Japan: TEPCO Chief MIA. Why and Where Is He?

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From Denny: TEPCO Chief Masataka Shimizu, who has not been seen in public since 16 March, is the subject of speculation. Japanese media is swirling with suicide rumors as an explanation for his absence.

It was March 15 when the Prime Minister Naoto Kan angrily demanded to know from Shimizu and other TEPCO executives, shouting, "What the hell is going on?" PM Kan was furious at how slow Shimizu was at informing him of the crisis at the plant and the seriousness of the situation.

The next day Shimizu claimed to be sick in his bed though he was still collecting information from the task force pulled together by the company and the government. Yet he was never visible to anyone, again claiming to be just in the next room resting or at home sick. He never attended crisis meetings or visited TEPCO HQ nor did he relinquish control of the crisis to deputies until just recently.

It was Shimizu who delayed use of sea water in a timely fashion to cool the overheating reactors because he was worried about the damage it could cause. That gave credibility to the Tokyo Governor who accused him of being too slow in his response as well as "greedy" to reuse the reactors: "Had they used sea water from the start we wouldn’t be in this situation."