News digest April 24, 2011

The school year has begun with a bang, hence my silence for several days. Spring weather has come and gone and returned again - having clothes for all seasons has been essential. Today was a t-shirt day though, and very fine by me. And it will get warmer, hence the business and school discussions and media hype about the inevitable blackouts/electricity reduction mandates in the coming months when the electricity consumption calendar sees a surge, looking remarkably similar to this George Bush disapproval ratings graph mapping his years in office (sorry George, but yours was the only graph I could find in short order).

Universities, including mine, are discussing the possibility of ending the first semester and exams in early July (ours normally end July 31). Some have already decided to do just that. In related news, Tokyo University has developed a big brother device that measures electricity use in every room on its campus and sends warnings via Twitter to those who exceed acceptable levels. The computer program also has the power (no pun intended) to automatically adjust the temperature in rooms according to their new rules. How cool is that.

The Japan Times reported yesterday that Prime Minister Naoto Kan's government on Friday instructed parts of Fukushima Prefecture outside the 20-km no-go zone around the crippled No. 1 nuclear plant to evacuate by the end of May, saying that cumulative radiation levels may pose a health risk to residents.

The announcement came a day after the government declared the area a legally binding no-go zone, where unauthorized entry is subject to fines of up to ¥100,000 or possible detention for up to 30 days under a special nuclear emergency law.

Residents are furious about this because they have no idea if/when they will be able to return home. In the meantime, they are forced to stay in evacuation shelters or find their own alternatives. Many people are thus instantly unemployed or out of school. 


Despite this new trauma, spring has come to Fukushima. A famous area with 1,000-year-old cherry trees was in the news today.

Cherry blossoms dancing in the wind