“Nuclear power robbed us of everything. We still can’t go into the forests. Families with children used to go into the forest to gather wild plants and teach about nature. That was a common practice, taken for granted. But today we can’t do any of that.” — Kenichi Hasegawa, a former dairy farmer in Namie Town, Fukushima
People, wearing protective masks following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), place candles as they pay their respect to victims of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster that killed thousands and set off a nuclear crisis, in Iwaki, Fukushima prefecture, Japan, March 11, 2020. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
Nine years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami struck the Tohoku region on March 11, 2011, causing the ensuing accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The effects of this disaster are ongoing: radiation contaminated a large area and has had serious impacts on the environment and the livelihoods that depended so much on the natural environment.
