Peter Goodspeed: The 'myth of safety' in Japan's nuclear plants

In a business practice that recalled the ritual seppuku suicides of samurai warriors, the president of Japan’s largest power company resigned Friday to assume responsibility for the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

At a nationally televised news conference, Masataka Shimizu bowed deeply in an exhibition of remorse and declared, “I am resigning for having shattered public trust about nuclear power and for having caused so many problems and fears for the people.

“I want to take managerial responsibility and bring a symbolic close.”

But Japan and his company, Tokyo Electric Power Co., may wait decades to witness the end to the worst crisis in the country’s post-war history.

TEPCO is already feeling the pain — in the past three months it lost US$15.3-billion as a result of the continuing nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in the wake of a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and a tsunami with 15-metre high waves.

At least 15,000 people died after the twin disasters battered the northeastern Tohoku region on March 11. Another 9,506 are still missing and more than 80,000 are homeless, with no idea of when, if ever, they will be allowed to return to their old neighbourhoods.

The world’s third-largest economy has suffered nearly US$400-billion in damage and been thrust into recession. Japanese manufacturers have been staggered by power shortages and breaks in their supply chains, and are not expected to return to business as usual before the fall.

According to the World Bank, it will take at least five more years just to clean up the mess left by the natural disasters.

But it is the continuing nuclear catastrophe at Fukushima, just 200 kilometres north of Tokyo, that really threatens Japan’s future.

As emergency workers still struggle to control four of the plant’s six nuclear reactors, the Japanese are only now learning just how serious the crisis has been.

Radioactive isotopes have spewed into the air, contaminated the soil and been flushed into the sea, but the threat of even more dangerous exposures remains as nuclear experts try to determine the full extent of the damage.

Radiation levels in the three damaged reactors are so high emergency crews can only spend a few minutes at a time near the buildings. They have been able to enter only two of the damaged structures to restart monitoring equipment.

TEPCO has announced a two-phase plan to resolve the crisis: it hopes to spend three months cooling the damaged reactors and plugging radiation leaks; and another six months putting the reactors into a stable state known as a “cold shutdown.

The history connected with the Samurai Warriors

The history connected with the Samurai Warriors

The country of Japan as has been said to have been completely inhabited from the time 4500 BC. Historical past has it that first people happen to be referred to as Ainu, a Caucasian race. There is certainly trace with this ethnic background even during present times, specifically in the northern reaches of the island of Hokkaido. Many alterations to the people of Japan has taken place after that, culminating in a major change about 200 BC, when islands began to be lived in by people known as Yayoi. It’s considered that most of the present day ethnic and traditional overall look of Japan looks like that relating to the Yayoi men and women.

The Japanese land traditionally experienced scarce accessibility to farming terrain, that had been just 20% of the overall available land. It was the primary reason for the presence of quite a few warring groups within Japan, that attacked as well as wiped out opposing groups to procure additional territory intended for farming. Such terrorism as a result of hard to find farming land is considered to lead to the Samurai.

Among the many various clans, one particular group came out to be primarily potent. This group was led by the warrior called Jimmu Tenno. This individual guided his group for the fertile lands of Yamato, and eventually started the Yamato empire. Because of the strength these people had the ability to exhibit, the rulers of the empire began to think of them selves to be connected with divine source. The main characteristic associated with the Yamato dynasty grew into the mainlands connected with Asia, especially into China and also Korea, hence causing the import of various civilizations, forms of martial arts and technologies. The Yamato empire had several rulers, and probably the most popular among them has been named Prince Yamato. He was a fearless as well as an expert in the martial art techniques. Several assert the fact that Yamato was the role model for the Samurai.

The ancient Yayoi warriors developed numerous arms and weapons for the recurrent battles. The skills created close to these kinds of tools along with armors, that was capable of changing according to the availableness of fresh technologies, formed the core of the Samurai manner associated with everyday living. The earliest weapons were bows, arrows, coupled with Japanese swords . With the actual development of weapons, Samurai warriors integrated guns into their own weaponry. The Samurai warroir’s armour incorporated a headgear, protectors for shoulders, arms and chest. In the end days, the Samurai warriors began using horses and donning upper leg as well as lower leg protectors. Samurai warriors had a book of rules, identified like the Bushido, signifying the Way of the Warrior. That signified the freedom associated with the soldier from the fear of death and maintaining of Duty ahead of anything else.

How to Be a Samurai Warrior

Samurai warriors

The last samurai, the life and battles of Saigō Takamori

A Brief History of the Samurai

World cultures through art activities