Basho and Japan

Countries may fall, but their rivers and mountains remain. When spring comes to the ruined castle, the grass is green again. ~Basho

The radiation scare and some facts

The Philippines is again in the limelight at the BBC website when a prank SMS (allegedly from BBC) circulated here telling people that an acid rain from Japan will fall at 4PM last Monday. Some took it seriously so that drugstores were amazed at the sales of their iodine, the "medicine" to use to avoid thyroid cancer as a result of that radiation.

A government university even cancelled their classes and sent their students home.

In view of the radiation scare generated by the nuclear plants that were damaged in Japan during the strong earthquake last week, I am copying in full the text provided by Reuters on how much radiation should we take in for it to be considered fatal. Let us all be informed.

How much radiation is dangerous?

March 16 (Reuters) - Radiation levels in Japan remained a huge worry on Wednesday following explosions and fires at the Fukushima power plant. But there has been no indication that people away from the plant's immediate vicinity have been exposed to harmful amounts.

In Tokyo, only very insignificant amounts -- one that pose no danger -- have been detected.

Here are some facts about the health dangers posed by radiation:

• On Tuesday evening, radiation levels around Tokyo were less than 1 microsievert. While that is nearly 10 times normal readings, experts say that amount of radiation is very minimal and even smaller than a dental x-ray, which is about 10 microsieverts.
• Even if a person was exposed to that level of radiation in Tokyo all year round, that amounts to about one-third of the radiation from a single organ CT scan.
• People are constantly exposed to some level of natural radiation. They get exposed to tiny amounts through sitting in airplanes, routine chest or dental X-rays, and larger amounts through medical tests such as CT-scans and MRIs.
• Depending on the flight route, flying at a height of 40,000 feet exposes the passenger to radiation of between 3 and 9 microsieverts per hour -- far more than the levels seen in Tokyo so far.
• Generally, people are exposed to about 1 to 10 millisieverts of radiation a year from natural background radiation, caused by radioactive substances in the air and soil. One thousand microsieverts make 1 millisievert.
• A whole body CT scan, for example, gives a radiation dose of 20 to 30 millisieverts, while a single organ CT involves a dose of less than 10 millisieverts.
• Radiation is measured using the unit sievert, which quantifies the amount absorbed by human tissues. One sievert is 1,000 millisieverts.
• On Wednesday morning, levels at the Fukushima plant reached 10 millisieverts an hour before falling to around 3 millisieverts, Kyodo News Service quoted Japan's nuclear safety agency as saying. Early on Tuesday, the level peaked at 400 millisieverts an hour -- 20 times the annual exposure for some nuclear-industry employees and uranium miners.

Below are different levels of radiation exposure -- all measured in millisieverts -- and their likely effects on humans, as published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency:

• Exposure to 50-100 millisieverts: changes in blood chemistry.
• 500: nausea, within hours.
• 700: vomiting
• 750: hair loss, within 2-3 weeks
• 900: diarrhoea
• 1,000: haemorrhage
• 4,000: possible death within 2 months, if no treatment
• 10,000: destruction of intestinal lining, internal bleeding and death within 1-2 weeks
• 20,000: damage to the central nervous system and loss of consciousness within minutes, and death within hours or days.

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THIS WAS THE HOAX MESSAGE CIRCULATED IN THE PHILIPPINES

BBC Flash news : Japan Government confirms radiation leak at Fukushima nuclear plants. Asian countries should take necessary precautions. If rain comes, remain indoors first 24 hours. Close doors and windows. Swab neck skin with betadine where thyroid area is, radiation hits thyroid first. Take extra precautions. Radiation may hit Philippine at around 4 pm today. If it rains today or in the next few days in Hong Kong. Do not go under the rain. If you get caught out, use an umbrella or raincoat, even if it is only a drizzle. Radioactive particles, which may cause burns, alopecia or even cancer, may be in the rain.
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Should a nuclear fallout is imminent, here is a comprehensive guide on what to do. Please read PREPARING FOR NUCLEAR FALLOUT.

What is a SIEVERT?

Photo from postershowcase.info

Want to help Japan?

A few friends of mine have suggested coming to Japan to pitch in with the recovery efforts.  I appreciate your willingness to brave the radiological dangers of international travel on our behalf, but that plan has little upside to it: when you get here, you’re going to be a) illiterate b) unable to understand instructions and c) a productivity drag on people who are quite capable of dealing with this but will instead have to play Babysit The Foreigner.  If you’re feeling compassionate and want to do something for the sake of doing something, find a charity in your neighborhood.  Give it money.  Tell them you were motivated to by Japan’s current predicament.  You’ll be happy, Japan will recover quickly, and your local charity will appreciate your kindness.

~from Some Perspective on the Japan Earthquake

Japan: the blast of the wintry wind

The last time I posted a song from one of the soundtracks of Kill Bill (see my post- Why are the Japanese so poetic?) and appreciated the poetic language of the Japanese, an earthquake struck Japan. It was so hard my heart cracks along with the earth.

Now here I am again. I can't help but copy these poems posted at Paulo Coelho's blog. They are so beautiful that despite the sad tone, I think they should be shared. Noteworthy to read are the comments shared by Coelho's readers. Click on the link above if you want the original posting. Meanwhile, read on-

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As banked clouds

are swept apart by the wind,

at dawn the sudden cry

of the first wild geese

Winging across the mountains.

In a mountain village

at autumn’s end—

that’s where you learn

what sadness means

in the blast of the wintry wind.

Saigyo (XIIth Century)

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Each of the rain drops has a tale to tell

about the sorrows of people

about the hardships living things go through

about the arrival of sparrows.

Yamamura Bocho (XXth Century)

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Out in the marsh reeds

A bird cries out in sorrow,

As though it had recalled

Something better forgotten.

Ki No Tsurayuri (Xth century)

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The evening sky itself

becomes something to cherish

seeing in one of the clouds

the smoke from her funeral pyre

Murasaki Shikibu (XI century)

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Oh you yellow leaves

that whirl upon the autumn slopes

if only for a moment

do not whirl down in such confusion,

that i may see where my beloved dwells.

Kakinomoto no Hitomaro (8th century)

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Photo source

Prayers no longer needed

When the earthquake struck in Japan this afternoon I was not minding the news because I thought it was the same earthquake that struck them yesterday and I was also too busy doing a serious project. But when I checked my Twitter account, I was suddenly transported into that place.

Frankly, I was literally shivering when I saw the online feeds and cried later when the tsunami struck in certain parts of that nation, even reaching 10 kilometers inland. Subsequent tsunami warnings were given to the whole Asia Pacific region.

I was reminded of my dear friends there in Japan and I hope they were doing fine.

Consequently, several unwanted text messages kept my phone busy, telling me to pray as if the tremor in Japan could be undone if I pray. Of course, this was a commercial action from enterprising companies and individuals riding on the disaster to gain financially. Or from some zealous Christians who could think of nothing but blame the sins of the world for the disaster.

How insensitive! Or idiotic?

I don't think prayers would help now but are rather useless. What can you do?

However, immediate actions are rather necessary for those affected like helping residents or sending monetary donations to Japan. Can you believe that there are about 400,000 Filipinos in Japan? Helping and donating are noble causes worth pursuing. These are better than kneeling down and blame people for disasters.

Good luck to all of us. 

Pictures grabbed from several website sources.

Why are the Japanese so poetic?

(OH MY GOSH! JUST WHEN I HEARTFULLY FELT THIS SONG BY A JAPANESE AND POSTED IT HERE, A MASSIVE EARTHQUAKE HIT JAPAN!)

Meiko Kaji's Shura no hana

The Flower of Carnage

Begrieving snow falls in the dead morning
Stray dog's howls and the footsteps of Geta pierce the air
I walk with the weight of the Milky Way on my shoulders
But an umbrella that holds onto the darkness is all there is.
I'm a woman who walks at the brink of life and death
Who's emptied my tears many moons ago.
All the compassion tears and dreams
The snowy nights and tomorrow hold no meaning
I've immersed my body in the river of vengeance
And thrown away my womanhood many moons ago
On the behalf of heaven, they're our soldiers, the loyal, invincible and brave.
Now it's time for them to leave the country of their
Parents their hearts buoyed by encouraging voices.
They are solemnly resolved not to return alive, without victory.
Here at home, the citizens wait for you.
In foreign lands, the brave troops
Instead of kindness from someone
I do not care about
I rather prefer selifshness from you my beloved.
Oh, it the world a dream or an illusion?
I am all alone in jail.

Japan's Nissin recalls 500,000 noodles over insecticide fears

This just came in and there is no need to panic.

I don't know if the Philippines is part of the distributed Nissin Cup Noodles. But anyways, even if we are, it will take a few instances of sickness before the Bureau of Food And Drugs or some government agency, will recall the product. 

Remember the melamine scare? Most of our Asean neighbors have detected melamine on some products including the usual chocolate and baked goodies we love but BFAD was not able to take notice any of the tainted products except a very few.

Products from China or any other country is not scary. OUR BFAD IS.

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TOKYO (AFP) - - Japan's Nissin Food Products Co. said Friday it was recalling half a million cups of instant noodles over fears of insecticide contamination in the latest food safety scare to rock the country's consumers.

A 67-year-old woman vomited and felt numbness on her tongue after eating Nissin's Cup Noodle this week in the Tokyo suburb of Fujisawa, the city's health office said late Thursday.

The product was made at a Nissin factory in Japan. A series of previous scares have involved food imported from China.

The health office said on inspecting the Cup Noodle they had discovered paradichlorobenzene, the key chemical in bug repellent, but no puncture or other abnormality in the cup.

Nissin was voluntarily recalling around 500,000 cups made on the same factory line the same day, a company spokesman said.

They were sold at supermarkets in Tokyo and neighbouring areas with most of them already gone from store shelves, he said.

"We apologise for causing trouble to Cup Noodle lovers," Nissin president Susumu Nakagawa told reporters late Thursday.

However, he denied the possibility of contamination at the factory, saying it had never used or stored the insecticide and had seven security cameras watching manufacturing lines.

"It is unthinkable that the contamination occurred at our production lines," he said.

The noodles scare spread Friday as another company, Myojo Foods Co. of Tokyo, said it found instant noodles laced with paradichlorobenzene and naphthol, also used as bug repellent.

A man "poured in hot water and noticed chemical smells," said a health official in Yososuka, southwest of Tokyo. The man was unhurt as he did not eat the noodles.

Nissin, based in the western Japan city of Osaka, created instant ramen noodles as Japan's economy grew rapidly after World War II. Aimed at busy people on the go, it has since become a multibillion-dollar industry.

Japan has been on alert after a series of health scares involving food, mostly made in China.

Earlier this month one woman fell sick after eating frozen green beans imported from China, which were found to contain thousands of times the permissible level of pesticide residue.

News from Yahoo!

Cartoon from Radiused Corner