I leave for Japan today.
My overall mission is to visit a few different cities to talk about my book and explore the cultural diversity in Japan. However,
I'll be visiting Fukushima this Monday for a first hand look at what is going on there.
There's a lot of speculation about the wide-spread effects of this disaster and there are a lot of scare tactics out there to hype up the news. I plan to take a first hand look at what is actually happening in Fukushima.
Here's the potential nuclear fallout according to a global research site
Here's the map of the area of Japan that this event affects.
Fukushima. Affected areas of Japan.
What is the actual potential for disaster in the rest of the world? It seems only speculation at this point and many stories have gone viral of course. Click HERE to see some discussion.
You can also read about some of the impact of this disaster at Deep Sea News; they, along with many others try to debunk much of the discussion you hear around the internet.
Fukushima Aftermath
Minneapolis also has a "sister city" in Japan; it's name is Ibaraki. The Mayor and government of Ibaraki has had a long standing relationship with Minneapolis since the 1980's - in fact many visual pieces around the downtown area of Minneapolis have been gifted to the city of Minneapolis from Ibaraki.
Minneapolis and Ibaraki share many culturally artistic traits in music, food / drink, theater, and art galleries. I hope to meet some of the esteemed leaders in this community and the tourism board in Tokyo as well.
I was featured on Fox 9 Morning Buzz discussing this trip and I've taken music, DVD's and other items of interest from local artists in Minneapolis to share with those I meet in Japan. I'll be bringing back culturally artistic items to share with the community here in downtown Minneapolis.
You can see my Fox 9 clip here. It was taped from an iPhone as Fox 9 does not put much of the Buzz live on the internet. Stay tuned and like my Facebook Fan page for updates along my journey and for the real deal at Fukushima. I'm leaving today, January 10th, 2014 and I'll be home in 2 weeks.
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