Five years after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster of March 12, 2011 in Japan, over one lakh people from the evacuation zones around the Fukushima nuclear power plant have not returned. There are some who did, and tried to put together their lives.
Two such residents, who persisted in the aftermath of the disaster, spoke of their struggles at a press conference in Mumbai organised by the Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP) and the Jaitapur Anuveej Prakalp Virodhi Abhiyaan.
Masami Yoshizawa (62), a cattle-rearer has a ranch in Namie town – an evacuation zone 14 kilometres from the Fukushima power plant. He recalled the nightmare when he heard loud sounds of the reactors exploding.
“We ran towards the mountains and stayed there for four days. After the first reactor blasted, the second and the third too exploded. People began to panic and flee in their cars, leading to huge traffic jams. Our town did not have a bus service and we felt totally helpless. We had no choice but to face radioactive contamination,” Mr Yoshizawa recalled.
A huge dam in his town, water from which irrigated the paddy fields, is useless now. The Japanese government also ordered all the cattle to be killed as they were contaminated.
However Mr. Yoshizawa and a group of other cattle-rearers decided to defy official orders and tend to their animals. “Many cattle died while they were tied to the ropes. Those who remained were ordered to be killed as nobody was going to eat contaminated meat. We took care of 500 cattle. They are living examples of the impact of radioactivity,” he said.
After the disaster Mr Yoshizawa protested before the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). “Japan used to consider nuclear power safe. We made 50 nuclear reactors, but then we had this accident,” he said. Even today, his town remains an evacuation zone, where people are not allowed to return.
Mizuho Sugeno (28), an organic farmer from Towa town in Nihonmatsu city – just outside the evacuation zone — narrated her struggle with eliminating radioactivity from the soil. She was just one year into organic farming when the disaster occurred.
“There was a lot of contamination, but with the technology available to us we took preventive measures. We build technology to make our lives comfortable, but somehow technology brings discomfort in the longer run. I don’t want this kind of incident to happen anywhere in the world. We must join hands and raise our voice to oppose nuclear station,” Ms Sugeno said.
With the advice of agriculture scientists and other knowledge, Ms Sugeno was able to nearly eliminate contamination from her organic farm. She planted sunflower seeds which help reduce radioactivity.
“The problem with radioactivity is that it stays for decades. You cannot see or touch it. The young generation is abandoning my town, but I decided to stay and continue farming,” she said.
Emiko Fujioka, secretary general of the Japan-based NGO Fukushima Beacon for Global Citizens Network (Fukuden) said after the nuclear disaster contamination had spread over east Japan and a large number of evacuees had still not returned home.
Two residents, who persisted in the aftermath of the disaster, speak of their struggles
