Evacuee speaking

 January 7, 2015

Japan Political Pulse: Insight from a Fukushima evacuee

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/perspectives/news/20150107p2a00m0na003000c.html

What does reconstruction and recovery from the Fukushima nuclear disaster mean? Late last year, I visited a man in his 60s living in a temporary housing facility in the Fukushima Prefecture city of Koriyama. He spoke to me about the needs that are covered neither by compensation payments nor by the government's reconstruction budget, the failure of politicians to fill in that gap, and his anger toward misguided criticisms of Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) and the government.

***

The man lived in the village of Kawauchi located next to Okuma, one of two villages hosting TEPCO's Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant.

"To be honest, I'm just exhausted," he said. "(After the accident), I just fled, right? But it wasn't like I lived here (in temporary housing) from the beginning. I stayed with relatives, going from place to place. Then I haggled over whether my house in the village was going to be decontaminated or not, and then over where the contaminated soil was going to be temporarily stored. After that, there was controversy over the installation of an incinerator for debris. Now we're arguing over compensation. In all honesty, whether or not to oppose nuclear power is irrelevant to me right now."

Evacuation orders for Kawauchi have been lifted, save for one small section, but only 600 of the 2,700 villagers have returned. When residents who are in the village at least four days a week are included in the tally, the number comes out to about 1,400. The village mayor has expressed enthusiasm for building infrastructure and bringing in private companies to encourage residents to return, but both efforts have been slow-going. People are still concerned about radiation exposure in the village, the levels of which, according to national guidelines, are within "acceptable" levels.

"The experts all say different things, right? The government might say it's safe, but doctors who've returned to work have left their families behind elsewhere, and some university professors have said publicly that they would never come to Fukushima. That confirms our suspicions," the man said. "As for whether thyroid cancer is increasing, who really knows? I know some people in their 40s and 50s have recently taken tests and received B2 results (the presence of nodes or cysts, indicating a need for further tests), and they've decided to leave the village."

With the lifting of Kawauchi's evacuation order, TEPCO has stopped the monthly 100,000-yen per person compensation payments to village residents. This development has hit the villagers hard, but the man says that the perception that TEPCO is reluctant to compensate victims is mistaken.

"TEPCO is dealing with compensation responsibly," he said. "In fact, many millionaires have emerged as a result of compensation for lost land and businesses. The problem is the difference between the treatment of those who were under government orders to evacuate and those who evacuated of their own accord, even if they suffered similar damage. The issue is what they're going to do about that gap.

"Not everyone in Kawauchi is struggling financially. Some have made lots of money from the reconstruction budget, like those involved in decontamination. I see them driving around in 6-million-yen cars," he continued. "I think it's a good thing that more people are getting richer. What's important now is rebuilding the lives of those of us who don't feel the benefits of compensation payments and the reconstruction budget."

"I think politics is meant to serve people like that, but in real life, politicians rush recklessly toward building infrastructure in the name of the public good. There's very little in terms of benefits for individuals in times of disaster. I think we're at a point where this has to change.

"I don't want you to misunderstand me. I'm not criticizing the government. But I think the government wants to lift all restrictions regardless of whether radiation levels are high, and move forward with preparing for the Olympics (in 2020). The village's senior officials had no choice but to agree to that policy. As a result, the village protected itself, and failed to sufficiently protect its people.

"I hate the mass media. I hardly ever agree to interviews from the Mainichi Shimbun or the Asahi Shimbun. You want to know why? I'm sorry to say this, but the content is really shallow."

***

What do reconstruction and recovery mean? What is the role of politics? What should be the media's relationship to what's happening? We can find clues in the man's statements. As he was about to leave, I asked him a foolish question: "What's your hope for the new year?" He took a moment to think about it and smiled ironically. "To stay the course, I guess." (By Takao Yamada, Expert Senior Writer)

January 07, 2015(Mainichi Japan)