    July 20, 2012 at 6:32 am

    I don't know if that was posted before, but there is a French petition with a text that sum up very well the concern with the reactor n°4.
    I know it's French, but there is a translation of the text here:

    http://fukushima.over-blog.fr/article-an-urgent-appeal-to-avoid-another-global-nuclear-disaster-108329137.html

    direct link to the petition:
    http://www.avaaz.org/fr/petition/Appel_urgent_pour_eviter_une_nouvelle_catastrophe_nucleaire_mondiale/?cfWvucb

    Would be great if an admin could create a news for that. :)


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  • Heart of the Rose Heart of the Rose
    July 20, 2012 at 7:44 am

    Debacle:
    1.chaotic failure: a sudden disaster, defeat, or humiliating failure
    2.breakup of river ice: a sudden breakup of river ice in the spring thaw, causing a violent rush of water and ice.

    Debacle: also means sudden disaster.
    It's a fair enough word ..I suppose.

    "Worse than the atomic bombings"?
    Unfortunately..I have to agree.


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    • dharmasyd
      July 20, 2012 at 10:47 pm

      Me too, Heart:
      >>>""Worse than the atomic bombings"?
      Unfortunately..I have to agree."<<<

      More people killed right off with the bombs, but the consequences and ongoing deaths from this are, at this point, incalculable and immense.


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  • arclight arclight
    July 20, 2012 at 8:01 am

    kikujiro 2

    Published on Jul 20, 2012 by AJWasahishimbun
    A scene from the documentary film "JAPAN LIES — The Photojournalism of Kikujiro Fukushima, Age 90 —"

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8j38cwH5bQ

    as a fellow wearer of facial hair…

    i like this dude!!

    saikato hantai!! :)


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  • arclight arclight
    July 20, 2012 at 8:21 am

    Photographer Fukushima Kikujiro – Confronting Images of Atomic Bomb Survivors

    Yuki Tanaka
    Kikujiro’s Lucky Escape from the Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima

    "..In the 1970s, Kikujiro became acquainted with many activists in Tokyo …… Among those students was a young boy by the name of Tokuhara Toru, who was a so-called “hibaku-nisei” (2nd generation hibakusha), referring to children born to hibakusha parent(s). His father, Katsu, survived the atomic bombing in Hiroshima and moved to Tokyo after the war. Kikujiro started visiting Toru and Katsu’s home and recording not only Katsu’s life but also the relationships between Katsu and his three sons including Toru. Kikujiro’s photographic reportage revealed the common fear among hibakusha generations of the effects of radiation on themselves and their descendants and how some eventually overcame the generation gap. Through Toru, he met many young hibaku-nisei, who were involved in political and social welfare movements in Hiroshima in the 1970s and recorded their activities as well.
    Another remarkable photographic accomplishment of the 1970s was a rare record of the ABCC’s autopsy room, research laboratories and other facilities. ….. Not surprisingly, the request was promptly rejected. Then he asked an editor of Bungei Shunju, a leading nation-wide monthly magazine, to make the same request…" :)

    http://www.japanfocus.org/-yuki-tanaka/3623

    blimey! read on..


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  • or-well
    July 20, 2012 at 8:24 am

    A debacle spectacle. The seafloor they spackle
    like a hole in a wall where once hung a picture
    of happier times in the Prefecture,
    while "restarters" cackle and protesters tackle
    the strictures restraining their full expression
    of desire to completely decommission
    the nuclear fleet against the wishes of the elite
    who would poison the land, the birds, the fishes
    and helpless children with decisions
    it's safe to occupy deadly land,
    the danger negated only by their command
    of the gated nuclear village, all being measured
    by their only precision – the lies they treasure,
    those not sated by past pillage of health
    (and the futures of kids, the only real wealth)
    the bringers of death, disease and despair,
    acolytes of false science, high priests of stealth,
    spewing dogmatic filth from their mouths
    as they tout a path forward to a point past repair,
    nuclear contaminated land, sea and air.

    Debacle? I also find "a complete failure; a fiasco"
    Abomination, obscenity, can a word encompass it?


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    • arclight arclight
      July 20, 2012 at 8:27 am

      double blimey!

      :o
      had to read it twice.. no three times..no…
      +1000


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    • majia
      July 20, 2012 at 12:19 pm

      Or-Well

      Your poetry is incredible.

      Next month I'm submitting my book on Fukushima for publishers to review and wonder whether you would allow me to use a few examples of your poetry?

      Email me at majiandsn@yahoo.com if you would consider this

      thank you


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      • or-well
        July 20, 2012 at 1:47 pm

        To majia:
        Yes, of course!
        Um, hope you pick ones where my spelling's OK.
        Never mind! Bad spelling makes it folksy!
        I hate to be – picky – but, well, um, ah, err,- it's or-well.
        All lower case. Always.
        HEY EVERYBODY GO READ majias' BLOG!!!!
        majia, would you let me know which ones you choose?
        Do I have to buy the book? Hehheh – kidding!
        Wow. Thanks. What a compliment.
        And to YOU majia, congratulations!
        Let us know how the process goes.


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        • majia
          July 20, 2012 at 2:16 pm

          Thanks Or-Well

          I will get your specific permission for the poems selected.

          If you want, you can send me your favorites via email or post in the comments on my blog.

          I've already run into some challenges with publishers – this material is too political for many of them so I cannot promise the manuscript will ever make it into print.

          (Free copy for you if it does)

          I've published before and never had this kind of difficulty.

          However, I've decided if I cannot find an established publisher to work with the manuscript I will simply self-publish…

          Paul Zimmerman used this approach for his EXCELLENT A Primer in the Art of Deception: The Cult of Nuclearists, Uranium Weapons and Fraudulent Science


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  • arclight arclight
    July 20, 2012 at 8:57 am

    Huge Anti-Nuclear Rally Yoyogi Park Tokyo July 16th 2012
    a young american kikujiro!! Ryan our man in tokyo!!

    part of the crowd source news network (i just made that up)
    Published on Jul 17, 2012 by freedomwv

    "On July 16th 2012 a massive of gathering of people from all across the island of Japan came together at Yoyogi Park in Tokyo for a day of music, food, activism and marching against Nuclear power. The people of Japan Occupied Yoyogi Park(the largest park in Tokyo located in the heart of the city). It was a massive showing of people of all ages and backgrounds. Another historic protest in Tokyo."

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWhWcjP2vyk


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  • TheBigPicture TheBigPicture
    July 20, 2012 at 1:08 pm

    Only a fool will consider nuclear power, as proven by the destruction one plant can do.


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  • arclight arclight
    July 20, 2012 at 6:41 pm

    Anti-nuclear demonstration takes over central Tokyo

    ublished on Jul 16, 2012 by PressTVGlobalNews
    Central Tokyo was taken over by the biggest anti-nuclear demonstration since last year's nuclear crisis at Fukushima. Organizers aimed for 100,000 attendees, though Japanese media reported 170,000 people joined.

    While anti-nuclear protests have been a weekly occurrence, today's national holiday brought out a wider spectrum of people. But no matter the age or the background, the message to this current administration was clear. We don't need nuclear power.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AMAV15StJ8


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  • arclight arclight
    July 20, 2012 at 7:02 pm

    Takashi's Dream
    from: Nick Aquilino

    akashi's Dream :
    Director: Nick Aquilino | Producer: Nick Aquilino
    Genre: Documentary | Produced In: 2006 | Story Teller's Country: United States

    Synopsis: The story of Takashi Tanemori, a survivor of the bombing of Hiroshima, which killed his mother and baby sister instantly and later on his father through radiation. He survived as an orphan, made his way to the U.S. to become a migrant worker, and was adopted by an American woman and became a model citizen, and was transformed from hate to love. Currently he is an advocate for the doctrine of forgiveness.

    http://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/4723/


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