[I've managed to find great volunteer translators. Thank you all!]

Hi all,

I would like to get some help with translating this Q&A page regarding the Fukushima nuclear plants. The Q&A was done by Professor Ryugo Hayano (University of Tokyo) on Twitter (his account is @hayano) and it's very comprehensible.

The reason why I want to translate this page into English is to minimize unnecessary fear that many of non-Japanese people seem to have regarding this Fukushima plant incident. (By the way, if you know of great resources in English that provide clear accounts with strong evicence, please let me know. I would like to add them to the other page of this site.)

It's better to educate ourselves and to understand what's going on rather than remaining ignorant and fearing due to the ignorance.

There are 31 questions and corresponding answers in the page. If you can help me with translation, please let me know of the following so I can arrange things smoothly.

• How proficient you are in English and in Japanese
• How much you are willing to translate (Just one Q&A is fine. If you can translate an entire section, that's awesome)
• If there are particular questions you want to translate, let me know (Q&As #1, #2, #3, #4&#5, Sections 2, 3, 4, and 5 are being taken care of now! Thank you!)

I will check the completed translation for accuracy. If there's anyone who wants to join me as a proof reader (preferably a native speaker of English who has an experience as a translation checker or is highly proficient in Japanese), that's great too. Please let me know.

If we can get 31 people (and perhaps 2 more to translate the header and the footer...), it will be done quickly!

Please send me an e-mail to mm@masafumimatsumoto.com with your answers to the questions above. I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you!

[Updated: JST 17:26 - 12 March 2011]

This page is created, by Masafumi Matsumoto, primarily as a means to let non-Japanese speaking/English speaking residents of Japan know about some post-earthquake tips and what they can do in this time. It would be great if you could pass this information to those who need it.

If there is any misleading information provided in this page, please correct me via the comment section, twitter (@mma323), or e-mail (mm@masafumimatsumoto.com).

I'd be happy to know if this page helped you as well. In that case, I want to hear about it too.

Google's Crisis Response has a comprehensive list of resources. Check it here.

Google Person Finder for this earthquake is available here.

For those of you who are in non-damaged/relatively safe areas of Japan

What you can do to help is the following:

1. Conserve energy
Unplug unnecessary outlets and turn off unnecessary electronic appliances. Also, try to use less power during the peak time (6pm - 8pm). Tokyo Electric Power Company advises a possibility of outage.

2. Donate money and/or blood
Prayers and thoughts are good, but let's face it - money is more effective as a way of saving lives. I donated money via GlobalGiving. You can find a list of other funds put together by Time Out Tokyo here (How You Can Help).

If you live in Tokyo and near Takadanobaba, Ben's Cafe will run a charity event from 7pm on Sunday (13 March). It might be a good idea for you to meet other international people there, especially if you want to talk with some people.

This page by Time Out Tokyo also contains information about blood donation and where you can donate blood in Tokyo. Check it out. But note that if you've lived in Europe in 90s, it's likely that you may not be able to donate due to BSE concerns. Moreover, it's important to realize that donated blood won't last forever and if everyone donated blood at once, it can go wasted and there can be blood shortage after a certain period of time. So, while it's understandable that you might want to donate blood as soon as possible, it's better to do it later in the week.

3. Learn how to keep yourself safe
Don't underestimate after shocks! Be prepared and be safe. The following pages can teach you some essential information about earthquake safety.

• 10 Tips for Earthquake Safety by Tokyo Fire Department
• Earthquake Safety Advice by Time Out Tokyo

Understand that secondary disasters can be much more dangerous than an earthquake itself. It's important to know your closest evacuation spot as well.

Also, here's an instruction on how to reset gas by Tokyo Gas.

NHK Radio 2 broadcasts in English for the emergency info: Tokyo 693, Akita 774, Sendai 1089, Morioka 1386 (kHz AM)

4. And most importantly...

Photo by Jim Linwood

I hope you are all safe.

Cheers,

Masa