Yet another misconception I’ve been seeing in western media (a misconception which is then transferred onto the viewers and I have even heard from people in real life) is that Tokyo City has completely shut down. While Tokyo City is, without a doubt, affected by the current situation, to say that it is falling apart or is a ghost town is incorrect. To help show this, I have translated an announcement from the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education. Like I said before, Tokyo City is not yet operating fully. I do admit that. However, western media is greatly exaggerating its current state. Please read the announcement below in order to see how Tokyo City schools are reacting to the planned power outages. I put this in bold because this document has nothing to do with Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant.
Many thanks to someone who has yet to tell me by which name they wish to be referenced for helping me understand and translate the difficult parts. Also thanks to Ema for answering my question regarding the possible copyright of this material as well as for helping me translate a small section. Hmm… now that I think about it, it’s kind of odd that I actually cared about the copyright considering everything else I’ve posted on this blog! Well, here’s one of my extremely rare non-infringing posts.
Original document available at http://www.kyoiku.metro.tokyo.jp/press/pr110314j-1/pr110314j-1.pdf
Anything italicized (like this text is right now) is a supplemental explanation. It is not in the original document but may help you understand.
Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education’s Response to TEPCO’s Planned Power Outages Due to the “Touhoku Region Pacific Ocean Offshore Earthquake”
Published March 14, 2011 (the Monday after the earthquake)
I. Classes
1. Metropolitan high schools with full-day curriculum, metropolitan high schools attached to junior high schools, and metropolitan secondary education schools (basically all normal high schools)
A. In the event of a planned power outage in the morning, afternoon classes will still take place.
Furthermore, if this takes place on days when no afternoon classes were scheduled, morning classes may be rescheduled for the afternoon.
B. In the event of a planned power outage in the afternoon, morning classes will take place and then students will be dismissed.
C. In the event of a planned power outage straddling noon (partially in the morning, partially in the afternoon), students will be dismissed when the power outage starts.
2. Metropolitan high schools with part-time curriculum (the part-time academic classes for those in vocational schools)
In the event of a planned power outage after 5 pm, assume that there will be a temporary closing.
3. Metropolitan special education schools
A. Schools with planned power outages starting before 12:20 pm
Due to the difficulty of providing lunches and out of concern for the students’ safety and well-being, assume that there will be a temporary closing.
B. Schools without planned power outages starting before 12:20 pm
Lunch will be served and students will be dismissed no later than 1:30 pm.
II. Club activities
When there is a planned power outage in the morning but afternoon classes still take place, after school club activities are allowed to take place until 5 pm. All students must leave by 5:30 pm.
III. Power conservation
1. Lighting
A. Classes and hallways will not be unnecessarily lit.
B. Use of gymnasiums for club activities will be restricted.
C. Use of lighting on sports grounds will be restricted.
2. Utilities/Devices
A. Air conditioning use will be temporarily suspended.
B. Vending machine use within schools will be temporarily suspended.
C. Some elevators will be suspended.
D. During outages, tap water supply is limited to that of rooftop water tanks. When the water supply is not working, pool water will be used for sanitation purposes.
E. Before outages, make sure to back up electronic equipment. After power has been restored, perform routine checks for safety and usability.
IV. Other
If there is a planned power outage at the same time as a graduation ceremony, out of concern for safety, times will be adjusted in a flexible manner.
[...] Schools and workplaces are also still operating. In a press release published by the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education on March 14, they described the school closing procedures. The published procedures indicate that no regular secondary school will be closed for a full day due to the planned power outages. A full translation of the document can be read here for more detailed information. [...]
By: An Independent Report on Tokyo « A blog with somewhat useful information in it lately on March 22, 2011
at 1:56 pm