2011年3月14日13時54分
枝野幸男官房長官の１４日午後０時４０分からの記者会見の内容は次の通り。
【冒頭発言】
本日１１時１分に爆発が確認された福島第一原子力発電所３号機の件について報告する。
映像等でご覧になっている方々、大変心配だと思うが、その後入手した、あるいは確認したデータから結論を申し上げれば、さきほど申し上げた通り、格納容器の健全性は維持されているものと思われる。
格納容器の圧力は１１時１３分に３８０キロパスカル、１１時５５分に３６０キロパスカルで、内部圧力が安定している。先ほどの会見で申し上げた通り、現地所長の報告にあった健全性がある程度裏付けられたものと思う。
また、放射線量のモニタリングの結果を見ると、発電所内サービスホールで１１時３７分、５０マイクロシーベルト／ｈ、発電所正門付近で１１時４４分時点で、２０マイクロシーベルト／ｈとなっており、特段の変化は確認されていない。
なお、若干距離のある、約５キロ離れているオフサイトセンターの１２時３６分のデータも、１マイクロシーベルト／ｈ、昨日と同じ数値を示していて、いずれも大量の放射線量を示すものではない。
なお、いずれのポイントにおいても中性子線について問題あるデータはでていないと報告されている。また、中央制御室も維持されていることが確認された。なお、３号機に対する注水活動だが、実施中のまま作業員が退避をしたというのが正確な報告だ。ただいま注水継続を目視確認するための努力、作業をどの段階でできるか、状況を把握しているところ。
なお、現地からは６名の負傷者が出たとの報告があった。一部報道があるが、東電本店と現地の所長と両名に確認したが、両者からも行方不明の報告はない。
なお、避難の状況だが、先程、わずかな方という表現をしたが、若干わずかだというのは適切でない表現だったかも知れない。現在、５００名ほど、１２時３０分現在、５００名ほどの方が避難の途上にある。２０キロ圏内からの退避の途上にある。
以上のデータから、今回の事象は１号機での過日の水素爆発と同種のものと考えられ、現時点で格納容器の健全性は維持されており、放射性物質が大量に飛び散る可能性は低いと、専門家を含めて認識している。さきほどの５００名ほどの２０キロ圏外への退避をまだしていない方々については先程同様、屋内で待避をするようお願いしているところだが、もう少しデータなどの経緯を見た上で退避の行動を続けてもらうタイミングを判断したい。以上。
【質疑】
【３号機爆発】
――けがをされた６人の所属と、どういう作業中にけがをしたのか。
いまけがをされた皆さんのけがの程度と正確な、どちらの関係者の方かの確認作業を進めている。
――３号機の爆発でほかの周辺原発への影響は。
現時点では影響は確認されていないが、爆発によって上に上がった天井などの落下物の危険がないことを確認した上で、最終的な状況確認に入る、いまこのタイミングを探っているという報告を受けている。
――爆発は何回あったのか。
これは普通に考えて１回であると。一つが、建屋の中にあったものが何らかの形で爆発をしたものと考えられる。
――建屋の上層部に水素がたまっている原発の数はほかにいくつか。
現時点では第一が先日、水素爆発を起こしました。今回、その可能性があるということで中止をしていた第三が爆発をした。
ほかのところにはこうしたリスクは現時点では生じていない、そういった事象が生じないようコントロールに努力している。
――再度の爆発の危険はないとみているのか。
３号機についてですね。基本的にはそうした可能性は低いだろうというふうに専門家の皆さんが分析をされている。
――爆発の時に圧力が低下したとおっしゃったが、爆発とは関係ないのか。
直接の詳細なところは、さらに分析をしなければならないと聞いているが、現時点では圧力が一定程度維持されているということで、所長から報告があった健全性を裏付けるデータが出ている、そういうのが現時点の状況だ。
――３６０への圧力の低下というのは、これまでもあった変動の範囲内か。
圧力については若干の変動があるということで、私もこの間、いろいろな報道を受けている。その範囲だろうと思っている。
――退避する範囲は２０キロで変わらないか。
水素が出ている、その爆発の可能性があるということは以前の会見でもご報告を申し上げたと思う。その時点で想定されていた事態で、こうした事態に備えて２０キロ圏外へということを退避の指示をした。
約５００人ほどの皆さんが、残念ながら、途中、あるいはこれから退避ということなので、こうした皆さんも屋内で待機をしていただければ大きな健康への被害はない可能性が高いと認識している。これは、さらにモニター、放射線量のモニターをしっかり行っていく。
――５００人は屋内待機か。いずれの段階で２０キロ圏外に出るように話をするということか。
基本的には退避を続けていただく、その条件が整うのがどのタイミングかを専門家の皆さんの評価、これは危機管理の専門と、放射線・原子力の専門家と両面の専門の皆さんのご意見をふまえて、そのタイミングを判断するということになる。
――屋内にたまった水素を逃がす有効な手段はできていないのか。
いろいろな検討はしているという報告はうかがったが、逆にそこにいろいろ手を加えると、そのことが爆発の誘引になる可能性もあるということ。そして第一でも起きている、その分析、あるいはそもそも建物の構造等の分析から炉に大きな影響を与える爆発の可能性は低いという判断のなかで、状況の監視を注視しているということ。
――もともと３号炉の爆発の可能性があったが、けが人が出た。
可能性がある中だが、一方でより大きな原子炉の状態の悪化を防いで原子力被害を防ぐためには水を注入して冷却していくということが欠かせない。
こうしたことのなかで、爆発のリスクと、それによる一方での注水をしないというリスクの判断の中で、厳しい条件の中で作業に当たっていただいたと。大変敬意を表するしだい。
――中性子線の量について言及したのは、再臨界の可能性を恐れているのか。
これは炉の構造、専門家の保安院等でおたずねいただければと思うが、念のため、こちらも計って、その数値には問題ないとの報告を受けている。
――１、３号機について、放射線量や観測されない危険が生じている可能性は。
実際にモニターされている周辺の放射線の量が、これは気象条件などで測定値が変わってくるが、そうした変動はあるが、安定した数値でこの間ずっと推移してきている。
さらには今回の爆発の後の数値についてもそうした範囲内で推移している。いずれにしてもこの原子炉を安全な状況にもっていくためには、原子炉内のガスを抜きながら水を入れていくという作業が不可欠だ。それをできるだけ人体に影響を与えない範囲内で進めていくという、その範囲のなかで今進んでいると認識している。
Showing posts with label foreign aid workers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label foreign aid workers. Show all posts
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
12/04 Heroes and realists found among the brave "Fukushima 700"
2011/04/12
The second floor in the basement of a waste disposal facility at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant remains flooded with about 30 centimeters of water on Friday. The disposal facility will be used to store highly contaminated water. (Provided by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency)
Editor's note: We will update our earthquake news as frequently as possible on AJW's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/AJW.Asahi. Please check the latest developments in this disaster. From Toshio Jo, managing editor, International Division, The Asahi Shimbun.
* * *
Although lionized as the "Fukushima 50" by the foreign media, there are in fact about 700 workers engaged in the daily struggle with the "invisible enemy" at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
A month has passed in the dangerous and lonely efforts to resolve the crisis at the nuclear plant, and still, there is no end in sight. There are many tales emerging of the unselfishness and bravery of these workers, while others take a more realistic view of why they are risking their lives amid high radiation levels to cool down the plant's overheating fuel rods.
A man in his 40s, who was dispatched to Fukushima No. 1 from a partner of the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), said, "I did not want to go there. But if I reject the request, I will lose my job."
The daily pay is less than 20,000 yen ($236).
"I hear some construction workers were employed at a wage of several tens of thousands of yen per hour. But we are working on a conventional daily wage as our company has had cooperative relationships with TEPCO," the man said.
Meanwhile, many of the man's colleagues volunteered to go into the plant, saying, "We are the only workers (that can do the job)." Because of that gung-ho spirit, they share a sense of solidarity, the man added.
At one of the plant's subcontractors, the president and elderly executives volunteered, hoping that they would be chosen instead of younger workers, because they were worried about the long-term health effects on them.
"Even we can do simple work, such as laying cables," one of the elderly executives said.
Immediately after the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake, the number of TEPCO employees and others from the firm's business partners, such as Toshiba Corp. and Hitachi Ltd., at Fukushima No. 1 totaled more than 700. After an explosion took place at a building housing the No. 2 reactor on March 15, however, most of them evacuated. Only about 70 workers remained and continued the recovery work.
Their number was initially announced as 50. Because of that, foreign media labeled them the "Fukushima 50," and the heroic tag stuck.
Today, the more accurate "Fukushima 700" at the plant are classified into such groups as "recovery," "information," "medical service" and "security."
When the crisis began in mid-March, many workers stayed in the plant's compound for more than 10 days in a row. At present, they are working in alternate shifts, taking two days off at a time.
This month, a TEPCO employee living in the Tokyo metropolitan area told his wife, "I may have to go (to the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant) again."
He went to the plant several days after the earthquake and continued to stay there. Recently, he was allowed to return home. Even at his office in Tokyo, however, he is working from early in the morning to midnight every day, and there is little time to talk with family members.
"Even if you have no health problems now, will you be in good health in the future?" his concerned wife asked him.
Meanwhile, heated exchanges took place during a meeting of a group company of Hitachi, immediately after the nuclear crisis began.
An employee of the section in charge of the recovery work at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant challenged an employee in charge of engineering management: "How many workers can you send (to the nuclear plant)? Show us your determination."
To resolve the crisis, the employee urged the latter to share in the on-site work at the nuclear plant instead of issuing orders from a safe distance. As a result of the discussion, many engineers went into the nuclear plant.
A mid-level executive of the company recalled, "It was a difficult decision," as the job could endanger the lives of the workers.
What workers found at Fukushima No. 1 in the beginning was a lack of adequate safety equipment and spartan living conditions.
At the start of the nuclear crisis, there was an insufficient number of dosimeters to measure radiation levels. Because of that, about 180 workers were engaged in the recovery work without them.
Their living conditions were poor. They had only hard biscuits and vegetable juice in the morning and canned food and emergency rice at night. They slept on floors during their shifts.
Currently, the workers have meals three times a day, and some can stay at facilities located away from the plant. According to TEPCO sources, every worker now has access to a dosimeter.
However, many workers say that they may have already been exposed to much radiation.
In late March, the radiation level rose in a building that is serving as the headquarters of the recovery work efforts, alarming the workers.
The building is equipped with an air-conditioning system that does not let in outside air and the walls are also thick. TEPCO has additionally replaced filters for air ventilation with new ones. It also installed 77 lead-covered boards on windows to prevent gamma rays from entering the building,
An employee of a company that has dispatched its workers to the Fukushima plant added, "We want to make the dispatched workers wear lead-lined suits."
The Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant had "whole body counters," which measures "internal exposure," or level of radiation in the human body. However, those counters were rendered useless due to damage from the earthquake and subsequent tsunami. The internal exposure is now measured by inspection vehicles.
Despite the precautions for worker safety at Fukushima No. 1, there is concern.
"Some workers may have radiation-caused symptoms after several years," said Atsushi Suzuki, a lawyer who previously handled a labor disaster compensation issue for a nuclear power plant worker.
Suzuki represented a man who worked at the Fukushima No. 1 plant from 1977 to 1982 as a plumber and on other jobs.
After he left the workplace, he was diagnosed as suffering from multiple myeloma, a deadly bone marrow cancer. He died in 2007.
The man was recognized to have died from exposure to radiation. In a suit seeking compensation, however, TEPCO did not acknowledge its responsibility. As a result, his demand for compensation was rejected.
"It is extremely difficult to prove scientifically the cause-and-effect-relationship between exposure to radiation and a disease that broke out later," Suzuki said. "I think that people currently engaged in recovery work (at the Fukushima No. 1 plant) do not have the leeway to prevent exposure to radiation by themselves. It is necessary for the government and TEPCO to fully consider sufficient prevention measures and compensation (to those who suffered radiation-caused diseases)."
(This article was written by Manabu Sasaki, Hiroyoshi Itabashi, Hiroaki Kojima and Ryujiro Komatsu.)
The second floor in the basement of a waste disposal facility at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant remains flooded with about 30 centimeters of water on Friday. The disposal facility will be used to store highly contaminated water. (Provided by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency)Editor's note: We will update our earthquake news as frequently as possible on AJW's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/AJW.Asahi. Please check the latest developments in this disaster. From Toshio Jo, managing editor, International Division, The Asahi Shimbun.
* * *
Although lionized as the "Fukushima 50" by the foreign media, there are in fact about 700 workers engaged in the daily struggle with the "invisible enemy" at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
A month has passed in the dangerous and lonely efforts to resolve the crisis at the nuclear plant, and still, there is no end in sight. There are many tales emerging of the unselfishness and bravery of these workers, while others take a more realistic view of why they are risking their lives amid high radiation levels to cool down the plant's overheating fuel rods.
A man in his 40s, who was dispatched to Fukushima No. 1 from a partner of the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), said, "I did not want to go there. But if I reject the request, I will lose my job."
The daily pay is less than 20,000 yen ($236).
"I hear some construction workers were employed at a wage of several tens of thousands of yen per hour. But we are working on a conventional daily wage as our company has had cooperative relationships with TEPCO," the man said.
Meanwhile, many of the man's colleagues volunteered to go into the plant, saying, "We are the only workers (that can do the job)." Because of that gung-ho spirit, they share a sense of solidarity, the man added.
At one of the plant's subcontractors, the president and elderly executives volunteered, hoping that they would be chosen instead of younger workers, because they were worried about the long-term health effects on them.
"Even we can do simple work, such as laying cables," one of the elderly executives said.
Immediately after the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake, the number of TEPCO employees and others from the firm's business partners, such as Toshiba Corp. and Hitachi Ltd., at Fukushima No. 1 totaled more than 700. After an explosion took place at a building housing the No. 2 reactor on March 15, however, most of them evacuated. Only about 70 workers remained and continued the recovery work.
Their number was initially announced as 50. Because of that, foreign media labeled them the "Fukushima 50," and the heroic tag stuck.
Today, the more accurate "Fukushima 700" at the plant are classified into such groups as "recovery," "information," "medical service" and "security."
When the crisis began in mid-March, many workers stayed in the plant's compound for more than 10 days in a row. At present, they are working in alternate shifts, taking two days off at a time.
This month, a TEPCO employee living in the Tokyo metropolitan area told his wife, "I may have to go (to the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant) again."
He went to the plant several days after the earthquake and continued to stay there. Recently, he was allowed to return home. Even at his office in Tokyo, however, he is working from early in the morning to midnight every day, and there is little time to talk with family members.
"Even if you have no health problems now, will you be in good health in the future?" his concerned wife asked him.
Meanwhile, heated exchanges took place during a meeting of a group company of Hitachi, immediately after the nuclear crisis began.
An employee of the section in charge of the recovery work at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant challenged an employee in charge of engineering management: "How many workers can you send (to the nuclear plant)? Show us your determination."
To resolve the crisis, the employee urged the latter to share in the on-site work at the nuclear plant instead of issuing orders from a safe distance. As a result of the discussion, many engineers went into the nuclear plant.
A mid-level executive of the company recalled, "It was a difficult decision," as the job could endanger the lives of the workers.
What workers found at Fukushima No. 1 in the beginning was a lack of adequate safety equipment and spartan living conditions.
At the start of the nuclear crisis, there was an insufficient number of dosimeters to measure radiation levels. Because of that, about 180 workers were engaged in the recovery work without them.
Their living conditions were poor. They had only hard biscuits and vegetable juice in the morning and canned food and emergency rice at night. They slept on floors during their shifts.
Currently, the workers have meals three times a day, and some can stay at facilities located away from the plant. According to TEPCO sources, every worker now has access to a dosimeter.
However, many workers say that they may have already been exposed to much radiation.
In late March, the radiation level rose in a building that is serving as the headquarters of the recovery work efforts, alarming the workers.
The building is equipped with an air-conditioning system that does not let in outside air and the walls are also thick. TEPCO has additionally replaced filters for air ventilation with new ones. It also installed 77 lead-covered boards on windows to prevent gamma rays from entering the building,
An employee of a company that has dispatched its workers to the Fukushima plant added, "We want to make the dispatched workers wear lead-lined suits."
The Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant had "whole body counters," which measures "internal exposure," or level of radiation in the human body. However, those counters were rendered useless due to damage from the earthquake and subsequent tsunami. The internal exposure is now measured by inspection vehicles.
Despite the precautions for worker safety at Fukushima No. 1, there is concern.
"Some workers may have radiation-caused symptoms after several years," said Atsushi Suzuki, a lawyer who previously handled a labor disaster compensation issue for a nuclear power plant worker.
Suzuki represented a man who worked at the Fukushima No. 1 plant from 1977 to 1982 as a plumber and on other jobs.
After he left the workplace, he was diagnosed as suffering from multiple myeloma, a deadly bone marrow cancer. He died in 2007.
The man was recognized to have died from exposure to radiation. In a suit seeking compensation, however, TEPCO did not acknowledge its responsibility. As a result, his demand for compensation was rejected.
"It is extremely difficult to prove scientifically the cause-and-effect-relationship between exposure to radiation and a disease that broke out later," Suzuki said. "I think that people currently engaged in recovery work (at the Fukushima No. 1 plant) do not have the leeway to prevent exposure to radiation by themselves. It is necessary for the government and TEPCO to fully consider sufficient prevention measures and compensation (to those who suffered radiation-caused diseases)."
(This article was written by Manabu Sasaki, Hiroyoshi Itabashi, Hiroaki Kojima and Ryujiro Komatsu.)
Saturday, April 9, 2011
09/04 Foreign aid workers offer strong support
Hiroshi Mizota and Akane Kato / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers
Despite the sometimes life-threatening nature of their work, foreign rescue workers in the disaster-hit Tohoku region are caring for survivors and keeping their sense of humor. Many survivors express relief as the foreign teams cater to their needs despite cultural differences. Among the rescue teams lending succor are those from Israel and India. These reports are by Yomiuri Shimbun staff writers Hiroshi Mizota and Akane Kato.
Israelis provide more than treatment
MINAMI-SANRIKUCHO, Miyagi--At 9:50 a.m. Sunday, an Israeli medical team visited a house in a mountainous area of Minami-Sanrikucho to see Rumiko Abe, 32, who is in her fifth month of pregnancy.
Wearing a white coat, obstetrician Moshe Pinkert sat in front of a kotatsu foot warmer in the living room with three others, including Tomoko Miura, a 50-year-old midwife.
"Konnichiwa!" Pinkert said to Abe's 4-year-old son Mahiro. Though the boy peered uneasily from behind his mother, he soon started beaming when the team handed him pens and candies. Abe looked relieved.
Through the translator, Pinkert, 43, asked Abe questions about her labor with Mahiro.
The massive tsunami on March 11 did not reach Abe's house as it is located more than four kilometers from the coast. The six family members, including Abe's husband, escaped the disaster unscathed. But the general hospital in Ishinomaki where Abe used to go for treatment and consultation is now filled with disaster victims, so she is unable to make an appointment.
After the disaster, Abe grew extremely worried because for five days she could not feel her baby move in her womb. However, tears came to her eyes when she saw her baby move on a ultrasound monitor set up by the Israeli team.
Before arriving in Japan, Pinkert thought the Japanese seldom showed their feelings. He said he made a special effort to catch the subtleties of patients' feelings, particularly mental stress caused by such a disaster.
Abe smiled so happily after finding that her baby was in good shape that Pinkert said he felt it was worthwhile coming all the way from Israel just for that.
Because of the extent of the disaster, the government has allowed foreign doctors to work in earthquake-hit areas without Japanese medical licenses. Foreign medical staff--including doctors specializing in eight fields, such as internal medicine and infectious diseases--have treated or examined more than 200 people.
Besides the Israeli team, Minami-Sanrikucho has accepted foreign aid teams from Germany, Switzerland, New Zealand and Australia.
About 60 Israeli medical personnel started work at a gymnasium called Bayside Arena in Minami-Sanrikucho on March 28. They built six small prefabricated buildings, including one for X-ray examinations, in the gym's parking lot.
===
Getting a boy to smile
One of the buildings houses a pediatrics unit. Its walls are decorated with illustrations of balloons and clowns.
Last Saturday at 3:10 p.m., 7-year-old Shun Sasaki turned up at the building with a cut on his right wrist that he sustained when he thrust his arm into some rubble. When the bandage was taken off his wrist, the boy said, "It hasn't healed yet."
Nurse Galit Bidner, 30, put a new bandage on his wrist and said: "OK, Shun. Well done!"
When she showed him an illustration of a cute boy she had drawn and then copied that drawing on his bandage, he smiled.
In pediatrics, Bidner believes gestures and smiles are important. When she visited quake-hit Haiti, she used her drawings to encourage children hurt both physically and mentally.
In observance of the Sabbath, strictly observant Jews are prohibited from working from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday except in certain circumstances. Medical personnel are allowed to provide essential medical treatment but are not permitted to engage in any other work, even an action as simple as carrying personal belongings.
On April 1, which was Friday, a rabbi accompanying the medical team fixed a ritual border around the makeshift buildings with ropes to create a space that was not restricted by these religious precepts.
Col. Ophir Cohen Marom, 46, the medical team leader, claimed that his team was the best in Israel and could provide superior medical treatment in the disaster area.
===
Indian rescue team gives its all
ONAGAWACHO, Miyagi--At 2:02 p.m. on April 2, an Indian specialist rescue team found the body of Junko Sato, 59, who had been missing since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, under debris about 120 meters from her home in Onagawacho, Miyagi Prefecture.
"I'm sorry, Mom. I'm sorry I left you behind," her 38-year-old eldest son Yukiyoshi said, crying and hanging onto her body.
Standing around him, about 10 members of India's National Disaster Response Force pressed their hands together in respect and closed their eyes.
Yukiyoshi said: "Over the past three weeks, I was impatient as I couldn't do more than look at the wreckage. I really appreciate [their assistance]."
He then bowed to the Indian rescuers.
It was the Indian team's first overseas operation since its creation in 2005.
Forty-six members arrived in the disaster-hit area on March 28 before completing their mission Wednesday. The team is trained to handle radiation leaks, chemical weapons and other situations requiring special skills.
Pankaj Kumar, the Indians' 34-year-old deputy commandant, said even though the disaster victims were found dead, returning the bodies to their families was meaningful. He said the team gave its all.
At the request of the Miyagi prefectural police, the team helped rescue efforts and cleaning in the district, which had been inaccessible, and assistance initially was slow in coming. Working with four volunteer interpreters, the team gathered information about residents unaccounted for since the twin quake-tsunami disaster, and narrowed the search area. In the six days after March 30, the team found six bodies in the debris.
As aftershocks continue to hit the Tohoku region, the search for missing people in damaged houses is a risky mission. On a site where timber and metal plates from destroyed houses lie jumbled over one another, Alok Awasthi, the team's 41-year-old commandant, kept his eye on the members and gave them specific instructions. On one occasion, he saw a member entering a partially collapsed building and immediately told him to stay away from the building.
"As they have specific expertise, they've been very helpful," a prefectural police official said.
The Indians set up camp in 12 tents in a parking lot of the prefectural athletic park in Rifucho, Miyagi Prefecture, where temperatures fell below zero in the morning. Even during the day, they had to work in cold, windy conditions. Many had difficulty adjusting to temperature differences from their much warmer native country.
The rescuers brought with them about 3,800 kilograms of spices, rice and other foodstuffs from India. Working under such severe overseas circumstances, they were comforted by daily servings of hot tea and curry.
Ajay Kumar, a 38-year-old inspector who was in charge of cooking for the team, said his job is to help the members keep fit. He said he used different curry spices to keep everyone from becoming tired of his prepared dishes.
===
Massive amount of aid still pouring into Japan
A massive amount of foreign aid is pouring into Japan following last month's earthquake and tsunami that caused unprecedented damage to the Tohoku region.
As of April 4, more than 1,000 rescue workers from 20 countries and regions had been dispatched to Japan, according to the Foreign Ministry.
In contrast, only two countries sent rescue teams after the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake.
Twenty-nine countries and regions have sent aid, and Japan continues to receive generous offers of assistance nearly a month after the earthquake struck, ministry officials said.
After receiving offers of assistance, the government checks the needs of affected communities before deciding where rescue teams and aid should be sent.
South Korean rescue workers were the first to enter the disaster-hit region. Shortly after noon on March 12, the day after the earthquake struck, five rescue workers and two dogs landed at Haneda Airport.
A rescue teams from Israel is operating in Miyagi Prefecture, while an Indian team left the prefecture Wednesday after winding up its operations there. Rescuers from Turkey left the prefecture Friday.
The government initially received relief money through each country's Red Cross or Red Crescent offices. But after receiving many requests from those who wanted to make direct donations, the government began accepting donations directly or through its diplomatic missions overseas.
In China, many companies and individuals have made donations to Japanese disaster victims. "Japan helped us in the [2008] Sichuan earthquake. Now it is our turn," one person said.
At a school in Malaysia, 400 students spent two days making a collection of cards with messages and took them to the Japanese Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. One of them read, "You're not alone."
In Spain and Egypt, some soccer players participated in matches with black armbands.
(Apr. 9, 2011)
Despite the sometimes life-threatening nature of their work, foreign rescue workers in the disaster-hit Tohoku region are caring for survivors and keeping their sense of humor. Many survivors express relief as the foreign teams cater to their needs despite cultural differences. Among the rescue teams lending succor are those from Israel and India. These reports are by Yomiuri Shimbun staff writers Hiroshi Mizota and Akane Kato.
Israelis provide more than treatment
MINAMI-SANRIKUCHO, Miyagi--At 9:50 a.m. Sunday, an Israeli medical team visited a house in a mountainous area of Minami-Sanrikucho to see Rumiko Abe, 32, who is in her fifth month of pregnancy.
Wearing a white coat, obstetrician Moshe Pinkert sat in front of a kotatsu foot warmer in the living room with three others, including Tomoko Miura, a 50-year-old midwife.
"Konnichiwa!" Pinkert said to Abe's 4-year-old son Mahiro. Though the boy peered uneasily from behind his mother, he soon started beaming when the team handed him pens and candies. Abe looked relieved.
Through the translator, Pinkert, 43, asked Abe questions about her labor with Mahiro.
The massive tsunami on March 11 did not reach Abe's house as it is located more than four kilometers from the coast. The six family members, including Abe's husband, escaped the disaster unscathed. But the general hospital in Ishinomaki where Abe used to go for treatment and consultation is now filled with disaster victims, so she is unable to make an appointment.
After the disaster, Abe grew extremely worried because for five days she could not feel her baby move in her womb. However, tears came to her eyes when she saw her baby move on a ultrasound monitor set up by the Israeli team.
Before arriving in Japan, Pinkert thought the Japanese seldom showed their feelings. He said he made a special effort to catch the subtleties of patients' feelings, particularly mental stress caused by such a disaster.
Abe smiled so happily after finding that her baby was in good shape that Pinkert said he felt it was worthwhile coming all the way from Israel just for that.
Because of the extent of the disaster, the government has allowed foreign doctors to work in earthquake-hit areas without Japanese medical licenses. Foreign medical staff--including doctors specializing in eight fields, such as internal medicine and infectious diseases--have treated or examined more than 200 people.
Besides the Israeli team, Minami-Sanrikucho has accepted foreign aid teams from Germany, Switzerland, New Zealand and Australia.
About 60 Israeli medical personnel started work at a gymnasium called Bayside Arena in Minami-Sanrikucho on March 28. They built six small prefabricated buildings, including one for X-ray examinations, in the gym's parking lot.
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Getting a boy to smile
One of the buildings houses a pediatrics unit. Its walls are decorated with illustrations of balloons and clowns.
Last Saturday at 3:10 p.m., 7-year-old Shun Sasaki turned up at the building with a cut on his right wrist that he sustained when he thrust his arm into some rubble. When the bandage was taken off his wrist, the boy said, "It hasn't healed yet."
Nurse Galit Bidner, 30, put a new bandage on his wrist and said: "OK, Shun. Well done!"
When she showed him an illustration of a cute boy she had drawn and then copied that drawing on his bandage, he smiled.
In pediatrics, Bidner believes gestures and smiles are important. When she visited quake-hit Haiti, she used her drawings to encourage children hurt both physically and mentally.
In observance of the Sabbath, strictly observant Jews are prohibited from working from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday except in certain circumstances. Medical personnel are allowed to provide essential medical treatment but are not permitted to engage in any other work, even an action as simple as carrying personal belongings.
On April 1, which was Friday, a rabbi accompanying the medical team fixed a ritual border around the makeshift buildings with ropes to create a space that was not restricted by these religious precepts.
Col. Ophir Cohen Marom, 46, the medical team leader, claimed that his team was the best in Israel and could provide superior medical treatment in the disaster area.
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Indian rescue team gives its all
ONAGAWACHO, Miyagi--At 2:02 p.m. on April 2, an Indian specialist rescue team found the body of Junko Sato, 59, who had been missing since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, under debris about 120 meters from her home in Onagawacho, Miyagi Prefecture.
"I'm sorry, Mom. I'm sorry I left you behind," her 38-year-old eldest son Yukiyoshi said, crying and hanging onto her body.
Standing around him, about 10 members of India's National Disaster Response Force pressed their hands together in respect and closed their eyes.
Yukiyoshi said: "Over the past three weeks, I was impatient as I couldn't do more than look at the wreckage. I really appreciate [their assistance]."
He then bowed to the Indian rescuers.
It was the Indian team's first overseas operation since its creation in 2005.
Forty-six members arrived in the disaster-hit area on March 28 before completing their mission Wednesday. The team is trained to handle radiation leaks, chemical weapons and other situations requiring special skills.
Pankaj Kumar, the Indians' 34-year-old deputy commandant, said even though the disaster victims were found dead, returning the bodies to their families was meaningful. He said the team gave its all.
At the request of the Miyagi prefectural police, the team helped rescue efforts and cleaning in the district, which had been inaccessible, and assistance initially was slow in coming. Working with four volunteer interpreters, the team gathered information about residents unaccounted for since the twin quake-tsunami disaster, and narrowed the search area. In the six days after March 30, the team found six bodies in the debris.
As aftershocks continue to hit the Tohoku region, the search for missing people in damaged houses is a risky mission. On a site where timber and metal plates from destroyed houses lie jumbled over one another, Alok Awasthi, the team's 41-year-old commandant, kept his eye on the members and gave them specific instructions. On one occasion, he saw a member entering a partially collapsed building and immediately told him to stay away from the building.
"As they have specific expertise, they've been very helpful," a prefectural police official said.
The Indians set up camp in 12 tents in a parking lot of the prefectural athletic park in Rifucho, Miyagi Prefecture, where temperatures fell below zero in the morning. Even during the day, they had to work in cold, windy conditions. Many had difficulty adjusting to temperature differences from their much warmer native country.
The rescuers brought with them about 3,800 kilograms of spices, rice and other foodstuffs from India. Working under such severe overseas circumstances, they were comforted by daily servings of hot tea and curry.
Ajay Kumar, a 38-year-old inspector who was in charge of cooking for the team, said his job is to help the members keep fit. He said he used different curry spices to keep everyone from becoming tired of his prepared dishes.
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Massive amount of aid still pouring into Japan
A massive amount of foreign aid is pouring into Japan following last month's earthquake and tsunami that caused unprecedented damage to the Tohoku region.
As of April 4, more than 1,000 rescue workers from 20 countries and regions had been dispatched to Japan, according to the Foreign Ministry.
In contrast, only two countries sent rescue teams after the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake.
Twenty-nine countries and regions have sent aid, and Japan continues to receive generous offers of assistance nearly a month after the earthquake struck, ministry officials said.
After receiving offers of assistance, the government checks the needs of affected communities before deciding where rescue teams and aid should be sent.
South Korean rescue workers were the first to enter the disaster-hit region. Shortly after noon on March 12, the day after the earthquake struck, five rescue workers and two dogs landed at Haneda Airport.
A rescue teams from Israel is operating in Miyagi Prefecture, while an Indian team left the prefecture Wednesday after winding up its operations there. Rescuers from Turkey left the prefecture Friday.
The government initially received relief money through each country's Red Cross or Red Crescent offices. But after receiving many requests from those who wanted to make direct donations, the government began accepting donations directly or through its diplomatic missions overseas.
In China, many companies and individuals have made donations to Japanese disaster victims. "Japan helped us in the [2008] Sichuan earthquake. Now it is our turn," one person said.
At a school in Malaysia, 400 students spent two days making a collection of cards with messages and took them to the Japanese Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. One of them read, "You're not alone."
In Spain and Egypt, some soccer players participated in matches with black armbands.
(Apr. 9, 2011)
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