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Chris Noland was living in Tokyo on March 11, 2011 when the massive earthquake hit the northeast coast of Japan. He recorded the effects of the earthquake on his apartment, and then realized he should and could do something to help. He connected with a foreign NGO and began his first ever stint as a volunteer. Noland’s earnest narration and tears as he uncovers diaries and keepsakes runs in stark contrast to the devastated landscapes in the cities he visits, first to clear and rebuild, and then to investigate the effects of the Fukushima meltdown.
What Nolands finds and reveals in 311 Surviving Japan is painful and disturbing: Bureaucracy hampers relief efforts. Food is turned away or misdirected and agencies do not know relief protocol. People stuck inside the 30 km zone were told to stay indoors by the government, patiently waiting for supplies that never came. No fuel to escape or phones to the outside worlds Government officials did not show up for 2 weeks until the city’s mayor broadcast for help on YouTube begging the world for assistance. Food “clicks” high on Geiger counters (and if one mayor is to be believed, shipments of Geiger counters were held back by the Japanese government to prevent citizens from knowing the truth about the contamination). Farmers outside the 30 kilometer radiation zone drive an hour each way to bring hay for their herds–an exercise in futility since the animals and the water they drink are contaminated. And in the long term, far reaching effects may be worse than Chernobyl.
This is a bleak, sad vision of Japan, where citizens feel betrayed, their sense of self destroyed by the government, by alleged kickbacks to the energy industry which promotes nuclear power, by the need for energy, as much as by the tsunami. Noland’s interviews with victims, politicians, and nuclear experts and images paint a tragic future, though the final scenes of a huge rally–50,000 citizens protesting nuclear energy give hope that Fukushima may change society–if we survive the fallout.
311 Surviving Japan is currently scheduled for screenings across the US on and after the anniversary of the disaster. For tickets click here.
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Please stay on topic/s–in this case tonight’s film 311 Surving Japan, director Christopher Noland, Fukushma, nuclear energy, and Japan relief efforts. If you’d like to discuss today’s newsworthy matters, please find a post elsewhere on FDL to do so.
Thank you. And yeah, I tpye badly…
Welcome to Firedoglake Movie Night, Christopher and thank you for being here tonight!
Thank you Lisa!
Christopher is a friend of both Pray For Japan and myself. I’m glad you invited him to do this Movie Night discussion!
Welcome to the Lake – I can’t really imagine what you’ve experienced but this movie helps. We haven’t come near to the end of this have we?
The idea that the government would withhold Geiger counters sounds hideous, but I can see it happening here as well
Chris, Welcome to the Lake. Thank you for a moving look at the disaster and the effects on the population.
Christopher, you had moved to Tokyo before the earthquake–what were you doing there, if I might ask?
I am very pleased to be here!
I had been fascinated by Japanese culture since I was 15 and studied some of the language. So after the Financial collapse, I decided to go to Japan in 2010 to start a new life is an Creative Director for a Design company and a freelance English teacher.
Thank you, Genkidesu for helping bring awareness to both these films!
How long were you there before 311?
We haven’t but I think this is a good opportunity to make this a catalyst for change!
About 1 year.
It’s necessary: it’s not over in Tohoku by a longshot.
In the 3.11 Surviving Japan, you mention you had to find a non-Japanese NGO in order to volunteer–can you explain for us why?
Your journey through the countryside visiting cities and people was dangerous, did you pick up significant radiation living there?
Unfortunately not. I believe this 2nd anniversary is a good opportunity for the world to review it’s choices in energy polices. We only have one planet to live on, Poisoning our water supplies with fracking and placing Nuclear power plants in earthquake zones produce short term gain but the consequences are not worth it.
My Japanese language skills were not polished enough to work strictly with a Japanese group at the time. Tohoku is a region outside of Tokyo, so English is not as common there.
I have not had any effect from the radiation fall-out but I was very, very careful. Radiation goes into the ground and water mostly, so we knew to avoid dirt, mud etc in Fukushima.
The bureaucracy seemed really at a loss and counterintuitive: No food donations could be received at 7pm. The housing agencies didn’t know about relief acts..
I was moved by all the people you interviewed that were waiting for the government to tell them what to do, to provide assistance, and the long silence that ensued, they are still waiting.
Japan is a very structured society. In some ways that works very well, in the case of this disaster, a lot of people got the relief and food they needed but it seemed to operate at the same pace as a non-emergency sometimes. While the clearing of the roads was rather quick, residents were confused as they felt information was not being relayed to them, especially in the case of the Fukushima Disaster.
The Government raised the acceptable radiation dose limit from 1 Millisievert per year to 20, 20 times looser than the original standard, so they could say it was as safe as before…
That is evil and insane. What effects are being seen in the children and adults?
Bev, That is very typical in Japan to “wait your turn”, to not speak up or speak out against anything generally. So of course, people looked for the authorities to give them instructions, I think the authorities were overwhelmed thus resulting in their wait…
As time went on though, you started to see people speaking out more and more..
Now you have lawsuits and protests, two things very uncommon in Japan.
Bureaucracies move very slowly and need in an emergency is immediate. You can see this in Pray For Japan…three days passed before the first NPOs could get food to the people sheltering in that school. And you could see this with Superstorm Sandy…it was only thanks to Occupy people spontaneously organizing to help that help got to people in the affected areas. There are still parts of the Sandy affected areas who still don’t have power. The utilities, the Red Cross, FEMA, they all are at a disadvantage and move even slower than community organizers and small NPOs. But the big dogs need to get nimbler, because they have more power to help than ad-hoc and NPO/NGO groups.
I was very hopeful though that 50,000 people marched on ht eone year anniversary in opposition of nuclear energy.
Lisa, In Fukushima prefecture you have children testing positive for Cesium-137 in their bodies. They are not allowed to do outdoor activities so they are gaining weight from having to stay inside. Some Children are starting to get Abnormal thyroid. Adults have the psychological problems of how to deal with this and keep their families together, it is truly heartbreaking.
I heard about the 50,000 person March in June. I thought it might not happen, or it would be stopped. Those numbers have reached up into the 100,000 now as Japanese people are making a stand saying they do not want nuclear power.
Has the Japanese government stepped up their medical outreach for the coming tide of medical cases / deaths?
I think people assume someone else is taking care of it in many situations only to find out nobody was and the ball has been dropped.
This is huge a a society like Japan.
First 4 minutes about U.S., 2nd four about Japan. Corbett, a Canadian, has lived in Japan for a long time (decade?), married to a Japanese woman & expecting first child.
He has another one I couldn’t find that Japan did not need nuke reactors anyhow. When they were all shut down, Japan still had enough power: mostly conservation & importing more oil.
Yeah, that seems to be how the problems start.
Well they are testing the children regularly. Interestingly as much as they claimed it had no ill effect and there was no danger, they are seemingly testing them almost as lab rats in an experiment. If they are testing positive why are they not moving them many wonder?
I was told it was because of money and they did not want the businesses to go under.
Basically they can throw those kids under the bus to keep the economy going and pretend like everything is ok.
We do not know if they will disclose the deaths as related to Fukushima or not.
Even after Hiroshima, Japan did not disclosed all the deaths as related to the bomb, a lot of the drs were told to tell their patients it was something else….
Wind power could be huge in JP.
We will all go together when we go.
That is true Japan has ran the country without the majority of its Nuclear power plants since the accident. There have been many safety tests. Many Groups want them back on, many do not.
The energy conversation was not that much of a struggle. I think Japan as a country should move forward with their energy policy and show the world how it is done. I think that is very possible.
Why? Are politicians full of hot air? Didn’t strike me that way.
Japan has an enormous tech advantage. They also could explore things like Geothermal energy considering they have all those hot springs in the mountains.
Do you know the origin of the word “Kamikaze?” One of the few places the Khans could not subjugate was Japan. The armada of Kublai Khan was wrecked both times in two separate invasion attempts because of typhoons that hit each time. Japan is located in part of the Pacific that gets lots and lots of wind. I understand that there will be a pilot plant off the coast of Fukushima prefecture.
OK, Chris, what do you want to see in the wake of the release of your film?
That is true they are building a wind farm, but one must ask, is it a serious step or just showmanship?
That sounds beneficial. On another note, what changes have been found in the fish around Fukushima?
Awareness to the problems in Tohuku and Fukushima. People still worry about the food they have to eat. I support an Organization called Saveminamisomaproject.org which is just one of many, many grassroots relief operations there, on the ground, ready to help. But more so,
I would like to see the world and Japan to consider discontinuing the use of Nuclear energy. It is not Necessary or even cost effective. There is no method to keep the waste. We have alternatives. I would like to see Japan reinvent its national economy with renewable energy and I would like to see nuclear power plants in earthquake areas, like San Onofre, CA, Closed.
Thanks. I did not know the history of the work kamikaze.
Here’s my Q about typhoons. How do you store the energy in-between?
About 40 percent of fish of the coast have too much Cesium to be considered safe to eat. Even Fish as far as Alaska have been found to have contamination as well.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/26/world/asia/fish-off-fukushima-japan-show-elevated-levels-of-cesium.html?_r=0
San Onofre is a nightmare, utterly corrupt–speakingof corrupt, could you go into the engineers/designers at FUkushinma who resigned because they knew long before the tsunami the palnt was a disaster waiting to happen
I hope it’s serious. And yeah, geothermal would also be a good choice of alternative, renewable energy Japan could use in lieu of Nukes. Iceland is largely powered by geothermal…it’s a mature technology.
It was Dr. Helen Caldicot who stated ” I knew the 3 GE engineers that designed those Marc I reactors and the resigned because they knew they were dangerous, so Japan built them on an earthquake fault.”
I do not think the world should be at risk for the sake of the Japanese economy or anyone’s economy for that matter. Is human life not more important than money? Will it come true that only when the last river is poisoned that mankind will realize we cannot eat money?
What your film brought out – reactors built on an earthquake fault, and – the storage towers “cooling pools” for the rods at the top of the building and the emergency generator below grade. Completely opposite of logic.
When I saw “at Risk” I mean by having 54 nuclear reactors near 4 tectonic plates conjunction points…I think Fukushima already proved that to be dangerous. Do we need another test?
Thanks! You had some great news footage,btw.
Well the real problem with nuclear cooling ponds from what I gathered from Prof Cham Dallas was, that they (the cooling ponds) are being used as storage not just in Japan but in the United States as well. That many are over triple their capacity because no plan was ever made to properly store the waste.
So I think it is more than just a design flaw, the real danger is the lack of oversight and planning for the future.
The points made about nuclear energy and nuclear weaponry were also very prescient. Thanks for those.
thank you! I was very lucky to have some very kind contributors to this project. I did not have the means to make it. But it proves that if people come together for a common goal, you can make it happen!
Unfortunately, it is not something going away very fast… Even though the cold war has ended, the use of depleted uranium weapons in war continues in the middle east. You have dead babies and deformed children. People are sold this idea that this is all for their freedom but in reality it is for global conquest of our natural resources..
Chris, you have some upcoming screenings across the country. Tell us a bit about how those work…
Website – 311 Surviving Japan
Host a screening
Flickr pictures
We will be screening the film In several major cities across America! It is a unique opportunity to see the film on the big screen and help a great cause!
Tickets are only available by advance sale here: http://www.tugg.com/titles/311-surviving-japan?location=global&state=upcoming
Basically instead of renting a theatre we are doing it by advanced sale, this way you can enjoy it at regular admission and we can help those in Japan.
Anyone can go to Tugg.com and request a screening in their own city as well.
Our list of cities includes:
Seattle 3/11 8:00p AMC Pacific Place 11
Portland 3/11 830 Living Room Theaters
San Francisco 3/11 830 AMC Van Ness
Los Angeles 3/11 830 Laemmle’s Noho 7
Laguna Niguel 3/11 830 Regency Theaters
San Diego 3/11 830 AMC Fashion Valley 18
Chicago 3/11 830 AMC River East 21
Boston 3/11 830 AMC Loews Boston Common 19
DC 3/11 830 AMC THEATRE
Honolulu 3/11 830 Kahala 8
New York 3/11-3/12 830 AMC Kips bay 15
Some times may be subject to change so please check Tugg.com for the most up to date showtimes and locations!
You can also request a host a screening kit from our website 311SurvivingJapan.Com to show it to your community or group!
Are there any protests / ceremonies planned in Japan on 3.11?
Where do the French store their nuke waste? Near as I could figure out, on site.
Now that is “safer” than storing it onsite in JP bc lower prob of natural disasters.
After 9/11 (was 5 miles away) I did a systematic review of potential other terriss threats. Dogs are more dangerous to humans than terriss.
That said, I lived 25 miles south of Indian Point then and 25 miles north Of Indian Point now. “They” claimed that it is encased in concrete dome that is impenitrible. If you believe that, I’ve got a bridge you might want to buy. Great emotional econ value, though high maintenance.
No evacuation for Indian Point possible. Roads are too undersized, warning sys too feeble, blah blah.
Perhaps 50 million U.S. at risk? What, me worry?
I was surprised by your access to government leaders, mayors, for interviews, were these hard to set up? Their openness was amazing.
There definitely is one in Ishinomaki, Miyagi, Japan because my friend/colleague Stu Levy has plans to go there for the memorial. I haven’t heard of anything here.
Heard somewhere recently (dn?) that non-nuke city in JP holds once/year remembrance, low key, nonpolitical. Too bad Shinzo Abe is a war monger who wants to dismantle all the anti-war, anti-nuke agreements signed after WWII.
We will be screening the film In several major cities across America! It is a unique opportunity to see the film on the big screen and help a great cause! Tickets are only available by advance sale here: 3.11 Surviving Japan
Basically instead of renting a theatre we are doing it by advanced sale, this way you can enjoy it at regular admission and we can help those in Japan.
Anyone can go to Tugg.com and request a screening in their own city as well.
Our list of cities includes:
Seattle 3/11 8:30p AMC Pacific Place 11
Portland 3/11 830 Living Room Theaters
San Francisco 3/11 830 AMC Van Ness
Los Angeles 3/11 830 Laemmle’s Noho 7
Laguna Niguel 3/11 830 Regency Theaters
San Diego 3/11 830 AMC Fashion Valley 18
Chicago 3/11 830 AMC River East 21
Boston 3/11 830 AMC Loews Boston Common 19
DC 3/11 830 AMC THEATRE
Honolulu 3/11 830 Kahala 8
New York 3/11-3/12 830 AMC Kips bay 15
Some times may be subject to change so please check Tugg.com for the most up to date showtimes and locations!
There are many ceremonies/protests for March 11th in not only Japan but across the world!
Will be doing any festivals?
I was very surprised as well! Here in America you would be told to turn off the camera!
The first set of Interviews I assisted a journalist from Estonia around Tohoku, so he already had a few appointments set.
The disaster prevention or crisis management offices were the most reluctant to answer some question or even just flat our not answer them at all. This does not reflect in the film because of the translation going on and it would have been to difficult to include the back and forth japanese to English to Japanese etc
Some officials, like the Minami-Soma City Councilman Oyama, had a point to make so he was very willing to go on camera and tell us everything he could.
So the interviews with them were not difficult, and I felt at time with some it was part of Japanese culture to finish what you have started that kept the interviews going.
There was no interview that I did where someone said to stop.
There were a few questions the TEPCO rep could not answer for us, but he attempted to state his reasons why instead of “no comment”.
Next week we have director Greg Jacobs discussing LOUDER THAN A BOMB:
YOu can view the trailer here
Regarding Film festivals.
I have submitted it to some Environmental and human rights film festivals and will submit to more as they come up.
It is so good you got to document the truth and the feelings of the survivors. Thank you.
Christopher, thank you so very much for making such a passionate and sincere film that reveals so much and for being here tonight. Much successs to you and love to Japan
And Genkiesu, Ms. Geek, thank you always for your support of Japan and Firedoglake.
Firepups and Firebaggers, thank you for another wonderful evening!
You are welcome!
My pleasure.
Thank you for the opportunity! And remember everyone! Get your tickets now at Tugg.com
We want to make this event happen nationwide as a catalyst for change!
Thank you!
The “cooling ponds” are not a “design flaw” as such. They are a Usage Flaw. They were designed to be used as a transfer pool. Spent rods were to be taken out of the reactor chamber and placed into this pool at the top of the reactor, new rods that had previously been placed into this pool temporarily would then be loaded into the reactor chamber. Once the reactor was closed, the spent rods were then supposed to be removed from this pool and taken to safe storage. The purpose was to facilitate quicker refueling of the reactor.
The flaw in this system is that this transfer pool began to be used as almost permanent storage for both new fuel rods and for the spent fuel rods as well. Now almost all of these Mark I reactors both in Japan and here in the US have these 4-story high pools completely full of fuel rods. They have no top covers. They are not lead lined, they have “doors” that have leaky rubber gaskets to keep the water in, and there is only minimal clearance between the fuel rods and the bottom of the pool so circulation of the cooling water is quite problematic if there is even the slightest interruption of water flow for any reason. The fuel rods are hanging loosely in these pools and can be easily knocked together or knocked off their ‘hangars’ if an earthquake happens. In short – they are all a disaster waiting to happen.
I do agree with you however – we need to shut them all down, and find a way to store all this stuff safely. And come up with something else.