Safety campaign by a government doctor & People in Fukushima

Unbelievable comment by Mr. Yamashita

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOgaBUDFeb4&feature=related

Professor Yamashita of Nagasaki University moved to Fukushima after the disaster when he was appointed by Fukushima prefecture governor Mr. Yuhei Sato as radiation health risk advisor.  He gave lectures around Fukushima while the radiation level was still very high, telling people that 100mSv was OK, that they did not need to worry about the radiation, and that they could let their children play outdoors as much as they wanted.   Domestic water supplies were cut off by the big earthquake, so adults and children have to queue outside for hours to get water.  Like most of us, they didn’t know about the real danger of radiation at first, so parents took Professor Yamashita’s word and let their children play outside, exposing many of them to unnecessary doses of radiation.  We heard from mothers in Fukushima that some children had started to show radiation-related symptoms such as nose bleeds, diarrhea, vomiting and headaches a couple of months after the disaster.  　 However, despite the false information he has been giving out on radiation safety, Professor Yamashita has been allowed to remain as radiation advisor and became vice-president of a medical college in Fukushima city.   It is rumored that several Tepco workers were taken into this hospital for serious treatment after the explosions, but we will probably never get to know what happened to them.  It seems that it is one of many hidden stories about the number of deaths related to the Fukushima disaster.   We also heard that Prof. Yamashita had lectured regional doctors at private gatherings in affected areas in the eastern part of Japan, including Fukushima and Tokyo, telling them that they shouldn’t say anything about radiation or relate their patients’ illnesses to radiation.  We also heard that the government safety campaign including his lectures have caused ill-will and disagreements among families and friends, breaking their communities apart in Fukushima.  Traditional family values and ties are important for people in Fukushima and in some cases three generations live under the same roof.  Once told it is safe to live where they are, it is difficult for old people to change their minds and decide to live somewhere else away from their homeland.  Also, it is hard to recognize the danger of radiation unless you study it, because you cannot see it, taste it, or smell it.  There are two million people, including 360, 000 children, in Fukushima.  With no government help, only about 20,000 children whose parents could afford it managed to evacuate.  In some cases, their fathers have stayed in Fukushima to keep earning their double living cost so they can continue to pay their mortgage.  It’s hard and worrying for them to stay, but it is also hard financially for them to evacuate. Also we must say that  there are some people who　just believe the government's safety campaign, don’t feel/think the danger of the radiation and live their life as if everything would be normal.  More story to follows...