Japan in a nutshell

   
     This semester, I've been fortunate enough to have so much to write about in regards to Japan. Unfortunately, it came at the cost of thousands of peoples' lives and displacement of countless others due to the historic tsunami that ripped through the northeast provinces of the country on March 11. However, it did reveal a lot of the media process that takes place in the country and how big of a hand the government plays into it.

      Although Japan ranks in at number 11 in the press freedom index there seemed to be many obstacles stemming from government involvement when it came to reporter's access to information. Not only was obtaining facts from TEPCO and government officials a difficult task, often times the statements made by both bodies were vague or loosely based on the truth, to put it kindly. At one point, the government took the approach of blocking press releases of the unfolding situation at the Fukushima Daiichi plant because they felt that TEPCO had better things to do than inform the media of what was happening at the plant.

     More recently, since TEPCO has started has resumed press releases, they've initiated the practice of compounding several press release sessions into one, drawn out, almost unbearable session where reporters are bombarded with statistics and offered little to no clarification to the technical terminology spewed by the speakers. In a recent Japan Times article, the cultural customs and how it relates to domestic reporters covering the event:

But even the conduct of the reporters reflects Japanese reverence for cooperation and respect. The journalists patiently endure the long news conferences, filled with detail but scarce on poignancy. A defiant question comes up maybe onchttp://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8389714855227338900e during the entire four hours.

     As much as the culture of "community before individual" has been ingrained into the public's mindset, even the Japanese were outraged with the lack of information being shared by the government after the tsunami. The normally docile and compliant public took to the streets with their disapproval of how things were being handled, especially after the United States released numbers implicating that the Japanese had either miscalculated the initial levels of contamination being put out by the damaged reactors or had just plainly concealed the truth.

     In light of the accusations made by governments across the globe and the outrage by its own citizens, one should wonder if the press freedom ranking for Japan is accurate. How can a free country, in regards to press, be so vague or closed off when it comes to reporting on a national disaster that affects the entire globe. The Japanese government and their claims of providing an atmosphere conducive to press freedom definitely took a major hit during the events stemming from the partial meltdown at the Fukashima Daiichi power plant.

     Although Japan's media system is comparable to that of the United States and other western countries in infrastructure and relative access to facts, the past three months have exposed the extent that the government can and will take when push comes to shove. Even though its not unprecedented for governments, even that of the United States, to withhold information for public safety (Osama bin laden death photos), it's hard to believe that the same lack of sharing of basic information would have occurred if the reactor in San Onofre would've melted down. 
     

Artistic Reflections

     From April 23-May 6, Japan's Nuclear Film festival showed nuclear themed films to commemorate the 25 year anniversary of the disaster at Chernobyl. Ironically enough, the festival took place just a few months after their own country was thrust into a nuclear disaster on par with the one that took place in Ukraine.

     Many of the films, including that of Japanese documentary film maker Seiichi Motohashi, focused on the dangers of nuclear power and trying to establish a precedent for changes to the energy policies of all countries to avoid future disasters.

     
     Motohashi, who has traveled to Budische, Belarus, one of the hardest hit towns during the Chernobyl disaster, over 30 times since 1991. During his travels, he produced two films, Naja no Mura (Nadya's Village, 1997) and 2002's "Arekusei to Izumi (Alexei and the Spring). Both have garnered acclaim at film festivals both home and abroad and were shown during the festival along with 15 other films targeted at nuclear power. Along with the films, an art exhibition of Chernobyl themed paintings by Heroshi Kaihara were on display throughout the event. Motohashi spoke to the Japan Times about his projects that he completed in Belarus:  

"I wanted to make 'Nadya's Village' to give energy to the audience," says Motohashi at his office in Higashi-Nakano. "I wanted to show how people who had experienced this terrible disaster had come back. At the time, I didn't really think it had something to do with me personally. Now I know that that sort of accident can happen anywhere, especially in this country. ... There's no way to make a nuclear plant totally safe. It's a kind of human arrogance to think otherwise — nature is always more powerful. Human beings ought to be more humble in their dealings with it."

     The festival's sentiment mirrors that of the public of Japan following the fallout from the tsunami that struck and disabled the reactors at Fukashima Daiichi. Reliance on nuclear power is not the safe way to go for the future of Japan is a common theme in both the films and the outcries from displaced citizens. However, the government addressed the public and the world this week and stated that Japan will continue to rely on nuclear power. This release came the same week that the government also pressured one of its energy companies to shut down their nuclear facility just south of Tokyo because of fears that an impending earthquake on the fault line the facility rests on could produce a larger disaster than that on March 11.

     Japan is caught in quite the dilemma. They're a country with minimal natural resources and are supremely reliant on nuclear power. With 14 new plants proposed to be built, the events at Fukushima have severely crippled this nation that gets nearly a quarter of its energy supply from nuclear power. What's even more troubling is the surfacing of diplomatic cables from the United States  that question not only the preparedness for a future natural disaster, but basic security to prevent terrorist attacks.

     The environmental and economic affects of the disaster are being felt not only in Japan, but globally, demonstrating how close knit a planet we are despite our differences. It's time that we, as a planet, reassess our energy sources and a safer way of facilitating them. Namely, not letting the builders of nuclear power plants also be the governing body.