Come clean for the kids
Commentary ( 39 )
TOKYO —
I’m one of those people who didn’t leave Japan after the 3/11 Tohoku Earthquake. For a long time now, I’ve learned not to believe anything governments or other official sources say (especially when their primary goal is saving face and hiding dirty secrets), but I sincerely believed the reassuring words of those independent sources who downplayed the risks of possible nuclear contamination. As my family lives in Yokohama, I rather naively felt we were at a rather safe distance from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
All this changed a couple of months ago when I began to hear about groups of parents organizing all over the Kanto region in order to force the national and local authorities to come clean about food and water contamination. Even my increasingly worried wife joined the Yokohama no Kodomotachi o Hoshano Kara Mamoru Kai (Group to Protect Yokohama Children from Radiation), a group founded in May by Toshiko Yasuda, a 41-year-old housewife, after she grew suspicious about the food her daughter was being served at her elementary school.
To her surprise, the school authorities proved thoroughly uncooperative to her requests: they flatly refused to check the meat and milk the children consumed every day, saying that the food had been declared safe by the Yokohama City Council. In turn, the Yokohama City Council said it was simply following the government’s directives.
The same thing happened at the school my two sons attend, where the PTA simply relayed the school’s decisions without challenging its policy, and the schoolmaster even urged people not to talk about this subject because they risked causing undue stress in the poor children. It was clear that nobody wanted to rock the boat. Their main goal was to avoid taking any kind of responsibility. Faced with such a level of hypocrisy, my wife’s group even resorted to guerrilla tactics like taking samples of food off the school premises (prohibited under school rules) in order to get them analyzed by a laboratory.
What surprised us the most, though, were most parents’ herd mentality reaction to the group’s activity: not only did they show a complete lack of interest and sympathy, they labeled the activists a nuisance — if not downright troublemakers. Most of them seem to be afraid of the truth; they want to believe the authorities, probably because they think that they can’t change anything, anyway. Someone even reported the people who had taken the food from school premises, even though they were neighbors they had known for years. Their reasoning was that rules were rules — regardless of whether they actually made sense.
In the meantime, as you already know, the authorities have finally admitted that the meat of hundreds of infected cows from Fukushima has been sold to many prefectures, thus confirming people’s worst fears. Toshiko Yasuda was even featured on TV Asahi in July, and the whole grassroots movement finally seems to be getting the recognition it deserves.
I believe that allowing something to continue, which is bad and potentially harmful to human beings, is a crime. It might not be labeled as such by the law, but still, it is a morally wrong and despicable act. I hope with all my heart that all of these kids are going to live a long and healthy life. If something happens to them, though, or to their children, then all the people involved in this story — including the brainwashed and hypocritical parents — should finally and directly accept responsibility for their shortsightedness and their actions. In a more traditional time and era in Japan, one can’t help but wonder if the Bushido code of seppuku would be a suitable atonement.
Yokohama no Kodomotachi o Hoshano Kara Mamoru Kai (Group to Protect Yokohama Children from Radiation) website (in Japanese): www.freeml.com/yokohama_safe
Gianni Simone is an Italian teacher and freelance writer.
This commentary originally appeared in Metropolis magazine (www.metropolis.co.jp).
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39 Comments
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0
illsayit
Havent you heard? the most progressive movement in education is 'No! to public education'. Cmon, there is a lot of depth to this subject, which you have mildly touched on. But to suggest that everyperson has the same ideas and that there can only be one way is limiting. Public schools at some point have no choice but to draw a line. The government in Japan kindly keeps the option of education being available through varying avenues just so that when you find yourself in a situation where there is 2 polar viewpoints that cannot be overcome, you have other options. So why dont you use them?!?! If so much effort can be done by parents about creating the conflict then surely that effort can be put to more peaceful positive means. Children welfare coming first within means, the government not having demands made on them which are impossible and creates upheaval, and most likely, parents achieving a real sense of achievment from their efforts.
0
illsayit
The only harrowing detail about this is that of economics. But personally-if there is so much tax money available anyways- Id prefer parents receiving education handouts, rather than local govts receiving education handouts because through local govts the monies eventually just end up in large building industries, not education. If parents received such monies and were open to other options of education, they would be more than likely to use the monies amongst varying industries, whether it be texts, books, computors, musical, sports, private teachers/jukus, etcetc, whatever in order to educate their child/ren.
0
Christina O'Neill
the samples of food taken from the school to be analyzed at a laboratory, what was the result of the tests?
-2
Foxie
Yeah, what were the results of those tests considering that already:
An astonishing two-thirds of all fresh chicken meat sold in grocery stores today is contaminated with salmonella
Diet soda is laced with aspartame, a chemical sweetener made from the feces of genetically engineered bacteria
Processed meats are laced with cancer-causing sodium nitrite
Everything from soups to salad dressings is "enhanced" with the chemical excitotoxin known as MSG which promotes obesity
1
cleo
I agree with Christina and Foxie, the most important piece of information has been left out.
What was the result of the lab analysis of the food smuggled off the school premises?
0
ExportExpert
please sit down you're rockin the boat.
Japanese hate to be in an unstable craft.
-3
illsayit
if leaving out the results of any testing done is relevant, then so is the fact that it was stolen in the first place. Great example Mum! Dont make any effort at getting your kids out of the school cause youre so worried, but do perform criminal acts to justify your righteousness......
Sea-sick yet? I know just the person who can calm the waters. The way some people talk thered be nothing left to eat, cept for poppin' some vitamin pills....Hey guess what I learnt how to kill my chickens this year! I havent the means to check for any diseases, so I wont be sharing them, sorry. Go eat some Colonels kentucky chucky and youll get by.
-3
whiskeysour
PTA REVOLUTIONARY SPEAKTH TO THE MASSES
She`s the first revolutionary in nippon !!! ( joke )
When I worked the public school system in nippon. I truly hated to eat the school lunches. I had to pay 230 yen for each meal.
It
s school lunch its not supposed to be delicious or with essential nutrients. It`s a filler !!!!!!Here`s a breakdown of Japanese school Lunch:
Big red container of rice OR Big Bun
with black seame or salt sprinkles /sometimes little mini dried fishies to put on the rice
Squid day, Hamburg Steak day, Pasta day, Oven baked fish, ( occasional whale meat if your lucky ) Weeeeee- naaa Day aka hot dog day, STANDARD MISO SOUP, Curry, or mystery meat.
Desert: Fruit, jello, iced tangerines, oranges, jello
No bagels, No pizza, No skittles
sad sad world
O my word, she`s smart !!!!!!
I hope she is not arrested and deported. In Britain, 2 bloggers from facebook is serving 4 years in jail.
Her children shouldn`t eat anything in japan seriously.
In Japan, raw meat and raw eggs are sooooooooooooooooooooo delicious here.
Cesuim taste good with tuna fish and some lemon sauce for a sparkling zesty flavor.
1
cleo
Was it stolen? Maybe little Taro or Hanako slipped stuff off their plates and out of their bowls from their own lunch (=their own food) and into their pockets to give to Mum outside the school gates? The article says that it's against school rules to take food out (presumably to stop kids taking more than they can reasonably eat to give to the family dog/rabbit or hiding food they don't want), not that the food was stolen or that any criminal act was committed.
3
Nessie
So cook it. Salmonella infection in chicken is natural.
Found to be safe. Blue cheese is riddled with the feces of bacteria. Everything is riddled with the feces of bacteria.
Sodium nitrite occurs naturally in high concentrations in spinach. Do you avoid spinach?
MSG does not promote obesity. This has been repeatedly debunked.
Food really is not that terrifying.
2
fds
if the government actually tested the food, they wouldn't have had to do it themselves. that's the problem, there is no comprehensive transparent testing program in place. the government just says its okay to avoid having to take action and you're suppose to take it on faith that its safe, when in fact, the government has no idea..
2
Oracle
cleoAug. 17, 2011 - 10:07AM JST
The most important piece of information is that third party testing of the food they serve to our kids is not permitted.
I assume the results were nothing special. Hardly matters. Its a bit of one school's lunch for one day, out af a country with thousands of schools and hundreds of school days and before the first harvest after Fukushima. The time to allow private testing to enhance (cough) official testing is now. The time to ban it was never. What we have seen so far has been a mere ripple. Soon the wave of contaminated foods flowing out of Tohoku will hit. It might not seem so bad at first, but the undertoe is going to be really unpleasant for some unlucky people.
1
ssway
How can the food be "stolen"? It was paid for but simply carried out in a bag rather than the child's stomach. The school board is equally guilty as the government. If the children do get sick later in life I sincerely hope they hunt down those responsible and take the necessary action to exact the appropriate response for each.
-1
Smorkian
And you don't think this ISN'T causing undue stress for kids and the community? If the point of this article was "And look what we found!" there would be a point.
Do you take paint chips from the walls at school to get tested for lead?
Did you get food tested for e.coli contamination before 11 March?
Have you pulled the academic and work records on all your child's teachers and inspected them personally?
Look, people need to be aware citizens and parents but there has to be a line somewhere. We rely on others to do their appointed jobs in so many ways - food inspectors, sure, but engineers, elevator repairmen, electricians, janitors, people at the water treatment plant, people vetting and hiring teachers, people making the curriculum. All of these have impacts on our children's (and our) lives. Where does the trust in officialdom begin and end?
0
Utrack
Officials test school lunches to ease parents' fears
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201108115982
0
illsayit
waz that link-must be sumfink
I agree smorkian. Though your question about trusting officialdom requiring a beginning an an end, can be heard differently depending on your usual. Official often inferring a certain degree of authority, therefore a certain degree of expectation. This is in effect the problem a lot of the times. I can be an authority about children because of my experience, but may not be official.....
I think what you are suggesting that most the parents in the area arent worried and are satisfied with the testing and safety of food provided. When I hear your question though it seems that there is a lack of trust if you choose, a different avenue of education. This seems a little belittling, and righteous on your behalf. I would suggest that finding avenues of education with like-minded parents still requires trust of others, but avoids conflict, and most importantly allows parents to govern the choice of education that their child receives.
I know it confuses me, why if you are seriously worried, and you would know your local situation better then most, why you would continue to send your child there to school even one more day. Surely it would also confuse the children and create an unstable environment in the home. Children, even young ones, and especially ones taking home doggy bags to Mum, are surprisingly aware of what is being considered. I think they would find it very confusing to have to attend school, until they were sure their parents were satisfied completely with the situation.....imo
0
Utrack
Municipalities buy the food and I believe this Mom knows there isn't anywhere to run, she is standing her ground and trying to make ensure healthy meals for all of the school kids. Which makes sense and yes the article link I gave above does state that the food is contaminated but in allowable limits whatever that means since children should not be given contaminated food.
1
Oracle
illsayitAug. 18, 2011 - 10:54AM JST
Does that testing include checks for caesium and strontium isotopes? Who is doing the testing? Where can I see the results?
If most parents are not worried, fine. They can go on forever not worried if that is the way they want to be. But if just one parent is worried and is willing to take on the burden and the expense of doing extra tests (or the only tests as the case my be) you don't block them and bellyache. You just get the hell out of their way! Its called not looking a gift horse in the mouth! Its also the appropriate reaction if you have nothing to hide! People standing up and disallowing a double-check of their work is solid grounds for suspicion that they did not do the work right if at all.
Concerned people like this are a God send. It hardly matters what their concern is. If its something else you think is more of a concern, then you can just get off your own posterior and get to it, can you?
-1
Smorkian
Really, so if I am a parent concerned about the background of teachers - teachers that have been fully vetted - is it OK for me to hire a private eye to dig into their past? Demand I see all of their academic and employment records?
Yes? No?
I'm concerned about the paint on the classroom walls. It's been fully tested, the government and school says it's completely safe. I'm not so sure. Can I take some paint chips and have them tested myself? Is that going too far?
I'm an electrician, I don't have much faith in the wiring at my child's school. But it's been performed by a reputable company and passed by building inspectors. Can I demand to inspect it myself?
Where is the line drawn? Take radiation out of the equation because it's a very sensitive topic. What if it's something else that potentially impacts your child's well being? Are you being concerned or paranoid? If all or most parents are not at all concerned, is it OK for one parent to make a big fuss?
I don't have an answer - I want to know YOUR answer, Oracle. And if the author of this article is reading, I'd like to know where you think the line is drawn.
Thanks.
1
Oracle
Silly question. Food does not require privacy.
If you have cause for concern. Again privacy.
Sure. Why not?
Demand is too strong a word. Its totally stilted on your part. I don't see why you should not be allowed if you really are licensed. But if they said no and you had some special cause for concern, yes, they you should demand. Thing is, you purposely inserted circumstances to alay concern in your supposition, which is just pure bullcrap on your part. Cause for concern was mentioned in the article.
Further, if the electrical wiring is damaged in the process of being inspected by you, that could cause a problem, so I can see the concern. But if you messed up the food, who cares?
How about draw it at reason and common sense? If its not going to violate someone's privacy or potentially physically damage the school in a significant way, then what is your problem? Parents are in schools all the damned time doing this and that in Japan. One school I worked at, one mother was there every freaking day doing something. It would foolish to exclude the very parents of the children at the school from doing good things for the kids, but trust strangers sent to work there by other strangers!
If the parents want to inspect the paint, the desks, the chairs, the textbooks, the playground equipment, the soil, the stability of mobile TV racks or anything along those lines, what is the problem? When it comes to electrical wiring or even just lightbulbs or fixed TV racks, well that might cause some concern but solutions can be found.
But dang it, this is just some bits of food!
0
Oracle
Oh, and FYI, the schools do bend to some pretty silly requests on the part of what are known as "monster parents". I would rather have a parent testing the food than bend to the demand of a parent that I apologize for not being able to prevent a kid falling down the stairs that was 40m away from me at the time or some other such crap.
-1
Smorkian
Wow, Oracle, way to turn a friendly conversation unfriendly. I don't know why you want to bark and growl at me, I was asking legitimate questions that I wanted answers. Instead, you decided to go a\on the attack. Well done! :/
No, I deliberately chose similar situations that did not involve the very topical, very emotional subject of radiation contamination. I want to know to what extents someone is legitimately justified to dissect official certifications. After all, society is largely composed of people relying on other people's judgments.
Pointless criticism.
Of course there is concern, whether or not there is CAUSE for concern is another matter. Are you the author of this article and know something that is not explicitly mentioned?
Do you think indulging the whim of every parent is healthy? Does this teach our children good lessons about society? At some point we have to depend on each other, we are not a country of people on individual islands.
0
Smorkian
Oh, and FYI I imagine the parents who are objecting to your testing of food think of you as a 'monster parent'. I think some would find testing food that has been certified safe to be equivalent of
Think about it. That parent probably thinks he or she is being completely reasonable, and they are criticizing you with cause.
0
Oracle
Well, its not like the whole PTA has to bow down and change their ways. That would be really indulging a whim.
I don't know why you feel the need to be so melodramatic about some food being taken from the school by one concerned parent and tested by the same parent at that parent's expense. Nobody else had to do anything.
That is precisely what I mean when I say the other parents should shut up and get out of the way.
Does not make the claim any less idiotic. I am not about to bow to the ridiculousness of idiots.
Here, think about this: My concern for my kid's health is paramount. I have every right to be sure what is being served to my kid is safe. If the norm does not meet my satisfaction, I have a right to point that out in the hopes others will agree. If they do not, I have the right to take the trouble upon myself if it inconveniences no one, and no, the emotions of others are not relevant to that. They can cry, scream, pout or rend their hair. None of it ensures the food is safe.
And I think both of us know how things get fudged in Japan.
0
Smorkian
Melodramatic is the author's actions. If someone wants to do this, do it. Why get a bunch of people involved? Why make a big fuss, especially when apparently the results were negative? And why write an article about it trying to stoke controversy? That's the melodrama, not my innocent comments.
And neither does testing a random sample of food from a school lunch. The next lunch could be contaminated with Salmonella or e.coli. Maybe the preparer didn't wash their hands. There's tons of food to way for food to be contaminated, radiation being one of the most unlikely...
1
Nessie
It's all about context.
If other schools have tested positive for dangerous paint jobs and the school has denied your request for paint safety testing information, then it's probably not going to far if you can get a paint sample without causing damage.
If there had been no positive results for radiation in the food chain, then the parents would not be entitled to demand safety testing. But there were findings of radiation in the food chain, so the parents are within their rights. The dicey issue is interpreting the results, but it doesn't seem to be an insurmountable obstacle, considering that there are food safety standards in effect. The food either meets those standards, or it doesn't.
0
Smorkian
Thanks for the response, Nessie. Oracle doesn't seem to be interested in discussing the issue, just yelling at me.
I agree with you - I think it needs to be handled delicately and not disruptively. It sounds like the author was more interested in making waves than finding the truth about the food safety - that's why the results of the testing weren't mentioned.
0
Oracle
SmorkianAug. 21, 2011 - 11:57AM JST
Nonsense. You just don't want to see reason.
It sounds like you need to read the article again. One mother began with asking those in charge for checks and she was flatly refused. The author's wife was given an obvious snowjob and then just wanted to take some of her own kid's food for testing but was refused because of rule that should so obviously not exist.
None of that is making waves. That is dealing with waves made by others. Anyone who goes around saying "no" to reasonable requests while not bothering to even present alternatives are the source of the waves. You cannot allay a concerned parent's fears by telling them to just blindly trust the authorities, and that goes double in this country.
Redundancy is not always a bad thing, especially when there is money on the line. The people selling the food are operating a business, and they can and will sell bad food to make a buck and they can and will subvert officialdom to do it.
Like I said before, all that needed to be done was to sit down, shut up, and let the concerned parents do their thing. The cause of the waves was those trying to stop them.
Oh, bull crap. As Nessie points out even the results are contentious. That would have opened a whole other can of worms and sidetracked the point. The point is parents should have the right to get extra testing and get all the information about this for several reasons. One very simple one is that odds are strong that if the testing is being done, they are done at the same lab, and that one lab might later finds out their spectrometer is out of calibration. Things like that happen. So redundancy is good.
0
Oracle
Cost. And a desire to NOT rock the boat. If they had tried to go around everyone and got caught, that would have been THEM rocking the boat.
They were preveted from doing it by rules and by committee.
0
Smorkian
Oracle:
Which is...? It's reason because you say it is? Sorry, it doesn't work that way in the real world.
That sounds EXACTLY like making waves. Why should the schools retest food when it's already been tested and certified? This is totally different than someone taking food on their own to get tested. If someone wants to do the latter, more power to them. But why should schools indulge the desires of parents who want them to repeats something that has already been done?
Again, how is this situation any different than what I mentioned above? Nobody's asking anyone to blindly trust the authorities, but if the food has already been tested exactly why would you expect the same authorities to test it again? You seem to want to criticize me for "not seeing reason" - what is the rationale here other than to make waves? "Yes, I know it's been tested and certified safe, but I don't believe you." I'd tell said parents to stick it if I were the school, too.
Complete nonsense.
Nessie doesn't say that at all - reading comprehension issues? Nessie says:
So this is the crux of the entire article. Apparently the food was perfectly within spec or the author would have made that the point of the article.
Yes, a professional lab doesn't know how to calibrate their equipment - something learned in early undergraduate chemistry. You'd be making a more realistic argument if you just said they were corrupt.
Complete nonsense. Only makes sense if you wrote this article.
0
Oracle
You are so like a kid with fingers in ears screaming. I accepted that they might refuse. But, they also provided no alternative. That is the problem. Doing both.
Jesus man. What part of "Its against the rules" are you not getting here?
And that completely conflicts with your earlier statement that if they want to test it themselves, more power to them. And THAT is why what you say is not reasonable. Either you would say no to the school doing more testing and suggest the parent do it and more power to them, or you would say no to the school doing more testing and then tell the parents to stick it. Please choose. And if its not the latter, then you have the same problem I do.
I meant to say* interpretation of* the results. I think if you chilled out for a bit you might have realized that. I mean you recognized the bit I was quoting, didn't you? What did you think I meant by the results being contentious?
No, that is not the crux. The crux is that the parents are told to trust the authorities to the point they are blocked from doing their own testing even when the authorities have proven themselves unworthy of trust umpteen times before and during this crisis. Just because the bit of food taken from one school of thousands one day of the year was within parameters does mean they are suddenly in the clear.
Further to that, do you think testing for iodine, caesium and strontium isotopes in school lunches is a long time ongoing practice?? You seriously think they got it worked out to a T?
Is that what I said? No. There could be many reasons its not properly calibrated. Have you ever heard of DNA samples getting mixed up in labs? Did you think that meant they don't know how to stick labels on test tubes? sigh Mistakes happen. So does laziness. And so does carelessness. And machines can malfunction in ways people don't find immediately as well. Therefore, redundancy is good.
Why should I have to? It does seem you have the ability to realize some things yourself, you just refuse.
Frankly, I think you may be more annoyed with yourself than me in this discussion. I wish you would just drop that useless pride and be reasonable.
1
Nessie
There is not enough information to draw that conclusion.
-2
Smorkian
OK, so now you know what I am thinking and feeling. Nice. Let me delineate for you.
1) There's no way the schools should pay for extra testing if they are already testing. 2) If a parent wants to test food they should feel free to do so. There's no need to worry about rules or not, you just take the food and have it tested. The author has a problem because they wanted to make a big stink about the situation. They were not content with taking some food and having it tested, they wanted to make sure it was an issue. It's not difficult to take food from somewhere even if it is 'against the rules'.
There, see?
And really, you are not interested in making waves even though you say:
Really? The Yokohama government and this particular school has proven themselves unworthy of trust umpteen times? Or is it just one big entity now? What does some idiot in TEPCO management or NISA being unable to do their job have to do with your kids' school? What has your kids' school mismanaged in this crisis?
0
Oracle
OMG. Obviously, you don't know anything about Japanese schools.
And OMG, but you obviously don't know anything about Japanese people either, as you expect them to do very un-Japanese things from the get go.
You also don't seem to understand the consequences of being a lone whistleblower, especially here. If high levels of radioactive isotopes were found in the food, the only way to report it would be to, in the process, explain how you know and what you did. The fallout from that could overshadow the results, and that is evident in the amount of denial it takes for parents to bury their heads this far in the sand. They may even deny that the food you took was actually from the school, since its against the rules.
Yeah, you definitely do not understand how things work in Japan. Pretty much all the authorities follow the same obvious patterns of dodging facts and responsibility and kowtowing to higher-ups doing the same.
0
Oracle
So, despite the national level food contamination scandals, you think the Yokohama government has conducted enough tests of the food to properly deal with a five month old crisis? That is some kind of blind faith you got there.
Obviously, I cannot give you specifics about Yokohama and I was not speaking of Yokohama specifically. But I have been here a long time and I know the lay of the land. Obviously, you do not.
0
Smorkian
Yeah, you're right, I don't know anything at all. I'm a complete moron!
Obviously, you have to resort to insulting me to 'win' your argument. Well done. If you are this much of a cynic and think things are this messed up, food is this dangerous, officials are this incompetent, WHY are you still in Japan?
I think I got over my cynical period when I was 15 or so. I see it takes longer for others.
0
Oracle
What you cut and pasted was not an insult. Just another example of how you are being completely unreasonable and preconceptively willful.
At this stage, I can only assume that you are just trying to play with my head.
In no way can a parent's desire for a double check of the safety of food served to their kids during a NUCLEAR CRISIS be construed as "rocking the boat" and neither can asking about and trying to clear related things with officialdom, even if some people desperately and ferociously want to keep their heads buried in the sand.
Now it is me who is disgusted with myself for actually entertaining someone who would say otherwise. Game over.
Moderator
Readers, please cut out the childish sniping at each other. Always remember that good manners apply in cyberspace, too.
-1
warnerbro
I don't know what the results were in this case, but the Kanagawa Prefecture admitted that beef with levels of contamination exceeding those of the national government's lax standards was served in Yokohama school lunches. Yokohama made a show of testing a few items a day. But it intentionally refused to test any and all food coming from Fukushima because the national government certified it as safe. Yokohama officials don't care whether or not it actually is safe, they just care whether or not somebody else will say it is. The national government sets a standard for radioactive contamination in food but has no law to require testing, by the way, 5 months after what is fast becoming the worst nuclear accident in history.
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