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A man who saves forgotten cats in Fukushima's nuclear zone

76 points by billyharris 6y ago

et2o 6y ago
This is like a Murakami story
everybodyknows 6y ago
>On Feb. 25, Kato was arrested on suspicion of freeing wild boar caught in traps set up by Japan’s government in November. At time this article was published, he was still being detained for questioning. Publication date is 3 March. Anyone know what are the time limits in Japan on police detention “for questioning”?
- chmod775 6y ago
  23 days.
- sneak 6y ago
  It is quite cold in that part of the world in February and early March. I am worried that with no one to feed the cats or put fuel in their heater, they will suffer or die before he is able to get out of jail and back to caring for them. :( Fuck the police.
  - _Microft 6y ago
    > Yumiko Konishi, a vet from Tokyo who helps Kato, said local volunteers were caring for the cats on his property, but at least one had died since he was detained. It sounds like they are being cared for if that's a relief.
- tecleandor 6y ago
  Although there is habeas corpus in Japan, seems that they have their own ways of avoiding it and detaining people for lengthy periods. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2018/04/01/issues/japans-supreme-court-orders-child-sent-home-hague-parental-abduction-case-maybe/ https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2018/04/01/issues/jap... https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1025&context=alr https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?articl...
ErikVandeWater 6y ago
I wonder if the safety concerns of nuclear power are understated. Whenever nuclear power safety is brought up, Chernobyl and 3 mile island are hand-waved away because we know what caused them and won't do them again. But there is always another stupid way to manage nuclear power. For example, not providing sufficient protection from Tsunamis in a country prone to them. Included in safety should be the economic cost of having a city ruined and its inhabitants displaced - that loss of wealth means increased stress and less money to spend on healthy habits. (But conversely, the benefit of lower power costs should be recorded on the credit side of the ledger.) It's probably all moot, since Thorium reactors appear to be fundamentally safe.
- tpmx 6y ago
  The Fukushima exclusion zone has a 30 km radius, where half of the circle is land area. The Fukushima reactor meltdowns happened because active cooling failed, after both electric power and emergency generators failed becaused of the flooding from the tsunami. These reactors were of a very old 1960s design that depended on active cooling to avoid melting down. This is not the case with newer reactors utilizing passive safety features, based on things such as gravity (to pull the fuel rods out in case of power failure). Still: There were zero deaths caused by radiation during this incident: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_Daiichi_nuclear_disaster_casualties https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_Daiichi_nuclear_disa...
  - WanderPanda 6y ago
    I wouldn‘t be surprised if certain states would even face a gravity outage at some point
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
    - tpmx 6y ago
dotancohen 6y ago
This is a "hidden anti-nuclear agenda" article. I see these types of article used to decry my nation often, so I identify them easily. There is absolutely nothing newsworthy here. But it keeps the Fukushima incident fresh in people's memory. It also shows "the hidden victims", i.e. the cute cats. Then the human victim, detained by the big bad government for helping free wild animals. All bad, bad, bad... This piece is designed to associate the word Fukishuma, already associated with the nuclear industry, with bad things.
- amarant 6y ago
  With the amount of these kinds of posts/articles we're getting, I'm starting to wonder if there's someone who has a serious financial motive for spreading them.. kinda like how the sugar industry or the tobacco industry was doing back in the day. Doesn't seem out of character for the coal industry either, just saying...
- protastus 6y ago
  The order of magnitude of Fukushima cleanup costs is $1 trillion. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_disaster_cleanup#Costs_of_the_cleanup_operations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_disaster_cleanup#Cos... Nobody should be surprised that losses of this magnitude are fresh in our minds, only 10 years later. Chernobyl and Fukushima were massive disasters with long-term consequences. Exclusion zones were created. Many families lost their homes forever. Animals were abandoned and died. Should we minimize these problems or pretend they didn't happen?
  - dotancohen 6y ago
    What is the estimate for cleanup of the damage done by other energy sources? Namely, how can we remove CO2 from the atmosphere and resequester the CO2 already released? How much will that cost?
    - protastus 6y ago
      This is heading down false dichotomy territory. I can drive for miles and not see a single solar panel. I will be open to talking about nuclear when the US is full of solar panels and wind turbines.
danlugo92 6y ago
What's the problem with hidro + solar + wind? Why do people here insist so much and engage in flamewars being pro nuclear?

76 points by billyharris 6y ago

et2o 6y ago

This is like a Murakami story

>On Feb. 25, Kato was arrested on suspicion of freeing wild boar caught in traps set up by Japan’s government in November. At time this article was published, he was still being detained for questioning. Publication date is 3 March. Anyone know what are the time limits in Japan on police detention “for questioning”?

chmod775 6y ago
23 days.
sneak 6y ago
It is quite cold in that part of the world in February and early March. I am worried that with no one to feed the cats or put fuel in their heater, they will suffer or die before he is able to get out of jail and back to caring for them. :( Fuck the police.
- _Microft 6y ago
  > Yumiko Konishi, a vet from Tokyo who helps Kato, said local volunteers were caring for the cats on his property, but at least one had died since he was detained. It sounds like they are being cared for if that's a relief.
tecleandor 6y ago
Although there is habeas corpus in Japan, seems that they have their own ways of avoiding it and detaining people for lengthy periods. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2018/04/01/issues/japans-supreme-court-orders-child-sent-home-hague-parental-abduction-case-maybe/ https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2018/04/01/issues/jap... https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1025&context=alr https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?articl...

ErikVandeWater 6y ago

I wonder if the safety concerns of nuclear power are understated. Whenever nuclear power safety is brought up, Chernobyl and 3 mile island are hand-waved away because we know what caused them and won't do them again. But there is always another stupid way to manage nuclear power. For example, not providing sufficient protection from Tsunamis in a country prone to them. Included in safety should be the economic cost of having a city ruined and its inhabitants displaced - that loss of wealth means increased stress and less money to spend on healthy habits. (But conversely, the benefit of lower power costs should be recorded on the credit side of the ledger.) It's probably all moot, since Thorium reactors appear to be fundamentally safe.

tpmx 6y ago
The Fukushima exclusion zone has a 30 km radius, where half of the circle is land area. The Fukushima reactor meltdowns happened because active cooling failed, after both electric power and emergency generators failed becaused of the flooding from the tsunami. These reactors were of a very old 1960s design that depended on active cooling to avoid melting down. This is not the case with newer reactors utilizing passive safety features, based on things such as gravity (to pull the fuel rods out in case of power failure). Still: There were zero deaths caused by radiation during this incident: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_Daiichi_nuclear_disaster_casualties https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_Daiichi_nuclear_disa...
- WanderPanda 6y ago
  I wouldn‘t be surprised if certain states would even face a gravity outage at some point
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - tpmx 6y ago

dotancohen 6y ago

This is a "hidden anti-nuclear agenda" article. I see these types of article used to decry my nation often, so I identify them easily. There is absolutely nothing newsworthy here. But it keeps the Fukushima incident fresh in people's memory. It also shows "the hidden victims", i.e. the cute cats. Then the human victim, detained by the big bad government for helping free wild animals. All bad, bad, bad... This piece is designed to associate the word Fukishuma, already associated with the nuclear industry, with bad things.

amarant 6y ago
With the amount of these kinds of posts/articles we're getting, I'm starting to wonder if there's someone who has a serious financial motive for spreading them.. kinda like how the sugar industry or the tobacco industry was doing back in the day. Doesn't seem out of character for the coal industry either, just saying...
protastus 6y ago
The order of magnitude of Fukushima cleanup costs is $1 trillion. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_disaster_cleanup#Costs_of_the_cleanup_operations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_disaster_cleanup#Cos... Nobody should be surprised that losses of this magnitude are fresh in our minds, only 10 years later. Chernobyl and Fukushima were massive disasters with long-term consequences. Exclusion zones were created. Many families lost their homes forever. Animals were abandoned and died. Should we minimize these problems or pretend they didn't happen?
- dotancohen 6y ago
  What is the estimate for cleanup of the damage done by other energy sources? Namely, how can we remove CO2 from the atmosphere and resequester the CO2 already released? How much will that cost?
  - protastus 6y ago
    This is heading down false dichotomy territory. I can drive for miles and not see a single solar panel. I will be open to talking about nuclear when the US is full of solar panels and wind turbines.

danlugo92 6y ago

What's the problem with hidro + solar + wind? Why do people here insist so much and engage in flamewars being pro nuclear?