Nuclear power plants, which were supposed to be efficient, instead offer us a vision of hell. This is the reality… We should have been working to develop alternative energy sources to replace nuclear power at a national level, by harvesting all existing technologies, wisdom and social capital. Even if people throughout the world had mocked us, saying, “Nuclear power is the most effective power generation system, and Japanese people are really stupid not to use it”, we should have retained the aversion to nuclear power that was triggered by our experience of nuclear weapons… It is the job of experts to rebuild broken roads and buildings, but it is the duty of each of us to restore our damaged ethics and values.
– One of my favorite authors, Haruki Murakami, gave an impressive speech criticizing Japan’s embracing of the nuclear energy policy. The full English translation can be found on facebook, or you can watch a video of Murakami giving the speech in Japanese on YouTube.This is the most crazily upsetting thing I have seen to come out of the Fukushima nuclear crisis. I can’t believe how the Japanese government is so shamelessly treating its own citizens this way.
This Is Important, You Should Know About It of the Day: A public meeting between members of Japan’s Nuclear Safety Commission and residents of Fukushima did not quite go as the government officials had hoped, with attendees demanding to know what is being done to protect residents from elevated radiation levels detected outside the government’s arbitrary 20km exclusion zone, and Nuclear Safety members responding that Fukushima residents don’t necessarily have the right to live a healthy life free from radiation exposure.
Residents are demanding the government do more to reduce radiation level or else provide financial support to those wishing to evacuate.
Meanwhile, Japan seems content to pass laws censoring reports reflecting negatively on their response to Fukushima’s nuclear radiation.
via thedailywhat
Via The Daily What
This was made two years ago by 30 Japanese university students upon reflection of their English language education in Junior High and High School. These are their thoughts and pieces of advice to students, teachers, and the “Monbusho” (Ministry of Education).
I know EXACTLY what they mean. I wish the whole nation could watch this.
(Thanks to Sally H. for showing me this)
Hanabi Season
Well, after an intense few days in the theater, the Charity Show is finally a wrap, and it’s back to my regularly-scheduled programming! I got up early and went for a run today for the first time in a couple weeks, and I’m getting ready to play my first music gig in several months!!
Summer is here and it is hot and humid as hell. We’re still in the midst of the rainy season in Japan, so the weather is shit most days, but we’ve actually managed to get pretty lucky with weekend weather so far.
And although they (obviously) do not celebrate the 4th of July here in Japan, summer here brings with it a great many festivals with hanabi (fireworks) shows, and the first one of the season in our area is this Wednesday in Nyuzen (the town next to mine). After that one kicks it off, there will be an average of one big fireworks display per week at various festivals throughout the prefecture!
For various reasons including travelling outside the country for a month, I managed to not see a single fireworks show last summer. To make up for that—and since I have no travel plans this summer—I’ve made it a goal to see as many fireworks as I can (weather permitting) before September. More specifically, I’ve got a schedule worked out and if I stick to it, then I should be able to catch at least 10 big fireworks shows over the next 8 weeks—maybe 12 if I feel up to some longer drives. It’s gonna be a great season!
Happy July 4th to all my American friends and family! Have a great holiday!
This past weekend was “Leavers’ Weekend” here, in which JETs and friends from all over Toyama go to a campground in the mountains for a night to celebrate our friends who are finishing their contracts and departing from Japan this year. It’s a bittersweet event, but it is marked by some absolutely gorgeous scenery. As I drove through the valley above, the fog lifted for a moment just long enough for me to pull over and snap a picture. I love seeing these areas of the country, and I love the fact that they are only a short drive away from where I live. My resolution this year is to see much more areas like this before winter comes.
Tonami Tulip Fair: Sayuri and I went to the Tulip Fair in Tonami (a little more than a 2-hour drive from my place) yesterday. These are some photos I took with my instant camera (called a “cheki” camera in Japanese) and scanned into the computer.
The first photo was taken from the top of a viewing tower and the image on the ground behind us is entirely made up of tulips. It is the 60th anniversary of the fair this year, hence the giant “60.”
We really lucked out with the weather, but I think I’m a bit allergic to tulips. My eyes gradually got more itchy and dry the longer we were there, and in the tulip museum building there was a room that smelled so strongly of tulips I couldn’t even enter it. Once we got back in the car and headed home, however, I felt okay again.
About Me
My name is Lawrence Denes.After spending 5 years studying Japanese language, culture, literature, and history in St. Louis and Kyoto, I now live in Japan, in a town that most Japanese people have never even heard of, lost amid the rice fields and vending machines.
Please feel free to ask me anything, or send me an email.
