Japanese drop their politeness over nuclear crisis

TOKYO - Kenji Kadota long followed the dual credo drilled intohim during childhood: Hide your anger and trust the powers that be.

Yet in the wake of March's triple whammy of earthquake, tsunamiand radiation release, the 55-year-old construction chief has thrownall such cultural lessons out the window.

Kadota faults the firm that runs the crippled Fukushima Daiichipower plant for its mishandling of the nuclear crisis that hasfollowed the March 11 natural disasters. He believes ditheringpublic officials have compounded the public's anxiety by withholdinginformation about the true dangers facing people who live near theplant.

So for the first time in his life, Kadota is speaking up. He'sjoined a growing chorus of college students, ruddy-faced fishermen,small-town mayors and even a combative prefecture governor voicingdissatisfaction in a manner highly uncommon in a nation known fortaking politeness to the extreme.

"Japanese are raised to keep their feelings to themselves, butnow that's impossible," said Kadota, who complained that officialsfailed to deliver water and emergency supplies to his hometown ofIwaki, not far from the stricken plant. "We've been abandoned. And Iam angry."

Waging protests or posting tirades on Twitter and YouTube,Japanese citizens blame both government officials and Tokyo ElectricPower Co. for the release of dangerous radioactivity into the air,soil and sea.

"There was already a small segment of people who distrustednuclear power. But the rest of the public did not have a strongopinion about it, or if they were uneasy they didn't express it,"said Yukio Maeda, at the University of Tokyo's Institute of SocialScience. "The nuclear accident has made people feel uneasy and indanger, and that has triggered people to express their fears andanger out loud."

The Fukushima plant was not built to withstand earthquakes ortsunamis of the scale that hit, and the blame for flaws probablyisn't Tepco's alone. Cozy ties between regulators and industryexecutives and complacency about safety may have been as much afactor, many believe. And after disaster struck, human error,confusion and miscommunication appear to have slowed the response.

Still, Tepco has borne the brunt of the public backlash.Officials acknowledged they received an average of 40,000 publiccomplaints per day during the first weeks. In Tokyo, police wererecently assigned to guard worker dormitories and headquarters asprotesters called for an end to nuclear power.

People on the Internet have demanded that company executives bepunished. Some suggest that bosses should be forced to work insidethe damaged plant. Salaries and addresses of some executives havebeen posted online. One post began, "How to execute a Tepcoexecutive."

Fukushima Gov. Yuhei Sato has seen his prefecture's farm productsregister elevated radioactive levels. Soon after the disaster, Satorefused to meet with Tepco President Masataka Shimizu, whoseentourage showed up to offer the usual Japanese display ofcontrition: bowing and apologizing.

"There is just no way for me to accept their apology," Sato tolda TV reporter.

In Minami-Soma, a town near the damaged reactors, Mayor KatsunobuSakurai has lashed out against Tepco and the government for the lackof information about the continuing peril. He recently went onlineto make his case about the "injustice" of his town's predicament. Ina 10-minute English-subtitled video posted on YouTube, Sakurai saidthe government's lack of leadership has made life extremelydifficult.

"Even volunteers and those delivering relief supplies have nochoice but to enter the city at their own risk," he said. "Residentsare being forced into starvation."

Fishermen call the utility's response insulting, incompetent andunforgivable, especially the utility's dumping of more than 10,000tons of contaminated water into the ocean without even consultingthem.

Seafood accounts for about half of Japan's $3 billion in annualfood exports, and overseas customers are shunning the catch nomatter what area it comes from. The radioactive danger was addingsalt to wounds. About 18,500 fishing vessels were damaged or lost inthe natural disaster.

"Tokyo Electric and the government share responsibility for thissituation. It is unforgivable," the National Fishery CorporativeJoint Assn. said. "All those who are living and sustaining theirlives on the sea are feeling strong rage against this irresponsiblebehavior."

In April, about 150,000 quake and tsunami victims still languishin evacuation shelters. Many are calling for more compensation thanthe $12,000 per household that will reportedly be offered by Tepco.

In Kawamata, a town whose residents were advised to evacuate,residents want $60,000 per household and $3,500 per person to coverthe costs of relocation.

Journalists are also going on the offensive. At a newsconference, Shimizu was peppered with questions for nearly twohours, including one asking his whereabouts on March 11.

Dressed in a blue utility jacket worn by officials duringdisasters, the executive said he was in Osaka and didn't get back toTokyo until the next day.

The questioner persisted, calling Tepco's response "meaninglessand too late."

"We did our best to deal with the situation," Shimizu replied.

"You did your best and the reactor building exploded," thereporter shouted. "Is that the best you can do?"

MCT photo