"Snow Drop" to raise awareness about evacuees

 October 13, 2015

Fukushima evacuee group to sell handmade items at Tokyo awareness event

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20151013p2a00m0na016000c.html

A group of evacuees from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant disaster are hoping to raise awareness about the realities nuclear evacuees face by opening a one-day store selling handmade goods in Tokyo next week.

The group, called Snow Drop, was established to support self-reliance among voluntary evacuees from Fukushima Prefecture and has sold handmade items at events and lectures. The group is now busy preparing for a stall to open at an event to be held at Kiba Park in Koto Ward on Oct. 24.

"We would like to create an opportunity to raise awareness about the realities faced by voluntary evacuees and Fukushima Prefecture, if only a little," said a representative of the group. According to the group, there is a strong desire among nuclear evacuees to produce something on their own instead of just receiving support from others.

Kazuko Nihei, 39, a core member of the group who works as a temp staffer, evacuated from the city of Fukushima to Tokyo's Nerima Ward along with her two daughters. "We can stay positive if items we produce using our skills receive favorable feedback and generate even a little profit," Nihei said. The items produced by the group include coasters, straps, wallets and accessories using "Aizu Momen" cotton -- a specialty of Fukushima's Aizu region -- and other materials.

Even 4 1/2 years after the Fukushima meltdowns, there are many voluntary evacuees who are forced to lead a "dual life" -- where husbands remain in Fukushima to work and their wives and children live outside the prefecture as evacuees. Such living conditions sometimes result in divorces and fatherless families. An increase in living and transportation costs, as well as a drop in salaries due to job transfers, are taking a heavy toll on evacuees.

The group -- originally established in November 2012 by a group of mothers who evacuated from outside government-designated evacuation areas in Fukushima -- currently has around five members, who live in Tokyo, Ibaraki, Kanagawa and other prefectures. As the members are busy with work and child-rearing, they can hardly get together. "I once thought about suspending our activities," Nihei said, but decided to keep doing them to maintain bonding among evacuees in a society where she feels their presence is fading from people's memories.

For more information, visit the group's website at: https://www.facebook.com/snwdrp