Japan’s Fukushima government has been trying to encourage people evacuated after the 2011 nuclear disaster to come home. One local councillor is struggling to engage with those who are reluctant.
Tomioka, Japan (dpa) – Takumi Takano and her husband have spent half of each month in a trailer near the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant since an evacuation order for the site was lifted two years ago.
Takano, who was elected in 2016 as the first female councillor in Fukushima’s Tomioka town in 35 years, was one of the few officials who strongly opposed lifting of the evacuation order.
“It was too early. But the mayor would not listen,” she says, referring to Tomioka Mayor Koichi Miyamoto.
Pedestrians are nowhere to be seen in Tomioka, once famous for its magnificent cherry blossoms, but scarred by the nuclear disaster caused by a magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami in 2011. Wild boars, palm civets, raccoons and monkeys roam the streets.
Takano, whose trailer is located 8 kilometres south of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, says she and her husband decided to have their house torn down due to a rat infestation after their evacuation.
“Most of those who have returned are older men. Even if young people want to come back, there are no jobs for them except ones at the nuclear plant,” Takano says.
Tomioka has built a shopping mall, and even shoulders the costs of electricity and water in an effort to bring residents home. The initiative has been largely unsuccessful.
Only 10 per cent of Tomioka’s population have returned to the town. The figure includes workers who have moved there for the decommissioning operation at the plant.
Takano argues the region’s recovery programmes do not provide perspective for residents, especially when it comes to women. That’s why the mother of two grown-up children decided to run for office and her husband, a former nuclear plant worker, supported her bid.
However, Takano, the only woman on the town’s 14-member assembly, has faced difficulty in bringing change to Tamioka, partly because she feels her views are not respected.
“At first I was very depressed, but I’m resilient and optimistic,” says Takano, who rides a Harley Davidson motorcycle.
Mayor Miyamoto did not respond to a request for comment by dpa.
Tomioka residents have been evacuated to other parts of Fukushima or outside the prefecture, so Takano often travels around the region to talk to them. Many have not returned home because fears about radioactive contamination are still widespread.
“We really need to care more about the feelings of those who want to come back to Tomioka but can’t,” she says.
Masumi Kowata, also the only female member of a 12-member assembly in the town of Okuma, which hosts the plant, also questions the initiative to stimulate returns.
“I ask other councillors why we have to spend so much money on construction even though residents don’t come back,” she says.
Like many Okuma residents, Kowata was evacuated to Aizuwakamatsu, 90 kilometres west of her home. Takano and her husband have moved home nine times since then.
She recalls trying to find a place to stay in Saitama prefecture, a suburb of Tokyo, when a woman suddenly banged on the window of their car, which had a Fukushima license plate.
“She asked us, ‘Are you bringing radiation with you?'” she says. “We just kept silent.”
Some of her friends and acquaintances died in their 40s and 50s after being evacuated, says Takano, adding: “They were worn out during the prolonged evacuation life.”
Nanako Shimizu, associate professor of international studies at Utsunomiya University, says those affected by the nuclear accident require more support.
Shimizu says that in Japanese society, “many find it difficult to discuss the damage from the nuclear accident,” adding that that is changing due to a more rigorous dialogue.
Takano agrees.
“We can’t repeat past failures,” she says. “That’s why we need to move things forward through dialogue with our residents.”
Takehiko Kambayashi 