Future Challenge for Yokohama City Mayor: Bring Back Foreign Tourists

Mayor of Yokohama City Fumiko Hayashi has an illustrious career. Armed only with a high school diploma, she became the CEO of one of Japan's biggest supermarket chains (Daiei) after selling BMWs as the president of BMW Tokyo.



Her motto as the mayor - "Sympathy and trust in government".



She didn't count on having a major nuclear accident on her second year in office, but here it is, and what has her city administration done to deal with the crisis?



Tokyo Shinbun conducted the exclusive interview with the mayor and reported on August 31 in its Kanagawa local version:

横浜市長に就任してから、２年を経過した林文子市長（６５）が本紙のインタビューに応じた。原発事故による市の放射線をめぐる対応について「横浜は安全だと発信してきた。最善でやっていると思う」と指摘。市庁舎の建設問題には「区役所の整備が優先」との考えを示した。　（聞き手・荒井六貴）



Mayor Fumiko Hayashi (age 65) has agreed to speak with the paper on the 2-year anniversary of her mayorship in Yokohama City. About the city's response to radiation issues arising from the nuclear plant accident, "We have appealed safety for Yokohama. I think we've done our best". About the construction of the new city hall building, she thinks "Upgrade of the Ward Offices should have the priority".



　－この二年で達成できたことは。



- What have you achieved in the two years in office?



　認可保育所の待機児童は、多様な取り組みをして、前年比３７％減となった。産科専用の電話相談の開設や、小児救急電話の二十四時間化など医療環境の充実の約束も着実にできた。市民に喜んでもらえるのではないか。



37% reduction of the number of children on the waiting list at the city-approved nursery schools has been achieved. Telephone consultation for obstetrics and the 24-hour hot-line for emergency pediatrics have been set up, resulting in substantial improvement in medical environment. I hope city residents are pleased.



　－小学校給食で、放射性物質に汚染された餌を食べた牛の肉が提供され、「対応が後手」と批判がある。



- Beef from cows that had been fed with contaminated feed was served in elementary school lunches. Some criticize the city for being "behind the curve" on the problem.



　後手に回ったとは思ってない。最も恐れたのは、放射線に対する漠然とした不安の広がり。正しい情報や知識を伝えるのが必要と考え、そこに専心した。過度の対応は逆に、市民に不安を与える。風評被害は、避けなければならない。



I don't think so. What we feared most was the spread of vague fear of radiation. We thought it necessary to spread the correct information and knowledge, and we focused on that. Excessive reaction would cause anxiety among city residents. We have to avoid "baseless rumors".



　－新しい市庁舎建設の方向性は。



- About the construction of the new city hall?



　市庁舎は築五十年で老朽化している。部屋も狭く、機能も民間のビルに分散化し、市民サービスの低下につながる。新市庁舎は絶対必要。二〇一三年度までに基本計画を策定する目標はきちっとやる。ただ、優先順位は区役所の耐震性確保。東日本大震災で書棚が倒れるなど、業務が滞る区役所があった。



The city hall is is 50-year-old and deteriorating. Rooms are too small, and departments are housed in different private buildings leading to a lower quality of service for the residents. We absolutely must have the new city hall. Our goal is to come up with the base plan by the fiscal 2013. However, the priority should go to the earthquake retrofit of the Special Ward Offices. During the earthquake of March 11, there were some Ward Offices whose service was interrupted because of fallen bookshelves.



　－今後の課題は。



- What are the challenges?



　（原発事故の）風評被害で（外国人などの）観光客が激減したが、集客をやっていく。横浜は観光資源にあふれているが、活用し切れてない。観光都市としては、まだ出来上がっていない。多様な芸術のコンテンツを増やしたい。



Because of the baseless rumors (of the nuclear plant accident), the number of (foreign) tourists to Yokohama has dropped dramatically. We want them back. Yokohama is full of tourism resources but they are not fully utilized. Yokohama hasn't yet been fully developed as tourist destination. I would like to increase the contents of various arts.

Her idea of correct information about radioactive beef served in schools was to repeat over and over again that she firmly believed it was safe because "it was sold in the market". When the news of potentially contaminated cows reached her, she apparently said "it's only the surface, and inside (meat) is OK". After the cesium beef was actually discovered, the usual "no health effect" mantra was repeated.

In addition to the big construction project (City Hall), she is also doing a small "upgrade" of her official residence, to the tune of $220,000, paid for by Yokohama residents.



It would never occur to her (as it hasn't to most of the country) that the best way to have foreign tourists back again is to deal with radiation and radiation contamination issues openly, with numbers. No one would be willing to risk their health no matter how people like her scream "It's safe, it is below the national provisional safety limit, no effect on health, if you worry you'll get radiation disease".



In Mayor Hayashi's case, if Yokohama has a lively art scene, foreign tourists will flock to the city.



(Well, young Chinese couples may still come, thinking they would conceive boys. )



A fish rots from the head, and the head is still very important in a place like Japan where many ordinary people still look up to the top for leadership, wisdom, knowledge, or whatever virtue they think the "leaders" possess.

More about → Future Challenge for Yokohama City Mayor: Bring Back Foreign Tourists

OT: Radioactive Rice Hay Story Still Doesn't Quite Add Up for Me Personally

Quid est veritas?



The answer seems to be whatever is reported by the largest number of media outlets, mainstream and alternative. I'm just wondering aloud about my personal misgivings. (For those who insist on facts and figures only, you can stop right here, and have a nice weekend.)



The official story of radioactive rice hay is as follows:

The rice farmers left the rice hay in the fields after the harvest last fall, because the weather was supposedly not good. Too much rain, not enough time for the hay to dry.



When Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant reactor buildings blew up, the rice hay was sitting on the ground. Then the rain and snow fell on the hay, contaminating it with radioactive materials.



The rice farmers collected the hay and sold/gave it to cattle farmers, who then fed the rice hay to their cows to improve the texture of the meat before the cows are sold to the market.



The cows were later found with radioactive cesium, and it was determined that it was from the contaminated rice hay that they ate.

Here are my problems:



If the rice hay had been sitting on the ground since August/September last year and it rained and snowed, wouldn't the rice hay pretty much rot by March this year?



The radioactive rice hay, particularly that from Miyagi Prefecture, has been shipped all over Japan. Why? Because, apparently, the rice hay from Miyagi (and Iwate) is considered high quality because the rice there is considered premium. Cattle farmers outside Miyagi purchase the Miyagi rice hay to feed their premium cows. This cattle farm in Yamagata proudly says their premium cows are fed with only quality rice hay from Miyagi and Yamagata.



Would the cattle farmers all over Japan buy the rice hay that was sitting on the ground for more than 6 months in rain and snow?



Another problem I have is that these cows start to be fed with rice hay one year before they are sold to the market. The cows that were found with radioactive cesium in July were sold and processed into meat between April and July. So they must have been eating rice hay since March - July of last year, and ate the radioactive rice hay for less than 3 months at most. Many cows were sold and processed in April, so they ate the radioactive rice hay for less than a month.



It turns out that Miyagi Prefecture is the number one producer of rice hay for cattle feed in Tohoku. Even if the rice hay producers do not roll the hay until it's ready to be shipped, I would think they keep it indoors at all times.



The government says it's the rice hay that contaminated the cows, the media outlets say so too. Producers, wholesalers and retailers of domestic beef all say so.

The cows got contaminated, and the rice hay got contaminated. But they may be the two separate events, and may not have happened the way people say it happened. Just my non-expert musings.

More about → OT: Radioactive Rice Hay Story Still Doesn't Quite Add Up for Me Personally

#Radioactive Rice Hay From Miyagi Went Far and Wide

The government officials are slowly finding out the extent of radiation contamination all over Japan, and here are only two minor examples that I picked up today.



First, from Mainichi Shinbun Hokkaido local version (7/23/2011; sorry old news that I just found), I learned of the potentially radioactive beef from Hokkaido, which has largely escaped the radioactive plume blowing from Fukushima I Nuke Plant. The cows in Hamanaka-cho ate the rice hay from Wakuya-cho in Miyagi Prefecture that was contaminated with 1886 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium, the level of which exceeded the national provisional safety limit for cattle feed (400 becquerels/kg). Hamanaka-cho is located on the eastern tip of Hokkaido, facing the Pacific Ocean.



Hokkaido officials are perplexed. "We never thought possible that anyone would buy rice hay from Honshu, because it's too costly." It was beyond their expectation.



The second one is the radioactive manure in Yamagata Prefecture. According to Sankei News (8/25/2011), the Yamagata prefectural government announced on August 25 that the cow manure at 7 cattle farms in the prefecture tested between 500 to 2600 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium. All 7 farms were feeding their meat cows with rice hay from Miyagi Prefecture.



What I don't understand is why these farms even bought rice hay from Miyagi Prefecture, when their own prefectures are big producers of rice and there should be rice hay in abundance.



Well, since the leaf compost made out of radioactive dead leaves in Tochigi Prefecture can be mixed with dead leaves imported from Thailand and Bangladesh and sold all over Japan by one company, anything is possible.

More about → #Radioactive Rice Hay From Miyagi Went Far and Wide

4,000 Potentially Radioactive Cows Without Radioactive Rice Hay May Have Been Shipped by One Farmer in Fukushima

Radioactive beef from Fukushima meat cows (then Miyagi, then Iwate, then...) was first in the news in early July. Then, the culprit was very quickly identified as radioactive rice hay that was stored outside when Fukushima I Nuke Plant started to spew out radioactive materials.



First they said the rice hay was fed to the cows because there was nothing else to feed due to supply disruption after the March 11 earthquake. Then it turned out that rice hay was integral part of fattening the meat cows before they were sold to the market.



Then the news broke on August 19 that some meat cows from Fukushima were highly radioactive even without radioactive rice hay.



And then it turns out that 4,000 such cows may have been shipped since the accident by one cattle farmer who owns cattle farms in Namie-machi and in two other towns (Tamura City and Katsurao-mura). The radiation level on the farm in Namie is very high, as you can read in the Kahoku Shinpo article below.



Well, that instantly doubles the number of meat cows potentially contaminated with radioactive cesium. I say potentially, because most of the meat has been consumed already and there's no way to test it.



From Kahoku Shinpo, local Fukushima paper (8/21/2011):

福島県浪江町の農場から出荷された肉牛４頭の肉から国の暫定基準値（１キログラム当たり５００ベクレル）を超える放射性セシウムが検出された問題で、福島県は２０日、同じ農場の牛５頭の肉も基準値を超えていたことを明らかにした。浪江町の農場からは、福島第１原発事故後の３月１５日～４月１９日、汚染された９頭を含め計２２９頭が横浜市に出荷されていた。



Regarding the 4 meat cows from a cattle farm in Namie-machi in Fukushima Prefecture that exceeded the provisional safety limit for radioactive cesium (500 becquerels/kg), the Fukushima prefectural government disclosed on August 5 that the meat from 5 additional cows from the same farm contained radioactive cesium exceeding the provisional safety limit. From this farm in Namie-machi, total 229 cows including the 9 that were contaminated were shipped to Yokohama City between March 15 and April 19.



　また、この農場を所有している福島県葛尾村の農家は田村市と葛尾村にも農場を所有し、３カ所で飼育していた約４０００頭の牛が、原発事故後に出荷されていたことも分かった。



The farmer who owns this cattle farm in Namie-machi also owns farms in Tamura City and Katsurao-mura, and total 4,000 cows in his three farms were shipped after the Fukushima nuclear accident.



　県の説明によると、５頭からは肉１キログラム当たり５９３～７８６ベクレルが検出された。最初の４頭は５１３～９９７ベクレルで、ほぼ同じレベルの汚染状況だった。



From the 5 cows, 593 to 786 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium has been detected. The first 4 cows tested 513 to 997 becquerels/kg. The contamination level is similar.



　セシウム汚染を受けて、県畜産課は１９、２０日、農場３カ所を調査した。浪江町の牛舎の入り口で最大毎時１５マイクロシーベルト、屋外の雑草からも３５マイクロシーベルトと高い放射線量が確認された。牛舎内の餌の台からも最大５．５マイクロシーベルトが計測された。



Upon the news of radioactive contamination, the cattle farming section of the Fukushima prefectural government investigated the three farms on August 19 and 20. At the farm in Namie-machi, the entrance to the barn measured 15 microsieverts/hour maximum; 35 microsieverts/hour radiation was detected from the grass growing outside, and 5.5 microsieverts/hour radiation at the feed trough in the barn.



　葛尾村でも牛舎内や周囲の雑草の放射線量を測定したほか、乾燥干し草の保管場所を確認した。放射線量は地上１メートルで毎時０．５～０．８マイクロシーベルトだった。田村市では牛舎入り口付近の高さ１メートルで０．３マイクロシーベルトだったという。



At the farm in Katsurao-mura, they measured inside the barn and on the grass outside, and the storage facility for the dried hay. The air radiation level 1 meter off the ground was between 0.5 to 0.8 microsievert/hour. At the farm in Tamura City, the air radiation level 1 meter off the ground near the entrance to the barn was 0.3 microsievert/hour.



　県の調査に対し、農家は稲わらではなく輸入した干し草などを与えていたと答えており、セシウムに汚染された原因はまだ分からない。ただ、牛は土をなめてミネラルを補給する習性があり、放射線量が高かった時期に、雑草を食べたりしなかったかどうかなどを引き続き調べる。



The farmer says he fed the cows with imported hay, not the rice hay. The cause for cesium contamination is not yet known. However, cows lick the dirt to obtain minerals. They may also have eaten the grass outside when the radiation level was higher.



　浪江町の農場のある地域は４月２２日、福島第１原発事故によって計画的避難区域に指定されたが、汚染された牛は指定前に出荷されていた。指定後の４月２８日、農家が葛尾村と田村市の農場の牛を出荷する際、県はそれぞれ１頭の肉の放射線量を測定したが、約６０～９０ベクレルと基準値を下回っていたという。



The farm in Namie-machi is located in the "planned evacuation zone" designated on April 22, but the contaminated cows had already been shipped by then. Fukushima Prefecture measured one cow each from the farms in Katsurao-mura and Tamura City on April 28 when the farmer shipped the cows, but radioactive cesium was detected at only 60 to 90 becquerels/kg, below the provisional safety limit.



　農家は既に県外に避難、農場は休止状態になっていて牛はいない。

　政府は１９日、福島県内の肉牛の出荷停止を解除する予定だったが、セシウム汚染が発覚し、解除を見送った。



The farmer has already evacuated outside Fukushima, and there is no cow left in the farms. The national government was going to lift the shipping ban on the meat cows in Fukushima Prefecture, but it decided not to when the radioactive cesium contamination [without radioactive rice hay] was discovered.

Before the Fukushima accident, the amount of radioactive cesium in beef in Fukushima was max 0.055 becquerel/kg. In the post-Fukushima Japan, over 9,000 times the pre-Fukushima level of radioactive cesium has to be considered "safe". (Data on radioactive cesium in Fukushima beef from Japan Chemical Analysis Center database, in Japanese.)



Namie-machi and Kazurao-mura have been designated as "planned evacuation zone". Part of Tamura City has been designated as "evacuation-ready zone". The national government still plans to "revise" these designations and return the residents, as Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant is now "stable".



15 microsieverts/hour radiation would result in the annual cumulative radiation exposure of 131 millisieverts, and that's external radiation only.



Poor cows. After having been fattened up to the max for sale, suffering high cholesterol and high blood pressure, they had to be zapped by radiation...

More about → 4,000 Potentially Radioactive Cows Without Radioactive Rice Hay May Have Been Shipped by One Farmer in Fukushima

#Radioactive Beef Conundrum: High Level Cesium Detected from Beef Not Fed with Radioactive Rice Hay

Oops. There goes the lifting of the shipping ban for Fukushima.



So where did the cow get the dose of radioactive cesium? Air? Water? No one knows, because everyone in the government and the producers have been looking only at radioactive rice hay.



From NHK News Japanese (2:17PM JST 8/19/2011):

厚生労働省によりますと、福島県産の牛の肉から国の暫定基準値を超える放射性セシウムが検出されたことが分かりました。この牛肉は、食肉処理場に保管されていたということで、これまでの調査では、高濃度の放射性セシウムを含む稲わらは餌として与えられていなかったとみられるということです。政府は福島県の肉牛について、１９日、出荷停止を解除する予定でしたが、出荷停止を当面継続するとともに、さらに詳しい調査を行うよう福島県に指示しました。



According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, radioactive cesium in the amount exceeding the national provisional limit has been detected from the beef from a cow raised in Fukushima Prefecture. This meat has been stored at a meat processing facility, and according to the investigation so far the cow was never fed the radioactive rice hay. The national government was going to lift the shipping ban on meat cows in Fukushima Prefecture today (August 19) but instead has instructed the Fukushima prefectural government to continue to halt shipping for the time being and conduct further investigation.

On a separate piece of news (link in Japanese), the manure made from chicken poop mixed with dead leaves and sawdust in Tama district of Tokyo (west) has been found to contain 890 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium. I hope it is from dead leaves or sawdust, and not from chickens. Chickens are fed with the chicken feed from the US, and they are raised indoors.

More about → #Radioactive Beef Conundrum: High Level Cesium Detected from Beef Not Fed with Radioactive Rice Hay

Japanese Government Will Lift Shipping Ban on Cows from Fukushima and Miyagi (Hello #Radioactive Beef Again)

Nothing coming out of Japan makes sense any more, so this news is simply adding to that growing list.



The national government will lift the ban on sales and shipment of meat cows raised in Fukushima and Miyagi Prefectures because the government is satisfied that the radioactive rice hay is now separated from other feed - either under the tarp or buried - so that it will not be fed to the cows.



If I remember right, the worry was not the rice hay but the meat itself, which tested high in radioactive cesium all over Japan as the cows from these two prefectures (and several more in Tohoku) had been sold far and wide because of the suddenly "affordable" price. They were particularly favored by certain cost-conscious municipalities (most notably Yokohama City) that fed the suspected meat to the kindergarteners and school children in school lunches, ignoring protests from the parents.



Humans eat beef not rice hay, as far as I know. But now the ban will be lifted because of ... rice hay storage procedure?



From Mainichi Shinbun (8/18/2011):

政府は１８日、福島県と宮城県で飼育されている肉牛の出荷停止を両県全域で解除する方向で検討に入った。早ければ１９日にも両県知事に解除を指示す る。肉牛から国の暫定規制値（１キロあたり５００ベクレル）を超える放射性セシウムが検出され、政府は７月１９日～８月２日、福島、宮城、岩手、栃木の４ 県に出荷停止を指示したが、解除すれば初めてとなる。



The Japanese government started to prepare for the total lifting of the shipping ban on meat cows raised in Fukushima and Miyagi Prefectures on August 18. The government will instruct the governors of the two prefectures as early as August 19. As radioactive cesium exceeding the provisional national safety limit (500 becquerels/kg) was found in the meat, the government banned the shipping of the cows in Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate, and Tochigi Prefectures between July 19 and August 2. Fukushima and Miyagi would be the first to have the ban lifted.

　農林水産省と厚生労働省、福島、宮城両県は、汚染された稲わらの管理や解体後の牛の放射性物質検査の体制などを協議してきた。その結果、汚染稲わ らを他の飼料と明確に区分してシートで覆ったり、地中に埋めて餌として使用できない状態であることが確認され、食肉処理後のセシウム検査で暫定規制値以下 であれば、出荷を認める方向。

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, Fukushima Prefecture and Miyagi Prefecture have been discussing the ways to store the contaminated rice hay and to test radioactive materials after the cows are processed into meat. As the result, [the government is satisfied that] the contaminated rice hay has been confirmed to have been clearly separated from other feed and covered with plastic sheets or to have been buried in the ground so that it cannot be used as feed. As long as the meat tests below the provisional safety limit, the government will allow the shipping.

　政府は岩手、栃木両県についても同様の条件が整い次第、出荷停止を解除する方針。

As soon as the same condition is achieved in Iwate andn Tochigi Prefectures, the government will lift the shipping ban there.

　出荷再開の条件として、厚労省は畜産農家に保管されている汚染稲わらを農家の敷地外に移すよう求めていた。一方、農水省や福島、宮城両県は、保管場所の確保が難しいことを理由に農家の敷地内で牛と隔離した場所に置く方法を主張していた。



The Ministry of Health and Labor wanted the contaminated rice hay out of the cattle farms as a condition to lift the ban. On the other hand, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fukushima/Miyagi Prefectures insisted the rice hay remain within the farms as long as it was separated from the cows, because it would be hard for the farms to secure the storage space outside the farms.

So the Ministry of Health and Labor lost. This is the Ministry that's supposed to protect consumers.



Will they test all the cows? No they won't. Not even in Fukushima. They only test the meat of the cows raised in the planned evacuation zone and evacuation-ready zone right outside the 20 kilometer radius from Fukushima I Nuke Plant. For everywhere else in Fukushima Prefecture, the first cow to be shipped from a cattle farm will be tested. If that passes the test, all cows can be sold.



Even when they do test, they will just do the simple test using "affordable" instruments that cost only a few thousand dollars and take only 15 minutes to test, and as long as the number is below 250 becquerels/kg they won't test further. Only if it goes above 250 becquerels/kg, they will use expensive instruments that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and take 1 hour to test.



What about the news at the end of July that radioactive cesium is NOT distributed evenly in the meat, not even within the same part?



Well, that's not in the manual of elite bureaucrats in these two ministries, and Fukushima and Miyagi would be the last ones to alert them.



So here we go again. Radioactive beef will be force-fed through social pressure, now that the government declares safety. No way to test all meat, and even if they do, one piece of meat may test differently from another piece of the same part. And they won't even tell you whether it is 244 becquerels/kg or 2 becquerels/kg, as long as it is below 250 becquerels/kg.



Fukushima Prefecture, probably in anticipation of the lifting of the ban, has launched a new campaign to push Fukushima produce - vegetables, fruits, meat - using celebrities. "Fukushima Shin Hatsubai (new product launch)" is the campaign.



The governors of these two prefectures will no doubt do the ceremony of "declaration of safety" of their own, and eat the beef in front of the press to appeal safety to the nation and the rest of the world. If they are so brave as the governor of Shizuoka, they will go to a gourmet Japanese restaurant in New York and host an event with some celebrities who (used to) love Japanese cuisine and eat the safe beef that tested below the provisional safety limit of Japan.

More about → Japanese Government Will Lift Shipping Ban on Cows from Fukushima and Miyagi (Hello #Radioactive Beef Again)

#Radioactive Beef Consumed in School Lunches in 296 Schools in 12 Prefectures in Japan

and 43% of the schools are located in Yokohama City alone.



From Asahi Shinbun (3:02AM JST 8/11/2011):

放射性セシウムに汚染された疑いのある牛肉を給食に使っていた学校や幼稚園が１２都県の２９６施設に上ることが、文部科学省の調 査で分かった。うち２校では国の暫定基準値を超えるセシウムを検出。健康に影響はないとみられるが、文科省は食材の出荷制限などの情報に注意するよう学校 現場に呼びかけている。



The survey by the Ministry of Education and Science has revealed that 296 schools in 12 prefectures have used beef from cows suspected of radioactive cesium contamination. 2 schools used the beef whose cesium level exceeded the provisional safety limit. It is not considered the level of cesium in the meat will affect health, but the ministry is telling the schools to pay attention to information on shipping restriction on food items [due to radiation].



　文科省によると、９日現在で、汚染され た稲わらを食べた可能性のある牛の肉は、東北から中国、四国にかけての２０市町の小中高・特別支援学校２７８校と幼稚園１８園の給食で、カレーや牛丼、肉 じゃがなどに使われていたことが判明。横浜市で１２７校、岐阜市で５３校・園、宮城県の４市町では３０校・園に上る。東日本が主だが、三重、島根、香川の 計４市４０校・園でも使われていた。



According to the ministry, as of August 9, the meat from the cows that may have eaten radioactive rice hay was used in school lunches in 278 elementary schools, junior high schools, high schools, and special education schools, and 18 kindergartens, in 20 cities and towns in Japan. 127 schools in Yokohama City used it, so did 53 schools and kindergartens in Gifu City [in Gifu Prefecture], and 30 schools and kindergartens in 4 cities in Miyagi Prefecture. The schools are mostly located in eastern Japan, but 40 schools in 4 cities in Mie, Shimane, Kagawa Prefectures also used the meat.



　在庫の肉を検査できた約３０施設のうち、放射性物質が 検出されたのは８施設。うち宮城県の特別支援学校と千葉県の小学校の計２校では、国の暫定基準値（１キロあたり５００ベクレル）を超える１２９３～６４９ ベクレルが検出された。ただしいずれの自治体も、１人あたりの肉の使用量は少なく、健康への影響はないとしている。



30 schools were able to test the remaining meat, and radioactive materials were detected at 8 schools. Of the 8 schools, two schools - a special education school for students with disabilities in Miyagi Prefecture and an elementary school in Chiba, had the meat that exceeded the provisional safety limit (500 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium), testing 1,293 to 649 becquerels/kg. The municipalities say the amount of contaminated beef per person is small, and it won't affect the health.

In the meantime, the Food Safety Commission under the Cabinet Office is soliciting public comments (in Japanese alone please, says the Commission) on their detailed justification for their decision to set 100 millisieverts for life-time allowable radiation exposure for the Japanese. If you read their conclusion, you would think there would be no problem with any of the nuclides that have been released from the broken nuclear power plant in Fukushima. (More later.)

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(UPDATED) Yokohama City Finally Admits It May Have Been Feeding School Children with Radioactive Beef

Yokohama City officials, from the ex-Daiei CEO mayor on down, denied and refused to do anything about it since one of the city's assemblymen first raised the issue back in April of school lunches in the city using beef from cows that were possibly contaminated with radioactive materials. The officials asserted that any food items were "safe as long as they are sold in the marketplace". (See my post here for the assemblyman's effort with concerned citizens of Yokohama to force the city to stop the use of beef in school lunches.)

Now, the city's Board of Education finally admits that the city may have fed as many as 67,000 kids in elementary schools in the city with radioactive beef.

From Yomiuri Shinbun (10:11PM JST 8/5/2011):

横浜市は５日、放射性セシウムに汚染された稲わらを食べた疑いのある福島、宮城、岩手県産の牛１９頭の肉が、市内の小学校１２７校（約６万７０００人分）の給食に使われた可能性があると発表した。

Yokohama City announced on August 5 that the meat from 19 cows in Fukushima, Miyagi, and Iwate that may have been fed with rice hay contaminated with radioactive cesium may have been used in school lunches at the city's 127 elementary schools (for about 67,000 pupils).

　市教委健康教育課によると、１９頭の肉は４月１９日～６月２１日に計１２回、ハッシュドビーフやドライカレーなどの材料として使われた。放射性物質の検査は行われていない。すでにすべてが消費された可能性があるが、同課は「追跡調査できるかわからない」としている。

According to the Health and Education section of the city's Board of Education, the meat from 19 cows were used 12 times between April 19 and June 21 as the ingredient for school lunches. The testing for radioactive materials in the meat was never done, and the meat has probably been all consumed. The Health and Education section of the Board of Education says "We don't know if we can trace the meat at all."

　１食あたりの使用量は２５～４０グラム程度で、同課は「食べた量が少ないので、健康に影響を及ぼすとは考えられない」としている。

25 to 40 grams of the meat was used per serving. The Board of Education says "Since it was a small amount, it's hard to believe it would affect the health."

Here we go again. Citizens of Yokohama, take down the names of the people who said this.

So, the concerned citizens in Yokohama was raising the issue since April, and the they were dead right. They raised the issue with the city, and the city refused to do anything. Why? They could have tested the meat in April, and could have stopped using it. Instead, they did nothing, forced kids to eat school lunches (many parents were upset with school principals refusing to allow home-made lunch). Too afraid to find out? Too cheap to test?

It was only July 11 that Yokohama City finally stopped using the beef for lunch, several days before the summer break. They switched to pork, as if pork were safe. (More than 10,000 pigs have been moved from Fukushima and scattered throughout Japan since April, and there is no way to trace the movement as there is no unique identification system for pigs.)

Needless to say, it is not just elementary schools. That's what the city officials have admitted to. School lunches for kindergartens and nursery schools, and for junior high schools, are also prepared in the city's facilities and distributed to these schools.

**************************************

UPDATE: Checking the Yokohama assemblyman's message board, it's just unreal what's going on there. And by no means Yokohama is unique in this. Some of what's happening:

• The city is still intent on sending the school kids to the summer school in Nikko, in Tochigi Prefecture, where the radiation is high;

• Many schools don't allow children to carry water bottles to schools, and say they have to drink tap water;

• Many schools still don't allow home-made lunches, and one school demands the parents that they make exactly the same lunch as the school lunch if they insist on home-made lunch for their children. Some schools collect monthly lunch fees from the parents even if their children carry home-made lunches;

• Schools are planning to have children do the yard cleanup after the summer break.

Parents, pull your children out of schools. Any school.

***********************************

UPDATE-2

The announcement from the city's Board of Education is here (in Japanese). It details which school ate what on which date from which cow (with ID number). If you are a parent in Yokohama and read Japanese, go to the link above and check what your child may have been fed.

The Board of Education can't help these misleading statements though:

現在までのところ、暫定規制値を超える放射性物質が検出されたとする報告はありません。

So far, there has been no report of detection of the radioactive materials exceeding the provisional safety limit.

Of course there isn't, because all the meat has been consumed and there's nothing left to test.

And obligatory reference to "Oh the radiation level from the beef is the same as one chest X-ray so it's no big deal."

It's really scary that these people are "educators". We know better, don't we, thanks in part to people like Professor Kodama (I've started the summary of his interview on August 5), who tells us that the number is irrelevant when assessing the risk of radiation; it's where the radionuclides go in the body and what specific effect they have at particular locations.

(H/T to "Nguyen_ducThuan", a reader of my Japanese blog and a concerned resident in Yokohama City, for the link to the Board of Education.)

More about → (UPDATED) Yokohama City Finally Admits It May Have Been Feeding School Children with Radioactive Beef

#Radioactive Beef: Cesium Is Not Evenly Distributed in a Cow

Ooops. Amateur hour at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare who thought testing one sample from the meat of one cow would be enough.

According to Mainichi Shinbun, the Japanese authorities are finding out that the different parts of the same cow have different concentration of radioactive cesium. Not only that, the same part of the meat from the same cow can yield two different test results. That means even the meat that was tested and deemed "safe" (tested below 500 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium) may not have been safe after all.

Before they actually started to measure, the prevailing opinion from the radiation experts was that radioactive cesium would get evenly distributed in the muscles throughout the body. Amateur hour at the radiation experts, too. (Now they are changing tunes.)

So, no one knew, and no one knows what they're doing. I seem to fondly recall some of the words of Japan's consumer advocates - "the experts say it's safe...", or "why should we waste taxpayers' money testing all cows?", or "if only media did the good job of providing accurate information..." Amateur hours there, too.

My message to consumers: caveat emptor.

From Mainichi Shinbun Japanese, Tokyo Morning Edition (7/31/2011):

福島第１原発事故の影響で放射性セシウムに汚染された肉牛が見つかった問題で、同じ１頭の牛でも部位などにより検出値の違いが出るケースが指摘されている。専門家も「セシウム濃度は部位により異なる」と説明している。各自治体が今後踏み切る全頭検査の信頼性を高めるため、国は検査の統一指針づくりを迫られそうだ。

Regarding the beef contaminated with radioactive cesium due to the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident, there are cases where the different levels of cesium are detected from the different parts of the same cow. Experts explain that "the level of cesium differs depending on the parts." The national government will have to come up with the guideline so that the reliability of the radiation tests to be done on all cows by the local governments.

宮城県は２８日、１頭の牛の肉で、部位によって国の暫定規制値（１キロ当たり５００ベクレル）を超えたり、下回る検査結果が出たことを明らかにした。

On July 28, Miyagi Prefecture disclosed that the radioactive cesium was detected that exceeded the national provisional safety limit (500 becquerels/kg) in one part of the cow, while another part was found with cesium less than the safety limit.

　この牛は仙台市内で６月２１日に解体され、肩肉（二十数キロ）が流通した横浜市が検査した結果、規制値未満の３８０ベクレルだった。ところが、もも肉（３７・７キロ）の流通先の北海道が肉を調べたところ、５３０ベクレルを示した。

This cow was processed in Sendai City [in Miyagi Prefecture] on June 21. When Yokohama City [in Kanagawa Prefecture] tested the shoulder meat, 380 becquerels/kg of cesium was detected. However, when Hokkaido tested the round of the same cow, 530 becquerels/kg of cesium was detected.

　宮城県から６月１日、東京都内に出荷された、別の牛の肉では同じ部位で検査値の食い違いがあった。都内の食肉卸業者が、この牛の肩肉（１２・９キロ）を自主検査し、１１５０ベクレルを検出。しかし川崎市が、この肩肉の残りを調べたところ、６１８ベクレルだった。

In the case of another cow shipped from Miyagi to Tokyo on June 1, the same meat yielded two different test results. When a meat dealer in Tokyo tested part of the shoulder meat voluntarily, 1,150 becquerels/kg of cesium was detected. However, when Kawasaki City tested the same shoulder meat from the same cow, it was only 618 becquerels/kg.

　県によると、この４件の検査ともゲルマニウム半導体検出器を使っていた。県は「精密に調べられるもので、機器に問題はない」と話す。ただ、課題は検査手法の統一基準がない点で、県は「検査した肉の部分がどのくらいの脂肪分を含んでいるかや、肉の詰め方で結果に差が出る」と説明する。

According to Miyagi Prefecture, they used the germanium semiconductor detectors in all 4 cases. The prefecture says "The detectors allow a thorough analysis, and there's no problem with the detectors." The problem is the lack of standard procedure for testing, and the prefecture explains "you get different results depending on the fat content, or how the meat is packed."

　自治体が今後、全頭検査に相次いで踏み切るのに先立ち、厚生労働省は２９日、検査の基本方針を発表した。ゲルマニウム半導体検出器より短時間で調べられる簡易測定機器の使用を認めるなどの内容だが、調べる部位には言及していない。

In preparation for the testing of all cows by the local governments, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare announced the basic plan for the testing on July 29. The plan allows the use of simpler testing devices that can test the meat in less time than the germanium semiconductor detectors, but there was no mention in the plan as to which part of the meat should be tested.

　厚労省は検出値のばらつきは把握しているが、「これまでの例ではセシウムは筋肉に均質に蓄積するとされている。全頭検査を重ねて適切な対処方法を見つけていくしかない」（監視安全課）と説明。各自治体には、同じ牛で１カ所でも規制値を超える部位が見つかれば、全量を出荷停止するよう求めている。

The Ministry of Health and Labor is aware of the differing numbers, but says "From the cases so far, cesium is supposed to accumulate evenly in the muscles. We will just have to find out the appropriate way to deal with the problem by carrying out more tests" (Ministry's Monitoring and Safety Section). The Ministry is asking the local government to stop the entire shipment of the meat from the cow even if only one part of the meat is found with cesium exceeding the provisional limit.

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Japanese Consumer Advocates Scold Consumers for Making a Fuss About Radioactive Beef

While the producers, wholesalers, and retailers demand that the national government compensate them for the loss as consumers refrain from buying the domestic beef, the supposed consumer organizations basically scold consumers for succumbing to the "baseless rumor" of radiation, ignoring the advice of the government and the experts that eating the contaminated beef won't affect health.

Here's some choice words from the top women from the consumer advocate organizations, as appeared at the end of the Mainichi Shinbun article (7/23/2011) that describes the plight of producers, wholesalers, and retailers in the on-going cesium beef scandal:

放射線への不安と業界の苦悩を、消費者はどう受け止めればいいのか。

How should consumers deal with the fear of radiation and respond to the industry's plight?

　消費者団体「食のコミュニケーション円卓会議」（東京）の市川まりこ代表は「専門家は今発覚している程度の汚染肉を少量食べても健康に問題ないと 言っている。全頭検査は福島では必要かもしれないが、多額の税金で肉を買い上げ焼却することが必要か、議論すべきだ」。消費科学連合会の犬伏由利子副会長 は「米国でＢＳＥが問題になった時は国産牛の信頼が高まったことを思い出してほしい。日本の畜産業がだめになれば自分たちの首を絞めることになる」と冷静な消費行動を呼びかける。

Mariko Ichikawa, head of a consumer group "食のコミュニケーション円卓会議 (Food Communication Round Table)" says, "Experts say there is no effect on health if you eat a small amount of meat with the current [low] level of contamination. It may be necessary to check all meat cows in Fukushima Prefecture, but is it necessary for the government to use a large amount of taxpayers' money to buy the [contaminated] meat and burn it? We need more discussion." Yuriko Inubushi, vice chair of the Consumption Science Federation, calls for calm, "I want everyone to remember the BSE crisis in the US, when people trusted the domestic beef. If the domestic cattle industry goes bust [over this crisis], Japanese consumers would be kicking themselves".

　一方、東京消費者団体連絡センターの矢野洋子事務局長は「行政やマスコミが数値を丁寧に説明するなど正しい情報を提供することが不安払拭（ふっしょく）につながる」と話した。

Yoko Yano, head of the secretariat of the Tokyo Consumers' Cooperative Union, says, "If the government and mass media explain the numbers carefully and provide accurate information, that will remove the anxiety among consumers."

Ah. As if consumers trust the government and mass media in Japan now, like they used to. (I did think for a brief moment that she was kidding.)

So, the burden of propping up the domestic meat industry in addition to propping up the domestic nuke industry and the agricultural industry (particularly in Fukushima) is on the Japanese consumers. If they don't buy the potentially contaminated food and let the government buy up the food (as the Ministry of Agriculture is saying about the cesium beef), they get to pay for it through taxation anyway.

(Buy buy buy! as Mr. Jim Cramer would say.)

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Over 2,600 Meat Cows Suspected of Being Fed with Radioactive Rice Hay

The number was 1,697 yesterday, and to that, 944 cows from Miyagi Prefecture alone were added overnight, bringing the total to at least 2,641.

Tokyo Shinbun, citing Kyodo News (7/23/2011):

宮城県は２３日、原発事故後に集めた稲わらを肉牛に与えていた県内の農家から、新たに汚染の疑いがある９４４頭が東京、山形、宮城、神奈川、千葉、新潟の１都５県に出荷されたと発表した。県の出荷総数は計１１８３頭となった。

Miyagi Prefecture announced on July 23 that additional 944 meat cows from Miyagi Prefecture suspected of being fed with rice hay collected after the Fukushima I Nuke Plant accident had been shipped to 6 prefectures - Tokyo, Yamagata, Miyagi, Kanagawa, Chiba and Niigata. The total number of potentially contaminated cows shipped from Miyagi is now 1,183.

　県によると、新たに１７戸の農家が保管していた稲わらから国の暫定基準値を超える放射性セシウムが検出され、うち１６戸が計６２６頭を出荷していた。

According to Miyagi Prefecture, radioactive cesium exceeding the provisional safety limit for the feed [300 becquerels/kg] was found from the rice hay kept at 17 cattle farms. Total 626 cows had been shipped from 16 of those farms.

　このほか、在庫の稲わらが残っていなかった農家１５戸が３１８頭の肉牛を出荷。稲わらの検査はしていないが、この１５戸についても県は汚染した稲わらを肉牛に与えていた可能性が高いと判断した。

In addition, 318 cows had been shipped from 15 cattle farms whose rice hay wasn't tested because it was all used up. The prefectural government decided it is highly possible that the rice hay fed to the cows was contaminated with cesium.

Miyagi Prefecture has the detailed test results (in Japanese) on its website. The highest radioactive cesium level from the most recent test was 7,822 becquerels/kg in Shiroshi City, located near the prefectural border to Fukushima near the cities that have been found with high radiation areas (Date City, Fukushima City, etc.).

More about → Over 2,600 Meat Cows Suspected of Being Fed with Radioactive Rice Hay

Thus Spread Radiation All Over Japan - Through Contaminated Cows

I had expected the wide spread (other than the radioactive plume from Fukushima I Nuke Plant) of radioactive materials in Japan to occur via the radioactive debris in the Tohoku region as municipalities far away from Fukushima are asked to receive debris for burning and burying to help clean Tohoku after the earthquake/tsunami (and conveniently missing is a mention of nuke accident).

That can still happen, but it is the radioactive beef from the cows that ate radioactive rice hay that have brought radiation everywhere in Japan.

Now, in the latest tally by NHK, at least 1,698 cows may have eaten the rice hay with high level of radioactive cesium, and they have been shipped and sold in every prefecture in Japan except Okinawa.

An increasing number of Japanese don't believe it's just about the rice hay and the cows, although the government has been trying its best to focus people's attention to them.

(And where there's cesium, there's strontium, as the Nuclear Safety Commission said in early June, when the Ministry of Education announced the discovery of strontium 62 kilometers from Fukushima I Nuke Plant in April and May.)

From NHK News Japanese (4:55AM JST 7/23/2011):

ＮＨＫのまとめによりますと、放射性セシウムを含んだ疑いのある稲わらを肉牛に与えていた畜産農家は、▽宮城県で３６戸、▽福島県で２５戸、▽新潟県で １５戸、▽岩手県で１２戸、▽山形県、秋田県、岐阜県でそれぞれ６戸、▽群馬県と埼玉県でそれぞれ２戸、それに▽北海道と茨城県、栃木県、静岡県、三重 県、島根県でそれぞれ１戸で、１５の県の合わせて１１６戸に上っています。また、こうした農家から出荷された肉牛は、少なくとも１６９７頭に上り、流通先 は沖縄県を除く４６都道府県に広がっています。

According to NHK's tally, the number of cattle farms: 36 in Miyagi; 25 in Fukushima; 15 in Niigata; 12 in Iwate; 6 in Yamagata; 6 in Akita; 6 in Gifu; 2 in Gunma; 2 in Saitama; and 1 each in Hokkaido, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Shizuoka, Mie, and Shimane. Total of 116 cattle farms in 15 prefectures shipped at least 1,697 cows to 46 prefectures, expect to Okinawa.

By the way, Okinawa Prefecture does not have a nuclear power plant, and has received hardly any radioactive plume from Fukushima I Nuke Plant as far as I've seen in the radiation dispersion forecasts by European meteorological institutes. Clean air, clean water, good food. (Well, until those nuclear reactors in Taiwan start to break down in a big earthquake there...)

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Another Premium Japanese Beef (Yonezawa Beef) Affected by On-Going Cesium Scare in Beef and Rice Hay

From NHK Kabun (science and culture division) Blog's tweet on July 22:

国の目安を超える濃度の放射性セシウムを含んだ稲わらが肉牛に与えられていた問題で、山形県のブランド、米沢牛を認定している協議会が今月いっぱい競りを中止し牛の出荷を自粛するなど、福島県以外の肉牛の生産地でも出荷の自粛が相次いでいます

In response to the radioactive rice hay that's been fed to the meat cows, the council that manages the Yonezawa-gyu (cow) brand in Yamagata Prefecture has decided to halt the auction for the remainder of this month and stop the shipment of cows voluntarily. This voluntary halt of shipment is spreading in the beef producing areas outside Fukushima Prefecture.

Matsusaka-gyu in Mie Prefecture has been detected with radioactive cesium, though well below the provisional safety limit of 500 becquerels/kg, which by the way allows for the radiation from radioactive cesium up to 5 millisieverts per year.

Last to be affected by this radioactive beef/hay scandal: Kobe-gyu anyone?

More about → Another Premium Japanese Beef (Yonezawa Beef) Affected by On-Going Cesium Scare in Beef and Rice Hay

#Radioactive Beef from Tochigi Prefecture - Discovery Follows Hayakawa Map

Prefectures surrounding Fukushima have reported the detection of radioactive cesium exceeding the provisional safety limit from the beef from the cows.

From Yomiuri Shinbun (1:57AM JST 7/23/2011):

栃木、岩手、宮城、秋田県は２２日、各県の農家から出荷された肉牛計６頭の肉から暫定規制値（１キロ・グラムあたり５００ベクレル）を超える放射性セシウムが検出されたと発表した。

On July 22, Tochigi, Iwate, Miyagi, and Akita Prefectures [separately] announced that radioactive cesium exceeding the provisional safety limit (500 becquerels/kg) was detected from the meat from 6 cows shipped from their prefectures.

厚生労働省などによると、これまで規制値を上回った肉牛はいずれも福島県産の３０頭。これで５県産の３６頭になった。

According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare and other government agencies, all 30 cows whose meat exceeded the provisional safety limit for cesium had been from Fukushima Prefectures. Now it is 36 cows from 5 prefectures.

　６頭のうち３頭は、栃木県那須塩原市の農家が７月１０日に出荷した。都内で食肉処理され、２２日に肉を検査した結果、同５６０～７６０ベクレルの セシウムが検出された。流通はしていない。飼料の稲わらは市内の近隣酪農家らが生産し、東京電力福島第一原発事故後も田に置かれていた。

Of the 6 cows, 3 were shipped from a cattle farm in Nasu Shiobara City in Tochigi Prefecture on July 10, and were processed into meat in Tokyo. The meat was tested on July 22, and 560 to 760 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium was detected. The meat hasn't been sold in the market. The rice hay used as the feed was from nearby dairy farms in the same city, and the hay was left on the rice field even after the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident.

　岩手県では、放射性物質に汚染された稲わらを食べた可能性がある牛８０頭について調査したところ、６月３０日に都内で食肉処理され、京都市に流通した１頭の肉から同１２１０ベクレルのセシウムが検出された。

Iwate Prefecture investigated 80 cows suspected of being fed with the contaminated rice hay, and found the meat from one cow to contain 1,210 becquerels/kg of cesium. The cow was processed on June 30 in Tokyo, and the meat was sold in Kyoto City.

I, and many who have been looking at the radiation contour map created by Professor Yukio Hayakawa (volcanologist at Gunma University), shouldn't be surprised at the discovery of contaminated beef from Nasu Shiobara City in Gunma Prefecture, more than 100 kilometers away from the nuke plant. I circled the location in red in the map:

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Radioactive Cesium from World-Famous Super Premium Matsusaka Beef

The Matsusaka cows ate the rice hay from Miyagi Prefecture that was contaminated with radioactive cesium far exceeding the provisional safety limit for the cattle feed (300 becquerels/kg).

Matsusaka beef is from cows grown exclusively in Matsusaka in Mie Prefecture, and it commands high premium for its marvelous taste and texture due to high fat content rivaling Kobe beef, or so I hear. I've never eaten any of the premium "wagyu" Japanese beef in my life because they are so expensive. Maybe now there's a chance to get them at a reasonable price, if I don't mind cesium.

From NHK Japanese (1:16PM JST 7/22/2011):

肉牛の餌の稲わらから国の目安を超える放射性セシウムが相次いで検出されている問題で、新たに三重県の松阪 牛の飼育農家の稲わらからも国の目安のおよそ２０倍に当たる放射性セシウムが検出されました。すでに出荷された牛のうち、１１頭分の肉からは国の暫定基準 値を超える放射性セシウムは検出されていないということで、三重県は、ほかの牛の肉の流通経路などを調べています。

Radioactive cesium 20 times the safety limit for the feed [300 becquerels/kg] has been detected from the rice hay at a cattle farm that raises Matsusaka-ushi (cow) in Mie Prefecture. Of all the cows that have already been shipped, 11 of them did not have radioactive cesium that exceeded the provisional safety limit for the meat [500 becquerels/kg]. Mie Prefecture is tracing the shipment of the rest of the cows.

三重県によりますと、放射性セシウムが検出されたのは、三重県大紀町の松阪牛の飼育農家にあった餌 の稲わらです。この稲わらには、宮城県登米市で刈り取られ、原発事故があった３月１１日以降にこの農家に納入されたものも含まれていたということで、三重 県が調べたところ、国の目安のおよそ２０倍に当たる放射性セシウムが検出されました。この農家からは、稲わらを食べた可能性のある牛が７０頭出荷されまし たが、このうち、販売店に保管されていた１１頭分の肉からは、国の暫定基準値を超える放射性セシウムは検出されず、最大でも５分の１程度だったということ で、三重県は「この１１頭分については食べても問題ない」としています。そのうえで三重県は、この農家に対し、残っている稲わらを牛に与えないことと牛の 出荷を当面控えるよう求めるとともに、この農家から出荷されたほかの牛の肉の流通経路などを調べています。

According to Mie Prefecture, radioactive cesium was detected from the rice hay kept at a cattle farm in Taiki-cho in Mie Prefecture. The rice hay included the hay harvested in Tome City in Miyagi Prefecture and shipped to the farm after the nuclear plant accident on March 11. The level of cesium was 20 times the safety limit set by the national government for the feed. 70 cows have been shipped from this farm. Radioactive cesium in the meat of 11 of them did not exceed the provisional safety limit [500 becquerels/kg], with maximum of about one-fifth of the safety limit [i.e. 100 becquerels/kg]. Mie Prefecture says "There's no problem if one eats the meat from these 11 cows." Mie Prefecture has asked the farm not to feed cows with the remaining rice hay and to stop shipping the cows for now, while it traces the rest of the cows shipped from the farm.

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Japanese National Government, Fukushima Prefectural Government, Industry Groups Plan for Lifting the Shipment Ban on Fukushima Beef

The shipment ban on meat cows in Fukushima was finally put in place on July 19, but on July 20 they already outlined the conditions for lifting the ban.

Fukushima Prefecture hopes to lift the shipment ban placed on the cows in the prefecture by the end of July, according to Fukushima Minyu Shinbun (7/21/2011), a local paper in Fukushima Prefecture.

From what Fukushima Minyu Shinbun describes, the conditions for lifting the ban have been already agreed upon between the parties involved (the national government, the Fukushima prefectural government, and the cattle industry groups).

So what is the plan? Fukushima Minyu is rather vague on that, so we'll go to Asahi Shinbun that has a bit more details. The plan, as it is right now, will serve to obfuscate, give sense of "security" where there's hardly any, and most of all, doesn't cost much because they won't be doing things much differently from what they are doing right now. All parties involved - the national government, the Fukushima prefectural government, the industry groups - are eager to resume shipment, so it will resume as soon as people forget about it. (And stuff those blogs with safety message about cesium!)

Asahi Shinbun (12:33AM JST 7/21/2011):

福島県産の牛の肉から基準を超える放射性セシウムの検出が相次いでいる問題で、原子力災害対策本部（本部長・菅直人首相）は１９日、県全域の肉用牛の出荷停止を県知事に指示した。出荷停止の解除方法の考え方も公表。福島県が提出した肉用牛の管理計画を対策本部が了承して、各畜産農家が計画に基づいた県の検査を経て出荷されることになった。

The Headquarters for the Nuclear Disaster Countermeasures (headed by Prime Minister Naoto Kan) ordered the governor of Fukushima Prefecture to halt shipment of meat cows in all areas of Fukushima. At the same time, the procedure by which the shipment ban would be lifted was also announced. First, Fukushima Prefecture would submit the management plan for the meat cows to the Headquarters, which would approve the submitted plan. Then the each cattle farm would undergo the testing as specified in the plan, and the cows would be shipped.

　厚生労働省は、災害対策本部と福島県が考えている管理計画の概要を明らかにした。計画的避難区域や緊急時避難準備区域など高濃度の放射性物質が検出された地域では、飼育されたすべての牛について、県が解体された時に肉を調べる全頭検査を実施する。

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare disclosed the outline of the management plan as contemplated by the Headquarters and Fukushima Prefecture. In the planned evacuation zone and the emergency evacuation-ready zone where the high levels of radioactive materials have been detected, the prefectural government will conduct testing on all cows after they are processed into meat.

　それ以外の地域では、すべての畜産農家を対象に、県が汚染された稲わらを与えていないかなどを調べる全戸検査をし、その後も２カ月に１回定期的にチェックする。さらに解除後、最初に出荷する際に１頭以上を選び、県が肉の放射性物質検査をする。基準を十分に下回っていれば、その農家が飼育している牛の出荷が当面認められる。東京など県外に出荷することも可能になる。ただ一定期間がすぎたら、再び１頭以上を選んで肉を検査する。

In other areas, all cattle farmers will be surveyed to make sure if the contaminated rice hay is not used, among other things. The survey will be repeated every 2 months. After the shipment ban is lifted, at least one cow will be selected from one cattle farm, and the prefectural government will test the meat for radioactive materials [cesium]. If the amount of radioactive materials is less than the provisional safety limit, all the meat cows at that particular cattle farm will be allowed to be shipped for a time. The farm will be allowed to ship outside Fukushima Prefecture. After a certain period of time, at least one cow from the farm will be tested again.

　福島県内のと畜場は郡山市の１カ所のみ。しかし、厚労省は、年間に最大約９千頭の処理能力があり、牛の解体や牛肉の検査は１カ所でも可能とみる。

Fukushima Prefecture has only one meat processing facility in Koriyama City. However, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare thinks it is possible for this facility to process and test the meat, as it has the capacity to process maximum 9,000 cows per year.

　福島県以外でも、汚染された稲わらを与えられた牛が見つかっている。ただ、厚労省は、出荷停止を検討するのは、牛を飼育している地域の稲わらが汚染されていることが前提とする。汚染された稲わらを遠方から購入して与えていても、その地域のわらが汚染されていなければ、対象とはならないとしている。

The meat cows have been found outside Fukushima Prefecture that were fed with contaminated rice hay. However, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare would only consider the shipment ban if the rice hay in the region where the cows are raised is contaminated. Even if cattle farms in a particular region use contaminated rice hay purchased from distant locations [like Miyagi Prefecture], as long as the rice hay in that region is not contaminated the cows would not be considered for the shipment ban.

Well, needless to say, the "health, labor and welfare" that the Ministry worries about is not of the rest of the Japanese who are not in the cattle business.

Koriyama City, where the rice hay was found to contain 500,000 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium, or Motomiya City, where the rice hay was found with 690,000 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium, are OUTSIDE ANY evacuation zone.

On reading the article, I have little doubt that the radioactive beef will be sold just as it has been sold, without much added control at all. There will be less recourse to the consumers, because the beef will be considered "safe" because it will be sold in the marketplace after "vigorous test" approved by the national government and conducted by the Fukushima government.

Next to come? Maybe fine consumers for refusing to eat Fukushima produce, be it beef or vegetables.

More about → Japanese National Government, Fukushima Prefectural Government, Industry Groups Plan for Lifting the Shipment Ban on Fukushima Beef

Radioactive Beef Bento Was Sold on Shinkansen Bullet Trains

Internal radiation spreads far and wide in Japan, as if external one is not enough. Or I should say, "Now they are telling us", when it is too late. Many people already ate the meat from the meat cows that have been only discovered recently to have been fed with radioactive rice hay.

Even the Shinkansen bullet trains were instrumental in spreading the contamination.

JR Tokai announced that the beef from Asakawa-machi in Fukushima Prefecture was used in bento (lunch box) sold on Shinkansen (bullet train). Nothing left of the meat, so no way to test it.

The rice hay from Asakawa-machi has been found to contain the maximum of 97,000 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium.

By the way, the highest level of radioactive cesium in the rice hay was found in Motomiya City in Fukushima Prefecture, and it was 690,000 becquerels/kg. Motomiya City is located about 57 kilometers west of Fukushima I Nuke Plant. No word yet on what happened to the meat cows that ate the rice hay there.

The government and government-sponsored scholars say there is no need to overly concerned even if you eat the beef that contains radioactive cesium far exceeding the hastily-set provisional safety limit. Just remember, they have no proof. Research on internal radiation is sketchy at best, and was outright prohibited particularly in Japan after the two nuclear bombs at the end of the World War II and after the Dai-Go Fukuryu Maru incident (Bikini Atoll Operation Castle Bravo).

(Well, that would be whole another post.)

From Asahi Shinbun (12:53AM JST 7/21/2011):

　ジェイアール東海パッセンジャーズ（本社・東京都）は２０日、東海道新幹線の車内などで販売した弁当に高濃度の放射性セシウムが検出された稲わらを食べ た牛の肉を使っていたと発表した。使用した肉は３４キロ（約３８７食分）で、いずれも福島県浅川町産。弁当は販売済みだという。

JR Tokai Passengers (headquartered in Tokyo) announced on July 20 that the meat from the cow fed with the rice hay found with high radioactive cesium was used in bento (lunch box) sold on the Shinkansen bullet trains. 34 kilograms of beef from Asakawa-machi, Fukushima Prefecture was used in about 387 bento boxes, which were all sold.

　問題の肉が使われた商品は「牛すき重」と「牛すき（直巻きおにぎり）」。同社の東京と名古屋の工場で製造され、６月１７日から今月１日にかけて東海道新幹線の車内、東京、品川、新横浜、名古屋各駅とリニア・鉄道館（名古屋市）の売店で販売された。

The bento menus for which the beef in question were used are "Beef Sukiyaki" and "Beef Sukiyaki Onigiri (rice ball)". They were prepared in the company's factories in Tokyo and Nagoya, and were sold from June 17 till July 1 on the Tokaido Shinkansen, at JR stations (Tokyo, Shinagawa, Shin-Yokohama, Nagoya) and at a kiosk at the SCMAGLEV and Railway Park in Nagoya City.

　対象の牛の検査は実施されていないため、暫定規制値を超える放射性セシウムを含んでいるかはわからないという。

No test was conducted on the cow, and there is no way of knowing whether the beef contained radioactive cesium that exceeded the provisional safety limit.

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1,458 Meat Cows Possibly Contaminated from Radioactive Rice Hay Have Already Been Sold

Now the case of radioactive rice hay and radioactive beef has blown wide open. First it was only a couple, then a few hundreds, then many hundreds, now it is way over thousand and counting.

It looks more and more like the Minamata mercury poisoning, except this time, it's nationwide.

Yomiuri Shinbun (1:33AM JST 7/21/2011):

高濃度の放射性セシウムに汚染された稲わらが肉牛に与えられていた問題で、岩手、秋田、新潟、群馬、静岡、岐阜の６県は２０日、各県内の畜産農家が汚染の疑いのある稲わらを肉牛に与え、６３７頭を出荷していたと発表した。

6 prefectures announced on July 20 that the cattle farmers in their prefectures had shipped the total of 637 meat cows fed with the rice hay suspected of containing radioactive cesium in high concentration. The prefectures are: Iwate, Akita, Niigata, Gunma, Shizuoka, and Gifu.

これで山形、宮城、福島、新潟各県で判明している約８５０頭を含め、汚染された疑いのある稲わらを食べた牛の出荷数は９県で約１４８５頭になった。各県などは牛の流通経路を調べ、残っている肉については放射性物質の検査をする。

850 meat cows in Yamagata, Miyagi, Fukushima, and Niigata have already been found to have eaten the contaminated rice hay. The total number of meat cows in 9 prefectures that were fed with the contaminated rice hay is now 1,485. The prefectures will track the shipment of the cows, and will conduct the test on the unsold meat.

　秋田、群馬、静岡県で与えられていた稲わらは宮城県産で、岩手県では同県産だった。稲わらから高濃度のセシウムが検出されたのは、福島、宮城に次いで３県目。岩手県では、一関市の３戸と隣接する藤沢町の２戸が計１９頭を東京都に出荷。稲わらからは１キロ・グラムあたり最高値で５万７０００ベクレルのセシウムを検出した。水分を含んだ状態に換算すると国の規制値（３００ベクレル）の４３倍に相当する。

The rice hay used in Akita, Gunma, and Shizuoka was harvested in Miyagi Prefecture. In Iwate, it was harvested within the prefecture, making Iwate the third prefecture to have been found with the rice hay with high radioactive cesium. 3 cattle farmers in Ichinoseki City and 2 cattle farmers in adjacent Fujisawa-machi in Iwate Prefecture shipped 19 meat cows to Tokyo. The rice hay in Iwate was found to contain the maximum of 57,000 becquerels/kg. If the hay is reconstituted with water, the amount of radioactive cesium is 43 times as much as the national safety limit (300 becquerels/kg).

Again, the cows didn't eat "reconstituted" rice hay. They ate the dry rice hay.

If Iwate's hay came from Ichinoseki City and its surrounding area, again it matches the radiation contour map made by Yukio Hayakawa, volcanologist at Gunma University. (For his chart, see my post on July 17).

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240 Children in 3 Nursery Schools in Yamagata Prefecture Ate Cesium Beef

This must be the first confirmed case of small children having been fed with the beef contaminated with radioactive cesium.

These small children ate beef from a meat cow in Asakawa-machi in Fukushima Prefecture, and the cow had been fed with the rice hay that contained the maximum 97,000 becuerels/kg of radioactive cesium.

Yamagata Shinbun (7/20/2011) reports:

高濃度の放射性セシウムが検出された稲わらを食べた福島県浅川町産の牛肉が県内で流通していた問題で、酒田市は19日、市内3保育園が4月下旬に問題の牛肉を納入、園児と職員合わせて約290人が給食で食べていたと発表した。

Concerning the beef from the cows from Asakawa-machi in Fukushima Prefecture that were fed with the rice hay that contained the high level of radioactive cesium, Sakata City (in Yamagata Prefecture) announced on July 19 that 3 nursery schools in the city purchased the beef in late April, and total 290 children and teachers ate the meat in school lunches.

　酒田市によると、問題の牛肉を消費したのは▽市立八幡（4月28日納入）▽市立市条（同）▽私立亀ケ崎（4月26日納入）－の3保育園。いずれも同市内の食材業者が納入し、各園が当日のうちにハッシュドビーフに調理、給食として提供した。園児約240人と職員50人が、1人当たり20～40グラムを食べた。

According to Sakata City, the three nursery schools purchased the meat from the same food grocer in the city. The meat was cooked into "hashed beef" dish and served as lunch. 240 children and 50 teachers and administrators ate 20 to 40 grams per person.

　食材業者から各保育園に対する連絡で判明。酒田市が牛肉の履歴を調査したところ、福島県浅川町産で横浜市中央卸売市場食肉市場から出荷された牛肉が3保育園に納入されたことを確認した。

The food grocer alerted the nursery schools [after the news of contaminated rice hay in Asakawa-machi broke]. Sakata City traced the history of the meat, and confirmed that the meat that was delivered to the three nursery schools came from the Yokohama City Central Wholesale Meat Market, and the cow had come from Asakawa-machi in Fukushima Prefecture.

　同市は19日、3保育園の保護者に内容を通知する一方、安全が確認されるまで給食で牛肉の使用を控えることを決めた。

The city notified the parents of children at these nursery schools on July 19, and decided not to use beef in school lunches until the safety is assured.

　県食品安全衛生課は「保育園で提供された牛肉は在庫がなく放射性物質検査は行えない」とする一方、「浅川町産の牛肉については高濃度に汚染された可能性は低いとみられる。国の暫定基準値（1キログラム当たり500ベクレル）の2倍の放射性セシウムを含んだ肉を40グラム食べたとしても、人体への影響に換算すると0.76マイクロシーベルトと低いレベルなので過度に心配する必要はない」と説明している。

The food safety division of the Yamagata prefectural government says "There is no way to test for radioactive materials in the beef that was served in the nursery schools, because there is no inventory left." But it also says, "It is not very likely that the meat from Asakawa-machi was highly contaminated. Even if you eat 40 grams of beef that contains radioactive cesium twice the national safety limit (of 500 becquerels/kg), it would be only 0.76 microsievert in human body. There is no need to worry excessively."

I hope parents in Yamagata remember their words. The meat can't even be tested and the Yamagata prefectural government tells these kids and parents there's no need to worry because there can't be much cesium in that meat.

By the way, the national government formally ban the shipment of cows out of Fukushima. That means the cattle farmers are now entitled to government (aka taxpayers-funded) compensation for lost business.

What would consumers who already ate the meat get? Some supermarkets say they will refund the purchase money.

Ah. Health and life are both cheap in Japan.

More about → 240 Children in 3 Nursery Schools in Yamagata Prefecture Ate Cesium Beef

#Radioactive Beef Exceeding Safety Limit Sold in 18 Prefectures

Of 648 meat cows (as of July 18, and counting) that were fed the radioactive rice hay, some are found to contain radioactive cesium far exceeding the provisional safety limit of 500 becquerels/kg.

Yomiuri Shinbun (7/19/2011) reports:

高濃度の放射性セシウムに汚染された稲わらを食べた疑いのある牛が出荷された問題で、少なくとも１８都府県で流通していた食肉から、国の暫定規制値（１キロ・グラムあたり５００ベクレル）を超えるセシウムが検出されていたことが１９日、読売新聞の集計で分かった。

Yomiuri Shinbun's survey has revealed that radioactive cesium exceeding the provisional safety limit (500 becquerels/kg) has been detected from the beef sold in 18 Prefectures. The beef came from the meat cows suspected of having been fed with the rice hay contaminated with high level of radioactive cesium.

　１８都府県の内訳は、青森、山形、福島、栃木、埼玉、山梨、東京、神奈川、静岡、富山、岐阜、三重、大阪、兵庫、徳島、香川、愛媛、高知。

The 18 Prefectures are: Aomori, Yamagata, Fukushima, Tochigi, Saitama, Yamanashi, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Shizuoka, Toyama, Gifu, Mie, Osaka, Hyogo, Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, and Kochi.

　このうち２頭が流通していた大阪では、うち１頭の食肉から規制値の８倍以上となる１キロ・グラムあたり４３５０ベクレルが検出された。食肉は大阪市内の販売業者が保管していたが、すべて返品されたという。

In Osaka where 2 meat cows were sold that had eaten radioactive rice hay, 4,350 becquerels/kg of cesium was detected from the meat from one of the cows. The meat was stored at a wholesaler in Osaka City.

　他の規制値を超えた食肉の一部は、既に消費者に販売されている。高知市では、家庭で冷凍保管されていた３パックの食肉から、最大で１キロ・グラムあたり２７１０ベクレルのセシウムが検出された。

Some of the meat that exceeded the safety limit has already been sold to customers. In Kochi City (in Kochi Prefecture), maximum 2,710 becquerels/kg of cesium was detected from the 3 meat packs stored in home freezers.

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