Former Westhampton Beach Exchange Student Reports from Japan

When a devastating earthquake and tsunami leveled Northern Japan, students at Westhampton Beach High School immediately thought of one of their own, a former exchange student they have come to know and love who is living in Tokyo.

Kao Hosono, who lived in East Quogue and attended the high school as a Rotary exchange student last year, has reached out to Westhampton-Hampton Bays Patch to provide dispatches from Japan in an effort to shed light on the reality of living in a nightmare that has shattered lives and shaken the spirits of a nation.

In Westhampton Beach and East Quogue residents are praying for Hosono. Mary Seychell, one of Hosono’s host family members, said she has been in touch with her on Facebook.

“Kao has a huge extended family here and lots and lots of friends. She knows we are all here for her,” she said.

The following is a trancript of our chat with Hosono.

Q) What is happening today in Japan?

A) Radioactive contamination has been detected from some vegetables and milk, which was cultivated or came from Ibaraki and Fukushima. On March 18, spinach cultivated in Ibaraki was examined and found to contain 15020 Bq of iodine and 524Bq of cesium. The maximum regulation level of iodine for vegetable is 2000Bq and for cesium is 500 Bq per year.  To address this problem, the Ministry of Health claims that those foods and milk that contain excess level of radiation elements are not going to be distributed among consumers. Also, the Japanese government took a measure to stop the shipment of those provisions. This decision hit many farmers very badly.  Furthermore, on March 23, radioactive substances were found in the water supply in Eastern Japan. The water contains 210Bq of iodine. The regulation level of iodine is 300Bq per kilogram). This amount is still within safety levels for adult, but not for babies. Therefore, Tokyo officials decided to serve six liters of water per baby to those who live in 23 wards and five cities in Tokyo.

Q) How has the earthquake and tsunami affected life in Japan?

A) Unbelievable numbers of people have died or lost relatives because of the earthquake and the tsunami and this has devastated many people’s lives. The damages from these disasters were horrible in that they destroyed everything in those devastated areas and caused a second disaster, the radiation from Fukushima nuclear plants. Because of the limited use of electricity, many people who live in Kanto and Tohoku areas have experienced blackouts and a saving power project which greatly affected public transportation. Furthermore, we faced a shortage of gasoline and food because many people tried to hoard up those things preparing for just in case.

Q) What are your fears concerning radiation?

A) Right after the emission of radiation happened, I was very scared because I didn't know how would it affect my body and to what extent. But, as research goes forward, I don’t feel fear toward radiation now as much as before, when I only heard vague explanations from TV.

Q) Do you feel the government is telling residents everything?

A) At first, I didn’t believe that our government was telling the truth to residents because there was a contradiction between the contents of Japanese and foreign news. Japanese news reports were saying that the released amount of radiation will unlikely affect our health if we live in Tokyo; however, foreign news reports were saying that the radiation issue is pretty serious so people should be aware. Also, I heard that the American military was ordered to stay over 80 kilometers away from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Moreover, many exchange students went back to their countries and some of my friends evacuated to other countries or Southern Japan. I thought that our government was lying to us in order to avoid chaos. Thus, all those information made me confused and I became skeptical of Japanese government. However, as research goes forward, things have changed. Researchers found that the released amount of radiation has been diminished as a result of sprinkling water on broken nuclear power plants, so that Tokyo is considered to be in a safety area now. I feel the Japanese government is telling us everything right now by giving us detailed reports.

Q) Have you heard of anyone you know who was hurt or lost their life in the tragedy?

A) No, I haven’t.

Q) Is your family planning to evacuate?

A) No, because Tokyo is not terribly in danger.

Q) Can you describe your feelings? Are you frightened?

A) Yes, because there are still tremors over here. But not as frightened as I was a week ago, though.

Q) Are citizens able to go to work and school?

A) In Tokyo, yes, but there are still some difficulties. Although vehicles have started to work, not all of them are working properly. This is because of blackouts. Our use of electricity is limited and a power saving project in several areas: Tokyo, Kanagawa, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Chiba, Saitama, Yamanashi, and Shizuoka.

Q)  What is the most important thing you would like America to know about the situation in Japan right now?

A) I would like the American people to know that we are never giving up, even though we are in a difficult situation. We are trying to work on things to get better as soon as possible. I heard on the news that high school students in devastated areas are taking care of elderly people and trying to cheer them up, even though some of those students haven't found their own families yet.

Q) Do you think your country will be able to recover?

A) Definitely, yes. Because Japan has been able to make a rapid response to the tragedy, and is able to take quick action to new and upcoming situations. I hope our situation will get better as soon as possible.

Be sure to check back for more reports from Japan from Hosono.