Current Radiation Levels in Shinjuku, Tokyo and Tsukuba (75 km. north of Tokyo)

Click here for a comparison of current radiation levels and pre-quake levels in Shinjuku, see here for water. 


都内の環境放射線量調査１日単位の測定結果はここです：
http://ftp.jaist.ac.jp/pub/emergency/monitoring.tokyo-eiken.go.jp/monitoring/past_data.html

Click here for regular up-to-the-hour updated information: http://113.35.73.180/report/report_table.do

Next, updated daily and hourly from the Advanced Industrial Science and Technology Unit in Tsukuba (Tsukuba is between Tokyo and the accident site at Fukushima. It is about 75 kilometers north of Tokyo, and 150 kilometers south of Fukushima). Is an updated hourly summary of radiation measured in microSv/hour.  You can view the daily and hourly radiation level updates here: http://www.aist.go.jp/taisaku/ja/measurement/index.html

Here is an chart from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology's National Metrology Institute of Japan webpage. It shows what typical radiation levels (measured in microSv) are in our daily lives: 

At the bottom left, you see the mark of 190. That's the amount of radiation you get on a one-way flight from Tokyo to New York. Above that, you see the number 2400. That is the amount of radiation that a person gets annually from nature. At the top left is the number 10000. That is annual radiation amount a person who lives in Karapari City in Brazil gets. At the top right, you see 6900, that's the amount of radiation you get from a CT scan. Bottom right? That's 50, the amount a person receives from one X-ray. 

As you can see, there is absolutely no radiation risk in Tsukuba and Tsukuba is much closer to the accident site than is Tokyo. One gets a much bigger dose of radiation flying from Narita to New York. In fact, at 0.05 microSv per hour, you would have to be standing outside in the elements everyday for nearly 40 days straight to equal the amount of radiation you'd receive on just that single one-way flight from Tokyo to New York.


Thanks to Mark!

Kill Your Child... Commit Suicide? It Has Happened Again....

I've never considered killing my child. But, I did consider committing suicide - many times. In fact, when my third daughter was stricken with cancer at the age of one and one half years old, I prayed to god to kill me and heal her. 


I would have traded my life for her health in a moment.


Alas, some prayers are not answered.


There are a very many parents with handicapped or extremely ill children. I think it might be natural that these parents want to kill themselves; I can't imagine that the thought of killing themselves never crosses their mind. Like I said, I've never considered killing my child, but killing myself if it could possibly make things better? Of course... In a flash.


Once again, in Japan, another parent of a handicapped darling child, innocent to the world, has killed their child and attempted suicide. The murder of the child was, unfortunately successful. The suicide attempt was a failure.


Japan Today reports in Man attempts suicide after apparently hanging disabled daughter in public restroom:

Police said Monday that a man was found bleeding from his abdomen and his daughter hanged in a public restroom in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture.

According to police, the 54-year-old man, who has been named as Ikuro Kenmochi, was seriously injured and his disabled daughter, 9-year-old Saki, was dead when they were discovered in the restroom in Oba Castle Park shortly after 11 a.m. Sunday, Fuji TV reported.

Police believe Kenmochi attempted to commit suicide by cutting open his abdomen after hanging his daughter. Investigators said that Kenmochi sent an email to his wife shortly before the incident in which he told her he was worried about their daughter’s future, Fuji reported.

As always, with this sort of thing, many people have their opinions. Unfortunately, as with most things, judging from the comments section of the original article, the average opinion is benighted, to say the least.

I am greatly saddened for the child and the family. I feel for their pain and suffering. Of course, I don't know exactly what they went through, but I know what it is like to have to face the guilt that I might be responsible for ruining someones life and the fear for that poor, innocent person's future. I know what raising a handicapped child involves.

The comment section of this article, though, is filled with the usual noise and foolish inexperience of people who would do much better to keep their ignorant comments to themselves. 

The typical response was something like this:

"Poor child. Instead of caring about her, he was only thinking about himself."

Astounding. Yeah. For one, we don't know what went on with this child and the handicap. But we do know that the father and the child's mother cared for her for nearly ten years. We also do not know the condition of neither father and mother. As if those who would criticize the father would know about the guilt and suffering this man felt and the difficulty this child and the family went through over this last nearly decade.


Who can judge if this man hadn't gone insane or was at the end of his tether? 

Though there was, though, one intelligent comment... I could tell by this comment that the person who wrote it has experienced first-hand something like the tragedy of a handicapped loved one. They wrote:

"Poor child. Instead of caring about her, he was only thinking about himself."?...

That's a pretty bold statement from somebody who (I assume) knew neither the man or the girl in question. There's a saying about walking a mile in someones shoes before criticising them....

Yes. Walk a mile in a man's shoes. 

Wendy Rogers at 14... Now she's 18-years-old

We all need to consider this wise old statement (me too!) more before we criticize people.... Especially when it comes to pain and human suffering.

I've written about my own experiences here:

Wishing, Hoping, Believing

"Who are you to make such claims?" Complaints Bloggers (I) Receive

I hope that you and your loved ones never have to go through this. I pray that I don't have to again. To tell the truth, I don't know how I survived the first time...

At Narita Temple on 05/05/12

I'm glad I did. My daughter and I spent a wonderful day at Narita Temple a few weeks ago.

Finally, in my daily notes (Please refer to: How I Became a Kind and Patient Father and You Can Too!), here is one of the top 5 things I write everyday:

"Thank you God for all the wonderful things I have and am about to receive."

You folks have a wonderful day. And thank God for the wonderful things you have... For many of us do not realize just how good we have it right now.

"Used by the State, Even in Death" New Article at Lew Rockwell

I have a new article on Lew Rockwell that was an extremely difficult article to write. It is about my father's military burial at sea and the glorification of the US military and American exceptionalism...

While it is not readily apparent, this is a fraud. Read the article to see why.

I think it might be very disturbing to many people.

Used by the State, Even in Death

http://lewrockwell.com/rogers/rogers250.html

"In Japan, the old order before World War Two told people that they went to war in China and Asia to bring peace and to fight for the emperor. In the USA, the old – and current – order tell people that they go to war to be free and to protect American freedoms.

These things are all lies.


In this regards, the Japanese are decades ahead of the average American; they figured out long ago that the propaganda was a lie. The average American still buys this trash hook, line and sinker."

Read more here.

Here's some excellent letters from ex-military readers that I received:

---------

Appreciated your article. As an Army trumpeter who has performed Taps for over 1,000 funerals, I can agree wholeheartedly with your sentiments. While the service itself, when done properly, is very reverent and moving, I have seen the deaths of young men and women exploited by the government in shameless self-promotion time and time again. Ironically, I intend to state in my will that I do not want Taps, or any kind of military burial when it is my time to go, for the exact reasons you so eloquently stated...

James

----------

Mike (in Tokyo) Rogers,

Thank you for your recent posting on LewRockwell.com [Used by the State, Even in Death]. I am a veteran who served in both the Army and the Navy. It took me a long time to get passed the propaganda and revisionist history before I could see the world for what it is. I’m making up for lost time by reading Lew Rockwell everyday. I’m sure you’ll get some hate mail, but not from me.

Thanks,

Dave  

----------

Mike,

As a multi-military brat, I have an idea of the pride with which your father

wore his uniform.  I would not have wanted my USAF father or my Army aunt to have understood - in their old age - that they were put in harm's way in

WWII (and Viet-Nam) by a group of international bankers for profit and

control.  The shock would have been too depressing. But I hope they know and

understand, now, somewhere.  I hope hundreds of millions of soldiers from

all times and places (but especially the modern era) understand how badly

they have been used by their supposed 'leaders'.

----------

Mike,

I, too, came to this same conclusion many years ago... The hype and the yard of bull crap about the sacrifices necessary to protect us from communism had me fooled for a long time ... To see the broken bodies of the current warriors is sad... And the politicians make sure to stand beside these poor souls in their quest to gain reelection...

I support the efforts of the misguided  military people... They in fact do a good job...but to what end..

I still do not believe or understand how the national guard became our fighting force in foreign countries...Did I miss the memo changing them from home guard in the states to what they are now?... Old guys with families dying or maimed in combat...

While the bureaucrats stand firm about this constant battle to protect us (we) citizens from harm from the invisible terrorists with our own form of terrorist called the TSA..

As the saying goes freedom isn't free. And we are losing it fast...How easy to fool the masses of sheeple...Wave the flag and play the national anthem...gets them every time...

P T Barnum had it right...a sucker born every minute...or was that a fool and his money will soon be parted ...either way we lose in the eyes of the rest of the world...we are tolerated not loved by them...and they want to come here to get on the gravy train not because its the last best place...

Charlie  Schumer's bill will disallow leaving with your money... so we are trapped inside this monster...the politicos want your money and will legislate it into the coffers of the govment...if all is not lost where in hell is it hiding...

Sorry for the loss of your father and also sorry it was not a proper ceremony with respect to his service...

I  believe political war (and most are) is wrong...except for the revolutionary war...and I now think that outcome (constitution) is slowly being stolen from us... With that in mind... Keep the faith

-------------

You`re not at all insane when criticizing the abuse of even an individual`s death by the criminal state and its military. Plain abuse of every individual not belonging to the ruling elites by the state is the truth and you should never be ashamed or afraid of the truth even if it concerns matters of family and heart. The sacrifices of soldiers were never made for protecting the freedoms of their loved ones back home but always for the interests of the ruling elites. If you are a moral and honest person and use your brain the only choice you have in life is to detest the military and say so explicitly. It doesn`t matter at all if you will be criticized for your article by people without a functioning intellect. The only thing of importance is that you always remain sincere vis-a-vis yourself!

Best regards 

Ferdinand

--------------

My condolences twice. Once for your loss of your father and then for the
thoughts that you must hold under the circumstances.

Having said that, this old Vietnam veteran jar head laughed out loud
(really) at your last line.

Peace,
Dave 

---------

To read that last line Dave is talking about, click here.

40% Facebook's supposed 900 million alleged users don't exist?

Another one from the "No way. You've got to be kidding me!" file.

If I hadn't already laid out a litany of reasons to stay away from stocks like Groupon, Facebook and the rest of everything that has any whiff of so-called "Social Media" involved with it, here comes another reason:


"Spammers create as many as 40 percent of the accounts on social-media sites...."


So that means that 40% Facebook's supposed 900 million alleged users don't exist?


Bloomberg reports in: ‘Likejacking’: Spammers Hit Social Media: 

“Social spam can be a lot more effective than e-mail spam,” says Mark Risher, chief executive officer of Impermium, which sells anti-spam software. “The bad guys are taking to this with great abandon.”

Spammers create as many as 40 percent of the accounts on social-media sites, according to Risher. About 8 percent of messages sent via social pages are spam, approximately twice the volume of six months ago, he says. Spammers use the sharing features on social sites to spread their messages. Click on a spammer’s link on Facebook, and it may ask you to “like” or “share” a page, or to allow an app to gain access to your profile.

Woo-boy! Did I say "Facebook shares in the mid-20s by December?" I did. Good. But I was wrong. Look for the mid-10s! 

That's where it's going!

Read more:  ‘Likejacking’: Spammers Hit Social Media

Gaijin Gourmet: Okonomiyaki Taiho in Tokyo at Tamagawa Station

Okonomiyaki is delicious! I love okonomiyaki!

Okonomiyaki paaaaar-tay!

"Okonomi... What!?" (I can hear you say!) That's oko-no-mi-yaki. Wikipedia says:

Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き o-konomi-yaki) is a Japanese savoury pancake containing a variety of ingredients. The name is derived from the word okonomi,meaning "what you like" or "what you want", and yaki meaning "grilled" or "cooked" (yakitori and yakisoba). 

Me cooking up a storm (photo by Vouch Trace)

Okonomiyaki is mainly associated with Kansai or Hiroshima areas of Japan, but is widely available throughout the country. Toppings and batters tend to vary according to region. Tokyo okonomiyaki is usually smaller than a Hiroshima or Kansai okonomiyaki.

Yeah. It's a sort of "Japanese pancake." I love okonomiyaki.

(photo by Michio Hashimoto)

Last night I went to an okonomiyaki place here in Tokyo at Tamagawa station that is called "Taiho." Taiho has great okonomiyaki. Now, usually I don't like Tokyo okonomiyaki as Osaka and Hiroshima are much better, but Taiho's okonomiyaki was excellent.

Taiho also has awesome unique style of monjyayaki

I was there to interview to shop's owner, Takahashi san about her place for a radio show that I produce and, while there to partake in the fine dining (and far too much drinking). The food was excellent and I had a wonderful time.

Live radio interview with Takahashi Tencho

Until I had interviewed Takahashi san, I didn't know why her shop was so popular but, it has stood the test of time... Get this, that restaurant opened up in 1962! It's been open for 50 years! Takahashi san's mom founded and ran the place originally and passed it down to her. You know if a restaurant has been opened for 50 years and still packs them in every night, it has to be good!


Takahashi Tencho says the secret to running a restaurant for 50 years is to, "Take care of your customer and treat everyone like they are special and that they are family and they will take care of you back!"

The address is:


Taiho Okonomiyaki
1-55-7 Den-en-chofu, Ota-Ku, Tokyo, Japan 145-0071
Tele: 03 - 3721 - 9835
Business hours are 5 pm ~ 11 pm. Closed on Mondays.


Taiho is a great place to take the whole family. It's fun for the kids too as you cook your own okonomiyaki, monjyayaki, weiners, potatoes, whatever right at your own table! Also, the kids can watch the Toyoko trains go by the front window! Everyone loves the food and atmosphere at Taiho. You will too! 


If you go there, tell Takahashi san that you read about it on Mike's blog!

My friend Michio in front of Taiho

Here's a map:

My Socks.... (And Leaving a Mark). Are you leaving a mark on the world that you were here?

I have the exact same pair in the drawer somewhere!

What's the point of this? Nothing.... Well, nothing excepting one thing; and that's about blogging. 


Blogging is different from Facebook and Twitter in one big way. On Facebook and Twitter, one comments and leaves a photo or link, then that message quickly floats back into oblivion. 


A blog post? It remains. A blog post leaves a mark.


Even when I die, this post will still be here, fifty years from now.


Are you leaving a mark?

Japan and China Start Direct Trading of Currency in One Week? US Dollar Out?

Things are starting to roll very fast towards the US Dollar losing its place as the world reserve currency. Incredibly, this just in from Zerohedge: China And Japan Dropping Dollar Cross Rate System, Will Transact Directly:

As Yomiuri Shimbun reported last night, China and Japan are set to launch direct currency trading, bypassing the dollar, and the associated benefits and risks, entirely. "But how can that be?" dollar purists will scream. After all, when one bypasses the dollar, one commits blasphemy to a reserve currency. Somehow we think China gets that. From the AP: "Japan and China are expected to start direct trading of their currencies as early as June as part of efforts to boost bilateral trade and investment, according to reports. With the planned step, exchange rates between the yen and the yuan will be determined by their transactions, departing from the current "cross rate" system that involves the dollar in setting yen-yuan rates, Kyodo News said on Saturday."

More specifics on how the world's second and third largest economy will just say no to dollar hegemony here.

If you live in Japan, may I ask again? Got gold? Best Place to Buy Gold and Silver in Japan