Happy Sunday! Its time for this week’s Japanese lesson.
The word for today is genpatsu. ????. Which is the newspapers way of abbreviating genshiryokuhatsudensho (???????-Atomic power plant. There is another word you should probably know too, shinsai (???-disaster. Bousai-????disaster prevention was the headline on the Asahi Shinbum today.
Genpatsu shinsai has been a daily fixture in the newspapers since the Niigata earthquake. Here is why:
KASHIWAZAKI, Niigata Pref. — The Niigata Prefectural Government inspected theKashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant Saturday to check for radioactive water leaks and other problems caused by last week’s powerful earthquake.
Volunteer workers from across the nation gather Saturday in Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, to help people hit by last week’s earthquake.
The plant — the world’s largest in terms of capacity — announced a barrage of leaks and malfunctions in the wake of last Monday’s magnitude-6.8 temblor, which killed 10 people and injured more than 1,000.
The inspection was based on a safety agreement signed by the operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., with Niigata Prefecture, the city of Kashiwazaki and the village of Kariwa.
“Concerns over nuclear power plants have been spreading. It is important for Tepco to ensure transparency and promptly disclose information,” Niigata Gov. Hirohiko Izumida said after a meeting on the disaster.
The prefectural team spent more than four hours inspecting radiation measurement data provided by Tepco and leak sites after arriving at the nuclear power plant at around 11 a.m.
Fucked Gaijin has a pretty good chart showing why the plant is in a bad location. And what could happen if a 1964 style earthquake showed up in Japan. Great! Something to make me sleep well tonight.
However the TV has had Army deserter and former North Korean movie star Charles Jenkins on reassuring every one its a great time to visit Sado Island:
Sado Island is off the coast of Japan near Niigata. Jenkins and his Japanese abductee wife live there. He works in a tourist shop there selling souvenirs.
So we got that going for us………………
