WEBVTT

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I am so excited to be here
at such a wonderful event as this

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and talk to you all.

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This picture shows our press conference
held on March 19

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right after we finished filling

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the parched fuel rod storage pool
of Reactor 3

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of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant
with tons of water

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after working without a stop.

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Please raise your hand
if you've seen this photo before.

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Great!

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Some of you might not have seen it,

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but it's up on YouTube
so that you can check it out later.

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(Laughter)

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This press conference was held immediately
after we got back from Fukushima,

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so I didn't even have time to shave.

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But I had enough time to get a clean shave
before coming here today.

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(Laughter)

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Today, I want to invite you
into the world of fire fighting

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as I talk about our mission in Fukushima
that we experienced.

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But as my time here is limited,
I would like to ask those on the stage

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to wear the helmets
of the Tokyo Fire Department

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to participate in this experience
together with us.

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(Applause)

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Thanks for your cooperation.

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The Great East Japan Earthquake
occurred at 14:46 on March 11th.

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It was the fourth largest megaquake
in history of magnitude over 9.

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The tsunami waves
were over 10 meters high.

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The scale can only be expected
to happen once in 1,000 years.

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10,000 people died
and over 5,000 people are still missing.

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I pray for the souls of those
who perished in this calamity,

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and my heart goes out to those
who are afflicted by it.

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Very few people realize

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that this megaquake also
inflicted damage in Tokyo.

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The earthquake in Tokyo triggered by it

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was level 5 intensity
on the Japanese scale,

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and over 34 cases of fire spread
were reported at the same time.

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Being in charge
of fighting fires in Tokyo,

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I wanted to take care of fires
in Tokyo first as quickly as possible

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to send out the emergency rescue teams

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to the Tohoku region
where a lot of help was needed.

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That was all I thought about.

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Then, to our shock, as you know
the reactor 1

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of the Fukushima No.1 Nuclear Power Plant
exploded on the morning of the 12th.

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We couldn't believe it
because we had been told

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that the plant would survive
even a plane crash into it.

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Then on the 14th,
there was another explosion in Reactor 3.

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As you all know,
there are 6 nuclear reactors at the plant,

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and Reactors 1 to 4 of all 6
exploded one after another.

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We learned that the loss in power
of the cooling infrastructure

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caused lowering
the cooling water levels in the reactors.

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Since nuclear disasters
are normally handled

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by the central government
as they are state secrets,

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the Self Defense Force
sent out two helicopters

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to pour water into them from above.

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But the level of radiation was so high

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that they were unable to get close enough
to complete their mission.

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The police departments also sent in
their water cannon truck,

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and tried to pour water into the fuel tank
but this didn't work well either.

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Although the Tokyo Fire Department
is responsible basically only for Tokyo,

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and not for the nuclear power plants,

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we thought that we might
get summoned for help

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as we are the experts 
in firefighting and water pumping.

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So this was the time
when we decided to start our research

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about how to handle this kind of case.

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The Tokyo Fire Department
has 81 fire stations.

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Every fire station has rescue units.

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The most highly trained men
recruited from these units

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were organized into 4 hyper rescue units,

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and positioned in 4 of the 10
district headquarters.

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We learned from the experience
in the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995

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that dispatching them is crucial
at the time of disaster.

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Out of the 4 units, one unit
had been already dispatched

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to Kesennuma in the Tohoku region.

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So there were 3 units left, then.

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Although nuclear power plants
are not included in our responsibilities,

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as countermeasures for, for example,

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a radiation leak accident at a laboratory
or a nuclear terrorist attack,

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we had already been training ourselves

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to get ready for handling
radiation disasters,

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by making our own standards
and equipments.

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This chart shows those standards.

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The maximum allowed radiation exposure
at one time should be 30 millisievert.

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But it could be raised
up to 100 millisievert

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when we need to save lives of people.

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However we would never
send out that rescue worker

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to handle another nuclear case
in the rest of his firefighting career.

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Evaluating with experts
in the nuclear field,

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we set the upper limit of radiation level
we could tolerate.

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We were supposed to work
within 2 km of the plant.

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If the men are exposed to radiation
at the upper limit of 100 millisievert,

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they would be overexposed
on their way back,

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so we decided to set the upper limit
at 80 millisievert.

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Now the so-called protective wear
that is shown in the upper right corner

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is, from my perspective,
not really protective.

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It is "dust-proof."

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It may protect us from dust
contaminated by radiation

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but not from radiation itself;

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radiation penetrates through it
as if we were in a microwave oven.

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So what was crucial was to control
the amount of time of radiation exposure.

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By March 15th and 16th,
we knew that cooling the fuel rods

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was the immediate target
that we had to aim for.

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The whole nation must have worried

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as to how the reactors
would be cooled down.

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On March 17th, I gathered
all the hyper rescue units in Tokyo.

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And we walked through
3 strategic operations

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to figure out what we should be doing

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in order to minimize the amount
of exposure with minimum resources.

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It was still cold in Fukushima
with snow scattering.

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Because the plant is facing the sea,
winds were strong.

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So we looked into how winds
would impact our operations.

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What I was most concerned about
was not the fact

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that all the hyper rescue units
would be leaving Tokyo.

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I understood it
because this was a national crisis.

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My concern was that the radiation levels
at the scene were already 400 mSv

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and they were increasing
at the rate of 100 mSv a day.

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So, we worried
that by the time we arrived,

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it would be about 600 mSv per hour.

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This means that we could only work there
for 10 minutes at one time.

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So my suggestion was to gather
the hyper rescue teams

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from the 81 fire stations,

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and for my members to instruct them
on how to carry out the operation.

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But all the captains said,

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"Let us do it. 
We will be there on the front line."

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I said to them, "But you have men
too young for this job."

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But they all said, "We will go ourselves.

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We all have been trained
for a day like this,

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and we have good teamwork."

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I really had a hard time 
making the decision.

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I eventually decided
to take the hyper rescue teams.

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I let the members
to go back to their own stations.

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At 0:50 a.m. that night, to my surprise,

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we received an operation order
from the Prime Minister.

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I wanted to have more time
to evaluate the situation

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to minimize the damage
that might be inflicted on my teams,

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but we ran out of time.

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I gave the members an order
to come in at 2 a.m..

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We conducted a takeoff-ceremony,
and arrived at Fukushima by 8 a.m..

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This is a picture taken just
after Reactor 3 exploded.

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Our strategy was to set a super pumper
where the arrow on the left is pointing,

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and set up a water tower truck
with the elevating squirt

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beside Reactor 3 of which
you see the smoke is coming out.

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We would connect the hose
and set the nozzle

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at the proper angle beforehand.

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Then we would extend a hose of 150mm
in diameter by car along that blue line,

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because that is the shortest route.

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Once we connect those hoses,

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our mission would be complete.

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I estimated that we could complete
this whole process within 7 minutes.

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I had a meeting

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with Tokyo Electric Power Company
and the Government,

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and the Tokyo Fire Department
asked us to start at 5 p.m..

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We got ourselves ready at J-Village,
the command center,

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20 kilometers from the nuclear power plant
and headed out from the place.

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While I waited at J-Village,

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since the location of the plant
can't be reached

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by either mobile phone or fire radio, 
or satellite phone,

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I couldn't do anything but waiting there
after sending them off.

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After 5 p.m., the Government
kept calling me to ask about the progress.

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"What is going on?"
"Has the mission been completed?"

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I said to them, "I have no idea,"

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but they kept on asking.

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When my teams came back,
they said to me,

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"The situation was worse than expected."

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The captain came back past 7 p.m..

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I asked him,
"Was the operation successful?"

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He said, "No, we couldn't
even have a chance to pump out water."

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I said, "You were exposed
to radiation for nothing?"

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I felt desperate.

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He said, "No. Only our recon team entered.

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It took time because they
examined the area to figure out

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where to position the pump
and how to spread out the hoses.

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Our main mission team
remained outside the gate."

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I said, "So, we have
one more chance, don't we?"

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But they had to extend
the hose for 800 meters.

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The place marked in red here

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was covered with the rubble
and outdoor tanks

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so a car could not enter there.

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They had to carry the hose by hand.

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I thought "These hoses
are too big and heavy

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for people to drag and extend.
It has never been done before.

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To make matters worse,

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it is pitch black out there
with high levels of radiation.

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Our men could be exposed
to even more unexpected dangers."

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But I didn't have any hesitation
to give them the go-ahead.

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I had no choice but to do it.

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We couldn't afford to retreat
and restart with a different strategy

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because the level of radiation there
was getting higher and higher.

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The last option I was left with
was to secure my teams' safety.

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We all planned as best we could.

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We decided to split the teams into two

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and have each team extend hoses
from both the nozzle and the water truck.

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Furthermore we added a bus at each side
because we needed a lot of people

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who stood by to take turns
in order to execute the mission.

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I said to the members,

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"As soon as your geiger count shows
the level of 80 mSv,

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you should leave your equipments behind
and return to the bus,

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and then the next team would go
and take over the job."

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After I explained this strategy to them,
we moved on to execute the second plan.

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Today, I wanted to demonstrate

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how a 150mm hose is extended.

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but the Tokyo Fire Department
didn't let me do it

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because it's not something
that is done by hand,

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and asked me to show the picture instead.

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The hose I am using to explain
to the Governor of Tokyo in this slide

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is just one-tenth of the whole thing.

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But the real hose
is 50 meters long, 100 kg each.

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They had to extend
more than 7 hoses like this in the dark.

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Our second operation started.

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Because we discussed
for three and half hours,

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it started after 11 p.m..

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This is the picture
when we had a meeting at the gate.

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And this is the water tower truck
with the elevating squirt,

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which can pump out
38,000 liters of water per minute.

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This is how they tried
to extend them, then.

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Now, I have a surprise for you.

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Captain Takayama, please come over here.

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This is Captain Takayama Yukio.

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He can explain better

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because he is the one
who led the men on the front line.

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(Applause)

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Captain Takayama,

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what was the hardest thing
at that time for you?

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Takayama: As you said,
it was tough to execute the mission

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while securing the safety
of our men at the same time.

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It was obviously dangerous,
but we couldn't run away.

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Maintaining this balance
of executing the mission

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and keeping my men's safety
was very tough for me.

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Yasuo Sato: How did you know
the pumping of water was successful

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when you finished at 00:30 a.m.?

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Takayama: After I gave the order
to start pumping water,

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the moment I saw water
gushing out of the hose,

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it looked as if it were from heaven:
the water from God.

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We all felt full of excitement,
and thrusted our fists into the air.

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YS: In fact I wanted
all three of us at this press conference

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to be on this stage today
as a special surprise for you.

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(Applause)

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However, Captain Tomioka, 
on the left side of the picture,

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he is now in Spain.

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Prince of Asturias in Spain gave us
Prince of Asturias Concord Prize

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for our brave achievement,
so Captain Tomioka went there

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to attend the ceremony yesterday.

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(Applause)

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Thank you.

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(Applause)

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Since I couldn't bring all three of us,
I have prepared another special surprise.

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Please, come in.

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(Applause)

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I have just told you that we
extended 100-kg hose in the dark.

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This outfit is 25-kg itself.

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So the firefighters had to extend
a 100-kg hose in this 25-kg outfit.

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Thank you for this trouble.

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You can take off your mask.

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Let me introduce to you,

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our firefighter, Kei Mishima.

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(Applause)

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Thank you.

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You should wait to applause
till you hear this story, though.

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(Laughter)

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He is the man who manipulated

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the water tower truck
with the elevating squirt at Reator 3.

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(Applause)

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He operated it in the dark, pouring water
50 meters away and 30 meters high.

00:16:48.279 --> 00:16:50.689
(Applause)

00:16:50.880 --> 00:16:54.959
He had a 1-year-old daughter this March.

00:16:54.959 --> 00:16:59.300
And another daughter
was newly born on September 22nd.

00:17:00.090 --> 00:17:02.999
That means when he was assigned
to the mission in March,

00:17:02.999 --> 00:17:07.030
he had an infant child, and his wife
was expecting the second child.

00:17:09.290 --> 00:17:11.320
Despite this fact, he decided to go.

00:17:11.320 --> 00:17:13.380
His spirit as a firefighter
really moved me.

00:17:13.380 --> 00:17:15.380
(Applause)

00:17:23.470 --> 00:17:27.810
As I said, we are well-equipped

00:17:27.810 --> 00:17:31.760
and well-trained;
we closely share information.

00:17:32.390 --> 00:17:34.880
But these are not the only factors

00:17:34.880 --> 00:17:40.220
that help us to be brave enough
to go into such life-and-death situations.

00:17:41.190 --> 00:17:44.450
As I have just mentioned
the family of Mr. Mishima,

00:17:44.450 --> 00:17:47.450
it is our family love that matters
and supports us most.

00:17:47.450 --> 00:17:53.070
When I told my wife that the project
had been successfully off the ground,

00:17:53.070 --> 00:17:57.590
Her response, as some of you
might have heard in the press conference,

00:17:57.590 --> 00:17:59.300
was an email from her, saying,

00:17:59.300 --> 00:18:03.080
"Please be a savior of Japan."

00:18:03.080 --> 00:18:07.880
This empowered me 
and gave me the support I needed.

00:18:09.310 --> 00:18:11.330
It has been 60 years

00:18:11.330 --> 00:18:14.670
since the Tokyo Fire Department
was established.

00:18:14.670 --> 00:18:17.670
It was the first time in its history

00:18:17.670 --> 00:18:24.300
that the guard manager rushed
to the scene as the chief commander.

00:18:24.500 --> 00:18:28.280
It will probably never happen again.

00:18:31.780 --> 00:18:34.160
So, why did I go?

00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:37.430
As this is not a press conference now
I can be honest with you.

00:18:37.780 --> 00:18:40.440
I didn't go there
to take command of the team.

00:18:41.230 --> 00:18:45.040
The Fire Commissioner and I
discussed it, and I decided to go.

00:18:46.410 --> 00:18:50.750
Captain Takayama is better
at taking command than I am.

00:18:51.220 --> 00:18:57.220
My first purpose to go there
was to secure the safety of our men.

00:18:57.290 --> 00:18:59.760
The second purpose
was to make final decisions

00:18:59.760 --> 00:19:05.290
in a rapidly change situation
that could be fatal any time.

00:19:05.380 --> 00:19:07.660
And the third was

00:19:07.680 --> 00:19:10.010
to take responsibility.

00:19:12.500 --> 00:19:14.500
The situation was so severe

00:19:14.500 --> 00:19:18.500
that I thought that half of them
would not be able to return home.

00:19:18.500 --> 00:19:23.720
I am so happy to have been able to send
every one of them home to their families.

00:19:23.720 --> 00:19:28.070
(Applause)

00:19:45.420 --> 00:19:50.250
This mission in Fukushima
was just one example

00:19:50.250 --> 00:19:52.630
of our operations in firefighting.

00:19:52.630 --> 00:19:55.840
During the disaster
of the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake,

00:19:55.840 --> 00:20:00.240
over 27,000 emergency response fire teams
from all over Japan,

00:20:00.390 --> 00:20:04.490
and over 100,000
of emergency rescue team members

00:20:04.490 --> 00:20:08.240
rushed to the afflicted Tohoku areas.

00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:12.240
And we received offers of aid

00:20:12.240 --> 00:20:18.560
from 197 different countries, regions
and institutions all over the world.

00:20:20.270 --> 00:20:23.270
Having been through disasters,
I keenly feel

00:20:23.270 --> 00:20:27.390
that the development
of civilization and culture

00:20:27.390 --> 00:20:32.270
has been made possible
by the ties between people.

00:20:32.270 --> 00:20:36.270
Now, the Tohoku region is doing
its best in the process of recovery,

00:20:36.270 --> 00:20:42.480
and everybody is working together
to overcome the hardship.

00:20:42.480 --> 00:20:45.560
Will you support them hand in hand, too?

00:20:45.560 --> 00:20:49.830
(Applause)

00:20:53.630 --> 00:20:57.130
I believe that the human race
has been developing,

00:20:57.130 --> 00:21:00.910
overcoming various difficult phases
with these human ties,

00:21:00.910 --> 00:21:04.420
and I believe we can
recover from this disaster

00:21:04.420 --> 00:21:06.570
as long as we get together.

00:21:06.570 --> 00:21:08.070
Let's all hang in there!

00:21:08.110 --> 00:21:10.280
Although it was a short time,

00:21:10.280 --> 00:21:13.890
thank you for joining us
in the world of firefighters.

00:21:13.890 --> 00:21:18.040
(Applause)

00:21:44.300 --> 00:21:46.370
Thank you, Mr. Sato.

00:21:46.370 --> 00:21:48.120
(Applause)

00:21:51.610 --> 00:21:56.080
Host: Since Mr. Mishima is here,
let's ask him some questions.

00:21:58.030 --> 00:22:00.100
How did you feel when you heard

00:22:00.100 --> 00:22:02.720
that an operation order
came from the Prime Minister?

00:22:02.720 --> 00:22:05.920
I imagine various thoughts
crossed your mind.

00:22:05.920 --> 00:22:09.970
Will you tell us
about what you thought then?

00:22:10.090 --> 00:22:15.370
Mishima: To be honest, I hadn't thought
that I wouldn't have a chance to go there

00:22:15.370 --> 00:22:19.380
when I first saw the news
of the nuclear plant on TV.

00:22:20.710 --> 00:22:26.450
When I learned that I was going,
I had mixed feelings of fear

00:22:26.450 --> 00:22:32.110
and a sense of responsibility
that we had to succeed in this

00:22:32.110 --> 00:22:35.970
even more so because it's something
nobody else had ever experienced before.

00:22:35.970 --> 00:22:39.010
However, honestly,
I didn't know what to do.

00:22:39.800 --> 00:22:43.290
Host: How did you tell your family?

00:22:43.290 --> 00:22:49.970
I assume that the rest of your family
felt the same as you did.

00:22:51.260 --> 00:22:56.010
Mishima: Well, all I knew
about nuclear accident was Chernobyl

00:22:56.010 --> 00:22:59.355
and the further horrible cases
of the atomic bombs

00:22:59.355 --> 00:23:01.425
at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

00:23:02.465 --> 00:23:07.355
As mentioned before, my wife
was in the early stages of pregnancy,

00:23:07.355 --> 00:23:09.715
and I didn't want her to lose our baby.

00:23:09.715 --> 00:23:13.375
I couldn't trust myself to call her
and so sent her a casual sounding e-mail

00:23:13.375 --> 00:23:16.235
as if I were heading for a pub
for a couple of beer,

00:23:16.235 --> 00:23:20.245
like, "I need to go, because
we got an order from the Prime Minister."

00:23:22.335 --> 00:23:24.245
And everybody responded, saying,

00:23:24.245 --> 00:23:26.925
"Go! That's such a prestigious order."

00:23:26.925 --> 00:23:29.135
I received an email from my wife, saying,

00:23:29.135 --> 00:23:31.328
"You're a firefighter, so do your bit."

00:23:31.328 --> 00:23:33.358
Sounds a bit bossy, doesn't it? (Laughter)

00:23:33.358 --> 00:23:35.831
In reality it actually
was a really supportive push.

00:23:35.831 --> 00:23:39.015
But when I was really focusing
on the mission ahead in pitch black,

00:23:39.015 --> 00:23:42.115
my wife sent me an email, saying
"I am heading to bed," (Laughter)

00:23:42.115 --> 00:23:43.205
which was kind of sad.

00:23:43.205 --> 00:23:46.695
(Applause)

00:23:49.620 --> 00:23:54.750
Host: Could you send out a message
to the 260 of great minds here,

00:23:54.750 --> 00:23:59.640
and to the people watching this
over the Internet?

00:24:02.040 --> 00:24:07.330
Mishima: Honestly, I was delighted
with the success of the mission.

00:24:08.870 --> 00:24:12.860
I believe that we got over
the worst part of the crisis.

00:24:12.860 --> 00:24:16.650
But unfortunately the situation
hasn't settled down yet,

00:24:16.650 --> 00:24:20.260
and there are workers still working
in dangerous situations as of today.

00:24:20.260 --> 00:24:26.650
The people affected by the tsunami
are quite far from full recovery,

00:24:26.650 --> 00:24:29.650
so I can't feel happiness to the fullest.

00:24:30.530 --> 00:24:33.530
But when the afflicted people tell me,

00:24:33.530 --> 00:24:36.530
"Good work! You've given us
the courage to take a step forward."

00:24:36.530 --> 00:24:41.480
That is the moment that I feel
that our mission was successful.

00:24:42.480 --> 00:24:44.170
And one more thing.

00:24:44.170 --> 00:24:46.490
Firefighters are not heroes.

00:24:46.490 --> 00:24:49.350
We aren't invincible.

00:24:49.350 --> 00:24:55.540
When I came home and held my daughter,
and saw my newborn baby,

00:24:55.540 --> 00:24:59.820
they made me realize
how happy I was to have made it home.

00:25:01.350 --> 00:25:03.160
Excuse me...

00:25:06.680 --> 00:25:09.700
(Applause)

00:25:12.500 --> 00:25:18.178
I think that you can't protect others
unless you can protect yourself.

00:25:18.178 --> 00:25:21.197
That's what Captain Takayama says too.

00:25:22.849 --> 00:25:26.662
But, if I see people calling for help

00:25:27.672 --> 00:25:33.122
I will do my best to help them
even though it's way out of my ability,

00:25:33.281 --> 00:25:38.203
so that they can appreciate
being back home just as I did.

00:25:38.934 --> 00:25:40.008
Thank you very much.

00:25:40.008 --> 00:25:41.495
(Applause)

00:26:29.670 --> 00:26:33.616
Mr.Sato, Mr.Mishima and Mr.Takayama,
thank you very much.

00:26:33.627 --> 00:26:36.707
(Applause)