Only 25% of the returning residents… Fukushima, where there are more monkeys than people

On March 11, 2011, at 2:46 pm, a scale 9.0 tsunami struck Japan’s Tohoku region, including Fukushima, Iwate, and Miyagi. About 18,000 people died, of which 2,500 were not found. Ten years have passed, but the tragedy of the Great East Japan Earthquake continues. Although large-scale reconstruction work has been carried out in the tsunami-affected area, a serious aging is progressing as young people are leaving. Fukushima Prefecture, where the nuclear explosion occurred, still has not escaped the fear of radiation.

On the 6th, when entering Idate-mura, Fukushima Prefecture, an unfamiliar information board indicating the amount of radiation per hour appeared. It was 0.19 μSv (microsievert), which was almost four times higher than the usual 0.05 μSv before the nuclear accident.

Itate-mura is about 60 km northwest of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. The reason why the high radiation dose is observed even though it is so far away is because the wind changed to the northwest wind from the afternoon of March 15, 2011, when nuclear power plant 2 exploded. Clouds containing radioactive materials turned into’cesium snow’ from night, contaminating mountain streams and rice fields silently.

Local residents believe that 10 years after the nuclear accident, a’natural cycle’ of radioactive materials has occurred. Plants grow by absorbing radioactive materials such as cesium in the soil, and radioactive materials contained in fallen leaves are circulated in such a way that they become fertilizer again. Nobuhiro Ito, who has been measuring the radiation dose in the area for several years, said, “Now it is beyond the range of humans. A new catastrophe has begun.”

Ito said, “In soil that has not been decontaminated, the radiation dose of 42,000㏃ (becquerel) per kg is measured. Considering that the half-life of cesium 137 is 30 years, it is calculated that it will take at least 330 years to return to the pre-accident level.”

It was not difficult to find a place where radiation levels quickly rose, just a little outside the monitoring point where the government had installed measuring instruments. This is why it is hard to believe the government’s announcement that “there is no abnormality in the radioactivity level”.

At the home of Eiko Kanno, 84, who returned to Itate-mura in 2018 after living in refuge, a container for delivery of organic ingredients was placed. Kanno said, “I make sure that the ingredients are below the radioactivity standard, and I mainly seek and eat foods that can release radioactive substances that have accumulated in the body,” said Kanno. “Although I may not die from exposure because of my age, it is not without worry about radiation.” .

As we went deep into the village, huge mountains with large black sacks appeared everywhere. The sack contained soil and grass contaminated by radioactivity, and were stacked in 5 layers. There are 1.7 million such black sacks in Itate-mura alone, occupying an area of ​​200 ha (ha). The Japanese government plans to move the contaminated soil sacks to an intermediate storage facility in Futaba-machi, Fukushima Prefecture, and finally take them out of the prefecture 30 years later. However, no local government has yet to accept it.

Itate-mura was home to 6544 residents in January 2011, before the nuclear accident. The number of people who returned after the evacuation order was lifted in 2017 is only 1253, and as of January 2021, the return rate is only 25%. Ito said, “It’s no joke to say that there are more monkeys and wild boars than people.”

“It is said that 6 trillion yen (63 trillion won) was spent on decontamination. However, no matter how much money you spend, it is impossible to return it to before the nuclear accident. The region doesn’t revitalize just because the Olympic torch has passed and a memorial hall has been built. The evidence is that more than 30,000 people are still evacuating outside the prefecture. I would like to ask who the hell is the Tokyo Olympics for?”

“Boom bang… Doo Doo Doo Doo… .”
On the 5th, in the city of Rikuzen Takada in Iwate Prefecture, dozens of forkrains and dump trucks were constantly moving. Construction was underway to raise the ground in the area that was the center of the city before the tsunami. A total area of ​​300ha of ground was refurbished by cutting a nearby mountain, and the height was also raised to 12m. The total construction cost exceeds 200 billion yen (2.1 trillion won). However, the land use rate is only 38.7% (as of June 2020). This is because residents have already moved to the hillside while the construction is delayed.

Shuichi Hatakeyama, 66, said, “At first glance, the maintenance seems to be well done, but it is still a long way to return to normal life. No, I won’t be able to come back any more.” He said, “Because of job or education problems, all young people have left and only the elderly remain.” “The biggest anxiety is that there are no people. I am afraid that I will only be left with wealth for my descendants.”

The population from 24,246 at the time of the great earthquake has declined to 18668 as of November 2020. At that time, 99.5% of households were damaged by the earthquake and tsunami, and about 1,800 people were killed, including those who were missing. The proportion of the city’s 65-year-old or older population is 36.8% (2015), far exceeding the national average of 26.6% in Japan. Declining population and aging have emerged as the biggest challenges in the disaster area.

A 2km long artificial breakwater was built along the coast. Considering the height of the tsunami 10 years ago, a huge concrete wall of 15m was built. Residents were frustrated, saying, “It’s a relief,” saying, “Because I can’t see the sea, I can’t tell if a tsunami is coming.” Murakami Hironobu, 67, said, “I made a levee as high as the last tsunami, but I can’t beat nature.”

Rikuzen Takada (Iwate) · Datemura (Fukushima) = Correspondent Yoon Seol-young [email protected]