Contaminated Rice, Radiation Problems Continue for Japan (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | Radiation is an ongoing problem for Japan with recent reports focusing on contaminated rice. The lasting impact of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami continues to affect the country. However, I am forced to question why the rice was being grown in areas contaminated by the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. Officials were aware of the nuclear plants releasing iodine 131 and cesium 137 into the air in March, yet they seem to have allowed food production to continue.

Lasting Tragedy

The March 11 earthquake and tsunami led to the damage of several Japanese nuclear power plants. The release of radioactive materials including iodine 131 and cesium 137 forced officials to caution residents about drinking milk and eating contaminated food. However, they also assured residents that the land surrounding the nuclear plants would be free from the effects of radiation within a few weeks. This was misleading information because cesium 137's half-life, the time necessary for half of it to decay, is 30 years.

Problems

Scientists warned Japan that the effects of radiation would not disappear quickly. Soil and water contamination would continue to be hurdles for many years. Although Japan made a commitment to continue testing food for radiation levels, it has allowed crops to grow in contaminated areas. The impact of eating food contaminated with radioactive particles may be difficult to measure initially. However, there is a strong link to cancer.

Rice and Tea

Japan's contaminated rice may have grabbed more headlines, but it is not the first time that the issue of radiation and food has come to the surface. In June, the Japanese government attempted to stop tea shipments because high levels of cesium 137 were found. The tea contained 3,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium. Compared to Japan's regulations of not exceeding 500 becquerels of cesium per kilogram, this was an extremely high amount.

The most disturbing aspect of the tea story is that it questions the officials' ability to stop shipments. The governor of the area with the contaminated product was defiant and blatantly announced his refusal to follow the government's instructions. How safe is Japan's food supply and how is this affecting other nations who receive the imports? Although it is obvious the country is making a strong effort to test food and shipments, are they able to control all of the situations and how many products go untested? Japan must face these uncomfortable questions as the country continues to deal with the aftermath of March 11.

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Japan's New Prime Minister May or May Not Mean Big Change (ContributorNetwork)

Yoshihiko Noda was appointed to the post of prime minister by Japan's Parliament earlier today in a move that could spell either a fundamental shift in Japanese policy or more of the same for the world's third-largest economy, depending on what experts you listen to.

Noda, the finance minister of the previous government, won his country's top political post by outmaneuvering his rivals for leadership of the Liberal Democratic Party, Japan's ruling and longtime dominant political party, making his appointment by Parliament a mere formality. He is expected to be confirmed by the Emperor by the end of the week.

Noda is a noted fiscal conservative in a country that has run a relatively high budget deficit since its economic bubble burst in the 1990s and the country entered a lengthy period of economic stagnation. Japan's national debt stands at over 200 percent of its GDP, and this was the picture before the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami saddled the country with a reconstruction bill estimated to cost almost $170 billion over the next five years.

Noda is on the record for favoring tax increases as one tool for taming Japan's burgeoning debt, one of the country's few major politicians who has taken such a stance in public. Noda is also a defense hawk who has written with concern over the growth of China's military might vis-a-vis Japan, and his elevation has been met with chilliness in Beijing. His distinctly conservative outlook on fiscal and defense issues points toward a shift in Japanese policy.

However, it must also be said that Noda is the sixth Japanese prime minister to take power in five years, and his predecessor Naoto Kan fell as a result of a backlash of popular discontent in the wake of the March disasters. Kan's fall and Noda's elevation in an intra-party succession struggle is hardly indicative of a broad popular mandate.

Noda could just prove to be another placeholder prime minister for the LDP, as no Japanese prime minister has managed any longevity since Junichiro Koizumi, the only Japanese prime minister to serve in office for longer than five years since the early 1970s. The fallen Naoto Kan is the only post-Koizumi prime minister to hang on for more than a single year.

Noda must also face the fact the Japanese Upper House of Parliament, the House of Councillors, is controlled by opposition parties. While the government is chosen by the LDP-controlled House of Representatives, no legislation can pass without the approval of both houses of Parliament. Noda's opposition therefore exercises an effective veto on whatever controversial changes in Japanese fiscal and defense policy he might wish to make.

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