Public status toward radiation and irradiated potatoes at "Youngster's Science Festival" in several cities including Tokyo, Osaka, and Hiroshima, Japan

"Youngster's Science Festival" has been held in several big cities in vario us districts in Japan for the purpose of induction of young students' inter ests in science and scientific experiments. On the basis of the survey resu lts from the participants of the "Radiation Fair" in Osaka, Japan, which wa s presented at the last IMRP, we expanded the area of survey and distribute d questionnaires to the visitors of the above event to inquire their status toward radiation and irradiated products including irradiated potatoes. Th e survey results indicated the same trends as that of the "Radiation Fair" survey. That is, more than half of the older visitors (16 years old and upw ard) indicated that they recognized the word of "radiation" when they were at elementary school and the most significant sources of this information w ere school lessons and the mass media. We will discuss the relationship bet ween consumer's image toward radiation and the description of radiation rel ated topic in school textbooks. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights r eserved.