The 43 students studying Japanese at The Japan Center for Michigan Universities (JCMU) in Hikone have been ordered to return to the U.S. by March 25, 2011. The 2011 Spring semester students have been in Shiga since September 2010.

On March 18, the JCMU head office in Lansing, Michigan suspended the spring semester and gave the evacuation order based on a US State Department travel advisory issued after the Tohoku earthquake/tsunami/radiation threat.

This travel advisory has since been revised and it no longer says that all Americans should leave Japan (no matter where they are). It recommends evacuation only within the 80km (50 mi.) radius from the nuclear plant in Fukushima.

This is a very regrettable development because Shiga Prefecture (and Kyoto) has been physically unaffected by the Tohoku disaster. It’s totally safe here, and things are normal (except for the current shortage of bottled water).

All the prefectures in Japan have been monitoring radiation levels, and absolutely no increase in radiation levels has been detected in Shiga.

I understand that worried families and school admins back home want their kids to leave Japan. But like so many sensationalized press reports, official reports, travel warnings, and mass behavior, leaving Shiga is a gross overreaction.

Japan is not a leper in this world. Unfortunately, outside the stricken areas, the psychological stress/damage/toll on people is greater than actual physical stress. Smoking a cigarette is much more lethal than breathing the air in Tokyo. I really hope people come to their senses soon.

To those leaving JCMU, I’m very sorry to see you go, especially when you’ll miss the cherry blossoms. Take care, and I hope that the May and Summer Programs will go ahead this year.