A Japanese art collective called Chim Pom is helping solve Tokyo’s rodent problem by catching the city’s rats, stuffing them, and painting them to look like Pikachu. Sweet dreams, everybody! source
Deserted scenes of Tokyo without a single man around came across my mind. It really was a spine-chilling thought.Former Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan • Offering a truly harrowing vision of a post-Fukushima future for Tokyo. The vision for the 20-million-strong city helped push Kan towards encouraging renewable energy during his final months as Prime Minister, when he was dealing with the march earthquake. We’re with him. That’s a scary thought and it’s understandable why he changed his track as a result. source (via • follow)
Video from CNN of the earth shaking after the 7.0 that hit Japan today. The guy isn’t shaking the camera.
Why are these Japanese businesspeople dressed up like they’re about to go to a cookout? The reason actually has to do with March’s earthquake, if you can believe it. See, Japan has this campaign called “Super Cool Biz,” where the AC doesn’t go up nearly as high and businesses cut their electricity use by 15 percent. Which means that offices shouldn’t get cooler than 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit) and workers should probably dress down and stuff. While the campaign isn’t new — it was introduced in 2005 as a way to fight global warming — companies are finally starting to jump on board with the idea due to the earthquake. (Photo by Itsuo Inouye/Associated Press) source
Hillary Clinton visits Japan in show of post-quake support: Here she is with Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko. Hillary does a great job keeping that presidential poise even as Secretary of State, doesn’t she? source
Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara reelected despite epic gaffe: This dude’s thanking his lucky stars today. See, he suggested that the tsunami was “divine punishment” for the people of Japan. (Ouch!) He still got re-elected. Shockingly. source
acmesalesrep says: Worldwide, the average dose rate due to naturally occurring background radiation is about 0.3 µSv/hr (the “per hour” being significant as the sievert is a unit of dose, not dose rate). This can vary significantly depending on local geology, altitude, etc. I don’t know what the normal background rate in Tokyo is—and without that information, this picture is pretty much meaningless.
» We say: You’re right, we should’ve provided that information with the photo. Here’s a piece from AFP that explains the levels: “From Tokyo officials said they had detected 0.809 micro-sievert in the morning and 0.075 four hours later — compared with a normal radiation level of around 0.035. A chest X-ray typically involves a dose of 20 micro-sieverts.” (I double-checked and the levels are “per hour.” AFP just screwed up and didn’t mention that part of the equation.) The fact that it went up is the “minorly” shocking part – and the photo didn’t even show the radiation levels at their peak. But it’s a level so low that officials didn’t seem to think it was dangerous. This chart here shows this in perspective, starting with the X-ray.
(Source: shortformblog)
Photo of the day: “A radiation detector marks 0.6 micro-sieverts, exceeding normal levels Tuesday, near Shibuya train station in Tokyo. Concern over possible radiation exposure has increased after a fourth reactor released radiation, Tuesday.” To compare – this level is higher than average, but only a tiny percentage of what’s happening at the plant. 1,000 micro-sieverts per hour equals one milli-sievert per hour. So this is high, but still minor. (Kyodo News/AP) (EDIT: Please check here for an update on this post.) source
The title of the video states that this video is of Shinjuku, the business section of Tokyo.
東北・関東大地震。揺れる新宿の高層ビル 2011年3月11日
Tohoku, Kanto Earthquake. March 11, 2011 swaying skyscrapers in Shinjuku
Thanks much for the translation! Good to know.
(Source: shortformblog)
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Stuck on a bullet train outside of Tokyo with other MPs as everything has stopped due to the devastating earthquake.Australian parliament member Stuart Robert • Revealing that the quake in Japan left him and three other members of the country’s parliament stuck on a train for four hours. The train is moving again but they were stuck for a while with limited communication.
A building burns in the Odaiba district of Tokyo, Japan following a massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake. (Reuters)
Tokyo is “cracking down” on anime porn sales. We put “cracking down” in quotes because the restrictions, proposed by conservative Governor Shintaro Ishihara, really aren’t all that strict, at least by US standards. The bill would make it illegal to sell anime depicting things like rape, pedophilia and incest to people under the age of 18. Offenders would be subject to a $3,500 fine. Quite frankly, we’re surprised this isn’t already illegal. Nevertheless, comic book publishers are now threatening to boycott the Tokyo International Anime Fair in protest. source
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