Ishikawa to give 2011 golf earnings to Japan victims
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Mar. 31, 2011
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Ryo Ishikawa first made people take notice because of his golf. He won his first Japan Golf Tour event as a 15-year-old amateur, won the money title at 17 and last year became the first player to shoot 58 on a major tour.
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His latest eye-opening feat brought attention to his heart.
Wanting to do his part to help victims of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated his native Japan, Ishikawa decided to donate his entire tournament earnings this year -- plus a bonus for every birdie he makes -- toward relief efforts.
"I don't view this as pressure to perform, but it will instead be extra motivation for me," Ishikawa said Friday in an email to The Associated Press. "I always believe in myself, but because I am playing for the people of Japan, I feel like I will be playing with a greater purpose this year."
Ishikawa, who at 19 already has nine wins on the Japan Golf Tour, was third on Japan's money list last year with just over $1.82 million.
He also has pledged about $1,200 (100,000 yen) for every birdie. He led the Japanese tour last year with 341 birdies, which would amount to over $400,000.
Even in a sport driven by charity, Ishikawa's generosity caught the attention of his colleagues.
"It's the most unbelievable gesture ever, isn't it?" Geoff Ogilvy said Friday. "I saw it fly past last night on Twitter and I thought, 'Ah, that's nice.' About five minutes later I said, 'Hang on a minute. All his prize money?' Which is ridiculous for anybody, but for someone who's 19 to have that level of thought for others ... it's amazing."
Ishikawa was playing the Cadillac Championship at Doral on March 11 when he awoke to news of the earthquake and tsunami, and saw horrific images of the destruction. He finished off a 65 in the first round, then struggled the rest of the week.
He missed the cut at the Transitions Championship and Arnold Palmer Invitational, then headed to Augusta, Ga., this week to meet up with his family and get ready for the Masters. Ishikawa is from Saitama, about 300 miles away from the area hardest hit by the tsunami.
Ishikawa.jpg
Ishikawa
Ishikawa said he has spent most of his money on making life easier for himself, from building a short-game practice facility near his house to buying fitness equipment.
"I feel fortunate to be in a position to afford such things, but I know that my success is a result of the support of so many people," he said in the email. "While golf is my profession, and I want to have a long and successful career, there are things that are more important. And the people of Japan are dealing with life and death issues as a result of the earthquake and tsunami.
"I feel it is my turn to give back in whatever way I can to support the people who have been so supportive of me."
Known earlier in his career as "Bashful Prince," Ishikawa has become the face of golf in Japan. He played 34 times last year, including one stretch of 20 tournaments in 22 weeks, because the tour and sponsors lean so heavily on him.
Ogilvy is among those who understand the level of attention Ishikawa generates in Japan. He was playing the Taheiyo Masters toward the end of 2007 when he saw a horde of photographers rushing across the practice green, cameras over their heads to snap pictures. Ogilvy asked who they were following and was told, "This is the kid who's going to save the Japanese Tour."
"He's probably close to being the most famous sportsman in Japan," Ogilvy said. "He's the Tiger Woods of Japan. And a lot of people will see what he's done. It's another sign of how grown up he is."
Ishikawa played for the International team in the Presidents Cup two years ago in San Francisco. He went 3-2, with the two losses coming against the undefeated tandem of Woods and Steve Stricker.
"I spent a week with him at the Presidents Cup," Ogilvy said. "You don't learn a person in a week. But it doesn't surprise me. You spend time with him and realize that he's a good guy. This isn't a PR thing. He must feel very strongly about his country."
Word of his gesture began to filter through the golf industry Thursday night and Friday.
"Ryo's unselfish pledge to donate all his worldwide prize money this year ... is an indication of the maturity this 19-year-old has demonstrated on and off the golf course since he burst onto the international golf stage," PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said.
"That's unbelievable. I haven't heard of anybody doing that," Stricker said from the Houston Open. "It's a great testament to what kind of kid he is. It obviously touches him pretty deeply."
"It warmed my heart that he is the type of character we thought he was, and he continues to display it," said Gerald Goodman, who offered Ishikawa his first PGA Tour exemption two years ago at the Transitions Championship. "Athletes from Japan are rallying to help their country. But to give it all? That's something."
The hardest part for Ishikawa was being patient in deciding what he should do. Jumbo Ozaki, who is to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in May, suggested that Japanese players donate 20 percent of their earnings.
Ishikawa decided to go even further.
"I wanted to help right away, but I discussed with my staff and family over the past three weeks and came up with the idea," Ishikawa said. "A number of other Japanese athletes announced their support right away, and I felt a bit of pressure of jump in quickly. But I wanted to take the time to figure out how I could help best.
"I believed right away that it was the right thing to do and am very motivated to not only raise money for the people of Japan, but hopefully also encourage them as the country recovers."
What a statement to make by a 19 year old.
E2EK1EL
WOW!!!! I'll buy this phone b/c of the ad, GO JAPAN!
Xavier Moriarty
quote:
Originally posted by VDub
Why do you say that??
You don't think that our road crews would be capable of that type of repair in an emergency situation??
lol. even if they could im pretty sure they wouldnt.
VDub
quote:
Originally posted by Xavier Moriarty
lol. even if they could im pretty sure they wouldnt.
Yes agreed but they would be capable...
Just sayin...
E2EK1EL
More radioactive water spills into sea off Japan
RIKUZENTAKATA, JAPAN—More highly radioactive water spilled into the sea from a tsunami-disabled nuclear plant and authorities struggled to seal the leak, as frustrated survivors of last month’s disaster complained that Japan’s government was paying too much attention to the nuclear crisis.
The contaminated water will quickly dissipate into the sea and is not expected to cause any health hazard, but pooling water at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant has hampered the work of technicians trying to stabilize the complex’s reactors. Pouring concrete has so far failed to fill the crack.
Word of the leak Saturday came as Prime Minister Naoto Kan toured the town of Rikuzentakata, his first trip to survey damage in one of the dozens of villages, towns and cities slammed by the March 11 tsunami that followed a magnitude-9.0 earthquake.
“The government has been too focused on the Fukushima power plant rather than the tsunami victims. Both deserve attention,” said 35-year-old Megumi Shimanuki, who was visiting her family at a community centre converted into a shelter in hard-hit Natori, about 160 kilometres from Rikuzentakata.
The double disaster is believed to have left nearly 25,000 dead — 11,800 confirmed. More than 165,000 are still living in shelters, and tens of thousands more still do not have electricity or running water.
Although the government had rushed to provide relief, its attention has been divided by the efforts to stabilize the Fuskushima plant, which suffered heavy damage and has spiralled into the world’s worst nuclear crisis since the 1986 meltdown at Chornobyl in the former Soviet Union.
The plant’s reactors overheated to dangerous levels after electrical pumps — deprived of power — failed to circulate water to keep them cool. A series of almost daily problems have led to substantial amounts of radiation leaking into the atmosphere, ground and sea.
On Saturday, workers discovered a 20-centimetre long crack in a maintenance pit, from which water containing levels of radioactive iodine far above the legal limit was spilling into the Pacific, said Japan Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency spokesman Hidehiko Nishiyama.
Over the past 10 days, pools of contaminated water have been found throughout the plant and high levels of radioactivity have been measured in the ocean, but this marks the first time authorities said they had found a spot where the water was directly entering the sea.
The ultimate source of the contaminated water is believed to be one of the reactor cores.
A search of the plant found no other similar leaks leading directly to the ocean. “We believe that’s the only crack,” said Naoki Tsunoda, a spokesman for the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co.
Soon after the discovery, workers tried to seal the crack but could not get the concrete to dry. Next, they will try injecting polymer, according to Tsunoda.
The amount of water spilling into the ocean is not clear, but a picture released by TEPCO shows water shooting some distance away from a wall and splashing into the sea.
People living within 20 kilometres of the plant have been evacuated, but it was unclear if the leak posed any new danger to workers.
A nuclear plant worker who fell into the ocean Friday while trying to board a barge carrying water to help cool the plant did not show any immediate signs of being exposed to unsafe levels of radiation, nuclear safety officials said Saturday, but they were waiting for test results to be sure.
Radiation worries have compounded the misery for people trying to recover from the tsunami. Kan’s visit Saturday to Rikuzentakata did little to alleviate their worries.
“The government fully supports you until the end,” Kan told 250 people at an elementary school serving as an evacuation centre. He earlier met with the mayor, whose 38-year-old wife was swept away by the tsunami.
The prime minister bowed his head for a moment of silence in front of the town hall, one of the few buildings still standing, though its windows are blown out and metal and debris sit tangled out front.
Kan also stopped at the sports complex being used as a base camp for nuclear plant workers, who have been hailed as heroes for labouring in dangerous conditions. He had visited the nuclear crisis zone once before, soon after the quake.
Workers have been reluctant to talk to the media about what they are experiencing, but one who spent several days at the plant described difficult conditions in an anonymous interview published Saturday in the national Mainichi newspaper.
When he was called in mid-March to help restore power at the plant, he said he did not tell his family because he did not want them to worry. But he did tell a friend to notify his parents if he did not return in two weeks.
“I feel very strongly that there is nobody but us to do this job, and we cannot go home until we finish the work,” he said.
Early on, the company ran out of full radiation suits, forcing workers to create improvised versions of items such as nylon booties they were supposed to pull over their shoes.
“But we only put something like plastic garbage bags you can buy at a convenience store and sealed them with masking tape,” he said.
He said the tsunami littered the area around the plant with dead fish and sharks, and that the quake opened holes in the ground that tripped up some workers who could not see through large gas masks. They had to yell at one another to be heard through the masks.
“It’s hard to move while wearing a gas mask,” he said. “While working, the gas mask came off several times. Maybe I must have inhaled much radiation.”
Radiation is also a concern for people living around the plant. In the city of Koriyama, Tadashi and Ritsuko Yanai and their 1-month-old baby have spent the past three weeks in a sports arena converted into a shelter. Baby Kaon, born a week before the quake, has grown accustomed to life there, including frequent radiation screenings, but his parents have not.
Asked if he had anything he would like to say to the prime minister, Tadashi, a 32-year-old father, paused to think and then replied: “We want to go home. That’s all, we just want to go home.”
In Natori, where about 1,700 people are living in shelters, others had stronger words for Kan. Toru Sato, 57, lost both his wife and his house in the tsunami and said he was bothered that Kan’s visit to the quake zone was so brief — about a half day.
“He’s just showing up for an appearance,” Sato said. “He should spend time to talk to various people, and listen to what they need.”
jester
E2EK1EL
I talk to my car everytime I have to drive through snowstorm.
jchung52
Is it possible rather than trying to contain the leak at the point of origin to build around the leak a concrete containment structure or maybe a series of structures? Start 200 feet out and make sure its solid. Then the radiation can leak into each and eventually coming to an end. Or perhaps secondary storage site so that they can funnel the radioactive water to it once it is completed. Not sure if this understandable lol
Sly_Guy
quote:
Originally posted by jchung52
Is it possible rather than trying to contain the leak at the point of origin to build around the leak a concrete containment structure or maybe a series of structures? Start 200 feet out and make sure its solid. Then the radiation can leak into each and eventually coming to an end. Or perhaps secondary storage site so that they can funnel the radioactive water to it once it is completed. Not sure if this understandable lol
no, because you would have to suspend the radioactive material in mid air as you build around it. Meltdown occurs whenever the radioactive material in the core has broken free of it's controlled reaction rate and gives off heat and energy in excess of what was intended. The material comprising the core of the reactor, which is used to keep the fuel rods cool cannot keep up, and the fuel melts through it's housing. The only thing you can do is try to pump liquid over the top, of let the reaction run itself out.
patpicos
quote:
Originally posted by Sly_Guy
no, because you would have to suspend the radioactive material in mid air as you build around it. Meltdown occurs whenever the radioactive material in the core has broken free of it's controlled reaction rate and gives off heat and energy in excess of what was intended. The material comprising the core of the reactor, which is used to keep the fuel rods cool cannot keep up, and the fuel melts through it's housing. The only thing you can do is try to pump liquid over the top, of let the reaction run itself out.
i was watching Nat.Geo about 3 mile island and they said that once the core goes above 5000 degrees, there is no stopping of the meltdown. They said that even all the water in an ocean could cool the core back down. 3 mile island came pretty close to it.
A core meltdown would burn thru everything in its path and would create a crater about 1/4 mile deep.
Sly_Guy
quote:
Originally posted by devnull
i was watching Nat.Geo about 3 mile island and they said that once the core goes above 5000 degrees, there is no stopping of the meltdown. They said that even all the water in an ocean could cool the core back down. 3 mile island came pretty close to it.
A core meltdown would burn thru everything in its path and would create a crater about 1/4 mile deep.
yep, and that's the scenario there's facing. I don't know how far away they're from it, but they might soon run out of options and just have to let it burn through.
E2EK1EL
TOKYO—Japanese engineers were forced on Monday to release radioactive water into the sea while resorting to desperate measures such as using bath salts to try to find the source of leaks at a crippled nuclear power complex hit by a tsunami on March 11.
Engineers also planned to build two giant “silt curtains” made of polyester fabric in the sea to hinder the spread of more contamination from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant, 240 kilometres north of Tokyo.
The plant operator released low-level radioactive seawater that had been used to cool overheated fuel rods after it ran out of storage capacity for more highly contaminated water, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said.
“We have instructed strict monitoring of the ocean to firmly grasp the impact on the environment,” said Edano.
Operator Tokyo Electric Power said it would release more than 10,000 tonnes of contaminated water that was about 100 times more radioactive than legal limits in order to free up storage capacity for more highly contaminated water.
“We are very sorry for this region and those involved,” a tearful TEPCO official told a news conference.
Engineers are still struggling to regain control of damaged reactors at the plant in the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in 1986, with the government urging TEPCO to act faster to stop radiation spreading.
But it could take months to stem the leaks, warned one official, and even longer to regain control of the power station, damaged by last month’s quake and tsunami.
DISASTER MAY SEE YEN WEAKEN
The 9.0 magnitude quake and tsunami left nearly 28,000 people dead or missing and Japan’s northeast coast a splintered wreck. The world’s costliest natural disaster has hit economic production and left a damages bill which may top $300 billion.
“The damage from the nuclear crisis and the subsequent power shortage will last for several years,” said Eiji Hirano, former assistant governor of the Bank of Japan.
“There’s a strong chance Japan’s economy will contract in the current fiscal year,” he told Reuters in an interview.
Japan’s former currency czar Eisuke Sakakibara said the yen would weaken in coming months, possibly beyond 90 to the dollar, underlining expectations a near four-year rally in the currency may be over.
The yen traded at 84.05 per dollar on Monday.
The disaster initially saw the yen soar with speculation Japanese would repatriate funds for reconstruction, prompting the G7 intervention to knock it back.
“This atomic power issue is an incident which would result in depreciation of the exchange rate,” Sakakibara, a former senior bank official, told foreign correspondents in Tokyo.
Unpopular and under pressure to quit or call a snap poll before the disaster, Prime Minister Naoto Kan has been criticized for his management of the disaster in the world’s third largest economy.
In the face of Japan’s biggest crisis since World War Two, one newspaper poll said nearly two-thirds of voters wanted the government to form a coalition with the major opposition party and work together to recover from the natural disaster.
Japan’s two biggest parties may put aside bitter rivalry to join forces but partisan bickering could delay funding for massive reconstruction.
BATH SALTS, SEA CURTAIN
In their desperation to stop radioactive leaks, TEPCO engineers have used anything at hand.
At the weekend, they mixed sawdust and newspapers with polymers and cement in an unsuccessful attempt to seal a crack in a concrete pit at reactor No. 2.
On Monday, they resorted to powdered bath salts to produce a milky colour in water to help trace the source of the leak.
TEPCO said it was also planning to drape a curtain into the sea off the nuclear plant to try to prevent radioactive silt drifting out into the ocean.
The silt-blocking fence will take several days to prepare, said Hidehiko Nishiyama, deputy director-general of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.
The exact source of the radiation leaks remains a mystery, with NISA investigating a damaged embankment near a sluice gate at the No. 2 reactor and the possibility it may be seeping through a layer of small stones below a concrete pipe.
TEPCO said it would build tanks to hold contaminated seawater, with a total capacity equivalent of six Olympic swimming pools. It was also towing a floating tank, to arrive next week, and was negotiating the purchase of three more.
Radioactive iodine 4,800 times the legal limit was recorded in the sea off the plant last week. The contamination later fell to 11 times, but spiked to 630 times the legal limit on Saturday, said Japan’s Nuclear and Industry Safety Authority.
“We need to stop the spread of (contaminated water) into the ocean as soon as possible. With that strong determination, we are asking Tokyo Electric Power Co to act quickly,” said Edano.
“If the current situation continues for a long time, accumulating more radioactive substances, it will have a huge impact on the ocean.”
WORLD RADIATION FEARS CONTINUE
Small levels of radiation from the plant have been detected as far away as Europe and the United States and several countries have banned milk and produce from the vicinity.
Singapore extended a ban on Japanese food imports on Monday after detecting radiation in more fruit and vegetable imports. While Kan asked the European Union for a calm response to Japanese imports. The EU has urged radiation testing of Japanese food and feed imports.
After three weeks, many Japanese are angry the humanitarian disaster seems to have taken a back seat to the nuclear crisis.
More than 163,710 people are living in shelters, with more than 70,000 people evacuated from a 20-km no-go zone around the nuclear plant. Another 136,000 people living a further 10 km out have been told to leave or stay indoors.
Though criticized for his crisis management, voter support for Kan’s government rose to 31 per cent in a Yomiuri newspaper poll, from 24 per cent in a survey conducted before the quake.
Almost 70 per cent of respondents, however, believed Kan was not exercising leadership, with 19 per cent wanting him to step down.
