God please help to Japaniese people to fix this problem…please…

take care.
for those stuck in Japan… God Bless.
May you find strength to continue…

oh wait, I forgot the French also surrendered to the Germans in World War 2.

This is my second major disaster since I have lived in Japan. I was also here for the 1995 Kobe City earthquake where I still live. And now this. I’m a British artist and Japan has given me a good living for these past 17 years. My wife is Japanese. I have no intention of leaving and not only will I remain but will also do what I can to help out the survivors of this story. I have already begun to do something starting today. I say to the foreigners who now want to leave Japan, good luck for all your futures but please remember never to come back because Japan don’t need weak foreigners at this time, or anytime in the future. Sorry if you think that is cruel in anyway. You make your own choices and I make mine. I have been a longtime reader of your blog, but following this comment I’ll delete it from my RSS reader.

What are these comments? There is no bravity at staying close to a radioactivity source, that is helping nobody. Moreover, most foreigners have been advise to leave japan by their authorities. The most people leave NOW, the easier it will be to leave if situation worsen, and far less dangerous, would there be a panic. What if a new issue happens, with bad winds this time?? The less people are in tokyo, asap, the better.

Take care Dai

You did the right decision. I left with my woman and child on Tuesday morning and am now in Germany. The lies given about the situation from government are not acceptable.
Everybody who accesses international information about this catastrophe and does the math knows that this is a very threatening situation.
It seems like many people still do not understand how dangerous this can be. Especially to children and later to their children.
Glad to know you were wise enough to bring your family to a safe place.

We shouldn’t blame anyone for making their decisions, we are all human having own priorities. However, hats off to those who don’t panic, don’t buy B.S. overreacted info on the disaster in international media. Zichi has his right to express his opinion, the thing is you could just formed it in bit different way than just throwing “Leaving Tokyo today…See you in France on Thursday”. Many of us foreigners living in Japan used to say (not saying it is also you) stuff like “I came to Japan because I fell in love with Japanese people, culture, just everything is different, now I think I can’t live in my home country, here I just found my place, etc.”. These are very very serious statements, and we should be sure we can actually take Japan with all its “features”, those good and bad ones. Experiencing earthquakes on daily basis is one of those “features”, this is about it, talking about fully accepting life in Japan. Over 120 millions of Japanese can’t suddenly just leave everything and run away, even if they would hypothetically have chance. If all people would suddenly freak out, and just close themselves in homes, this country would collapse in shorter time than you can imagine. Japanese are a very unique nation, they don’t panic when there’s no real critical situation, and there isn’t critical situation now. Here in Tokyo I see them living just as before, going out to work, eating ramen and drinking beer out, this is very important for country’s economy. I can offer a little for them, yes, but not freaking out and leaving in rush. There are thousand and thousands of those who lost everything, need food, shelter, and are in much higher danger of being exposed to the radiation than others. These country will survive because its citizens aren’t thinking of only their own asses, they are just patient and do as the government tell them, they are organized, there’re no looters, they will eventually go through this and become even stronger. Ganbatte !!!

Here Here to you Noeuphemisms! Very well stated. I certainly admire the Japanese culture with the calm that has prevailed. I live in a very high risk earthquake zone as well and can tell you that if we were hit with a “big one” pandemonium would prevail, no doubt. But there are also far too many people there who will do what the government tells them without question simply because that is what they are taught. Every single country in the world is telling their nationals to move 80km out of the reactor area, yet the Japanese gov’t hasn’t moved it beyond 20km. I believe that this is because they can’t give an evacuation order, because they can’t get people out (roads are impassable, trains aren’t running and no one has fuel). Tell them to go, knowing they can’t get out. So withold crutial information and put lives in jeopardy. They have brought in every manner known to man of dispensing water on the reactors, short of manual bucket throwing, but have refused help from all other countries. US, UK, Germany, etc who have all offered to send over their top specialists in nuclear science to help them through it, have been turned down. Why is that? Wouldn’t you think that the more knowledge, and experience that you have behind you the better off you’ll be? Your country, its people and its economy is seriously at stake!
As for leaving the country, some of the posts I’m reading make me both angry and sad. Stay and fight?? What, exactly is the fight? The advancing “enemy” cannot be stopped with guns and bombs, instead it is a invisible gas that can cause pain, suffering, birth defects and death for millions of adults and children for generations to come. If you choose to stay to help with the cleanup efforts and to help put your country back on its feet, that’s wonderful and you are to be commended for it. And I’m sure every single person there (Japanese or not) capable of doing this (and even those that aren’t) would like to stay to help. If you are an adult, and choose to stay, that is your choice. But please do not choose to keep your children (and remember that they are also the future of your country) in imminent danger. Move them to somewhere safe, be it another area of Japan or another country. They are innocent victims and it is not fair to subject them to the dangers of radiation and possible future illness or death. You can always bring them back home when you know they will be safe. You will not be abandoning your country, you will be saving its future. And I might add that in world war II, many mothers attempted to flee their countries with their children as well. The difference with that, is that the journey in itself was dangerous and many didn’t make it, yet they tried….for their children.
I am not a nuclear physicist, I am not Japanese and I don’t live in Japan. I am simply a worried Aunt who is watching carefully not liking at all what I’m seeing…..the same as the rest of the world. My nephew, with a very pregnant Japanese wife, and 2 young daughters lives 65km from the reactor in Fukushima. Apparently her parents don’t want them to leave, so they are staying….despite the multitude of proofs that we are sending to them of the dangers. However, their culture says that “the gov’t says we are fine, so we are fine.” The lack of food, water, heat and fuel is bad enough, but not lifethreatening yet. However, the radiation is another matter altogether. We really don’t know for sure if they can get out or not, but the worst part is, they are not even trying, simply because they are told they will be fine. We are all worried to death about their futures and that of so many others in the same situation….both immediate and long term.