Fox News reveals Tokyo Music Hall “Shibuya Eggman” is really a secret nuclear reactor! (NOT)

Just when you feel like there’s no hope left in the world, and the constant barrage of negative news about the earthquake in Japan and the looming radioactive death storm is getting you down, at least we can count on FOX News to lift our spirits. In a map of nuclear reactors in Japan, they mistakenly managed to list music hall SHIBUYA EGGMAN as one atomic site. Well, no wonder we haven’t had any black-outs in Tokyo yet. We owe it all to those secretly hard-working nuclear power plant employees at Shibuya Eggman. Also the map seems to indicate  that the 9.0 earthquake also moved the town of  Sendai （仙台）about a thousand miles to the southwest. There is actually a power plant in Kyushu called the Sendai （川内）power plant. Different kanji. Kudos to Fox News for getting that right.

Eggman is an established music hall/night club in the Shibuya ward of Tokyo that is reopening tonight with a concert that should lift some spirits. I think I may go and offer a toast to the hard-working volunteers helping to provide relief to the survivors and a moment of silence in mourning for the loss of responsible journalism and so much more.

The Eggman official site lists a very touching tribute to the victims of the earthquake and in very small letters makes an amusing comment on the whole incident in English and Japanese.  The spelling of “powered” is slightly off but less so than the reporting of Fox News.

Maybe Fox News should changed their slogan to: Fox News: Fairly Unbalanced News. We mis-report, you deride. Well, what can you expect from a company owned by News Corporation–except the finest in journalism. By the way, did you know News Corporation also own a controlling interest of National Geographic Television (the generally accurate documentary channel)? Just thought I’d mention that.

For the illumination of our readers, here is an English map of nuclear related facilities in Japan, provided courtesy of Kyushu Denryoku. Notice that Shibuya Eggman Reactor has been completely removed from the map after the devastating report by Fox news was broadcast to the world. While some claim that the reactor doesn’t exist there, there have been credible reports that it is behind the takoyaki (fried octopus) stand near the entrance.  Albeit, a very small nuclear reactor which also appears to be powering the takoyaki stand as well.

Media Matters was probably the first blog to pick up on this breaking story, although they seem to cast aspersions on the credibility of the Fox News report.

UPDATE: Apparently, it was actually a mistake and there is allegedly no nuclear reactor at the Shibuya Eggman dance hall/music hall/night club/entertainment venue. As I was tweeting away today, I was very surprised to see Andy Levy, of Fox News actually tweet me. Good god, this must mean someone other than my little sister reads the tweet feed. He was a little upset and I can understand why. I was less than fair and balanced although generally accurate in covering this minor screw-up. However, it’s not like I don’t screw up news stories either, although admittedly, the JSRC staff is pretty small without the luxury of several fact checkers. (Although, sometimes Sarah and Stephanie check my atrocious grammar.)

I might not like the political leanings of FOX news and I do feel that their news coverage is not fair and balanced at times, but I also know there are journalists there striving to do their best. So jokes aside, I wish them luck and hope they find some capable Japanese journalists to help them out. Brian Ashcraft at Kotaku.com also has a nice piece on this story and  how the desertion of Japan by the foreign press has sown the seeds of misinformation.