Sunday, Oct. 7, 2007

1000 TIMES ACCEPTABLE LEVEL

Planned Tsukiji site has high benzene level

According to the Kyodo News, Benzene at more than 1,000 times the acceptable level has been detected in groundwater at the planned relocation site for the Tsukiji market, an expert panel of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government said Saturday.
On Friday, Oct. 13, the Tokyo Metropolitan Governor, Mr Ishihara answered to an interview by the Tokyo Shinbun about the issue above, "It was surprising to hear such a high benzene level of 1000 times..."
For Mr Ishihara's future benefit, I shall introduce him a story I have heard from a ruling elder of the fish wholesalers that are against the relocation plan.

In a hot summer day in 2006, heat hazes were rising from the planned site of Toyosu. The ruling elder put a mousetrap with a still-living rat inside on the ground of the site to check the contamination of the site. The rat died within a hour, he said.
A proposal to the Tokyo Governor Mr Ishihara
Mr Ishihara's reason to relocate isn't rational.

He answered to an interview that his reason for having to relocate the Market was because it was, "dirty and aging."

I worked at the Market for 4-years and a half from 1978 after I graduated university. The talk about relocating the Tsukiji Market already existed those days. Once, there was a plan to relocate to Oi but it didn't realize by the objections of the Tsukiji middlemen union and the bird-watching society. When another market called the Ota Market was newly opened, there was a program to shift the function of Tsukiji as a main market to Ota, but it didn't come out right again.
Those days, relocating had a good reason, but not today.
Today, the situation is different.

Those days, there were a large number of wholesalers than today, the fish business was more active in trade and the jam and mess inside the Market--especially around the end and the beginning of the years--were extreme. The Market always suffered impairment in terms of the traffic situation and delivery.
And, the supermarkets were still at the dawn of their businesses. The fish markets were still keen to compete with the supermarkets, or be part of them. Relocating the Market for to improve the delivery and the sanitary situations was necessary.

But today, the Tsukiji Market has lost its lively and vigorous state of business, traffics jams don't occur anymore and it was also found out that the fish markets and the supermarkets were styles of businesses that couldn't get along together. The good reason to relocate the Market is gone.

The Olympic games couldn't be a reason to relocate the Market. Mr Ishiwara still hasn't even won the right to do the games.
Trying to make asbestos and lacks of earthquake resistance of the constructions aren't fair enough because he hasn't asked for public subscription to solve those prolems--I bet there would be several good ideas besides the negotiated contracts adopted.

Sunday October 14th, 2007
Naoto Nakamura
[Back]