Kathmandu. Can you imagine a city where gas masks have become as essential as mobile phones, keys and wallets of the human body? Where life does not move on the ticking of the clock, but on the sirens of toxic air? A world where citizens shopping in the market, children cycling on the streets, women picking vegetables in the market, or fishermen picking nets on the seashore all have black masks hanging from their necks. <\/p>\n
When a loud siren blaring in the air from a loud speaker, the hustle and bustle of the city suddenly comes to a standstill. No one runs and no one screams. Vehicles stop where they are, the noise of the market stops, and in a few seconds, everyone pulls the mask hanging from their neck over their faces without any hesitation. <\/p>\n
This scene is not from a Hollywood horror movie or a fantasy thriller. It is the daily reality of the Japanese island of Miyake-jima, located in the Pacific Ocean. Known worldwide as ‘Gas Mask Island’, the life of this city is dictated by sirens, and the poison in the air determines the fate of its inhabitants. <\/p>\n
Miyake-jima, located about 180 kilometers south of Tokyo, the capital of Japan, falls under the jurisdiction of the Tokyo Metropolitan Administration. From a distance, the island looks like a delightful tourist destination surrounded by green mountains and a clear blue sea. However, right in the middle of it is a highly active volcano, Mount Oyama. This volcano does not only blow fire and lava. It also continuously emits highly toxic sulfur dioxide. <\/p>\n
Sulfur dioxide is an invisible and highly pungent gas. It can instantly burn the lungs. If its concentration in the air increases, even one breath can cause suffocation and death in a few minutes. The history of Miyake-jima is full of volcanic eruptions. <\/p>\n
An event in the mid-2000s threw the island into the pages of history. Mount Oyama experienced a series of powerful explosions. As a result, millions of tons of sulfur dioxide were released into the atmosphere. <\/p>\n
The toxic air quality became so dangerous that in September 2000, the Japanese government took emergency measures and ordered the entire island to be evacuated overnight. All 3,600 citizens were evacuated to mainland Tokyo by ship and military helicopters. For the next several years, this beautiful island remained completely deserted. Only scientists and research teams wearing special chemical suits were allowed to visit. <\/p>\n
After the volcanic gas emissions subsided slightly, the residents of their homes begged to return. After an environmental review, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Japan Meteorological Agency allowed citizens to return under very strict official guidelines. The local administration issued a clear order: every citizen and tourist entering the island must wear a functional gas mask at all times. <\/p>\n
The administration set up more than 19 high-tech gas-monitoring stations across the island to measure sulfur dioxide in the air every second. Green alerts, yellow alerts and red alert sirens sound. On the red alert, residents are notified that the gas level has exceeded the lethal limit and are immediately told to wear a mask and go to shelter. According to emergency services, this is the only legal and practical passport to survival on the island. <\/p>\n
Currently, about 2,200 people live on the island. Fearing the outside world, it has become a normal routine for the inhabitants. In primary and secondary schools, children are taught how to wear a gas mask within 3 seconds of the siren sounding along with math and science. Even when playing football or volleyball on the field, the black mask hangs around their neck. When fishermen leave their boats in the sea, a gas mask box is attached to their life jackets. <\/p>\n
Homes, offices, and public buildings are equipped with special air-filtration systems. If a red siren goes off in an area for a long time, residents quietly return to the nearest underground wind-tight shelter and wait for the situation to return to normal. <\/p>\n
Amazingly, this life-threatening threat has given rise to an entirely new model of tourism in Miyake-jima. This is known as ‘damage tourism’. Thousands of adventure travelers, geologists, and environmental scientists from all over the world visit this unique island. <\/p>\n
As soon as the passenger ship docks at the port of Miyake-jima, tourists must first buy or rent a gas mask. Tourists come to see the streets covered with volcanic ash, the phantom forest of dead trees, and the unique spirit of human survival. <\/p>\n
Miyake-jima’s life teaches us that when nature is at its most aggressive, humanity has only two options: either abandon the territory forever or adapt to danger through discipline and technology. The people of Miyake-jima chose the latter. The gas masks hanging around their necks do not symbolize their helplessness. But it symbolizes the triumph of their unwavering will and disciplined life over the poison of nature. -Agency<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kathmandu. Can you imagine a city where gas masks have become as essential as mobile phones, keys and wallets of the human body? Where life does not move on the ticking of the clock, but on the sirens of toxic air? A world where citizens shopping in the market, children cycling on the streets, women […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":320734,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45044,45159],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-320737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-news-en","category-news-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.insurancekhabar.com\/ikbrapi\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.insurancekhabar.com\/ikbrapi\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.insurancekhabar.com\/ikbrapi\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.insurancekhabar.com\/ikbrapi\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.insurancekhabar.com\/ikbrapi\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=320737"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/english.insurancekhabar.com\/ikbrapi\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320737\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":320738,"href":"https:\/\/english.insurancekhabar.com\/ikbrapi\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320737\/revisions\/320738"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.insurancekhabar.com\/ikbrapi\/wp\/v2\/media\/320734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.insurancekhabar.com\/ikbrapi\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=320737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.insurancekhabar.com\/ikbrapi\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=320737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.insurancekhabar.com\/ikbrapi\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=320737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}