Stop defining Fukushima by a singular event of the past

Name: Thomas Artaiz Nationality:  USA Location Visited: Koriyama City

Message

To much of the world, the word Fukushima is synonymous with disaster. It calls to mind other names such as Chrenobyl and Three Mile Island. Even half a decade after the accident, suspicion underlies every conversation I have with friends back home about the safety of Fukushima. I understand their reactions. For many, Fukushima os not a real place, but a news story, which did not exist before the 2011 disaster and continues to exist only in that context. What I have now learned living here is that Fukushima prefecture is a beautiful, resilient place that existed long before and will continue long after the events in 2011. It is a place where people go to work and school, work on their farms, hike and eat and live just like anywhere else. We should stop defining Fukushima by a singular event of the past.