Todokimashita! The Japanese translation of my history of assassination

Just received a copy of the Japanese translation of my book 'Assassins' Deeds: A History of Assassination from Ancient Egypt to the Present Day'. The cover looks very fierce. I've blocked out the next couple of days to check it. Right. First things first. Which way up should it be? 

The worst floods in history

The worst natural disaster ever happened in 1931 when the Yellow River and the Yangtze burst their banks in China, flooding an area nearly as big as England. Up to 3.75 million people lost their lives in the flood itself, then in the famine and disease that swept through the country in its wake. The second deadliest natural disaster ever was another flood of the Yellow River in 1887, which cost up to 2.5 million lives.

In fact, the Yellow River burst its banks an estimated 1,500 times over three millennia, to be given the name ‘China’s Sorrow’.  Another of its floods in 1938 (pictured) cost the lives of up to 800,000 people, but this was a man-made flood, as the Chinese Nationalist leader, Chiang Kai-shek, ordered dykes to be blown up to slow the advance of the invading Japanese army.

Floods come in many shapes and sizes, and China was also the scene of the world’s deadliest dam burst, with the collapse in 1975 of a number of Gerry-built structures erected as part of Chairman Mao’s Great Leap Forward, at the cost of up to 230,000 lives.

We usually think of rain causing floods, but the culprit in Peru in 1941 was a heat wave. It caused a huge lump of ice to fall off a mountain into Lake Palcacocha, making it overflow and sending a torrent racing through towns and villages, drowning 7,000 people.

*For the full story, see my new book, Flood: Nature and Culture (Reaktion Books) ISBN 978 1 78023 196 9. It also includes chapters on how so many religions have stories of apocalyptic floods, how floods have been portrayed in literature, art and films, how some of the most ambitious structures ever built by humans have been erected to protect against flooding, and how climate change may now be making humanity more vulnerable than ever to the waters.

** Here's a review of the book. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-35616955.html

Japanese stoicism

There have been a number of comments about the stoicism and quiet determination shown by the Japanese people in the wake of last month’s devastating earthquake and tsunami. Just four days after the quake, for example, in spite of power cuts, transport disruption, fears of aftershocks and nuclear radiation, people patiently queued to make sure they handed in their tax returns on time.

This is not a new phenomenon. After the earthquake of 1923 that killed perhaps 150,000 people in Tokyo and Yokohama, and left nearly two million homeless, the Times of London reported: ‘There is no panic and marvelous patience is shown by all classes.’

All day and night, wrote the correspondent, there was an endless procession of people ‘carrying portable goods and their salved belongings, or using trunks and carts....a whole family pushing them along, often with the grandparents riding on the top of the pile…. the weak were carried on the backs of the strong.....they exhibited patience beyond praise. Many jested; some even began to rebuild their homes before the ashes of the old homes were cold.’ Within days, businesses and shops were starting up again in the stricken areas.

For the full story, see A Disastrous History of the World.

Japan - survival story

Over the weekend, an 80 year old woman and her 16 year old grandson were saved from the rubble of a house in Ishinomaki city that had been demolished in the Japanese earthquake 9 days before.

They were in their kitchen when the quake struck, and survived by eating yoghurt and other food from the fridge. The grandson managed to reach the roof of the house, where he was able to flag down a rescue helicopter. They are now being treated in hospital.

The official death toll from the earthquake and tsunami has risen to more than 9,000, and more than 12,500 are still missing. For other stories of remarkable escapes, see my blogs of July 4, 2009 and Aug 24, 2010.

*Just discovered a new review of A Disastrous History of the World in the Sandwell &Great Barr Chronicle of January 27.

Fukushima - tell it like it is

Suspicions that the Japanese authorities were not being totally open about the effects of last week’s earthquake on the Fukushima nuclear power station (see my blog of March 14) appear to have been well grounded.

It has now been revealed that we are experiencing the world’s worst nuclear accident apart from Chernobyl, and officials admit that what they had originally said was only a local problem, really has ‘wider consequences’. Unsafe radiation levels have already been found in milk and spinach, though they claim this still represents no risk to human health.

Japan’s government concedes that it ‘could have moved a little quicker’ in providing accurate information. Well, let us hope we are now being told the whole truth. All six reactors have problems of some kind, and the alert level has been raised one notch. Today workers at the plant are hoping to restore some of the automatic cooling systems.

Altogether, just over 7,300 people are known to have died in the earthquake, with 11,000 more still missing.

*The earthquake has prompted a newspaper columnist to think about my book – A Disastrous History of the World.

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/features/columnists/8909805.Disasters_always_waiting_to_happen/

If you want to help people in Japan, here’s a good way:-

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/profile.php?id=100000056583886

Fatal crushes and stampedes

At least five people have been crushed to death after the sound of gunfire caused a stampede at a concert in Monterrey, northern Mexico. The city has recently been the scene of violent clashes between rival drugs gangs.

One of the worst ever fatal crushes came at Chungking in China during World War Two. The authorities had built one of the biggest air raid shelters in the world, capable of holding about 30,000.

On June 6, 1941, the Japanese bombed the city for about three hours, and during the raid the shelter’s ventilation system broke down. So while there was an apparent lull in the attack, hundreds of shelterers decided to nip outside for a breath of fresh air.

But almost immediately, the alarm sounded, so people outside tried to force their way down, causing a deadly chaotic crush in which up to 4,000 people perished. For more fatal crushes, see A Disastrous History of the World. (See also my blogs of Jan 18 and March 30, 2009)

Sri Lanka bloodbath + deadliest man-made flood

The United Nations is complaining about a “bloodbath” in the last Tamil Tiger-held area of Sri Lanka after it was shelled by heavy artillery. At least 378 civilians have been killed, including 100 children. An estimated 50,000 people are still trapped.

The Tigers blame the Sri Lankan government, while the government claims the Tigers killed their own people. It is difficult to arrive at the truth as the Sri Lankan government has banned journalists from reporting in the area, and has just arrested three British television reporters for producing “false” news. It is perhaps significant, though, that Sri Lanka’s official state-owned newspaper made no mention of the attack.

The Tigers have been fighting for an independent homeland since 1983, and more than 70,000 people have been killed in the war. (See also my blogs of Jan 28 and Feb 24)

On this day....71 years ago, China was being overrun by the invading Japanese, who were threatening a crucial railway junction at Zhengzhou. In desperation, the leader of the Chinese Nationalists, Chiang Kai-shek ordered the dyke of the Yellow River near the city to be blown up.

To make sure the invaders were caught by surprise, no warning was given to local people. The Japanese were swamped in a flood that eventually covered 21,000 square miles, and it is estimated that the ploy delayed their advance by up to three months. Unfortunately it also killed up to 900,000 Chinese civilians, making this the deadliest man-made flood in history.

Chinese mining disasters

At least 73 miners have been killed, and dozens more are trapped underground after an explosion at the Tunlan colliery in China’s main coal-producing province of Shanxi. More than 100 injured miners have been taken to hospital.

China is the world’s biggest producer of coal, with perhaps 5 million people working in the industry, but it also has the worst accident rate. Last year, the official death toll in the industry was 3,200, but many believe the true figure is much higher. In 2007, a Hongkong-based human rights organisation said it could be as many as 20,000.

The worst mining disaster in history happened in the Honkeiko colliery in the Chinese region of Manchuria in 1942, while it was occupied by the Japanese. An explosion killed more than 1,500 miners, about a third of those working in the pit at the time.