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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 May 2025
Kitakyushu is home to just under one million residents, making it the 11th most populous city in Japan. It is roughly equidistant to Shanghai and Tokyo, and actually closer to Seoul and Pyongyang than the Japanese capital. As the largest Japanese port west of Osaka-Kobe, it positions itself as a commercial gateway to Asia. Over the last thirty years the city has also worked tirelessly to shed its image as a rust belt steel town, rebranding itself as Eco-Model City Kitakyushu, a centre for environmental technology and protection measures. This hard work threatens to be undone by decisions being taken right now.
1 See here: kantei.go.jp/13Kitakyushu.pdf
2 According to local assembly members, personal communication.
3 See here: enviroscope.iges.or.jp/. I am grateful to Andrew DeWit for drawing my attention to this.
4 Cited in Kitakyushu City: An Environmental Frontier City in Asia, a presentation by Mayor Kitahashi Kenji, available at kantei.go.jp/16Kitakyushu.pdf
5 For more details see: Paul Jobin, ‘Fukushima One Year On: Nuclear workers and citizens at risk’, Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, japanfocus.org/-Paul-Jobin/3729
6 For the official Environment Ministry explanation, see page 3 from here: kouikishori.env.go.jp/news.pdf
7 For the responses of seven bag filter makers see here: zero1127.blog.fc2
8 Cited here: Nakamura Ryūichi, ‘Gareki shōkyaku bagufirutā no hōshaseibusshitsu jokyo seinō ni gimon’, May 31, 2012, windfarm.co.jp
9 Nakayama Ken, ‘Radiation Debris & Exposure’, press conference, New York City, May 4, 2012, y0utub3
10 Comment from officials at Kokura Kita ward meeting, June 8, 2012.
11 Mayor's speech at Kitakyushu City Town Meeting, Kitakyushu International Convention Centre, June 6, 2012.
12 In the case of cesium-137 in soil near Chernobyl current research suggests a half-life of 180 to 320 years, not 30 years as is typical. For the comment see here, at 54 minutes 55 seconds: samadi.cocolog-nifty.com/sahasrara
13 Kitakyushu city government refuses to release such sensitive financial information so this is an estimated figure based on data published for debris incineration elsewhere.
14 Various personal communications.
15 Jiji Press, ‘Debris Shipments from Miyagi Reduced to Third’, May 21, 2012, fukushima-diary
16 For details see here: Nasu Rie, ‘Gareki sōryō ōhaba genshō ni tomonau kōiki shori-ryō minaoshi ni okeru Ōta-ku no handan ni tsuite’, June 7, 2012, blog.goo.ne.jp
17 Response to public questioning at Kitakyushu City Town Meeting, Kitakyushu International Convention Centre, June 6, 2012.
18 Kyodo News, ‘Debris burning safe’, May 30, 2012, japantimes.co.jp
19 For example, see here: @timestimes1954
20 Response to public questioning at Kitakyushu City Town Meeting, Kitakyushu International Convention Centre, June 6, 2012.
21 Response to public questioning at Kitakyushu City Town Meeting, Kitakyushu International Convention Centre, June 6, 2012.
22 For similar comments made at another local public meeting see here: samadi.cocolog-nifty
23 Comment from a participant at the first meeting. Subsequent meetings in other wards have been open to local residents after regional media reports hinted at irregularities at the first meeting.
24 For instance, ‘Creating Forests That Protect Lives’, tunagaru-japan
25 On the hazardous chemicals release, see Aoyama Teiichi, ‘Ima, ichido kangaeru saigai gareki kōiki shori’, May 22, 2012 y0utub3
26 I was at the public meeting. Uncensored coverage can be found here: ustream.tv
27 Asahi Shimbun, ‘EDITORIAL: Spirit of mutual help needed for disposing of disaster debris’, March 15, ajw.asahi
28 Cited in Aoyama Teiichi, ‘Ima, ichido kangaeru saigai gareki kōiki shori’, May 22, 2012 y0utub3
29 See for instance: Makiko Segawa, ‘Reporters Without Borders on Discrimination Against Freelance Journalists in Japan’, Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, June 3, 2012, japanfocus
30 Ministry of the Environment Agency Reconstruction Agency, Kikaku kyōsō setsumeisho saigaihaikibutsukouhousetsumei.pdf
31 Official Ministry of Finance figures here: http://www.mof.go.jp/budget/pdf
32 In this primarily rural area, it is thought the local farming lobby played a significant role in the local government's about turn.
33 For instance, ‘Creating Forests That Protect Lives’, tunagaru-japan
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