Miyakoji residents feeling ignored

 April 19, 2014

Rural community near Fukushima nuke plant left in lurch during local election

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20140419p2a00m0na007000c.html 

TAMURA, Fukushima -- The nuclear disaster evacuation order in the Miyakoji district of this city was lifted on April 1, and district residents are wondering why recovery of their community has essentially been ignored by the candidates in an April 20 municipal assembly election.

The easternmost section of the Miyakoji district fell within the 20-kilometer radius exclusion zone around the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, and it is now the first mandatory evacuation area where the evacuation order has been lifted. Most of the 357 people who lived there, however, have yet to return home, and residents who have watched the Tamura Municipal Assembly campaign move along with barely a mention of local recovery are worried about the very survival of their rural community.

One assembly candidate held a small rally in Miyakoji district -- inside the 20-kilometer zone -- on April 16. Among the 35 people on-hand was 49-year-old Masumi Watanabe, who has a home in the eastern part of the district but continues to live as an evacuee in neighboring Koriyama. Watanabe's family -- eight people spanning three generations -- is now spread out over four different locations. And even though the evacuation order barring the family from their home has been lifted, she says that they still can't come back.

"Even if I'm told that the well water has been tested (for radioactive contaminants) and that 'it's OK,' I don't know what's going to happen down the road. I also worry about how much decontamination work will actually get done," Watanabe told the Mainichi. "I want my city councillor to tell the city and the national government how we (eastern Miyakoji residents) feel," she continued. Despite this strong local desire for recognition of the district's plight, candidates' campaign cars were rarely seen in eastern Miyakoji.

The present-day city of Tamura was created in 2005 by an amalgam of five smaller municipalities, including the village of Miyakoji. The district has 2,372 eligible voters, or about 7 percent of the city's total -- the lowest of any of the former towns and villages that make up Tamura. Meanwhile, only two of the 21 candidates for Tamura's 20 assembly seats have built a support base in the district.

A split between residents has also complicated matters in Miyakoji and the city. There are other parts of Tamura where radiation levels are higher than in the district, but the people in those places are entitled to less compensation because they were not forced to evacuate. An assembly candidate drawing support from Tamura's other areas has been complaining mightily that the damage to their constituents from the nuclear disaster "is being underestimated" by the authorities "just because we're 'further away from the plant.'"

In short, the apparently unfair treatment of Tamura's other communities in the wake of the meltdowns has made it hard for assembly candidates to talk about the plight of Miyakoji district, where evacuee compensation is available.

"The difference in compensation and other support has made relations among Tamura's residents pretty awkward," one candidate told the Mainichi.

April 19, 2014(Mainichi Japan)