On 11 March 2011, the earthquake of magnitude 9 occurred off the Pacific coast of Tohoku in Japan. This earthquake triggered powerful tsunami waves that reached heights of up to 40m and brought catastrophic disaster to the Pacific coast of the Eastern Japan.
The number of the dead and the missing rose to 19,000, and 350,000 people in total are evacuated even now. The damage from the Great East Japan Earthquake is increased by the influence of nuclear accidents. The earthquake and tsunami caused explosions due to hydrogen gas in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant of Tokyo Electric Power Company, and consequently a large quantity of radioactive substances spread and the sea and the soil were contaminated widely. Due to this contamination, many people are apprehensive about the risk of diseases, such as cancer, and pregnant women and parents with little children are particularly in great anxiety. Radioactivity causes damage to genes and the influence of contamination continues for decades. This time, please listen to the voice of a woman, who is a member of our church and lives in Fukushima City.
(Women’s Desk of Nippon Sei Ko Kai – Anglican Church in Japan)
Mieko Nishimaki reports:
On March 11th, 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake caused severe damage to three prefectures in the northeastern region of Japan. Representing people in Fukushima, I would like to express our utmost gratitude to the global community for their support and prayer for us.
I live in Fukushima City where the nuclear power plants are located which have caused a series of accidents since the earthquake. The ramifications of this problem are making us suffer now and will haunt generations to come. Given the opportunity to travel to New York as an Anglican provincial representative to the UN Commission on the Status of Women, I feel like I had a call to testify what is going on in Fukushima.
My hometown, Fukushima City, is located about 60 kilometers (37 miles) from the nuclear power plants. Although my city was lucky enough to receive no damage from the tsunami, many buildings and roads were miserably destroyed by the powerful quakes, resulting in power outage and lost water supply. Since the initial big earthquake on March 11th, we have been suffering from many recurring aftershocks. Some of them were quite strong. In addition to those infrastructural damages, there is growing concern about the health hazard of radiation leaking from the out-of-control nuclear power plants. As you know, the radiation cannot be seen by the human eye, has no smell, no sound, and no taste; we didn’t know what to do. We were told by our government to refrain from hanging clothes to dry outside, to wear a mask when going out, and to minimize going out unless it is really necessary. I would like to express our tremendous frustration at the downplaying of the real damage of high-level radiation, by the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company. Their collaboration in hiding crucial information on the accidents has further infuriated us and deepened our stress and worry.
The vast majority of people in the coastal area used to be fishermen, and lost almost everything: their fishing boats and their houses were totally ruined. Now, almost a year later, it is unthinkable to resume fishing. Even if they could, being polluted by the high-level radiation, their catch would not be marketable. So without home or means of living, they cannot think of their future.
As for agriculture, the most serious problem is the soil pollution. Fukushima rice has been banned from the market because it is contaminated by an excessive amount of radioactive substances. Holding unsold old crops, farmers are not sure if they will be able to plant rice or vegetables next spring. Their issue is way beyond their capacity.
Besides external exposure, parents are deeply concerned about their children’s internal exposure to radiation from their diet because their growing cells are more susceptible to radiation, which ultimately cause damages to their immune system and DNA. One of my acquaintances, for instance, became so sick of the mental stress from the worry about the radiation that she decided to live outside Fukushima with her little child. Her husband remained in Fukushima in order to keep his job. Like them, family separation is also a serious problem for many Fukushima residents.
Refugee relocation is another significant issue. There are 150,000 refugees. Now 60,000 people live outside of Fukushima.
Please listen to the story of my next door neighbour’s 90 year-old mother. Having left an over-crowded refugee camp, she came to live with her son. She has not been able to return to her own home since March 12th, 2011. She wants to go back there so badly but she cannot. Like her, a lot of people are out of their home permanently.
In this serious condition, some people are trying to stand up and live strongly. Others are at a loss, having lost their houses, families, and jobs. We have too many difficulties that surpass our capacity to overcome.
It is essential that the central and local governments should make a recovery plan based on the victims’ perspective and put the plan into practice as soon as possible.
It is also urgently necessary to remove the radioactive substances from Fukushima, to check the radiation level in the local products, and to examine the health and living conditions of the residents. Tokyo Electric Power Company should admit their responsibility and compensate the victims for their loss from the nuclear power plant accidents swiftly and completely.
The closing of the ‘Fukushima Daiichi’ nuclear power plant has been decided, but it will take 40 long years to complete the job. The governor of Fukushima announced that it is impossible to resume the operation of the rest of the nuclear power plants in Fukushima, but their closing has not yet been decided by the central government. Japan is slightly smaller than California. We have 54 nuclear power plants there, out of which two are still at work. No matter how much we need electricity, when we think of the suffering of the people in Fukushima, I must say “We don’t need nuclear plants anymore!” However, our government is planning to export nuclear power plants overseas, which is unbelievable and immoral. Japan should examine this crisis thoroughly and investigate what exactly caused the accidents after the big earthquake on March 11th. They also should make efforts towards renewable energy, such as solar and wind powers.
It is so sad that the name ‘Fukushima’ became globally known through this nuclear disaster. But at the same time we are grateful to know that the people around the world are sharing our pains and suffering.
We will make every effort to overcome these difficulties and regain the original, natural beauty of our rivers, ocean and green fields as quickly as possible. I would like to believe that the darkness will not continue forever and the light of hope will come before long. Thank you.
The Anglican Church in Japan started a disaster relief project called ‘Let’s walk together’. See http://www.nskk.org/walk/?page_id=52