Meltdowns and Waves – Archive

One of the first interviews we did in Japan was with a NGO called Peace Boat. The employee we talked to there had experience with disaster relief in NY during hurricane Sandy and in Fukushima. The video he showed us, I thought, was pretty generic and very vague. The idea of the actual cruise they do seemed a bit ridiculous to me and the video feature a lot of humanitarian buzz words. I couldn’t help but wonder if only those with the financial to take this cruise get onto it. Regardless, when we questioned the employee he didn’t say much that surprised me. I thought his answer to every question was very generic and somewhat vague. He seemed to have an extremely optimistic view of the world and of work his organization did. Yet I never noticed much of his companies influence during our time in Fukushima. This interview I thought was not very helpful for getting a clear picture of the events during 3.11. I do think however, that it made me realize that the effects of the earthquake and subsequent nuclear explosions are still being felt now 5 years later.
Then we headed off to a university in Tokyo to talk with a sociology class that had been studying the accident. Two of the people I interviewed were from Tokyo and two were from further south. When I asked about preparedness in their prefectures, I was surprised to hear that one girl has regular earthquake drills at least once a month. Two said they had supplies and somewhat of an evacuation, but one said she didn’t have anything. She didn’t even have a small first aid kit or any sort of evacuation plan. I found this extremely surprising as I assumed that most in Japan would be extremely prepared for these common disasters.
Next we went to one of the temporary housing communities holding people displaced by the nuclear accident. 3 were actually living in the temporary homes still and 2 lived in the area and worked there. The first thing I realized was that these people have been living in these temporary houses for 5 years. The were only meant to last 5 years and currently they are a couple months past that expiration date. The other thing I realized when we arrive, was how flimsy and small these shelters looked. They could maybe house a family of 4 with no room to spare. The people we interviewed still staying in the shelters were all older. It seemed to me that most of the younger families left as soon as soon as possible. I connected with the people we met with and really felt what they were going through. They lost almost everything and are from all over, yet they all share this tragic experience and have managed to make a warm inviting community. Which brings up another issue around these temporary houses, and it’s in the name. A community has formed because they have been in these houses for so long, yet the housing is only temporary. The community will be split apart when they leave.