My AP Stories for 2024

My AP Stories for 2024

Link to My AP Stories for 2023 and previous years

Here goes for 2024, a year that I start out as a Winner for The Associated Press Best of the Week for my quake coverage. And I won again in September.

My AP Story Oct. 8, 2024 on the Netflix series about a real-life professional wrestling legend Dump Matsumoto.

My AP Story and My AP Photos Oct. 2, 2024 on Japanese denim from my recent trip to Kojima.

My AP Story Oct. 2, 2024 on Japanese companies dropping out as Olympic sponsors.

My AP Story Sept. 19, 2024 on Greg Kelly’s appeal case, related to pay for former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn.

My AP Story Sept. 17, 2024 on the craft of temari.

I am one of the 12 journalists who won the Best of the AP award Sept. 14, 2024, the first year in my more than 30 years at the AP I win the award twice in a year. My AP Story and AP Photos that were part of the package:

My AP Story and My AP Photo Sept. 5, 2024 on Chinese choosing to live in Japan.

My AP Story Aug. 8, 2024, my debut Music Review, on Ryuichi Sakamoto’s “Opus.”

My very first AP Book Review, My AP Story Sept. 9, 2024.

My AP Story Aug. 31, 2024 and My AP Photo below on Japan and the four-day work week.

My AP Story Sept. 6, 2024 on the parent company of the 7-Eleven convenience store chain turning down Couche-Tard’s takeover offer.

I’m a Contributor to this AP Story Sept. 3, 2024.

My AP Story Aug. 31, 2024 on Japan’s complaint over a Chinese ship in territorial waters.

I’m a Contributor to this AP Story Aug. 31, 2024.

My AP Story Aug. 22, 2024 about the world’s oldest person, a Japanese woman who loves bananas.

My co-byline AP Story Aug. 23, 2024 on Kiribati.

I’m a Contributor to this AP Story Aug. 25, 2024 on wearable devices.

My AP Story Sept. 1, 2024 on the storm.

My AP Story Aug. 31, 2024 on a storm.

My AP Story Aug. 21, 2024 on Japan’s trade data.

My AP Story Aug. 19, 2024 on graffiti at Yasukuni Shrine.

My AP Story Aug. 16, 2024 as evacuations are ordered over a typhoon.

My AP Story Aug. 17, 2024 as the typhoon moves away.

My AP Story Aug. 15, 2024 on Japan’s economy.

My AP Story Sept. 9, 2024 on the revised GDP data.

My AP Story Aug. 6, 2024 about Nissan’s “cool paint” with My AP Photo.

My AP Story July 31, 2024 on how a Sega game “Like A Dragon” is now an online series.

My AP Story Aug. 1, 2024 on how Nissan and Honda are working together to quickly catch up in the electrification age.

My AP Story Aug. 9, 2024 on Toyota’s promise to improve vehicle certification.

My AP Story Aug. 1, 2024 on Toyota’s earnings.

My AP Story and My AP Photo July 31, 2024 on Nissan’s sustainability efforts.

My AP Story July 12, 2024 in which I get close to Kabuki superstar Danjuro.

My AP Story July 3, 2024 on the new bills.

My AP Story and My AP Photos June 28, 2024 on what will become of the old Tsukiji fish market area.

My AP Story June 23, 2024 on the rice ball.

And I make my debut as AP’s recipe writer with My AP Story June 23, 2024.

My AP Obit June 19, 2024 on Japan’s “beat” poet Kazuko Shiraishi.

My AP Story June 19, 2024 on Japan’s trade data.

My AP Story June 18, 2024 on the Toyota shareholders’ meeting.

I’m a Contributor to this AP Story June 15, 2024 about the price of orange juice.

My AP Story June 12, 2024, an obituary on architect Fumihiko Maki.

My AP Story June 10, 2024 on Japan’s economy.

My AP Story June 16, 2024 on Toyota facing some unhappy shareholders.

My AP Story June 3, 2024 on Toyota apologizing for faulty tests on cars.

My AP Story May 30, 2024 in which I interview George Takei.

My AP Story translated into Spanish.

My AP Story May 29, 2024 on a working group under the U.N. issuing a report on human rights abuses in Japan.

My AP Story May 28, 2024 on Toyota’s talking about the ecological engine in the works.

My AP Story May 23, 2024 on Sony’s strategy centering around its creative businesses.

My AP Story May 22, 2024 on Japan’s trade data.

My AP Story May 19, 2024 on the bear attacks.

My AP Story May 16, 2024 on Honda’s EV strategy.

My AP Story May 16, 2024 on the economy.

My AP Story May 5, 2024, an obituary on Juro Kara.

My AP Story April 29, 2024 about a 1990’s TV reality show.

My AP Story April 25, 2024 on ramen noodles.

My AP Sidebar Story on an easy ramen recipe with My AP Photos.

My AP Story May 14, 2024 on Sony’s earnings.

My AP Story May 13, 2024 on SoftBank Group in the red for the fiscal year.

My AP Story May 10, 2024 on Sega Sammy selling a resort to a U.S. fund.

My AP Story May 8, 2024 on Toyota’s booming profit and investment for future growth.

My AP Story May 7, 2024 on Nintendo promising an announcement on a Switch successor.

My AP Story May 3, 2024 on Nippon Steel’s acquisition of U.S. Steel.

My AP Story April 22, 2024 on Japan’s antitrust body telling Google not to undermine competition.

My AP Story April 19, 2024 on a damages lawsuit filed by Japanese doctors against Google.

My AP Story April 17, 2024 on Japan’s March trade data.

My AP Story and My AP Photos April 16, 2024 on Nissan’s EV ambitions.

My AP Story and My AP Photo April 15, 2024 on a lawsuit accusing Japanese police of racial profiling.

My AP Story March 29, 2024 on “Oppenheimer” opening in Japan.

My AP Story April 6, 2024 on the Japanese prime minister’s visit to a semiconductor plant.

My AP Story April 1, 2024 on the Bank of Japan “tankan” survey.

My AP Story March 29, 2024 on the news conference by Japan’s prime minister.

My AP Story March 27, 2024 when I interview the designer of the Godzilla shoes.

My AP Story March 26, 2024 on Markets.

I’m a Contributor to this AP Story March 25, 2024 about North Korea saying Japan seeks summit.

My AP Story March 25, 2024 about Nissan’s aggressive electric vehicle push.

My AP Story March 21, 2024 on Japan’s trade data.

My AP Story March 19, 2024 on the Bank of Japan ending its negative interest rate policy.

My AP Story May 9, 2024 on Nissan’s earnings for the fiscal year.

My AP Story March 15, 2024 on Nissan and Honda working together on electrification and intelligence technology.

Watch the Video here.

My AP Story March 13, 2024 on the failed rocket launch by Space One.

My AP Story March 12, 2024 on Hayao Miayazaki and Japan’s Oscar wins.

My AP Story March 8, 2024 about Kyoto’s geisha district fighting over-tourism with keep-out signs.

My AP Story Feb. 25, 2024 on the opening of a semiconductor plant.

My AP Story Feb. 20, 2024, an obit on the founder of the Daiso 100-yen shop chain.

My AP Story Feb. 9, 2024 in which I interview Mika Ninagawa, and do Photos and Video.

My AP Story Feb. 3, 2024 on the Japanese Embassy’s message about Taylor Swift and the Super Bowl.

My AP Story Jan. 30, 2024 about a pig cafe.

My AP Story Jan. 31, 2024 on the Olympic trial, where the defendant denies the payments were bribes.

My AP Story and My AP Photos Jan. 29, 2024 on a lawsuit demanding a stop to “racial profiling.”

My AP Story Feb. 13. 2024 on a new president at a Toyota subsidiary fighting a scandal.

My AP Story Jan. 30, 2024 on Toyota’s Akio Toyoda stressing a global vision.

My AP Story Jan. 29, 2024 on Toyota apologizing for cheating on testing _ again.

My AP Story and My AP Photo Jan. 23, 2024 on a film that documents how single moms are poor.

My AP Story Feb. 15, 2024 about Japan, now the world’s fourth largest economy.

My AP Story Jan. 22. 2024 on a Toyota subsidiary cheating on vehicle safety tests.

My AP Story Jan. 19, 2024 on the poetry reading at the Imperial Palace.

My AP Story Jan. 18, 2024 on Uniqlo’s lawsuit against a rival retailer over a hit bag.

My AP Story Jan. 15, 2024 and My AP Photos of the men alleging sexual abuse by Johnny Kitagawa expressing dissatisfaction at the company response.

My AP Story Jan. 10, 2024, updated Jan. 11, 2024, on how people are dying after getting rescued from quake damage.

My AP Story Jan. 9, 2024 on a woman who runs a fish store telling us how determined she is to rebuild Wajima. The neighborhood cat below:

My AP Story Jan. 8, 2024 about the thousands of people who have lost their homes.

My AP Story Jan. 7, 2024 on the rescue operations in the snow.

My AP Story Jan. 6, 2024 on a miracle rescue.

My AP Story Jan. 5, 2024 on survivors being found beneath rubble.

My AP Story Jan. 4, 2024 on the losses people are enduring.

Click on the link below for heartbreaking video of the man in the photo above seeing the body of his wife.

https://apnews.com/64165a70a05c4d628681647d99acd202

My AP Story Jan. 4, 2024 on rescue efforts after the quakes in Ishikawa Prefecture.

The version that appeared Jan. 3, 2024 in The Stars and Stripes, without the updates that continued into the following day.

My AP Story Jan. 2, 2024 on the death toll from the quakes in Ishikawa climbing.

My AP Story Jan. 1, 2024 when the major quake and tsunami hit.

I’m a Contributor to this AP Story Jan. 1, 2024 that’s a global New Year’s roundup.

SHIRO a poem by Yuri Kageyama

SHIRO a poem by Yuri Kageyama

The first death I knew was our family Akita,

Born the same time as me;

A runt my father got, his ears never perked up,

His nose piglet pink, not shiny black,

Like a proper Akita.

^___<

A ball of fluffy white,

Shiro, which means “white” in Japanese,

Grew up to be big and strong,

Although his nose stayed pink

And his ears floppy.

^___<

Chained by a big dog house,

He barked at approaching strangers

But never at our neighbor,

A typesetter at the Asahi,

Walking home quietly at dawn.

^___<

He never growled, snapped or bit,

Noble and calm,

Like a proper Akita;

I would ride on him

Like he was a horse.

^___<

People said he was poisoned by a man

Who didn’t like his barking;

He was taken away in a cart,

Or maybe it was a little truck;

Still, beneath a blanket of straw.

RENSHI A poetic collaboration Part Two By Osaki Haniya and Yuri Kageyama

Our journey continues. Clich here for the first part of our journey. Below is where we pick up, from May through July 2024. The odd number installments are by Osaki Haniya and the even numbers are by yours truly. The theme is supposed to be “love,” although, as always, we go all over the place.

RENSHI

A poetic collaboration Part Two

By Osaki Haniya and Yuri Kageyama

連詩 第2弾

あなたと交わるのは

薄く大気が身動きする砂塵のあわい

雨と風と時が

廃墟の親和性を完成してくれる

そうだったね

徐々に思い出していくよ

倦んだ傷口と解剖メスの

刹那の痛み

白灰色の泥絵の具に

厚塗りの膠を重ねて

2

Native American Wisdom as Told by Urie Bronfenbrenner

A hip bone defect

Runs down family lines;

When they become warriors,

Some born

Can’t go riding

Can’t go hunting;

A brave white scientist

Maps out Blood

Lineage  

Crooks and crannies,

Buried in Genes;

No child will ever be born again

With a hobbled spine,

No such child will be born again

The brave white scientist is excited

“I have figured this all out,” he says;

“I know. I know.” 

But all the wise chief does

Is shake his head,

Deep pools of knowing  

Beneath the eagle feathers,

And he says these Words

That say it All: 

“We believe in Love.

We believe in Love.”

3

よく眠りなさいと言った母の声も届かない遠方に来て

無(なるもの)への郷愁など持ったこともなく

久しぶりに新古今和歌集を開いている

ーー草枕 旅寝の人は 心せよ

  有明の月も かたぶきにけり

辻を回ると養源院

異国の共犯者が作り上げた不在の輪郭に惹かれ

苦痛と憐れみと嫌悪感と

程よく煽られる感情の臭気と

あなたの所在を見失っても

迷うことはできないと知る退屈さと

4

(With introduction and music playing Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together)  

I, I’m so in love with you

Whatever you want to do

Is alright with me

Cause you make me feel so brand new

And I want to spend my life with you

I bury the body, bloated and sagging,

Fat fingers that no longer hold

あなたの身振りに習うなら

臨床的良心によって射ち、つらぬき

微細な歪みを調合しなおし

名付け

印を彫り

忘却の漆喰から奪い取るでしょう

on Friday night, May 31th CE714

北海を渡ってタイン川へ向かう船室に り戻

紅茶が運ばれてくるまで眠った

すべては襖 の黄金のなか絵

あなたのノックで、やがて

夜の salutation が始まる

6

Romeo and Juliet in Kabuki

Where there was a Balcony is a River divide

Star-crossed lovers flee in the dark

Clinging to each other like souls driven mad

Chikamatsu writes of Double Suicide

Puppets more human in frenzied destiny

And Shakespeare simply asks:

Wherefore art thou?

7

偏愛する友人たち

娘たちが眠りに就くころ

荒れた穂先を尖らせる

風に解けだす辰砂

ペルシャ赤

スペイン赤

答えを求めているわけではないけれど

私は信仰を持たないままです

8

The homeless guy in my neighborhood who is always reading just got a new cute tiger puppet he keeps perched on his cart.

It looks like he washed it recently. It looks so perky.

Today, he had a new wand with a pink pony on it.

You found these?

I wasn’t sure what to expect. Some homeless people aren’t very friendly.

But this guy just looked bewildered. Then he said: You can have it.

It broke my heart.

No, that’s yours.

He has nothing.

And he was going to give me his new toy.

9

白象図

展開部はアレグロ・アッサイ

白色の下塗りが

微かに足音を響かせ

次第に高まり

^

火や花々

産声を上げるディ・モルトを け抜

それから不意に行く手を遮った

^

耳の砂

砂の匂い

夥しいマティエールの間で脚を開き

ゆっくりと押し付けてくるあなたの舌

^

聞き取れない声で呼ぶ

強暴な、母の名

^

風が吹く

引っ掛けるのだ

呼びとめ

伝えてほしいって

^

心配しなくていいんだよって

何かを欲しがったことなど

一度だってないんだよって

^

黒みがかった灰色の

黒ほとんど黄金色の

白象図

^

あなたは描き

ねじり

吊り下げる

^

此処から向きを える

変どちらかといえば少し歪んでいるあなたの肩

そこから遠く海が眺められる

^

なんという静けさだろう

幾つになったのとか

あのとき言っただろうことの意味を考えていた

^

何度もあなたは立ち止まる

そこだけ積もった冷気を吐き出しながら

*俵屋宗達『白象図』

10

Today inside Tokyo’s pristine acoustics

Of Meguro Persimmon Hall

A Japanese cellist played 

Ryuichi Sakamoto’s score for

Bernado Bertolucci’s “The Sheltering Sky,”

Love-torn and blistered by the Morocco sand,

An Africa covered with flies, indigenous yelps,

Fevers that derange:  

If Sakamoto was inspired by Debussy

And Debussy was inspired by Asian music,

Has it all come back

Full circle?

Gone

Around this vast complicated War-ravaged ready-to-crack World

To settle quietly

As that tiny ache

Inside our chest?

To be near hurts

To be far hurts, too

Love simply hurts

To live hurts

To die hurts

Love simply hurts

Watching you die

Hurts even more

Love simply hurts

To know you hurts

To have known you hurts

Love simply hurts

But to not know you

Not hurt for you

Is simply not a choice

Love simply hurts

Love simply hurts

Love simply hurts

FEARLESS AT 90 a poem by Yuri Kageyama

FEARLESS AT 90 a poem by Yuri Kageyama

I am fearless at 90

Wrinkles deep as the Nile

Hair translucent spiderwebs

Varicose veins throbbing blood

A map of fate on a carcass of skin

I am fearless at 90 

I rap poetry with my dentures

Jazz dance with my wobbly knees

I rock like Jimi Hendrix

We Boomers invented Revolution

I am fearless at 90

I’m so close to the pearly gates

I’m on speaking terms with the angels

I’m so near-sighted I read minds

My fungus breath slays dragons

I am fearless at 90

My wheelchair zips Ferrari-style

My voice resonates five octaves low

My cane duplicates as a samurai sword

My hearing aid just blocks out noise

I am fearless at 90  

I have no appointments to keep

No bosses to please

No dates to impress

No one can put me down

I am fearless at 90

I barely remember what’s up or down

Or who is where anymore;

Beyond gender, race, class,

Or even age

I am fearless at 90

My skin like washi paper

My fingers gnarled like a witch

I am neither man nor woman

White, black, brown or yellow.

I am just 90, and fearless:

Those days are long gone,

Not trusting anyone over 30,

I’ve given birth to a thousand children

And have a million grandchildren

I am fearless at 90

Although death is around the corner,

I’ve seen war and peace

Endured abuse to survive;

Don’t expect or need respect

I’m proud to be fearless at 90

^___<

Note from the poet:

I am not yet 90, but I feel this way and wrote this poem.

When I’m 90, I will write my real fearless at 90 poem.

The poem was published in the Winter 2024 issue of KONCH MAGAZINE.

More with Turner at this link.

CONTINUOUSLY POETRY a bilingual collaboration by Osaki HANIYA and Yuri Kageyama with Toshiyuki “Turner” Tanahashi on bass

At What the Dickens in Tokyo June 2, 2024. Haniya Osaki, Yuri Kageyama and Toshiyuki Turner Tanahashi. Photo by On Lim Wong.

CONTINUOUSLY POETRY a bilingual collaboration by Osaki HANIYA (all even entries) and Yuri Kageyama (odd entries) with Toshiyuki “Turner” Tanahashi (on bass). Tokyo. April 13, 2024.

1

Abortions, still births, defects at birth

Violent parents, cheating partners

Children who leave and never look back,

Cancer, dementia, the funeral wake.

Family of Errors

Betrayal, Psychosis:

If God created people perfect,  

We would just miss them too much,

When they die 

2

木漏れ日がさらさらと揺れて

靴の紐を固く締め上げる指先を撫で回す

1922年、T.S.Eliotは書いた

April is the cruelest  month, breeding

Lilacs out of the dead land

越冬用の木の実とともに今も

シマリスは瓦礫の下に横たわっている

3

ファミレスとはよくいったもんだ

愛おしい家族よ

ジョナサン、デニーズ

サイゼリア

虐待のスパゲティ

Sexual abuse ice cream

痣だらけのお子様ランチ

4

十字路を渡りかけて振り返ると

見知らぬ小さな人が 呟く

missing link

5

Searched for the names of 

Isaku’s Granpa and Granma; 

Made sure they were there: 

Their names, 

Years of birth 1923 and 1924,  

And Minidoka

Then shed a quiet tear. 

Ireizo-dot-com

125,179 Persons of Japanese Ancestry are known to have been incarcerated by the U.S. Government during WWII. 

We vow to remember them all. 

_ written Feb. 19, 2024

Remembering Executive Order 9066 on This Day.

6

山雪〈老梅〉の

四面の狂い

反対色

描きとどめ

回り続ける歳月の二針を

焼き付けても

ひと枝の花

金箔の首筋に熱

記憶というのは幾つくらいから始まるのだろう

白衣の老人が顔を寄せ合ってこちらを覗き込んでいる

見上げると茫洋とした灯りが

ゆっくりゆっくり旋回している

自転車に乗れるようになった頃

朝早くに母の使いで近くの寺へ行った帰り

停車中のトラックに自転車もろとも突っ込んだ

左膝にめり込んだ小石が私そっくりに笑っていた

剥落しているところがあるかもしれない

溢れた塩酸の夢

過度の奏上

エクスタシス排斥し

     * 狩野山雪〈老梅〉

7 (an English translation of sorts of 6)

 Sansetsu’s “Old Plum”

Madness across the surface,

Opposite colors 

He’s painted.  

Two switches from a spinning full moon 

Scalding

Sole flower on a branch

Turns to fever on a nape gilded with gold.

How old are we when memories begin?

Huddled old figures wearing white peer toward us; 

A vast light above

Slowly, so slowly, spinning.  

When I first learned how to ride a bicycle,

On my way back from the temple, running a morning errand for my mother, 

I slam into a parked truck, bicycle and all,

The pebble stuck in my left knee laughs, looking just like me. 

Maybe some parts have flaked off;

Overflowing acidic dreams

Excessive prayers

In exclusion of ecstasy

8

瓦礫の下で目を見開く2歳の私に

母の投身を描き終えた白昼の月に

欠損した踝から頭蓋へ

怒りの破裂を腑分けして

アイボリーブラック

ボーンブラック

1.82×1.225メートルの

ドロップブラック

始めましょう

展覧会

9

I know not where I am when I wake up

America or Japan

Hong Kong or Morocco

Heaven or Hell or Heaven on Earth

It groggily matters not whether Death

Or Life;

Purpose has Vanished

Never existed from the Start _

Not knowing, not mattering,

Like this poem That Is

At least Something,   

A wispy dream ending without sadness,

This last one from me

And one more from you.

10

別れの言葉

逡巡して

沈默を覆う渇いた唇

かつて私はヒトだった

もうヒトではない  

たくさん旅をした

国家

暴力

歪な科学が

じりじりと確実に腐生するなら

透層剤すべてが失われ

骨組み以外は何も残らず

わずかに装っていた善良さを

抹殺するだろう

REPORTER AT WORK PORTRAITS

REPORTER AT WORK PORTRAITS Photos by my colleagues over the years that are evidence I do my best as a reporter.

AP Photo by Eugene Hoshiko

Photo during my interview of Japanese prosecutors for My AP Story March 8, 2023.

AP Photo by Itsuo Inouye

Photo during my interview of Yayoi Kusama for My AP Story Aug. 7, 2012.

At the FCCJ front row, brown hoodie for My AP Story April 12, 2023.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013 in Tokyo, (AP Photo/Junji Kurokawa)

Photo during my interview of Akio Toyoda for My AP Story March 6, 2013.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013 in Tokyo, (AP Photo/Junji Kurokawa)
Guitar player of Queen Brian May speaks during an interview with the Associated Press in Tokyo, Friday, Sept. 23, 2016 in Tokyo, (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

My AP Story Sept. 23, 2016, when I spoke with a rock legend, who kindly called me “AP’s journalist of conscience.”

Sometimes my sources are a bit mechanical but cute. My AP Story July 13, 2015 on the Pepper robot when I am in an AP Photo, which is unusual.

Sometimes the photographer and I end up in pretty abandoned areas like the no-go zone in Fukushima. My AP Story April 29, 2014 that I filed from this trip.

Monday, April 28, 2014 in Sagamihara, (AP Photo/Junji Kurokawa)

And at other times, the photographer and I end up meeting extraordinary people who were hidden in their moments of glory. My AP Story May 18, 2014 when I interview Mr. Haruo Nakajima. My AP Obit Aug. 8, 2017.

A shot from the interview for My 2024 AP Story in the studio of the artist in Shikoku.

We also do 360 video and end up being in that circle. This is from My AP Story Nov. 16, 2017 at a Toyota plant. Turn your cursor in the video below to see a 360 degree view of the plant:

A Photo by Shizuo of Andy and myself interviewing a Nissan executive for My AP Story Sept. 12, 2017.

Takashi Murakami took this selfie after our interview for this AP Story Dec. 31, 2015.

From 2014 when I visited Nezu Museum, designed by Kengo Kuma, and speak with the curator for My AP Story about Japanese architects. I still like this story.

TEPCO CORRESPONDENCE

This is what I found recently as memories on Facebook, of all places, written while I was covering Tokyo Electric Power Co., the utility operating the nuclear power plant in Fukushima that sank into meltdowns after the March 11, 2011 tsunami. I didn’t even remember having written this. It brings back memories so horrible they are almost absurd, even comical, if they weren’t so real and literally catastrophic. I don’t remember why I didn’t share these 12 posts on my then brand new web site, although I went on to write a whole play about the nuclear disaster: NEWS FROM FUKUSHIMA. What made the TEPCO Correspondence so endearing, while also chilling, to read for me now is that, well, it all really happened. I was there, every day, watching the events unfold, filing the news, all the while praying Japan would be saved. But in retrospect, we were lucky as reporters. At least we were busy. One day, a TEPCO official in charge of media runs into the room, where all the media people practically lived at that time in TEPCO headquarters. He comes in running and shouting that a system at one of the reactors has broken down. There might be yet another meltdown. All we do is busily file alerts. But then he runs back in again, shouting: It’s fixed. It’s fixed. I’m telling you: A big cheer went up in that room. Sometimes there are moments like that. When what is happening is bigger than the next news story, and all we can do is rejoice as people.

TEPCO Correspondence: Notes From a Writer Beyond the Headlines

By YURI KAGEYAMA

April 2011

1

Heard at TEPCO: Company spokesman Junichi Matsumoto’s description of “a meltdown,” when asked by a reporter for “an image” _ “The core is DORO DORO gooey and BOTA BOTA drip-drop melting to the bottom of the reactor.”

2

On my way to NISA, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, from Kasumigaseki subway station, I pass by the bookstore that sells government reports and booklets. The shop window had a big poster for a book about nuclear power that said: “Peaceful Energy.” It made me want to cry.

3

Japanese are sensitive to the fears about radiation. Our nation is the only one in the world to have experienced atomic bombings. I have grown up hearing horror stories and seeing photos not only of charred bodies, disfiguring burns and skeletal buildings but also about illnesses that crept up years later, sometimes extending over generations.

4

That is why the poster is touting the glories of nuclear power as “peaceful.”

5

We have been told there is a five-layer protection against radioactive leaks at nuclear plants _ the pellets are encased in coatings, and inside rods that are in a vessel, which in turn is inside another chamber, and that is encased in a building. The building bit is what blew up to bits at reactors 1 and 3 shortly after the March 11 tsunami.

6

So there goes that layer.

7

The pellets are believed to be doing all that doro doro and bota bota inside the core. So much for those layers. The massive leak of highly radioactive water near reactor 2 means without a doubt that the chamber layer has been compromised, if not something even closer to the pellets.

8

So where are those five layers of safety that were supposed to protect the people of Japan?

How could they have said there would be a fivefold guarantee of safety if all the layers were so fragile?

9

There is talk of unifying the now separate news conferences by NISA amd TEPCO on the nuclear crisis. NISA spokesman Hidehiko Nishiyama said there were complaints about inconsistencies in the message. I hope they take all the questions. With so many parties involved, on such a complex topic, coverage is likely to remain arduous.

10

For the first few weeks after March 11, TEPCO officials kept telling us: This is not Three Mile Island.

As Fukushima Daiicihi began spewing highly radioactive water into the sea and radiation was detected in spinach, tap water and the air we breathe, they stopped saying that.

11

But they kept telling us: This is not Chernobyl.

The government declared FD a Level 7, the same as Chernobyl, on April 12.

They no longer tell us what this is not _ they just look sad and helpless.

12

Some reporters are frustrated by the briefings at TEPCO, the flipflopping, the don’t knows, evasive answers, sometimes the wrong numbers, off by a few decimal points. “Is this Iwo Jima?” one angry reporter said. “Maybe all we can hope for is a kamikaze (divine wind) to blow and save us,” another said sadly.

TOKYO CORRESPONDENCE

Tokyo Correspondence: Notes From a Writer Beyond the Headlines

I kept a blog from 2007 before I started this site in 2011. Here’s the link below. I’m also sharing after this TEPCO CORRESPONDENCE: Notes From a Writer Beyond the Headlines. Those are my posts on Facebook in 2011, while I was covering the utility behind the Fukushima nuclear disaster. It’s amazing to run across bits of your past self _ and what you wrote then. Both so clearly you and not you at all. Yet totally the truth. And all that makes you you.

https://yuri-kageyama.blogspot.com/

THE CULTURE OF TOILETS

Having just returned from visiting the U.S., I was struck by how bathrooms (both toilets and bathing facilities) are really super nice in Japan _ clean, everything works, the hot water actually comes out in ample quantity, the tiles aren’t cracked, overall pleasant design/appearance if not just outright intelligent etc. _ and all this is available for those living in cheap housing, staying at affordable hotels/inns, and of course public spaces.

When you think about what Freud theorizes, the state of toilets speaks a lot about the thinking in a society, about its views on “equaltity,” what is treasured, and the innermost darkest obsessions. (maybe, anyway).

Here ICYMI is the AP Story I did when the Wim Wenders project was first announced and he talks about the film’s setting and the deep meaning of “restrooms”

https://apnews.com/article/science-oddities-entertainment-japan-05a4d0139ed0002ba137e43ff962e1f1

A Letter to Isaku

A Letter to Isaku

This came from a corner of my desk when I was cleaning up recently. It’s a letter I wrote to Isaku as part of a school requirement. I still like this letter, and I will keep it.

Spring 1998

Isaku

When you were still unborn, you were already someone I knew very well. I could feel you thinking inside my stomach, sucking on your thumb, looking at your tiny toes, jumping with surprise _ with me _ when something startling happened, like a dog barking out of the blue.

I hope I don’t embarrass you with this letter, which Brother John O’Donnell tells me you will have to read before your schoolmates. But I would like you to know that I love you very much. And nothing will change that, ever.

These days, I feel you are sometimes unsure about your future. That’s understandable. Like other Sophomores, you are still so young, yet important decisions are coming up on you fast.

Having two nationalities, two cultures and languages may seem a bit confusing, but it merely opens up more choices for you. You don’t have to close the doors of opportunity too hastily. You have plenty of time. Be strong and believe in yourself, although it is OK to be weak, and you are not alone. Many people, including your teachers and friends who care about you, are there to help you.

I hope you do your best in your studies and try to grow up to be a fine young man. The world is a beautiful place, but it is filled with many problems and needs young people like you to care and at least give it a good try to bring about a change for the better.

I thank God every day for making you part of my life. I thank God for keeping you safe.

It is only after becoming a mother and watching you gradually grow into adulthood that I finally know why God chose to come to us as a little boy who grew up among us. He knew that would make it so easy for us to love Him. It seems such a very simple and so obvious a fact, I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before.

Have a good retreat,

Mom