Japan’s national provisional safety limit for levels of radioactive cesium in food is 500 becquerels per kilogram. Let’s Japan reviewed food-test data issued by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare covering the period from March 1, 2011 – Dec. 21, 2011.

Highest becquerels per kilogram levels

photos: radiation measurement; cabbage protesters; checkpoint Minamisoma Fukushima; Fukushima relief effort fundraiser; tsunami destruction; produce-stand

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Shoppers in Tokyo, March 25, 2011

We’ve been having some troubles here in Japan.  Maybe you’ve heard. I’ve written some articles about the earthquake and the coverage of the tsunami and the Fukushima nuclear reactors. You can read my reports here:

March 25, 2011
Op-Ed: Tokyo OK, foreign media’s sensational coverage shameful

March 16, 2011
US govt recommends 80 Km Fukushima evac zone; currently 30km

March 15, 2011
US agrees with reactor response ambassador in Tokyo says

March 15, 2011
Higher than normal radiation detected along Japan Pacific coast

March 14, 2011
Shielding possibly damaged by explosion at Fukushima No.2 Tuesday

March 14, 2011
Op-Ed: The earthquake aftermath in Tokyo

March 13, 2011
Rolling Blackouts Begin Monday in Tokyo

March 12, 2011
How I survived the Japanese earthquake

Eco Drive Meister – Become expert in environmentally friendly fuel-efficient driving. Best for businesses with more than 50 vehicles. How to Kyoto.

Eco Meister – Courses and certifications offered by individual prefectural and city governments. Learn about the environment, garbage-related problems, recycling, global warming. Akita ecomeister.

Japanese Food Meister – How to treat only the ingredient of harmony, how to cut only the dish of harmony, how to boil the fire, and how to apply it and how to dish up the taste. Also known as Washoku.

Japanese Seasoning Meister – Become well-versed in seasonal seasonings and talk about charm of seasoning happily and plainly.

Okinawa Liquor Meister – Official Okinawa Prefecture Awamori distilled rice liquor expert certification.

Okonomiyaki Meister – The qualification levels: Instructor, Coordinator and Meister. What is Okonomiyaki?

Onsen Meister – Learn hot spring hygiene management, the benefits of hot springs, effective bathing methods, and thermal physiology. Japanese spa is called onsen.
(more…)

A popular beach near Yokohama implemented a smoking policy at the start of this year’s swimming season in June. Zushi beach in Kanagawa Prefecture has banned smoking except at designated areas on its 600-meters of sand. Five smoking huts have been installed on the beach. Four standing ashtrays have also been placed in the span of sand. There is no penalty for violating the smoking rules.


Shirahama city in Wakayama Prefecture implemented smoking rules on its beach in 2008. Banners and a standing signboard notify visitors of the locations of smoking areas. There are several standing ashtrays in the sand. 

A smoking policy went into effect on the July 2 season opening of the 300-meter-long Ougigahama beach in Tanabe City, Wakayama. No-smoking signs are posted in three places, and there is a smoking area near the official beach facilities office.

Atami City in Shizuoka prefecture commenced smoking regulations at its beach in 2005. Kanagawa is the only prefecture of Japan’s 47 prefectures to have a smoking policy in effect for a beach.

Japanese Princess Aiko, 8, attended elementary school again March 8, the first time since she stopped going to school March 2 after complaining of being bullied by some boys at school. Princess Aiko is in the second grade at Gakushuin Primary School in Tokyo. Princess Aiko is the only child of Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako.

Princess Aiko has complained of an upset stomach and has showed deep anxiety since March 2.

The Imperial Household Agency said that Princess Aiko and several other students had been "treated harshly" by boys in another class. A school official said the incident may have been a misunderstanding.

Crown Princess Masako accompanied Princess Aiko to the school to attend the fourth period of morning classes. They then left the school together.

The outing was a rare public appearance for Crown Princess Masako, 46, who was diagnosed with an adjustment disorder in July 2004. Her condition is attributed to the difficulties of adjusting to palace life and the pressure to bear a son. Crown Princess Masako hasn’t attended most official duties for several years.

Doctors monitoring the health of Crown Princess Masako said March 5 her condition has vastly improved but she needs more time to reach a level that will allow her to expand the scope of her official duties.

Princess Masako "has gotten better and is now in a state incomparable to" five and a half years ago when she started to receive treatment, the doctors said in a statement issued through the IHA.

"However, considering her long battle with the illness and the stress she has been under, it will take more time for her to expand the scope of her activities," the statement said, noting that she "has made surprisingly great efforts" to overcome the illness.

In the statement, the doctors noted that the support of people close to her, especially members of her family, has played a key role in helping her to recover. "Watching Princess Aiko growing up and her increasing exchanges with her friends is a joy as well as a remedy for the crown princess," it said.

The doctors mentioned the crown princess’ presence last year at events commemorating the 20th anniversary of Emperor Akihito’s ascension to the throne as well as at a ceremony last month to mark the 15th anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake.

The visit to Kobe for the quake memorial ceremony was her first official trip outside Tokyo involving an overnight stay since January 2008.

The statement warned, however, that high expectations for more public appearances could hamper her recovery.

"Although expectations for her to perform more official duties are expected to grow as her recovery progresses, it is necessary to consider the workload that she would shoulder so that it would not impose a heavy burden," the doctors said.

Some medical experts outside of the imperial family are skeptical about the prospects for a full recovery being achieved quickly.

"Although the cause of her stress is not clearly shown in the report, I assume there may be a gap between the feelings of Crown Princess Masako, who is longing to live the way she wants to, and the Imperial Household Agency, which tends to put things in a mold," said Masaaki Noda, a professor at Kwansei Gakuin University. "It looks like her illness could last longer judging from the doctors’ opinions," he said.

(Above compiled from news reports)

Princess Masako’s condition could have an influence on her daughter. 

The reports about Princess Aiko’s experience at school seem to indicate nothing more than normal, temporary fears.

However, studies suggest that children or adolescents are more likely to have an anxiety disorder if they have a parent with anxiety disorder.
(more…)

Suicides increase in March in Japan so the government has begun an emergency 3-month suicide prevention campaign. National Police Agency statistics indicate the number of people who commit suicide is highest in March. The fiscal year ends on March 31 and it’s believed poor financial situations at companies cause managers to commit suicide. The NPA data also shows the number of annual suicides was over 30,000 for the past 12 years. There were 32,753 suicides in Japan in 2009.

The government suicide prevention website also attributes the high suicide rate to long working hours, severe unemployment, bankruptcies, and being liable for multiple consumer loans. As part of the stepped-up suicide prevention effort, consultation counters have been opened at all Hello Work public job-finding centers throughout Japan

Government-sponsored public service TV advertisements show a daughter expressing concern to her sleepy father. The ad advises people who have difficulty sleeping for two weeks or more to consult a doctor.

Train stations on a major route in Tokyo are the most recent in the country to have blue lighting installed on platforms. The blue LED ceiling lights at the ends of platforms are intended to prevent people from jumping into oncoming trains. The blue lights will operate with the existing standard fluorescent lights.

"Blue lighting was selected because there are claims the color blue calms emotions," an official from East Japan Railway’s Tokyo office said. The railway also believes the blue lights will reduce graffitti and minor crimes.

Blue light-emitting diodes will be placed on every platform on the JR East Yamanote line which circles central Tokyo. All 29 stations on the line are expected to have the lights by the end of October. The Yamanote line will be the only route in Japan that has blue lighting at every station.

On the Yamanote line, there were 9 suicides by jumping off platforms in fiscal 2006, 15 in fiscal year 2007, and four in 2008. As of August 31, 2009, 18 suicides had occured at Yamanote line stations. On all routes managed by the JR East Tokyo office, there were 68 platform suicides in fiscal 2008.

On all West Japan Railway lines managed by the Osaka office, there wered 70 platform suicide jumpers in fiscal 2008.

Keihin Electric Express Railway installed some blue lighting on some platforms and at some crossings in December 2006. Seibu Railway has placed blue lights at some crossings. JR West put in the blue LEDs in selected spots in February 2008. The JR East stations Ogikubo and Nishi-Ogikubo in Tokyo on the Chuo Line utilize blue fluorescent lamps.

The stations with the blue lights as of Sept. 17, 2009
Gumyoji Station in Minami Ward, Yokohama. (Keihin Electric Express Railway Co.) Kita-Ageo, Okegawa and Kitamoto stations in Saitama prefecture. (JR Takasaki Line) Ogikubo and Nishi-Ogikubo stations in Suginami ward, Tokyo. (Chuo Line) Shinbashi, Shinagawa, Yurakucho, Osaki and 3 other stations in Tokyo. (Yamanote Line)

More calm blue lightning
Some crossings on the Hanwa Line. (West Japan Railway Co.)

photos: Kobe Shimbun; Sankei; IT Revolution (large); Asahi Shimbun; Chunichi Shimbun; Iza-Sankei; Shinjuku station

related: Families of platform suicide jumpers billed by railway companies in Japan: urban myth? Glocom; New York Times; Summary

• Japanese suicides rise as world recession hits country’s businessmen
• Now suicide has become a political issue, how will Japan address it?
• Forget the suicide stereotype
• Can Blue-Colored Light Prevent Suicide?
• Reinvent Wheel? Blue Room. Defusing a Bomb? Red Room.
• Design: Spatial Color

Are you tired of scratching your itches? Don’t like applying skin cream throughout the day? Rohto Pharmaceutical’s over-the-counter Tokiinshi Jyo tablets will stop your scratching. Take 4 tablets per day to suppress the itching caused by dry skin or eczema. The pill is intended for non-allergy-caused itching.

Ingredients include Chinese herbs: Dong Quai; Radix Saposhnikoviae; chi-li-tzu; Rehmannia Root; Schizonepetae Spica; Shou Wu Chih.
Korean herbs: Cnidium officinale Makino.
Other: Peony; licorice extract; additives.
price: 252 tablets (three weeks) JPY 4725; 84 tablets (one week) JPY 1680.

Researchers in Japan seem intent on putting an end to unpleasant, sometimes vital, human bodily functions, as previously mentioned here on Lets Japan.

• Piss a little during exercise? See your pee disappear! The pee pad for women!
• You really do not have to piss so often when you use Lady Guard!
• Know you’re going to eat too much? Here’s how to stuff your face without experiencing the onset of that unpleasant full stomach feeling! The pre-party pill! Good for your alcohol-drinking plan too!

WARNING: Do not mix these powders, pills and pads. May be hazardous to your health.

Masked macaque could attack Police are warning Tokyo residents the wild Shibuya monkey may use the mass mask H1N1 flu hysteria to venture out and cause trouble. Police say if the monkey puts on a mask, it will be easier for the simian to slip out of its hideout and blend in with mask-wearing citizens.

The macaque monkey turned up unescorted in Shibuya train station in Tokyo the morning of August 20, 2008. Rush hour crowds scattered as the monkey scampered around the station. The monkey rested atop a timetable sign while cops below stretched green netting to trap the macaque. But the monkey was too quick for the cops and ran out of the station.

The monkey, nicknamed "Makawaii", has been seen in the Tokyo city limits on several occasions. It’s believed the monkey has been posing as a "net cafe refugee" and living in an internet cafe in Tokyo. Messages have been regularly posted by "Makawaii" on the internet messaging service Twitter. The monkey claims it is being given a net cafe cubicle free of rent in return for doing janitorial work at the outlet.

Tokyo cops are distributing an updated Masked Monkey Most Wanted poster door-to-door. The A4-size handout shows 4 computer-enhanced images of the mask-wearing monkey. The handout also include tips on how to spot a sick monkey. Police say the monkey has probably been indoors for several months and is likely to wildly celebrate any time spent outdoors by drinking too much beer and sake, and possibly stripping and chattering loudly in a city park. Officials are advising citizens to carry green netting at all times, and to report any monkey-like mischief.

Translation of the police handout, from top:
Wanted ! The Shibuya monkey might wear a flu mask! *Computer image. Symptoms of flu in macaque monkeys. Weight loss. Delusional. Paranoia. Call 110 if you see this monkey!

news Japan reports 135 swine flu cases, closes schools
Japan Swine Flu Cases Top 100; Schools Shut, Workers Sent Home

Stylish Masks Cool, Steam, and Fit Lips and Noses

Blue surgical-style face masks are being worn by millions around the world in an effort to prevent contracting the swine flu H1N1 virus. In Japan, masks are a common sight anytime people are suffering from a cold, hay fever or other allergies.

The world news reporting of the global swine flu situation indicates the wearing of masks in places other than hospitals is rather uncommon. Japanese have years of experience with mask-wearing, and we’ve gathered the best mask fashions. Choose from the nose-fit models, the form-fitting model with wire, the masks that won’t fog up your glasses, the designer masks, the menthol masks, the tea-filter masks, the masks that feel like a steam facial, and the masks that look like bra cups. Now you can fight the flu in style!

(more…)