Image courtesy of Shux Wun and Music & Strength TV
The 9.0 earthquake that hit Japan’s northeast coast of Honshu, releasing multiple aftershocks and triggering a deadly tsunami on March 11, 2011 has left a devastating impact on the Japanese community. Explosions shortly followed at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant due to the earthquake, sending more worries amongst Japan’s citizens as the threat of contamination added to an already stressful situation. Shux Wun is a Hip-Hop documentarian and videographer based in Tokyo. Amidst these troubled times, Shux was able to give an interview regarding the current situation as well as highlight the strength and resilience of the people in Japan.
AJ-First, briefly describe the feeling you got during the immediate happening of the earthquake considering the magnitude.
Shux Wun– Well, I was in Tokyo sitting at my computer. Tokyo is very far from the actual epicenter but it was still the biggest earthquake I’d ever felt in my life. I heard it hit Tokyo as a 5.1 but was not completely sure. My immediate reaction was minimal because we feel quakes all the time here. Japan is home to 90% of all the earthquakes in the world. However, after a good 20-30 seconds of it continuing to get bigger, I got scared and went for safety. I live in a loft built as an attachment on the house, so my room was swaying big time and I thought I was going down with it. I darted downstairs and outside on to the street, where it was really hard to even keep my balance standing in one place. The earth was moving beneath me so violently that I almost dropped to my knees. It lasted that way for about 2 full minutes I’d say.
AJ-From what you can tell, what has been the current climate amongst the everyday people in Tokyo during these rough times?
Shux Wun-In Tokyo hardly anybody was affected by the earthquake itself, but the scare of radiation possibly reaching us was what got people concerned. We’re like 150 miles from the nuclear reactors, however the winds heading in our direction is the concern. The general climate about 3 days later was a small bit of social panic, people buying food off the shelves thinking we had to stay in doors for extended amounts of time. The panic in Japan is totally different from the US though. People here are very calm and go about their business without affecting each other; no looting or crazy stuff like that.
AJ-In the wake of a possible nuclear meltdown, what safety precautions or steps have been given to the people to possibly protect themselves?
Shux Wun-Well, first of all the media you see in America is way overdoing it to keep you all glued to the tv and hiking up their ratings… period. Although their is concern here of course, the general public continued going to school and work uninterrupted for the most part. The only safety precautions given were to use an umbrella if it rains. Tokyo is very far from the nuclear reactors, and also the level of radiation that was actually leaked at this point is not enough to make a difference on a persons lifespan anymore than standing in front of the microwave when you’re heating up a burrito. People comparing this to Chernobyl are way out of line. The elements involved in the two accidents are completely different and to this day only 4,000 people have died from the Chernobyl accident due to complications related to cancer. What people should know is the biggest risk we face is the heightened chance of developing cancer, which most people lived with after Chernobyl for many years. That amount of radiation is not going to drop you dead on the spot and what happened in Japan is extremely less than what happened in Chernobyl… so far, that is.
AJ-How have you been holding up through this ordeal and are things slowly starting to get back to normal life or not?
Shux Wun-At first I was scared but after researching the risks and all that, I’ve since understood more what my situation is and feel a lot more secure at this point. There may be things I still don’t know but for the most part I’m good. I actually left Tokyo to stay a few more miles south with some friends when the big scare of radiation first hit, but now things are back to normal.
AJ-Has there been any efforts from the Hip-Hop community in terms of relief benefits to help out the situation in Japan?
Shux Wun-I haven’t particularly seen any special movement happening but I definitely have received word from people wanting to do something.
AJ-Finally, what can the average person outside of Japan due to help with this situation?
Shux Wun-The best thing you can do is research a great charity to donate to. Personally, I am not a fan of the Red Cross for various reasons related to corruption in the past, which you can research online, but I’m sure there are other relief efforts to contribute to. Currently, I am researching to find out which ones I can donate money from my events to. There are a lot of homeless people in the areas hit by the tsunamis. In the U.S. I know it looks like all of Japan went under, but the best way to describe it is if part of the San Francisco area was hit as compared to the whole state of California. If that happened in San Francisco then all the people in LA would be fine right? That’s basically what it’s like for Tokyo. We know it happened, but we were virtually unaffected physically.
Shux Wun is the founder of Music & Strength TV, a media platform dedicated to Hip-Hop culture.