Paul Leeming
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2006
- Messages
- 2,360
- Reaction score
- 3
- Points
- 38
- Location
- Osaka, Japan
- Website
- www.visceralpsyche.com
Hi all,
I've been on the road for the last week and a half, travelling with an Australian TV news crew to Fukushima prefecture and documenting the disaster first-hand.
Let me say this - the scale of the devastation is astonishing and humbling. Cars and boats on top of houses, whole communities wiped literally off the face of the earth.... untold numbers of dead and missing which will only climb over the next weeks and possibly even months.
Whilst in Iwaki city I also experienced a tsunami warning which caused us to hastily retreat to an evacuation centre, though it turned out to be a false alarm in that case luckily.
On top of that people have been nervous about the nuclear reactors sending radioactive steam into the environment.
At one point we were hurriedly ushered into the evacuation centre by hazmat suited officials. I think it was when the number 3 reactor blew it's outer casing? In the absence of immediate information it was hard to work out.
I took my 5D with me on the trip but unfortunately, due to doing the driving, I didn't get many photos of the devastation (we shot from the van and didn't stop, as the roads were narrow and we didn't want to block traffic). I can tell you it's an eerie sight to drive past cars stacked on top of one another just off the road on one side, whilst having a beautiful view of the Pacific ocean on the other. So incongruous that such an idyllic location could have had such violence visited on it by mother nature.
What I've drawn most from being up there are a few things I wanted to note:
1. The Japanese are the most calm, orderly and stoic people I have ever had the pleasure to be among. No looting, no riots, no complaining.... just a determination to get on with fixing the devastation and rebuilding their lives. It's an honour to live here and be a part of that.
2. The Japanese government has been ridiculously slow and inefficient at getting mobilised and getting aid to those who need it up north. We were allowed onto the freeway heading south back to Tokyo as we were a media car, and I was angered to see NO TRUCKS or other aid vehicles heading in the opposite direction, FIVE DAYS AFTER the tsunami had hit. The highway was literally empty. Were I in charge, I'd have seconded 30% of all trucks and buses nationwide to immediately ferry supplies up north from Tokyo to Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures. Many locals have complained about the same thing. It's disgusting and unfortunately shows up one of the downsides here - that of endless bureaucracy hampering emergency operations. You see the same thing with ambulances.... slow as molasses driving and the filling out of paperwork before taking the injured to hospital etc.... lives are lost every day because of this sort of ineptitude. If there's a lesson from this disaster to be learned by the authorities, it is to DROP THE PAPERWORK when an emergency situation happens!
3. The media, as always, have blown the nuclear thing WAY out of proportion. I spent days near the Fukushima reactors and there was never any danger THERE, let alone in Tokyo or anywhere further away. I saw first hand the radiation scanners doing their jobs and turning up no dangerous levels of radiation anywhere.
4. The focus for aid and immediate assistance needs to be on getting water, fuel, food and warm clothes/blankets to those in the Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures. The Japanese government has been saying not to take these up there ourselves, but after seeing their lack of action in doing exactly that, I'm going to ignore that and as soon as I'm finished with this TV crew, I'm going to take a load of supplies up there or give it physically to someone I know who is going up there.
5. BEWARE of aid scams etc purporting to help the quake victims. Remember that this is a first world nation. Japan isn't poor. To put it in perspective, the government dumped over 28 trillion yen into the money market just to keep the yen stable. Whilst I'd argue this money could be used to provide real support for the quake/tsunami victims, my point is that Japan as a nation has the money to cope with this disaster. It's a fine ideal to give to the Red Cross Japan, Second Harvest etc.... just make sure you're giving it to the official organisations and not scam artists. And remember, Japanese aid organisations often don't have English language pages or donation options.
6. As was mentioned by Peter Majtan on another thread, one of the best ways to help in the near future will be to come here and shoot your productions etc in this beautiful country. We have so much to offer and the scenery and sights are spectacular. It's also one of the safest countries on earth and a technological paradise akin to Blade Runner if you want that aspect (it's why I'm here!). I know the yen/dollar rate is not favouring the USD right now, but this is a concrete step you can take to help the economy whilst also making your productions that much more unique and authentic if you're looking for Japanese/Asian influences in your work. And it's cherry blossom season soon! One of the most beautiful times of the year to visit!
Anyway, I'll update again soon but for now, thanks to all of you who sent well wishes etc to myself and others here. It's appreciated and good to know that so many people out there care, including but by no means limited to several Red people who emailed me directly last week. What other camera company has such a personal relationship to their customers? Thankyou Red Team!
I'll post a couple of photos I took in the next post.
Cheers from Tokyo,
Paul
I've been on the road for the last week and a half, travelling with an Australian TV news crew to Fukushima prefecture and documenting the disaster first-hand.
Let me say this - the scale of the devastation is astonishing and humbling. Cars and boats on top of houses, whole communities wiped literally off the face of the earth.... untold numbers of dead and missing which will only climb over the next weeks and possibly even months.
Whilst in Iwaki city I also experienced a tsunami warning which caused us to hastily retreat to an evacuation centre, though it turned out to be a false alarm in that case luckily.
On top of that people have been nervous about the nuclear reactors sending radioactive steam into the environment.
At one point we were hurriedly ushered into the evacuation centre by hazmat suited officials. I think it was when the number 3 reactor blew it's outer casing? In the absence of immediate information it was hard to work out.
I took my 5D with me on the trip but unfortunately, due to doing the driving, I didn't get many photos of the devastation (we shot from the van and didn't stop, as the roads were narrow and we didn't want to block traffic). I can tell you it's an eerie sight to drive past cars stacked on top of one another just off the road on one side, whilst having a beautiful view of the Pacific ocean on the other. So incongruous that such an idyllic location could have had such violence visited on it by mother nature.
What I've drawn most from being up there are a few things I wanted to note:
1. The Japanese are the most calm, orderly and stoic people I have ever had the pleasure to be among. No looting, no riots, no complaining.... just a determination to get on with fixing the devastation and rebuilding their lives. It's an honour to live here and be a part of that.
2. The Japanese government has been ridiculously slow and inefficient at getting mobilised and getting aid to those who need it up north. We were allowed onto the freeway heading south back to Tokyo as we were a media car, and I was angered to see NO TRUCKS or other aid vehicles heading in the opposite direction, FIVE DAYS AFTER the tsunami had hit. The highway was literally empty. Were I in charge, I'd have seconded 30% of all trucks and buses nationwide to immediately ferry supplies up north from Tokyo to Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures. Many locals have complained about the same thing. It's disgusting and unfortunately shows up one of the downsides here - that of endless bureaucracy hampering emergency operations. You see the same thing with ambulances.... slow as molasses driving and the filling out of paperwork before taking the injured to hospital etc.... lives are lost every day because of this sort of ineptitude. If there's a lesson from this disaster to be learned by the authorities, it is to DROP THE PAPERWORK when an emergency situation happens!
3. The media, as always, have blown the nuclear thing WAY out of proportion. I spent days near the Fukushima reactors and there was never any danger THERE, let alone in Tokyo or anywhere further away. I saw first hand the radiation scanners doing their jobs and turning up no dangerous levels of radiation anywhere.
4. The focus for aid and immediate assistance needs to be on getting water, fuel, food and warm clothes/blankets to those in the Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures. The Japanese government has been saying not to take these up there ourselves, but after seeing their lack of action in doing exactly that, I'm going to ignore that and as soon as I'm finished with this TV crew, I'm going to take a load of supplies up there or give it physically to someone I know who is going up there.
5. BEWARE of aid scams etc purporting to help the quake victims. Remember that this is a first world nation. Japan isn't poor. To put it in perspective, the government dumped over 28 trillion yen into the money market just to keep the yen stable. Whilst I'd argue this money could be used to provide real support for the quake/tsunami victims, my point is that Japan as a nation has the money to cope with this disaster. It's a fine ideal to give to the Red Cross Japan, Second Harvest etc.... just make sure you're giving it to the official organisations and not scam artists. And remember, Japanese aid organisations often don't have English language pages or donation options.
6. As was mentioned by Peter Majtan on another thread, one of the best ways to help in the near future will be to come here and shoot your productions etc in this beautiful country. We have so much to offer and the scenery and sights are spectacular. It's also one of the safest countries on earth and a technological paradise akin to Blade Runner if you want that aspect (it's why I'm here!). I know the yen/dollar rate is not favouring the USD right now, but this is a concrete step you can take to help the economy whilst also making your productions that much more unique and authentic if you're looking for Japanese/Asian influences in your work. And it's cherry blossom season soon! One of the most beautiful times of the year to visit!
Anyway, I'll update again soon but for now, thanks to all of you who sent well wishes etc to myself and others here. It's appreciated and good to know that so many people out there care, including but by no means limited to several Red people who emailed me directly last week. What other camera company has such a personal relationship to their customers? Thankyou Red Team!
I'll post a couple of photos I took in the next post.
Cheers from Tokyo,
Paul
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