1) Japanese housewives used Twitter under pseudonyms to discuss their fears about the Fukushima nuclear disaster and spread anti-nuclear messages, finding a community of like-minded individuals. 2) Their concerns, which were dismissed as "groundless" by officials, led tens of thousands of Japanese people to emigrate from Japan, comparable to New Zealand's "Kiwi exodus." 3) Social media can provide a platform for suppressed voices and help people make sense of their concerns, and failure to acknowledge public concerns can lead to opting out of systems entirely.

1. Mms. “Nuclearotic” Minds or:
How Japanese Housewives Learned to Stop
Worrying and Leave the Homeland
Ray Murakami

2. Ko Tōku Mihi - Greetings
Japanese seamen regularly
visited Rotorua since 1916
Maybe my grand dad, too.
Regrettably WWII
destroyed that tradition
My dream is the bond’s
reestablishment
New Zealand Herald, 12 July 1916, Page 6

3. What is “Nuclearotic” ?
“Dr. Strangelove Or: How I
Learned To Stop Worrying And
Love The Bomb”
The Original Japanese,
“Hōsha-nō” literally translated
to “Radioactive Brain and
ridicules groundless fears to
radioactivity
My own creation to express
that cynicism
Picture from Wikipedia

4. 放射脳
Hōsha
Nō
Radioactive
Brain
“Nuclearotic”

5. Housewives in Japan
Mostly highly educated
Many once worked full-time
Quit jobs after marriage or
childbirth and rarely coming
back to permanent jobs
Judged by successes of their
husbands and children
Not treated as knowledgeable
voices in male dominance
Picture from Wikipedia

6. But, are their fears really
“Groundless”?
13 Mar 2011, The agency
said, “A level 4 (of 7) accident
with local consequences” Actually 7
16 Dec 2011, PM said, “The
situation is now stabilised.” Dismissed by the next PM
7 Sep 2013, the new PM said,
“The situation is under
control.” - Tanks still leaking
Picture from Wikipedia

7. Must have sound like
familiar lies...
“I lost in a gamble but it’s
no big deal.”
“I am done with that
woman. She will not bother
you at all any more.”
“The business is going well.
You have nothing to worry
about.”
Picture from Wikipedia

8. Seeking the truth, but why
Twitter?
@DesperateHousewife is not so
exposing as “Susan Mayer”
140 characters are not
intimidating but still can say
much in Japanese
Simple as “Ditto RT...”, “I agree
RT...” or “Spread this RT...”
All broke the barriers to step
out to global communication
Screenshot from twitter.com

9. NO MORE HIBAKU...
@DesperateHousewife
Signed up to seek the truth about Fukushima. Everybody,
escape! Reports on mass media are all lies! No safe places
in Japan until all the nuclear reactors decommissioned.
Australia
escape_from_fallout.blog...

10. How much can you say in
140 characters?
“Nuclear plants are, in a sense, a symbol
of Japan as a whole. Unreasonableness
after unreasonableness, dedications and
sacrifices are taken for granted, bearing
enormous stresses while making no
mistakes is expected without any praises,
being proud of achievements is strictly
discouraged and severe punishments are
sure to follow if something goes wrong.
The desire to stop nuclear power stations
may be a desperate call for stopping
Japan being as it currently is.”
In Japanese 140 characters
In English 467 characters (73 words)
Screenshot from favstar.fm

11. Quoting culture
Quoting is preferred over
using own words
Building their arguments
on something already said
Avoiding completely
original stances
Preferring just showing
support over reviewing
Picture from Wikipedia

12. Supporting and get
together
Favouring and Retweet
Following and Selecting
into Lists
Mention and Direct
Messages
#GetRidOfNuclearStations
togetter.com
Picture from Wikipedia

13. Favouring and Retweet
Favouring and Retweet (or
RT) to show support
Less noticeable Favouring
is often preferred
RT can be used as marking
the target to debunk
The Charts are available
here: favstar.fm
Screenshot from favstar.fm

14. Following and Lists
Non verbal ways to show
support
Follow back encouraged in
return
List names can convey
message - e.g. “people I
respect”
Japanese expatriates often
attract many followers
Screenshot from twitter.com

15. Mention and Direct
Message
Many prefer to tweet to a
person over to the public
Others can jump in to
mentions but Direct
Messages are private
Help build and maintain
friendly relationships
within the “Cluster” (the
likeminded)
Screenshot from twitter.com

16. #GetRidOfNuclearStations
#GetRidOfNuclearStations
only requires # and 3
characters in Japanese
Multiple tags are often used
in combinations
Some tags have very complex
meaning like
“#ThereWouldBeNoSafePlac
esInJapanEverybodyEscape”
Screenshot from twitter.com

17. togetter.com
Tool to make shared
summaries of tweets
Pick and arrange tweets
into a summary as you like
Reflect Editor’s views with
many decorating features
Circulated by Retweets of
the tweet with its URL
Screenshot from togetter.com

18. The result: Japanese
exodus
Exodus of tens of thousands
of Japanese people
comparable to “Kiwi exodus
across the Tasman”
They had previously been
predominantly domestic and
unfamiliar with emigration
in any form
An unprecedented scale of
event and still counting.

19. Maybe we see some
similarities here
Some say it’s toxic and very
dangerous
Experts say it’s controlled
and safe
“Old” natural vs artificial
debates included
Even a “reconfirmed” policy
required such turmoil
Picture from Waikato DHB website

20. Complex
Chaos
Knowable
Known
Pictures from Wikipedia, Figure based on Snowden (2003)
Snowden D. Complex Acts of Knowing: Paradox and Descriptive Self-Awareness. Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology. 2003;29(4):23-8

21. Conclusions
Social media can provide a
way to express and unite
suppressed voices
Social media can help people
make sense of their concerns
and find the like-minded
Failure to acknowledge it
may lead to the ultimate optout from health systems
Picture from Ministry of Health

22. Kaihōpara mana
potential explorer

23. Thank you
Tēnā koutou