Our first destination wasJA Aizu, where all of the rice in the area is scanned for radiation levels. Afterwards, the bag has a QR code attached to it, which will bring consumers to a website where they can see the scanned information specifically for their bag of rice. Though the rice they scan has always had extremely low levels of radiation for the past three years, it’s worth doing so that the people feel safe. In the afternoon, we visited a geothermal power plant, where a guide explained to us how geothermal energy works. It takes a lot of work to safely maintain a geothermal power plant, but everyone was interested in learning about an alternative energy source. Afterwards, we traveled to Enzoji Temple. I always love visiting shrines and temples because I feel so connected to nature at them. Our activity for the night and the next morning involved visiting a farming family. We had a cold but relaxing night talking with them and eating all of the farm cooking they had to offer, the most unusual for most English speakers being horse. It’s a lot like beef. In the morning, we deseeded one of the farm’s plants, an herb that is ground up and made into oil. The experience was the best of all, allowing us to really get to know local people and life. After that, they gave us our lunch, and we headed to our next destination. IIE is a company that started in response to the disaster, to give people who lost their homes jobs and produce fashionable clothing and accessories from local cotton. It was an amazing story to hear, and many of us bought something while we were there. We spent the afternoon at Tsuruga Castle, where we toured the castle and painted Akabeko, red cows of legend in the Aizu area of Fukushima. But most moving part about the visit was the story we heard from a man working in Fukushima tourism. The people have been doing all they can to restore the industry and reputation of Fukushima to what it once was. We all left the trip more excited to be a part of life in Fukushima and relieved that we had good news to send back home to everyone. |
| Summary |
