Japan seeks “recovery of people’s hearts” decade after earthquake

TOMIOKA, Japan (AP) – Ten years after the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan, the lives of many who survived are still pending.

On March 11, 2011, one of the largest earthquakes on record caused a massive tsunami, which killed more than 18,000 people and caused a catastrophic disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. About half a million people were displaced. Tens of thousands have not yet returned home.

So far more than 30 trillion yen ($ 280 billion) has been spent on reconstruction, but even Reconstruction Minister Katsuei Hirasawa recently acknowledged that while the government has loaded ahead of new buildings , has invested less to help people rebuild their lives, for example, by providing mental health services for trauma.

The Associated Press spoke with people affected by the disasters about how far they have come and how much more needs to be done.

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“ALWAYS MY BODY MOVES”

Yasuo Takamatsu, 64, lost his wife, Yuko, when the tsunami hit Onagawa in Miyagi prefecture.

He has been looking for her ever since.

He even got his diving license to try to find his remains, and for seven years he has been doing weekly dives: 470 and counting.

“I’m always thinking it might be somewhere nearby,” he said.

In addition to solo diving, once a month he joins local authorities while conducting underwater searches on about 2,500 people, the remains of whom are not yet found throughout the region.

Takamatsu said the city’s scars have healed largely, “but recovering people’s hearts … will take time.”

So far he has found albums, clothes and other artifacts, but nothing that belonged to his wife.

He said he will continue to look for his wife “as long as my body moves.”

“In the last text message he sent me, he said,‘ Are you okay? I want to go home, “he said.” I’m sure he still wants to go home. “

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“THE BEGINNING LINE AGAIN”

Just a month after a tsunami of up to 17 meters (55 feet) erupted in the town of Rikuzentakata, Michihiro Kono took over his family’s soy sauce business.

Being able to continue the two-century business is a miracle, he says. The prized soy yeast was only saved because he had donated some to a college lab.

Over the past decade, Kono has been working to rebuild the business in Iwate prefecture and by the end of this year will complete the construction of a new factory that will replace the one that was destroyed, on the same site where its family began making soy sauce in 1807. It has even launched a soy sauce called “Miracle” in honor of the saved yeast.

“This is a critical time to see if I can do anything meaningful in the next ten years,” said the ninth-generation owner of Yagisawa Shoten Co. “I was born here, and now I’m back at the starting line.”

But challenges remain: its customer base has been decimated. The city’s population has fallen by more than 20%, to 18,000, so it is trying to build business networks beyond the city.

Kono often thinks of people killed by the tsunami, with many of whom used to discuss the city’s revitalization plans.

“Those people wanted to make a fantastic city and I want to do things that make them say,‘ Well done, you’ve done it, ’when you see them again in the next life,” he said.

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“WHO WANTS TO RETURN?”

About 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of the destroyed nuclear plant, rice farmer Naoto Matsumura defied a government evacuation order a decade ago and stayed on his farm to protect his land and the cattle abandoned by the neighbors.

It’s still there.

Most of the town of Tomioka reopened in 2017. But dozens of neighboring houses around Matsumura remain empty, leaving the area dark at night.

The city’s main train station in Fukushima prefecture achieved a change of face. A new mall was built. But less than 10% of Tomioka’s former population of 16,000 has returned after large amounts of radioactive material were thrown from the plant by forced evacuations from the city and other nearby areas. Some parts of the city are out of bounds; houses and shops are abandoned.

“It took hundreds of years of history and effort to build this city and it was destroyed instantly,” he said. “I grew up here … but that’s nothing like a house anymore.”

As it took six years to lift the evacuation order, many city dwellers have already found jobs and homes elsewhere. Half of former residents say they have decided to never return, according to a survey in the city.

This has been true throughout the region.

In Tomioka, radioactive waste from decontamination efforts in the city is still stored in a disruption zone.

“Who wants to go back to a place like this?” Matsumura asked. “I don’t see much future for this city.”

By company, Matsumura has several cows, a pony and a family of hunting dogs that help him drive out the wild boars. The cows are descendants of neighboring farms that it has maintained, in protest, after the government issued an order to destroy thousands for fear of radiation.

This spring, for the first time since the disaster, the 62-year-old farmer plans an experimental rice plantation and expand his beekeeping efforts.

“I will stay here until the end of my life,” he said.

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“HIS HOUSE IS HERE HERE”

Yuya Hatakeyama was 14 when he was forced to evacuate from Tomioka after the disaster.

He is now 24 years old, and was the third baseman of Fukushima Red Hopes, a team in the regional professional league, which is celebrating its first year working at Tomioka City Hall, but has not yet returned to live in the city, joining be to the many who move in from outside.

Hatakeyama has bittersweet memories of Tomioka. The area that is now a no-go area includes Yonomori Park, where people gathered to celebrate a cherry blossom festival. Decontamination work is being intensified in the area and the city plans to lift the remaining no-go zones in 2023.

“I want to contact residents, especially the younger generation, so they know their home is still here,” Hatakeyama said. One day, he said, he wants to see young families playing fishing, as he did with his father.

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“A PLACE OF COMFORT”

Hazuki Sato was ten years old when she ran away from her elementary school in Futaba, home of the destroyed nuclear plant.

He is now preparing for the ceremony near the age of majority, typical of 20-year-old Japanese youth, in hopes of a meeting in the city so he can reunite with his former classmates scattered.

Despite horrible memories of having escaped from his class, Futaba still considers his home.

After studying for eight years outside the region, Sato now works in his hometown, although he comes from an office in Iwaki, another city in Fukushima prefecture.

None of Futaba’s 5,700 residents can live there again until 2022, when the city is expected to reopen partially. An area outside a train station reopened last March just for a daytime visit to carry the Olympic torch.

Sato has fond memories of Futaba: a family barbecue, riding a unicycle after school and doing homework and snacking with friends at a daycare while waiting for her grandmother to pick her up.

“I want to see this city become a place of comfort again,” he said.