Nuclear Watch

NUCLEAR WATCH

March 5, 2015

Maintaining the Tragic Memories

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/nuclearwatch/20150305.html

Nearly 4 years after the Great East Japan Earthquake, NHK surveyed residents of the 3 hardest-hit prefectures. Of the more than 700 respondents, nearly 80 percent felt that the public's focus on the disaster and the ensuing nuclear accident is fading. One resident has dedicated himself to passing his experiences on to others, in a bid to keep the memories alive.

61-year-old Kenichi Hasegawa, a dairy farmer from the village of Iitate, in Fukushima prefecture, visited Hokkaido last month to share his experiences.

The nuclear accident forced him to destroy all of his milk cows.

"I was standing there in my empty cowshed, wondering what I could do... how I could support my family," Hasegawa said.

Dairy farmers in Iitate were not allowed to ship their milk because of the nuclear fallout.

They had no choice but to get rid of their cows, into which they had poured so much work and love. One tragedy fed off another.

"Had it not been for the nuclear plant..." is how a message written on a wall begins.

The message was left by a colleague of Hasegawa's who committed suicide three months after the disaster.

It was then that Hasegawa decided to start his speaking campaign in Japan and abroad to let people know about the dire situation in Fukushima.

"I thought to myself, 'This is absolutely unacceptable. Period. I have to tell everybody about this.' That's how I got started," Hasegawa said.

Hasegawa is concerned that the public may be losing interest in the tragic events of four years ago. And in the fact that the disasters are still casting a big shadow over peoples' lives.

Entries in his datebook record the 250 speeches he has given. He gave 100 in the first year after the disaster.

But now he gives only half as many.

"It's gradually fading away. The memory is slowly disappearing from the minds of the Japanese people. That's what I feel very strongly," Hasegawa said.

With an evacuation order still in effect, access to the entire village remains restricted. Amid all the uncertainty, Hasegawa made the major decision this winter to tear down his cowshed.

The move was prompted by the decision of his frustrated eldest son, who is in his 30s, to leave the village to start a dairy farm somewhere else.

None of his family members can foresee a time when they can return home. Despite all the turmoil, Hasegawa headed off to give another speech, this time in Tokyo.

"What can we do in such a tainted village?" Hasegawa asked. "There are no young people. What would the elderly do even if they were to return? That's the reality we have to face squarely."

Hasegawa stressed that the people of his hometown share a feeling of being trapped, with no way out.

"I am relieved to know that there are still people in Tokyo who care about us," Hasegawa said. "I hope they will help spread my words. Keeping them interested in the disaster is critical now. That's the way I see it."