Uncanny Terrain – Page 7 – A documentary series about Fukushima farmers fighting to continue growing organic food on land contaminated by nuclear fallout

July 12, 2011

Evacuated farmer Yoshizawa wants to stand up to Japanese government and nuclear power company

After the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, Yoshizawa cared for his 300 dairy cows without water or electricity. He could hear the explosions as the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, 14 km away.

After days of heavy radiation exposure, Yoshizawa was evacuated with the rest of Namie on March 17. He spraypainted “save them or die trying” on the roof of the barn, and went to Tokyo. He talked his way in to see the chairman of Tokyo Electric Power Company. Both men cried as Yoshizawa begged the chairman to do something to stop the disaster.

Yoshizawa slept outside in Tokyo for a week, keeping vigil and waiting to see government ministers, calling on them for action. Now he travels Japan in his speaker van, proclaiming his refusal of a government order to kill his 300 cows.

Uncanny Terrain is a documentary about organic farmers facing Japan’s nuclear crisis, and an online community fostering dialogue on food safety, sustainable agriculture, alternative energy and disaster response. Please keep the conversation going by making a donation.

cows-630x420 — Junko Kajino on Yoshizawa's ranch inside the evacuation zone.

July 3, 2011July 3, 2011

Yoshizawa defies government order to kill his 300 irradiated cows: Video

Yoshizawa’s ranch is 14km downwind from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. The government ordered him to kill his 300 cows. Most of his neighbors’ animals are gone, but some have been released and joined his herd. Yoshizawa refuses to kill his cows. He wants them to be studied for the effects of radiation.

Uncanny Terrain is a documentary about organic farmers facing Japan’s nuclear crisis, and an online community fostering dialogue on food safety, sustainable agriculture, alternative energy and disaster response. Please donate to keep the conversation going.

July 2, 2011July 2, 2011

Fukushima City Nuclear Protest Video

People from across Japan gather in Fukushima City on 6/26/11 to protest the ongoing danger of nuclear power and to call for accountability in the nuclear disaster.

Ruiko Mutou of the Fukushima Network Against Nuclear Power has been opposing the plants since the Chernobyl disaster.

Sachiko Soto of the Fukushima Network to Protect Children From Radiation says that families need support to evacuate children, who are most at risk from radiation.

A representative of the Tokyo Association to Protect the Victims of TEPCO says that Tokyo must take responsibility for the nuclear crisis.

One woman calls on the skeptical crowd to trust their fate to God.

And a 25-year old farmer in western Fukushima chooses to stay and do what she can to help rather than return home to Nagano.

June 28, 2011July 2, 2011

Fukushima City Nuclear Protest Photo Gallery

Since the Chernobyl disaster, Ruiko Mutou of the Fukushima Anti-Nuclear Network has been campaigning to get the plants in the prefecture shut down.
This woman told the crowd that God created nuclear power and don't worry, he'd take care of them. She was quickly separated from the mic.
He says people in Tokyo need to take responsibility for consuming the electricity produced by the nuclear power plants in Fukushima.

June 28, 2011August 15, 2019

Grandma Yoshida takes cbd oil and instructs the young men’s farm work

Taihei Maruyama, Seiya Yoshida and Junko Kajino in the Yoshidas' vegetable field.
Grandma Yoshida working in the vegetable field.
Exotic bugs on the pesticide-free radish leaves.
Grandma Yoshida is done with the day's farm work.
The Yoshidas' youngest son Seiya on a return visit inspecting radiation and earthquake damage to his beloved mountain. He wants to work for an environmental NGO.

Here you can see grandma Yoshida instructing the young. Her knowledge is highly respected. Recently she was instructed by her doctor to start taking cbd oil. At yoursnutrition you can read all about it.

June 23, 2011July 2, 2011

New intern on Colors of the Four Seasons Farm

Maruyama, the new Hokkaido University intern on the Yoshidas' farm in Hanawa, Fukushima.
Masanori Yoshida shows Haruyama the ropes in the chicken coop.
My horse, my horse, my kingdom for a horse. Maruyama recites Shakespeare he learned on a farm in Australia.

June 23, 2011July 2, 2011

Can’t sell rice, but has to grow it anyway

Takahashi was banned from selling rice grown on his land in Nishigo Village, Nishishirakawa-gun, Fukushima, due to soil contamination from the nuclear disaster. But he was also told that to receive compensation for the lost income, he must grow the rice. So he’s planting the crop, expecting it will never be eaten.

June 22, 2011July 2, 2011

Fukushima pride is strong close to evacuation zone

Ohashi owns a successful baked goods company in Fukushima City. He has used grains from organic farmers in Fukushima Prefecture, but now he may have to look elsewhere. Even if the grains are uncontaminated, the stigma against Fukushima produce would likely hurt sales. Ohashi’s health is frail but he has no intention to leave despite typical background radiation here of 1 microsievert/hour. He says the disaster has strengthened local pride, and people here are learning to living with radiation.
A pair of comedians bartend at the Showtime bar in Fukushima City. I sat down with my camera gear and they kept calling me Michael Moore (pronounced mo-ah).
Sugiuchi was banned from selling his crops due to high contamination levels found near his farm in Haramachi. Now he’s researching soil remediation.
Mrs. Sugiuchi watches one of their greenhouses in Haramachi being tested for radiation.
.7 millirems (7 microsieverts) per hour on the highway in Iitatemura.
4.1 millirems/hour (14,350 counts per minute or 41 microsieverts/hour) on a mountain road in Iitatemura. The town is mostly abandoned but on Sunday there were some people around. They apparently came back to check on their property.
The edge of the evacuation zone in Iitatemura.

June 17, 2011July 2, 2011

Lone nuclear opponent in town, now won’t sell his crops

40 years ago, Hongo says he was the only person in Samegawa to oppose nuclear power in Fukushima. Since the accident, Samegawa has been declared safe for cultivation. But Hongo doesn’t trust the numbers. He’s only growing enough food to feed himself. He won’t feed others crops that could be contaminated. Instead, he’s planting sunflowers in hopes of decontaminating the land.

June 17, 2011July 2, 2011

Young farmers fleeing agricultural community

Hiruta has spent decades recruiting farmers from across Japan to join him in the tiny agricultural community of Kaidomari, nestled among tall pines in the mountains on the edge of Iwaki in Fukushima. But since the nuclear disaster, especially the younger farmers are fleeing.

Fukumoto (left) is returning to Hiroshima with his free range dairy cows, unwilling to let them graze on contaminated grass. Suzuki (center) and her husband are divided about whether to stay or go. Background radiation here is .4 microsieverts/hour outside, .3 inside.