Too Little - Too Late: Mascot Teaches Kids How To Avoid Radiation

In an effort to instruct children how to avoid radiation, Japan has come up with a bird mascot. It's a bird mascot based on the local Fukushima Narcissus Flycatcher.

Holy smokes, I first thought.

But then... why not? Young kids need something fun to latch onto. Why should it always be the parents and schools that have all the fun. Why not have the kids get some basics from a mascot?

And so... Japan has begun printing leaflets with a large yellow bird (not the one from Sesame Street) telling kids how to avoid the bad radiation.

Of course... this is nearly two years after the fact.

Still... Kibitan, the bird mascot means well... in the handouts, Kibitan warns kids to stay away from dangerous areas like pools and ditches, where radioactive materials like Cesium could have accumulated after the Dai-ichi nuclear reactor spewed radioactive materials into the water, air and ground when it nearly achieved total nuclear meltdown on a few occasions after March 11, 2011.

Hopefully... by the end of December 2012, these pools and ditches have been decontaminated. No? Oh.

As well, Kibitan tells the kids to ensure they wash up really well after coming in from outside... less they track in any of those dirty, unwanted radioactive elements.

Well... I'm glad the bird is the word here in Fukushima. Whatever would the kids have done without you? How about what they have been doing for the past 21 months? Surviving or getting radiation poisoning... sometimes both.

Last week Japan admitted it had 'under-reported' its measured radiation levels at some 675 locations.

Under-reported? You mean 'lied'?

There is nothing to see here. Keep moving away from the scene of the accident. Pay no attention to the man behind the smokescreen.

Who the hell is 'under-reporting'? To avoid a general panic, the Japanese government has continued to put its population at further risk.

According to a report done by the Fukushima Medical University and released in April of 2012, and updated in July, 36 per cent of the kids in Fukushima have enlarged thyroids and coule be prone to cancer.

See? Nothing to worry about. They said "could be" prone to cancer. I'm being sarcastic, of course.

Hey Kibitan... do you have any advice for the kids at risk of cancer? Will washing their hands help now?

The study by the Fukushima Medical University tested 38,000 kids.

That's a large study.

It found that 13,000 had cysts or nodules as large as five millimeters.

When that tidbit of information was released, doctors called Japan's reaction to the radiation problem as medically irresponsible.

So... to help be more responsible, the kids should listen to the mascot, Kibitan.

Oh... my... effing... god.

I can only hope that the children in the study are getting treatment, and that the rest are being monitored.

Perhaps the Japanese government could refrain from covering up vital information and could instead be more forthcoming with the truthful facts... as it happens.

A mascot? Welcome to 2012 Kabuki.

Andrew Joseph
The photo above was given out on November 9, 2012 showing kids hugging Kibitan on October 14, 2012 in Fukushima. Hopefully they washed their hands afterward. We wouldn't want them getting Avian Bird Flu on top of their cancer.