Q. Is it safe to visit Japan?
A. Of course!
127 million people live in Japan!
As you can see under Business as Usual, most people are living their normal lives.
People go to work, kids go to school. People eat out, go to movies, baseball games...
Cyndi Lauper came to Japan in March.
The Australian PM visited the area hit hard by the tsunami in April.
We assume you read Japan Geography 101. Just making sure you aren't looking at the wrong map!
Transportation and tourist updates for Eastern Japan are provided by Japan-Guide.com.
Earthquake and Tsunami Update
Q. But didn't the Japanese government raise the nuclear crisis rating to Level 7 on the INES?
A. We aren't nuclear physicists or any kind of scientists, but here's what world experts say:
From US:
"How can Fukushima crisis be rated as severe as Chernobyl?" (CS Monitor)
"Fukushima Severity Upgrade" (IEEE Spectrum)
"How Bad is Fukushima Crsis?" (Diplomat)
"Analysis: After Japan, nuclear accident ratings reform sought" (Reuters)
From UK:
"Fukushima rating is bad - but not worse" (The Financial Times)
From Russia:
"Fukushima is no Chernobyl: Russian nuclear expert" (euronews)
Science Media Center (English after Japanese)
Our Two Cents...
As you can see, some experts aren't happy that it was raised to Level 7.
So in our non-scientific opinion, the Japanese government should have raised it to 6
just to make everyone happy! (Some weren't happy with Level 5.)
Click here to edit.
Q. Isn't air and water contaminated?
The environmental radioactivity level is monitored by MEXT.
I know that's a bit too much data.
This physicist at the Univ. of Tokyo publishes the monitoring level in English weekly or so. He is a good one to follow on Twitter.
I like this one best, but it's only in Japanese.
This is the level in Tokyo, monitored by the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Public Health.
Do you realize that natural radiation levels at many places in the world exceed those in Tokyo since the reactor accident?
- "Hong Kong, Cornwall Radiation Beats Tokyo Even After Japan Nuclear Crisis" (Bloomberg)
- "Higher in Moscrow than in Tokyo" (Yomuiri Online)
This is a volunteer site that seeks to correct misrepresentations about the situation at Fukushima.