In the midst of the nuclear disaster, two worlds collide in Japan: The government — traditionally striving not to lose face — is interested in telling the people as few unpleasant things as possible. However, the population and also more and more politicians are now calling for an end to the cover-up and transparent information more and more indignantly.
In addition to burning reactors and a contaminated environment, the government seems to have one problem in particular: the power plant operator Tepco, which would prefer not to provide information at all. After a fire broke out in a storage pool for spent fuel rods, he said that the local fire department had been notified.
The Zürcher Tages-Anzeiger describes the information debacle aptly: “The schoolboys from Tepco play press conference”
And the Wall Street Journal headlines: “Tepco versus the media” (article in English)