Living with Fukushima
Walking through the station plaza in Shibuya I stopped to watch this gentleman. In public places the Japanese are very quiet normally, very respectful and rarely even make eye contact. The contrast with this gentleman was obvious and despite the language barrier I was aware how upset and emotional he was – you can hear his voice breaking with it all. I was also completely puzzled because all the pictures were of cows in various states of neglect – and the only conclusion I could make was that he was an arch-vegetarian (again quite rare in Japan).
Later, Gen told me the sign above his head explains he is a farmer protesting against TEPCO the Japanese state power company widely held to have mishandled the Fukushima disaster. His farm is now a no-go zone and whilst some of his cattle were humanely put down others have been left to die. It is illegal for anyone to enter this no-go zone now without permission. He is campaigning for compensation as his livelihood has been destroyed. This Sunday it is 1 year since the Fukushima disaster on the 11 March 11 last year. March 11 has had an incredible impact on Japan and many people here are still reeling from the events – it has resulted in a real existential collective soul-searching. Even to a ginji (foreigner) there is a strange atmosphere in Tokyo at the moment.
Next week from the 12th to the 13th we are going on an artist-led tour of the North of Japan to look at some of the tsunmai affected areas. We won’t be going into the no-go zone though…
(Please forgive the quality of the footage – I have found it is less intrusive filming people on my mobile than camera).
Living with Fukushima
