One cool morning in mid-November, a group of JET participants gathered together for a study tour of Fukushima prefecture. I was initially interested in the tour because it gave me a rare opportunity to see how the prefecture has recovered from the events of the March 11th earthquake and tsunami, as well as the continuing efforts to recuperate even two years after the disaster. This tour delivered all that and more. The first stop on the tour was the Fukushima Agricultural Technology Centre in Koriyama City. There we learned about the methods of testing various agricultural products for radiation, an important part of ensuring Fukushima’s produce is safe for consumption, but also to improve the reputation of Fukushima’s produce both domestically in Japan and abroad. In particular, I was surprised to learn that Fukushima’s threshold for allowable radiation levels in produce was much stricter than that of the United States, and even at that strict level, there were few to no cases where that threshold was exceeded (depending on the product type). I was also surprised to hear that while it was impossible for all produce to be tested, all rice grown in Fukushima is in fact tested, even those grown locally by farmers for private consumption. This visit really eased my mind about buying local Fukushima products, and I’m glad that the testing is so extensive and strict. In addition, while I knew that Fukushima was famous for its peaches, I had no idea that several different strains have been cultivated here which are unique to Fukushima! Now that I know there are different varieties, I want to try each one to see how it tastes. After lunch, we travelled to Iwaki City to visit a farm called Tomato Land Iwaki. It was a massive greenhouse with rows upon rows of tomatoes. There were many different varieties, from tiny cherry tomatoes, to large tomatoes bigger than my fist. There were even a few rows of peppers! It was really interesting walking the rows among the plants, and it was quite charming to discover that they played music for both the enjoyment of the workers and the tomatoes themselves. One of the workers spoke to us about how their sales dropped after the disaster, when no one had confidence in the safety of Fukushima’s produce, but because of a fad diet based on tomatoes, their sales have now recovered, even if their customer base is different from before the disaster. We were then allowed to pick our own tomatoes to take home as souvenirs. I must confess that I probably ate more tomatoes before they actually went into my bag, and even those only lasted until the end of the bus ride. They were simply too delicious! The next stop was a little difficult to handle. We visited a site damaged by the tsunami in Hisanohama, Iwaki City. I had of course seen pictures and video of the sites affected before on the news, but they didn’t compare to seeing it in person. Even over two years later, the damage was still evident. The tsunami hit particularly hard in this neighbourhood, sweeping away many houses and other buildings. The event was exacerbated by a fire later that night, which was unable to be put out by the firefighters due to broken water lines, and so it raged for two days, further destroying the wreckage and any buildings which may have survived the tsunami. We saw pictures of the day and those that followed, and heard stories from the locals. I was especially sad to hear that the initial tsunami was quite small, causing many people to go to the sea wall to watch, only to be unable to escape from the large tsunami that came next. Our local speaker only managed to escape by abandoning her car and running for the hills on foot. It was heartbreaking to hear this first-person account. But this visit wasn’t without hope. One of the very visible signs was a shrine in the middle of the wreckage which somehow managed to survive the tsunami intact, due to a combination of factors including being on a slight hill, and having been protected by other buildings between it and the sea. There were many flowers and offerings around the shrine, a tribute to those lives lost, which was especially striking to see when surrounded by the rubble of the former buildings around it. We also had the opportunity to visit the Hamakaze shopping district, a small collection of shops run by locals to serve the neighbourhood. It was really interesting to talk with the shopkeepers, and hear their stories. Everyone was very friendly! It was heartening to see the revitalization of the area, even such a short distance away from the disaster-stricken area. Of course, because Iwaki is near the sea, it is famous for its seafood. And so for dinner, we enjoyed lots of fish dishes, as well as some duck nabe stew. Delicious! For the second and final day of the study tour, we started off with a visit to the Organic Cotton Farm Project by an organization called The People. This group uses agricultural land abandoned by farmers after the disaster to grow organic cotton. It’s wonderful that such land can be used, even if it’s not to its original purpose. This project relies on volunteers to harvest the cotton, which is then dried, cleaned, and used to make different products, such as dolls or material for T-shirts. We had the opportunity to harvest some cotton ourselves, which was very fun! While waiting for the bus to pick us up, I met a few locals who helped with the farm. One woman had been evacuated to Aizuwakamatsu when her house was destroyed. She laughingly told me she lasted for one cold Aizu winter before moving back to Iwaki. She currently lives in temporary housing, just down the road from the cotton farm. She said that she hopes to eventually rebuild her home, but as it’s within the evacuation zone around the power plant, it won’t be possible for some time. After picking the cotton, we made our own little cotton dolls. We used the empty cotton pods for decoration, and used the cotton to cover the dolls and make their hair. The results were adorable. Some of the seeds remained in the raw cotton, and our guide told us that we could tease them out and plant them come spring time to grow our own cotton plants. I will try it and see! We then had a delicious lunch of sashimi on rice, and visited Kisen, a kamaboko fish cake factory. One of the workers told us about their hardship after the disaster. Due to damage at the factory, the company had to stop production for a month for repairs. In that time, their clients satisfied their need for kamaboko from other companies, such as those in Hokkaido or Niigata prefectures. Customers, seeing that the supermarkets were not selling Fukushima kamaboko, thought that the reason was that products from Fukushima were not safe, and the reputation of the Iwaki factory was further damaged. They still have not recovered their sales, even two years later. So, they decided to change their business method. They have created some unique kamaboko products, drawing on traditional Iwaki flavours, and have even tried making an Italian inspired kamaboko! It’s certainly unique to this company, and so I wish them all the best in the future! Our last stop on the tour was a visit to Shiramizu Amidado Temple, which houses a National Treasure. The surrounded pond was filled with ducks, and the fall colours were beautiful and picturesque. It was a very relaxing finale to a wonderful weekend tour. I learned a lot about the continuing recovery efforts in Fukushima during this tour. Of course, the physical damage done by the earthquake and tsunami is most obvious, but the subtle damage done to Fukushima’s reputation and its industry is also important to consider. I am confident in the safety of Fukushima’s produce, and I hope that others will realize this as well. I wish the people of Fukushima all the best in the future. |  |
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