Photo – Uncanny Terrain

August 5, 2013August 6, 2013

Uncanny Terrain 2013 Photo Set 2

Yasukawa's kitten follows him everywhere
Seeds of Hope
Milo shows the 30,000 km he has bicycled on his "Holy Map of Japan"
On a clear day you could see the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, 5 km down the coast.
One of many ships that remain where they were washed inland by the 2011 tsunami, in Minamisoma, Fukushima.
Women organic farmers of Fukushima (and friends)
Odaka-Jinjo temple is the original site of the centuries-old Nomaoi Horse Festival
Nomaoi Horse Festival
25-year-old Mizuho Sugeno of Seeds of Hope in Nihonmatsu
Most of this boy's friend leave Fukushima for summer vacation. This year his mother finally decided to let him go outside during vacation.

July 23, 2013July 23, 2013

Fukushima 2013

Seiji Sugeno at the Fukushima Organic Farmers' Network's café Orgando in Tokyo
Asami Girls at Yamato Farmers Market
The Asamis' kitten. No Rice No Life
The Asamis at the Yamato Farmers Market
Hiroshi Hasegawa's horses are part of his plan for an off-the-grid farm in Yamato.
Umbrella left behind by prior residents of Hiroshi Hasegawa's 150-year-old house.
Yamato Farmers Market
This is Serbian bicyclist Milosav Grujicic's third summer working on Seiji Sugeno's ‪organic‬ farm.
Koichi Nemoto has one of the only operating farms in mostly-abandoned Odaka, 12 km from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
86-year-old Teruo Yasukawa has planted his third rice crop since the nuclear disaster, in Minami-Soma where most cultivation is banned, but he hasn't been able to fully attend to his fields since fainting in the spring.
Teruo Yasukawa and his kitten.

May 18, 2012May 18, 2012

Ishii used to deliver food to Japanese restaurants in Maryland. For years he studied EM (effective microogranisms) as a hobby. Now he grows organic vegetables in Sukagawa, 60 km southwest of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. He believes the EM prevents his crops from absorbing radioactive cesium—they have tested “ND”: no detectible radiation.

May 13, 2012May 13, 2012

Asami’s Tokyo volunteers

Tokyo volunteers make their annual weekend trip to Kitakata in western Fukushima to help Asami clear debris from the village’s 200-year-old irrigation canal.

May 12, 2012May 12, 2012

Fukushima cherry blossoms

Cherry blossom ritual for children's health in Towa, Nihonmatsu, Fukushima, Japan.

May 12, 2012

Sugeno soil test

Niigata University researchers test the effect of various combinations of soil additives on the absorption of radioactive cesium by Sugeno’s rice.

May 12, 2012May 12, 2012

Saitos spread zeolite

Father and son Saito powder their rice field with government-mandated zeolite. It’s intended to fix cesium in the soil to reduce absorption by crops, but some question its effectiveness and health impact. Fields across Fukushima are dotted with the white bags, and the white dust is everywhere.

May 12, 2012May 12, 2012

Organic farmer father, nuclear engineer son

85-year-old Teruo Yasukawa has an organic farm on the edge of the nuclear exclusion zone.
Last year Yasukawa challenged city officials for the right to grow rice for personal consumption.
Yasukawa irrigates his farm with well water and fertilizes it with his cows' manure, thus avoiding new contamination. Most of his rice tested below 20 becquerels per kg last year.
Teruo's son Hiroshi Yasukawa was an engineer for TEPCO, the owner of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. His hat has TEPCO and GE logos.
Hiroshi Yasukawa has been exposed to more that 400 millisieverts of radiation.
Because of his high exposure level, he can no longer work at the power plant. He's been transferred to work on decontamination, but he's not optimistic about the prospects for success.
Hiroshi Yasukawa points toward the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power plant where he used to work, just beyond the horizon.
Hiroshi Yasukawa has had this geiger counter/watch for 10 years.

April 19, 2012April 19, 2012

Playing-with-Clouds Farm

Mizuho Sugeno is hosting a delegation of Thai farmers that she met while touring with her sepak takraw team.
Sugeno's baby goat Mei is all grown up now.

April 19, 2012

One Year Anniversary Memorial for Higashi Nihon Earthquake

AQ SIFE presents a One Year Anniversary Memorial for Higashi Nihon Earthquake. Featuring a screening at 5pm of preview footage from Uncanny Terrain, an exhibition of photos from the disaster, and testimonials from relief volunteers. Free. Food and beverages will be served. Friday, April 20, 4-6 p.m. at Aquinas College Wege Ballroom, 1607 Robinson Road SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan.