Latest Disaster News About Fukushima Accident - Media Coverup?

The foaming at the mouth panic and fear mongering about Fukushima is dying down. The peanut gallery is taking their toys and heading home. The reason why you don't hear much about Fukushima is not because there is a coverup, it's because things are predictable and getting under control.


Now, the worst thing that is going to happen is how people from that area will most likely be discriminated against. I received a few excellent comments from some long time Japan expert friends who are quite knowledgable about Japan, her history and society. I'd like to share their wisdom with you.


The first is from my friend Graham Carpenter who writes:  

The big and real damage to Fukushima from this nuclear accident is how Fukushima will now be known as the radioactive prefecture, and its citizens will be discriminated around the country as if they are mutants. Sort of like how Hiroshima and Nagasaki victims were initially treated. And, of course, this is further accelerated with all the doomsday reports and predictions. 

The second is from Michael Di Stacio who runs the Rock Challenge Japan Charity who adds:

Speaking with children in Fukushima recently. Their fear of being "labelled" like lepers if they come to Tokyo is very real. The Mayor of Tsukuba a few months ago fed the ignorance. But me thinks that the past Hiroshima/Nagasaki mentality of stigma will smear Fukushima for some time ... due to an archaic education system and small, uniformed minds - both the products of an infantile media system and self-serving politicians.

THE FORTUNES - YOU'VE GOT YOUR TROUBLES, I'VE GOT MINE

So thanks to all those morons who were scaremongering and claiming doom. As if these people in Fukushima and Tohoku don't have enough problems of their own without having you clowns (who live hundreds, if not thousands of kilometers away) scaring people by writing and talking about BS.


The good news is these jerks are starting to fade away. Thank god for that.


Also, my hate mail is also decreasing.

The last mail I got (along the lines of claiming that I was a paid agent for the nuclear industry) was from a guy who was several weeks late to a party where I was blasting a guy named Arnie Gundersen for scare mongering and stating ridiculous things about Fukushima and the nuclear accident problem in Japan. The last article that I had written bashing Gundersen, entitled, "Radioactive Air Filters in Cars?" was written on June 16th, 2011 about Arnie's nonsense claims of car air filters in Tokyo being found with dangerous levels of "Hot Spot" radiation that will surely kill us all but couldn't be detected with a Geiger counter. That post was penned in mid-June.... 

The anonymous reader finally got around to reading that story (at least three weeks late) and wrote to me yesterday on July 6, 2011. His letter is funny in a conspiratorial sort of way. I laughed. I hope you get a chuckle out of it too. The guy jumps right into it when he comments:

"At this point, calling Gundersen names puts you in good company...every other nuclear official/scientist (all bought off by the industry) that said nuclear containment issues were a zero percent probability."

Ha! Ha! laughable. "Every other nuclear official/scientist"!? Oh really? EVERY!? All of them? This guy sounds just like Gundersen. They're both just like the child who begs mom for a new toy "because everyone has one!" They are also like the rest of these people (like Global warming alarmists, Swine Flu, Bird Flu, etc.) who always say the end of the world is upon us. They make these wild claims and yet fail to back them up with names or links (remember when "they" said that "2,500 of the word's top scientist agree about man-made Global Warming"? Ha!). 

OK, anonymous reader, name one of these "Every other nuclear official/scientist" (who aren't in the pocket of the nuclear industry) please. It's heartening to know that Gundersen stands like the rock of Gibraltar, alone, against the elements of evil.


Guffaw! 

Then, on top of that, he goes and make the even more idiotic claim that these unnamed nuclear official/scientist(s) were "bought off by the industry"? Oh, please.... Got any receipts?

Folks, it is truly embarrassing that our public education system graduates people who write this poorly and have such low critical thinking skills. How in the hell did the west ever win the Cold War? Seriously, this is embarrassing, no?

This argument is pure fiction out of Alice in Wonderland. 

Once again, if a writer can't name names or show links to back up claims, then it's all bullsh*t just like the "anecdotal" crap Gundersen says. Then the writer continues trying to be "cute" or "intelligent" of which he is not either...

"Oooppsy-Doopsy! Granted, a metallic taste in the mouth is NOT scientific."

"Oooppsy- Doopsy!" indeed. I think someone watches way too much American TV sitcoms. People in the real world don't talk this way. They only do on the I Love Lucy Show or Mary Tyler Moore or whatever dribble people watch these days.

"...but if all things remained consistent, and I tasted something "metallic", and I lived in Seattle during the disaster, I'd be at least mildly concerned."

You would be concerned if you "lived in Seattle during the disaster"? Oh man, I know Americans are bad at geography, but this is ridiculous. It's almost 5,000 miles from Tokyo to Seattle! You would be worried about that!? You have a 5,000 times higher chance of dying from coal or oil industry emissions and you don't worry about those, but you'd be worried if you had a metallic taste in your mouth if you lived 5,000 miles away? Seriously, you should never drink the tap water anyway either. The crap in the tap water will probably kill you much sooner than something going on 5,000 miles away.

Dude. You need help. Really.

"Especially given the government's consistent under reporting of the actual radiation releases."

Once again, proof, please. Links?

"Bad mouth him all you want, I suspect you were bad mouthing him BEFORE the accident too."

Wrong! Never heard of the guy before.  

"I guess it becomes an issue of credibility at that point, and the my money is on Gundersen." (sic)

Your money is on Gundersen? Well, you lost. Gundersen, like Michio Kaku (excepting his Saturday night Sci-Fi TV show), is no where to be seen recently. They've lost all credibility and have quietly gone back to hiding under their rocks.

But I am still here. If you bet on guys like me, you won. Here is what is really going on at Fukushima. Trust that this is boring stuff and is never anywhere near as exciting as Gundersen making up nonsense like deadly radiation that will kill you but is undetectable or Michio Kaku saying stuff like "the Yellowstone National Park was a "super volcano" that was going to"wipe out the United States as we know it."

Instead of betting on Micho Kaku or Arnie Gundersen, I'd say it's a better bet to put your money on Uncle Fester from the Addams Family.... At least he is funny.

Uncle Fester gets a charge

But enough of my complaining. Here's what's going on at Fukushima that you need to know.... Actually a lot is going on, but it is not sensational, so you won't hear about it.... 

Fukushima Reactors on Target for Stabilization Next Week (July 17, 2011)

http://www.jaif.or.jp/english/news_images/pdf/ENGNEWS01_1309166580P.pdf

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has started injecting decontaminated wastewater as a coolant. This is considered an important step to stabilize the damaged reactors. Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, says it began recycling the water around the reactors on Monday afternoon. The utility has been operating a water treatment system since June 14th and processed about 1,850 tons of radioactive water that had been accumulated at the plant. TEPCO says it will continue injecting 16 tons of water per hour into the No.1, 2 and 3 reactors. 13 tons of this will be the decontaminated water. Workers had been pouring pure water to cool the damaged reactors, but some of this ended up contaminated with radioactive substances and was leaking outside of the reactors. Cooling the reactors without increasing the volume of wastewater is the biggest challenge. With the water circulation in operation, TEPCO has made progress toward achieving its target of stabilizing the reactors by mid-July. 

Get that? Even though guys like Gundersen and many others claimed that it would take decades to get Fukushima under control or that we needed to bomb the reactors from the air with concrete and cover them up, they are on schedule to be stabilized with 10 days of this post.

That doesn't strike me as the end of the world or the apocalypse like some writers were claiming. Does it to you?

Robot Tests Radiation in Fukushima Reactor Building

http://safetyfirst.nei.org/japan/robot-tests-radiation-in-fukushima-reactor-building/

Work is continuing to reduce radiation levels at Fukushima Daiichi’s reactor 3 building. Tokyo Electric Power Co. has used robots to vacuum radioactive debris and place steel sheets on the floor to decrease the potential for radiation exposure. Pending a reduction in radiation levels, workers are scheduled to enter the building housing the reactor on July 17 to begin installing new piping to inject nitrogen gas into the reactor containment vessel. The inert gas will reduce the possibility of a hydrogen explosion in the containment building. The company already is injecting nitrogen into the containments for reactors 1 and 2.

Catch that? "Workers are scheduled to enter the building housing the reactor on July 17th." There is a second article on the same page that talks about how Japan has cleared up the contaminated water issue.

TEPCO said debris may have clogged a hose, temporarily reducing the flow of cooling water into reactor 1 at Fukushima Daiichi by about one-quarter of normal volume. Normally, the cooling system injects 3.7 metric tons of water an hour into the reactors, but the flow was reduced Monday to about 3 metric tons per hour, setting off an alarm. Workers began injecting more water, restoring normal flow in less than an hour. 

The last part of this non-news is "Workers began injecting more water, restoring normal flow in less than an hour." That's "normal" as in "nothing special," "OK," "regular," "not newsworthy." That's why recent news shows things like the Yahoo News top stories for this very moment:

 Let me close up on the top news stories that I highlighted in blue for you:

• Court orders immediate halt to gay military service ban
• CNN cancels Eliot Spitzer's show, promotes Anderson Cooper
• Grizzly bear kills man hiking with wife in Yellowstone
• Jail prepares secret exit for possible Casey Anthony release
• Doctor for A-Rod, Tiger brought unapproved drugs to U.S.
• 24-year-old congressional candidate raises $420,000
• Final Defendant Acquitted in Deutsche Bank Fire- N.Y. Times
• Cops accused of rape also accused of…- New York Dai…
• Hip hop mogul hit with new charges- New York Post

"Court orders immediate halt to gay military service ban"? CNN cancels some TV show? Grizzly bear kills man? Jail prepares secret exit? Wow! That's some news! From reading in between the lines and knowing about the government cover up, one can definitely conclude from these news stories that the world is ending soon and Fukushima is at the cause. (HEAVY SARCASM AGAIN!) 


As Fukushima fades the prophets of doom become more and more discredited.  These clowns who prophesied total disaster and idiocy like "the entire 1/3 of Japan will be depopulated" will go back and crawl into their holes in the ground from whence they came (I've always wanted to use the word, "whence"!)


Of course, they will also conveniently claim that they knew it all along and try to change the subject whenever the BS they said or wrote about Fukushima comes up.


There is a Chinese curse that goes like this: "May you live in interesting times." This year has been very interesting so far. 


I hope it doesn't become more interesting... I don't expect that it will. 

Japanese Government Incompetent Resigns Over Abusive Remarks to Disaster Area Officials

Hot on the heels of my last two posts, the first entitled; Tax and Spend, Tax and Spend, Tax and Spend, Lather, Rinse, Repeat followed by Nuclear Radiation: No News is Good News  blasting the government of Japan (all government for that matter) for gross incompetence (among others things) another scandal hits the news.

Duh!

It seems that the boss of the newly created March 11 disaster reconstruction team, Ryu Matsumoto, that was just formed by soon-to-be ex-prime minister Naoto Kan has gone and done something really stupid within the very first week on duty. Matsumoto went up to some earthquake and tsunami ravaged areas in Northern Japan and was talking down and being extremely rude to local officials there. Now, after catching some serious backlash, the guy has been forced into resignation.


What a doofus! 

FOR FULL COMEDIC EFFECT, CLICK ON

THIS VIDEO BEFORE YOU CONTINUE READING

This is hilarious. You just can't make this stuff up. A total and complete comedy of errors.


Yahoo Japan reports:

TOKYO – Japan's embattled government received a fresh blow Tuesday when the new disaster reconstruction minister resigned a week after his appointment because of criticism he was rude to officials on a trip to the tsunami-ravaged coast.

Hint: Japan. Rude. No.

The teary-eyed minister, Ryu Matsumoto, apologized and stepped down after a weekend trip in which he berated a local governor for being late to a meeting and threatened to withhold aid.

The guy was teary eyed? Bwa! Ha! Ha! 

Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who created the new Cabinet position last week, had hoped it would help fend off critics who have questioned his leadership in the wake of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that wiped out much of the country's northeast coast.

Oh, this episode is really going to help out Kan. Dear Mr. Prime Minister, who hired this Matsumoto guy?

Kan has been under intense pressure to step down himself, but has said he will do so only after putting Japan on a solid recovery path. 

He will resign after "putting Japan on a solid recovery path"? Like how he's handled the debt problem and the immediate aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami? That means never.

Seriously, folks. I haven't laughed this hard in a loooooong time.

His government faces deep rifts in the ruling party and an increasingly emboldened opposition, which has denounced his response as dithering and poorly coordinated.

Poorly coordinated? Nah! Rubbish! I won't have it!

Matsumoto's brief performance is unlikely to help.

It may have been brief but it was a damned good show while it lasted.

In meetings with local governors over the weekend, the minister's words were regarded as arrogant and uncaring, angering local residents and political opponents. He told the governor of Iwate, one of the hardest-hit prefectures, that the government would not help municipalities that did not have good ideas about rebuilding.

Ah! Now we're getting to the nitty gritty. This idiot Matsumoto told the governor of Iwate that the government would not help unless the municipalities had good ideas? Yes. I see. Translation: "Yeah. We don't have a fricking clue as to what we're doing so someone has got to have a good idea. How about you guys?"

Gee, come to think of it, this is a representative of the same government who claims that they need to raise Sales Tax to pay for reconstruction of northern Japan! No one said that the people of northern Japan had to score at least 80% on a multiple choice quiz before they got the money!

To Miyagi Gov. Yoshihiro Murai, Matsumoto expressed irritation that he was made to wait for the tardy governor. Matsumoto refused to shake Murai's hand when he entered the room and scolded the visibly surprised governor.

Maybe Murai was late as the roads are all shot and the trains all fell off a cliff during the earthquake or something.

"When a guest comes to visit, do not call up the guest until you have arrived in the room," he told Murai. "Do you understand?"

Oh! Goody! He even yells at the people who were victimized by the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster! I hope he steeped on their feet, farted and slammed the door on their butts on the way out too!

He then warned journalists in the room not to report his words. 

He then warned the journalists not to repeat his words!? Sensational! This is funny! Is this the same guy who was teary eyed when he resigned? Is this guy for real?

However, they were widely reported in the media, and a video of the exchange was posted on the Internet.

Oh! Juicy! Where's this video? I gotta see this... Oh lucky me! Here it is:

Pardon my French, ladies and gentlemen, but what an asshole this guy is. It may not sound like he is being rude because Japanese is such a very polite language, but if that we me on the receiving end, I'd probably tell this jerk to "get out!" What an arrogant worm!

Jin Sato, the outspoken mayor of badly damaged Minami Sanriku, said the minister's comments deeply upset disaster victims already frustrated with the recovery process.

Think so? Nah!

"I have been saying all along that this government has no sense of speed," he said on public broadcaster NHK. "My frank opinion is that this resignation drama is another misstep."

I'm beginning to think that this Naoto Kan guy is the best prime minister we've had since Mori. The mistakes these people make are hilarious and they give me a good hearty laugh every morning. Seriously, folks, this is unbelievable.

I'm going to be sorry to see Kan go. That guy and his posse make great  entertainment.

As Japan's Nuke Troubles Deflate, So Does a Japan Blogger

The sub-title of this blog should be: "As people lose interest in Japan's nuclear problems, bloggers on Japan lose readers."

THE TEMPTATIONS - AM I LOSING YOU?

I think all of us bloggers on Japan now have much deflated egos. I know I do. I have to admit it. I'm no longer flying high. I was a hot-shot blogger but now, to borrow a phrase from George Foreman, I am a "po" blogger. I am such a "po" blogger that I can't even afford to add the "or" at the end of "po." I am not a "poor" blogger. I am a "po" blogger. 


I was all proud of myself during the "hey-day" of the nuclear crisis in Japan as this blog was getting anywhere between 4,000 ~ 6,000 readers a day, on average, for about a month there (my current record is 8,418 readers in one day!). Those numbers, now, have dropped to about 1,500 ~ 1,800 readers a day. I can get over 2,000 ~2,200 if I blog three times a day like I used too, but, as people slowly return to work, along with the rest of Japan, who has time for that?


I guess my numbers are still pretty good for a blog that is barely one-year old, but, after those skyrocketing numbers, it is a bit of a downer.


This reminds me of how it used to be in Japan when I first came here in the early 1980's. There were very few foreigners here. Foreign guys were extremely popular amongst Japanese women. You would see these shockingly beautiful Japanese women hanging onto dorky looking foreign guys everywhere. You didn't think, "Why is that gorgeous goddess hanging out with that stupid-looking guy?" back then because you, too, had your own 4 or 5 awesome babes hanging around your neck! 


If you were a foreign guy in Japan in the 1980's, Japan was like dying and going to guy heaven.


Those days are long past. Foreign men are no longer anything special and now you see dorky looking foreigners hanging out with plain looking (albeit nice) Japanese girls. You still see the awesome women, but they are back to reality and are hanging out, for the most part, with rich guys (in Japan that means rich Japanese - funny that!)


Oh, those were the days!... But I digress... This blog is about the waning popularity of English language blogs on Japan. I suppose the English language blogs on Japan that were mainly tech and gadget orientated have not felt any drop in readership, yet I would imagine the earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear accident didn't really jump their readership, but I could be mistaken. 


I 'm talking about the drop in readership to blogs about Japan that are culturally, economically or politically focused have all seen recent drops in interest. I'm sure that I am not the only blogger on Japan that is experiencing this drop in readership. 


That brings me to the real purpose of this blog post. Actually, I am writing this blog post for bloggers, like me, who have seen their numbers drop, or fail to rise as expected, whether they are in Japan or not or blogging about Japan or not. 


Fellow bloggers who do not see quickly great fruits of their works do not despair! Keep up the blogging and keep up the good work! 


As for myself, I am inspired by Mike "Mish" Shedlock. Mish has been blogging since 2005 at Global Economic Analysis. He tells me that he now gets about 1.8 million readers per month. That's wonderful but realize that he's been doing it for nearly seven years! So just because your numbers haven't climbed greatly in a year or two of blogging, don't give up! 


This is not an overnight success job.


I've been blogging since 2004, but not at my own site. I blogged at Lew Rockwell (LRC) and a few other sites until last year. I still submit to LRC. In 2006, Lew told me that one article I wrote in 2005 was the second most popular post on his blog for that entire year and that I had received over 1.5 million views. That article was entitled America is Bankrupt. You can read it here: http://www.lewrockwell.com/rogers/rogers171.html  When I wrote that article, I was bombed with criticism from hundreds of people. No one criticizes me for that anymore. 


I didn't write that post to be popular, I wrote it because I wanted to tell people what I thought.


Don't forget, bloggers, to ask yourself, who do we do this labor of love for? It's not for other people. It's for ourselves. It's because this is what we want to say. 


You don't need to send out notices to people on Twitter and Facebook that say, "Please read my blog!" or "Please follow my blog!" You only need to keep writing those posts and then letting people know the subject matter. If what you write is good and you have a policy and are focused, then they will come. If you are consistent, they will follow.


Also, don't be ashamed of low readership! Be proud of what you are doing! I think everyone needs to put a visitor counter on their blog or web page if they can. If you don't put a counter on your blog, it seems that you are hiding a possible embarrassment over low readership numbers! Being embarrassed about something like that is not cool! It's like worrying too much about what the neighbors might think. Don't do it.


Like the hilarious remarks by Ian Faith in the classic movie, "Spinal Tap" your attitude shouldn't be that your popularity is low, your attitude should be that your popularity is becoming more "selective." After all, you only want the beautiful, intelligent, cool people reading your blog, right?

"Oh, no, no. I don't think the band's popularity is waning, 

I think their appeal is becoming more selective." 

- Ian Faith from Spinal Tap

So be proud of your audience and place that counter on your blog!


I am also reminded about my youth and playing in a Punk band. One time we played at a place called Madame Wong's in Los Angeles with Black Flag and Fear. All the bands expected a massive turnout. I thought we'd have at least 300 people there. Nope! I think there were only 8 customers.


My band's set was sh*tty and uninspired because of this. Black Flag's set was awesome! After the show I asked one of the members of Black Flag about it and he told me, "It doesn't matter if you are playing in front of 3 people or 300 people, you go out there and give it 10,000%!" Wow! He's right. Spoken like a true professional.


That was the difference between Black Flag and my band. They played their hearts out every time, like professionals, regardless of the crowd. My band's performance was influenced by outside factors beyond our control.


Bloggers! Do not be influenced by outside factors! Write your hearts out. Give it your all. Remember that blogging is not something you do for three months and then get thousands of readers! Think about getting a few thousand readers a day after two or three years solid effort. That's the way to approach the very rewarding effort of blogging.


Inspire and they will come. 

Anti-Nuke Actor Foolishly Loses His Job

There's an actor named Taro Yamamoto who got the axe from his agency here in Japan for speaking out against government directives about the situation for school children in Fukushima and nearby areas. This is commentary about that situation.

ETHEL MERMAN - THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS

First off, it's too bad most actors and actresses as well as sports stars (around the world) don't bother to get a decent education. This problem is especially bad in Japan where many actors and actresses never even finish high school. When they are in their early teens they quit school to pursue a career in show business. If these people did get a decent education, they might have heard the old show-business phrases such as "Actors and actresses and sports stars are to be seen and not heard" and been smarter about how they handled their business.


That's what this post is about; Being smart and handling your business correctly. By speaking out and losing his job Taro Yamamoto obviously screwed up big time. The proof is in the pudding, as they say.


In a thinly veiled attempt to get me to promote the travails of Taro Yamamoto, this one (of many) activist actors in Japan, one reader, while criticizing me for "obsessing" about Arnie Gundersen, wrote:


"...I think there are more interesting issues to discuss (than Gundersen). For example, this reactionary development on the part of Japanese society...(about Taro Yamamoto losing his job)."


Well, as the only foreigner in Japan history to be the general manager of a major Japanese broadcasting station as well as the president of a TV/radio production company and talent agency and in "show business" since 1978, I can tell you my thoughts on this event but I'll bet it won't be what anyone outside of show business is expecting (what I will say is obvious to anyone in show business). I am sure that if you showed my words to any Hollywood producer and asked him if he agreed with me, they'd all give me a big thumbs up.


There's nothing wrong with art or wanting to be an artist but you have to make money. Being stupid is not a good idea.


The reader then linked to a blog about Taro Yamamoto entitled Japanese Actor Pays the Price for Speaking Out. 


Before we look at that article and I comment on it, I want to mention that this readers point about, "this reactionary development on the part of Japanese society" is complete and pure nonsense. It shows a total lack of understanding of the situation and a defacto reactionary response from this reader. This is not a reactionary development on the part of Japanese society at all. Japanese society had nothing to do with it. I will prove it to you and give a glimpse as to how the mass media and show business work in Japan or anywhere else in the western world.


Let's analyze the article. The article is italicized and highlighted in yellow. My comments are in normal font:

TOKYO (majirox news) – Fighting to protect children against radiation exposure in the cities of Fukushima and Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, may have cost popular 36-year-old actor Taro Yamamoto his career.

Well, it's great to finally see a Japanese with a policy... Even if it is confused in implementation. Also "popular" is a subjective phrase. How well known Taro Yamamoto is depends on the person you ask. I would grade him as a middle level talent with moderate TV and movie experience. "Star" is a bit of a stretch. He has never had a role any higher than a supporting cast member. That means he was never in the lead role of any major TV or movies. He is mostly in TV commercials and that is where he crosses the line. 

Tommy & Dicky starred in the #1 rated TV 

show in America and they lost their 

program publicly criticizing the government

It seems that Yamamoto doesn't understand the rules of being in TV commercials: you don't slag off the government nor do you slag off sponsors. The Smothers Brothers learned that slagging off these entities were a good way to lose your job way back in 1969. It's too bad big media is this way, but, with big money they become big media. 

He withdrew from the Shisu Management Agency on May 27. “We have decided to accept Yamamoto’s sincere wish not to cause us any trouble because of his personal activities,” Shisu stated on its homepage.

This is the Japanese polite way of saying that management fired him and, to save face, they allowed him to say he resigned. This part about, "Yamamoto's sincere wish not to cause us any trouble" is an extremely important point and I will return to this later.

A drama that Yamamoto was to star in starting on July 8 was cancelled apparently due to his remarks. Commenting on nuclear issues can jeopardize a career.

This wording seems to be a bit tricky. The drama was not cancelled. Yamamoto's part in it was. He's been replaced. Yamamoto hasn’t had any major roles so far, if his role was minor, they would just edit him out. This paragraph should probably read, "Yamamoto's part in a drama was cancelled." Companies do not spend hundreds of thousands of dollars making a TV drama and lining up sponsors only to cancel them because of what an actor says.  

Yamamoto spoke out against the government’s adoption of a new directive stating that school-age children can now be exposed to more radiation outdoors than previously allowed. As reported, government officials said the permissible radiation level was raised to 20 millisievierts a year or else these multitudes of Fukushima school children would have to be evacuated to other parts of Japan, which would cause dire consequences for their education and home life.

I think it is excellent that Yamamoto has a policy. I think it is nice he believes what he does. It is how he handles these beliefs and policies and balances them with work, that is the problem. 

For one, did he use his public persona or public platform to do so? If so, in show business, that’s a “No-No” for a minor “star” like him. Everyone knows this and it hasn’t anything to do with “Japanese society,” this is common knowledge in show business the world over. 


You have to be a top ranking level star, like a Charlie Sheen, to be able to get away with this sort of thing. In Japan, you'd have to be a Beat Takeshi or Watanabe Ken to even hope to pull this off (even then quite risky). It's the same overseas. Look at what happened to Glenn Beck. Or how about the famous Hollywood Blacklist where hundreds of actors, actresses, screen writers, directors, and US entertainment professionals were denied employment in the field because of their political beliefs or associations, real or suspected. And don't come back with, "But, that was a long time ago!" Was Charlie Sheen a long time ago?

On my Libertarian/anarchist side I wonder if Yamamoto is so dense that he thinks that complaining to the government is going to make any difference? Yeah, I guess he is just like most Japanese who think that the government is here to “help us.” Yeah, they really have helped Japan over the years. Like they did when they got 3 million Japanese soldiers and civilians killed in World War II or Japan’s cities carpet bombed to ruin or, more recently, our national debt to 225% of GDP. 

Does anyone with half-a-brain actually expect that these people can help anyone? (The best thing the Japanese government could do is to copy Belgium and disappear. Belgium hasn't had a government for 1 year and no one has noticed!)

After so many years of Japanese government incompetence and mishandling of the situation from the economy to this most recent disaster, is Yamamoto that slow of a learner? Doesn’t he realize that to change the world starts right here on our own side of the street? Protests are great, but not if they cause you to lose your job. Why doesn’t he use his brains and quietly start up a charity to help these kids rather than expecting these government idiots to fix things?

On May 23, Yamamoto participated in a demonstration outside the Ministry of Education building in central Tokyo. He called on the government to reverse its ruling.

See my comments above. On that note, to prove that what I say is true and that not only do I talk the talk, I walk the walk. Before the bombing of Afghanistan and the beginning of the war on Iraq, I hosted a very popular FM radio program in Tokyo. There I quietly started, promoted and helped organize many protests. Some drew crowds of over 8,000 people. Still, I wasn’t stupid enough to allow my face be photographed at any demonstrations and I did not allow my name to be “officially” used to condone such activities... Even at that, when the station sales staff and sponsors found out, I lost my program.

Us "B-grade" talent, like Yamamoto,

should be smart enough to be discreet. 

It was a risk I knew I was taking, but I didn’t care. I already owned a meager company so I could finance myself.


So I speak from experience here when I address this subject.

He also supported Operation Kodomotachi (Operation Children), which urged the evacuation of children who lived beyond the 30-kilometer evacuation zone near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which has been leaking radiation since the earthquake and tsunami on March 11. Operation Kodomotachi has found about 4,000 host families in Hokkaido for these children.

Good for him but I’m sure no one cares what private charities Yamamoto promotes. I wonder how helpful he will be to Operation Children now that he lost his job?

Yamamoto was severely criticized for saying that residents near the 1986 Chernobyl accident were evacuated when their exposure was only 5 millisierverts a year and that the Japanese government’s standard as set by the Ministry of Education was an “an act of murder.” He added that the government did not want to pay for moving the residents and that the government had let the people down.

Yamamoto is totally out of line here. This is completely unacceptable and irresponsible behavior. Yamamoto is not an expert in this area. His saying things like this helps no one and can only cause fear and consternation among the families living there. Don't those people have enough trouble and worries without having some B-Grade talent making them worry some more? And who is he and what qualifications does he have to make these sorts of announcements? This is completely against all common sense.

If I were his boss, I'd probably have fired him on the spot. Trust that there are thousands of young, handsome, cooperative talent hanging around who would just love to take his spot.  

And, on that note, the last comment I will make on this incident with Yamamoto will be from the perspective of the president of a talent managment agency. 

I will say that it is a matter of course and obvious that they would fire him for saying and doing what he is doing. His actions are selfish and irresponsible. He is hurting the coworkers, their families, and his company image with his actions. Besides to himself, his family and his god, Yamamoto also has a responsibility to his coworkers. 

A talent management agency is like any other business. They make money off of selling products. In the case of a talent agency, their product is people like Yamamoto. That means that the agency makes money and can pay people when they sell their product (talent) to mass media who must then sell that talent and their program idea to big advertising agencies. The big advertising agencies then cooperate to sell the package to sponsors. 

There are many people down the line in an exhaustive process of making a TV show or movie. Hundreds of people are involved. If one of the important people (say actor or actress or director, writer) gets in trouble with the law or causes great controversy, people lose their jobs. 

For example, in the case of even an individual FM radio program at a small station, there are several people involved. Those people have families and mouths to feed. If one member gets, say, arrested for drugs or some other reason, everyone stands to lose their job. If everyone loses their job, no one eats or can feed their family. 

So this issue is not just a question of what Yamamoto did or does, it is a question of responsibility to the team, the company, and other players. He is a selfish fool if he thinks as an actor and public figure that he can do as he pleases. 

It is difficult enough to make a living in this business as it is without having to try to sell a mediocre product that has a lot of luggage that comes with it. The management of the agency, like any other business, only has so much time that sales staff and talent managers can spend on individual talent. This then becomes a cost analysis issue per product.

For everyone down the line, whether this is Japan or not, a guy like Yamamoto is not cost effective or profitable anymore. He is soiled or damaged product.

More detail can be gathered when you realize that the management of any mass media related company in Japan knows that "Japan Incorporated" has an incestuous stock relationship between companies. To complain too loudly about dicey issues (like the handling of Fukushima) and attack the government is to attack Tepco. To attack Tepco is to also attack major Japanese corporations who are a part of Japan Inc. and who also own Tepco stock and vice versa. It is these major corporations who are paying the money for TV and movies.


It is these companies who own stock in TV and mass media companies. It is also these companies who pay the salaries of actors, actresses, talent managers, agents, ad agency staff, media staff, etc., and those people's children. 

How does the old English proverb go? Don't bite the hand that feeds you.

Of course, Taro Yamamoto lost his job. Of course he was fired. His agency - with all their staff and the staff children - need to eat too. They cannot afford to get their company in hot water. 

It is wonderful that Taro Yamamoto wants to help those children in Fukushima. That is not the issue here. The issue is how he did it. If he were quietly working to help those kids and that situation, then he would still have a job and he might still be effective at helping them. But, as it stands, he hasn't a job. He has no income and he's lost his position.

I'm sure I'll get criticised from people about this article. Once again, to reiterate, it's not what Yamamoto did that was so bad, it's how he did it. His losing his job is proof enough of that. When he has no job, he can't help anyone. Now, after handling his business in this poor manner, he has his hands full just trying to help himself. Should he be praised for that? I don't think so. A small dog barking in the next yard is just that: noisy and useless.

Finally, I hear that Taro Yamamoto is giving up on TV and dramas and going into politics. Here's my thoughts on that and predictions on how things will turn out.


1) In Japan's show business, a screw-up like this will take at least 3 years to come back from. It could be sooner if there is a huge nuclear accident or the anti-nuke movement becomes popular in Japan. If that happens, then Taro Yamamoto will be seen as a hero of sorts. This probably won't happen.


2) Taro Yamamoto foolishly thinks he can become a politician? We do have these actor, actresses sports stars turned politician.... Funny thing about that; you need big money to win elections. Where is Taro Yamamoto going to get the money to win any election when jobs and economy are the big issues and he can't get funding because he slagged off big business and can't get government crony backing? (Real change in government will only come from actions that are going on in places like Greece or Spain - becoming a politician like Yamamoto claims he wants to do is nonsense).


3) Taro Yamamoto fades out of the public conscience and into oblivion and works for charities. This is probably what's going to happen. If you want to change the world, you don't go on the mass media and expect to do so... The mass media helped make the world the way it is. They are as guilty as the government. Never forget that. They aren't going to change soon.


Good luck to Taro Yamamoto, I hope he can help those kids next time.


He already blew a golden opportunity once.

NOTE: It's a little late, but praise is deserved for a Japanese guy who did quietly help out the people Tohoku. Tadashi Yanai the president and founder of Uni-Qlo donated $12.2 million dollars from his own pocket to help people up north. Mr. Yanai made no loud fuss and only sent out a statement. That's the way things are best done, especially in Japan; quietly and nobly. Thanks Mr. Yanai.