12 years after the earthquake and nuclear accident Reconstruction supported by "external power"March 3 at 16:18

Twelve years have passed since the accident at TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. In Fukushima Prefecture, evacuation orders issued in response to the accident are gradually being lifted, allowing residents to return home in a wide area. However, it cannot be said that the community and life have been restored to the way they used to be. As we conducted our research, we learned that "external power" is the key to reconstruction. (Fukushima Broadcasting Station Reporter Yu Fujinoki, Hirotaka Hashimoto)

A 30-year-old young man

Odaka Ward is located on the northern coast of Fukushima Prefecture, south of Minamisoma City. It is located about 10 kilometers from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

Evacuation orders were issued for about five years after the nuclear accident, and all residents were temporarily evacuated.

There is a young man who started brewing sake in this land. Taisuke Sato, 31, is from Saitama Prefecture and moved to this area three years ago.

We developed an original sake made by mixing Japan sake made with local rice with hops, one of the raw materials for beer. It is fruity and easy to drink, and the new taste has become a hot topic.

In one corner of the brewery, there is also a space where you can enjoy alcohol and food. It is one of the few places where you can enjoy eating and drinking in Odaka Ward.

A local female customer
: "I'm very happy that so many people have gathered in my hometown through alcohol, because it has never been done before."

Mr. Sato also actively participates in local activities.

Because everything was once lost in the nuclear power plant accident, I feel that there is a tolerance to accept a variety of people.

Taisuke
Sato: "The original residents have also evacuated and returned, so there is an atmosphere of great support for new immigrants.

The key to revival is "external power"

In Odaka Ward, residents have gradually returned since the evacuation order was lifted in July 2016, but it has plateaued in almost three years.

As of January, the population of the district has decreased to about 7% compared to before the earthquake.

As evacuation sites become more established and it is becoming difficult to expect many people to return, the city is focusing on attracting people like Mr. Sato who had no connection before.

In cooperation with local community development organizations, we continued to provide support to people who want to start a business by subsidizing project expenses and introducing them to their offices and places to live. As a result, seven people have started and established businesses in Odaka Ward so far.

In Minamisoma City as a whole, 7 people moved from outside in fiscal 2021. This is more than double the number of previous years.

When thinking about future urban development, it is essential to attract new immigrants.

Also for agricultural revitalization

The neighboring town of Namie is working to utilize external power for the revival of agriculture.

Farming resumed in Namie Town six years ago when evacuation orders were partially lifted.

A big force is from companies and organizations outside the town.

Of these, the one that grows rice in the Tanashio area is a company from Miyagi Prefecture that the town invited. We entered the market in 6 and have now expanded to 2019 hectares.

In the future, the company hopes to further expand the area under cultivation and provide technical and sales support to local farmers.

Yuji Shishida
: "We want to show what we can do and encourage farmers to return home and resume farming, and we want to double that number within the next five years and double that to 5 hectares in 2 years. Of course, we can't do it alone, so we hope to expand the acreage with the cooperation of local farmers."

NHK conducted a questionnaire survey targeting 12 municipalities affected by the nuclear power plant accident.

As a result, eight municipalities, including Namie Town, responded that the revival of agriculture requires the participation of external companies and corporations, citing the current situation where residents are not returning home and the aging of farmers.

While borrowing external power ...

Naraha Town, which responded in a questionnaire that "external power is necessary for the revival of agriculture," is also starting to move.

We collaborated with a food company in Osaka to restore the area of farming, which remained at 7% before the earthquake, and to revive agriculture.

Currently, we are focusing on the cultivation of sweet potatoes that can be processed in various ways and have high commercial value. By absorbing cultivation know-how from companies, we can increase productivity while securing large sales partners.

The town is planning to use this collaboration as an opportunity to grow sweet potatoes into a new mainstay specialty product.

Hajime Inogari, a 5-year-old farmer who returned to town five years ago. I sympathized with this initiative, in which residents play a leading role while companies play a leading role, and decided to participate.

I had never grown sweet potatoes before, but I am learning about cultivation techniques and how to prevent disease and pest damage at regular study sessions held by food companies and local JAs.

Mr. Inogari is still inexperienced and in the trial and error stage, but at the end of February, when cultivation began, he was working hard to grow seedlings while exchanging information with fellow farmers.

Mr. Inogari Hajime
: "If we increase the number of people to two rather than one, or four people rather than two, there will be a certain amount of information, and I think the local community will be able to do better. I think the best way to recover is for the people who come back to live a lively and enjoyable life."

Five years ago, there were three sweet potato farmers, but now there are 5.

What is true recovery?

According to Kojien, the meaning of "reconstruction" is "to happen again, to flourish again."

However, it is not necessary for the bearer to be the "original person".

What is the true form of reconstruction?

After 12 years, when the number of residents returning to the disaster-stricken areas is limited and it is not possible to secure enough people to take charge of the disaster, I would like to hope that the future spread will be such that borrowing external help or cooperating with each other will become a driving force for reconstruction.

Fukushima Broadcasting Station Reporter Yu
Fujinoki Experienced the Great East Japan Earthquake at Fukushima
Bureau, where he first joined the station in 2009, and was
in charge
of covering medical and scientific fields such as the new coronavirus at the
Science and Culture DepartmentFukushima Bureau again from 2022

Fukushima Broadcasting Station Reporter Hirotaka
HashimotoWhen
he was working at the Minamisoma Branch Office from
Fukushima City, he continued to cover the Great East Japan Earthquake and the nuclear power plant accident
, and now works at the Iwaki Bureau.