Circulation and Use of Maps - Participatory Mapping: New Data, New Cartography - page 120

decontamination 11 . Maps can help taking a stance on these
issues. In an article on July 22, 2011, the EX-SKF blogger
quotes a newspaper article claiming that contaminated cattle
were identified in the Tochigi district, which is a long way
from the TEPCO power station. After introducing the
article, the blogger claims that finding contaminated meat so
far from the accident site is not surprising. He then
refers to a map by Professor Yukio Hayakawa
(Nnistar, Table 6.1, map no. 8) to show that the city of
Nasu Shiobara, in the Tochigi district, where the cattle
came from, is situated directly on the course of a radioactive
cloud.

I, and many who have been looking at the
radiation contour map created by Professor Yukio
Hayakawa (volcanologist at Gunma University),
shouldn't be surprised at the discovery of
contaminated beef from Nasu Shiobara City in
Gunma Prefecture, more than 100 kilometers
away from the nuke plant. I circled the location in
red in the map. 12

The blogger backs his analysis with a map by Professor
Yukio Hayakawa on which he has circled and indicated with
an arrow the city in question. As the file containing the data
used on the maps is not displayed, this adaptation of the
map is minimal and used to reinforce the analysis

(Figure 7.2).

11 The method of decontamination chosen by the Japanese government
consists in extracting the top layer of soil, as radiation falls and is
deposited on the ground. However, this treatment only reduces the
radiation level and poses the question of what depth of soil should be
extracted (as radiation penetrates soil differently according to its
composition). Finally, this method also raises the issue of storing and
destroying this highly radioactive waste.
12 See: http://ex-skf.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/radioactive-beef-from-tochigi.

html.