The Great East Earthquake occurred at 2:46pm on March 11th recorded magnitude 9.0, has given tremendous damage to the northern part of Japan, especially in the prefectures of Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate. The earthquake and tsunami triggered the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station located in the Pacific Ocean coast received huge damage by the earthquake and tsunami. The piping facility in the building, the facilities for the external power supply and backup power were destroyed. The next day, 12th in the early morning, the leakage of radioactive materials had been found in front of the main gate of the nuclear power plant. The steam was filled in the building by the core melt down caused by the dysfunction of the cooling system. read more

After one year and seven months from the accident of Fukushima No.1 Nuclear Power Plant, still at least 160,000 people has been evacuated their original home because of fear of radiation. According to Fukushima prefecture, 56,920 people have fled their home in Fukushima pref. and stay in other prefecture as of March 7th, 2013. The biggest number of evacuees, 9,420, is living in Yamagata prefecture, the north west neighboring prefecture of Fukushima. The second is Tokyo, 7,415people, and the third is Niigata, 5,688. As these numbers are only reported number to the government, it is assumed that the actual number should be more.read more

Immediately after the accident, the government ordered residents in only 3km radius around the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power plant (Here after referred as NPP) to evacuate on Mar.11, 2011. As the seriousness of the accident became apparent, the areas of evacuation order were gradually expanded. On March 12, 2011, after the 1st explosion at the nuclear reactor No.1, the government expanded the areas of evacuation within 20km radius from Nuclear Power Plant. On March 15, after the sound what was believed to be explosion was heard at the reactor No.2 & No.4, the government instructed the residents living between 20km-30km radius from the NPP to stay inside house. read more

Though experts have divided opinion about impact of radioactivity to the human body, one thing for sure is that children are more vulnerable and will get more serious impact than adults. After the accident of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, Japanese government has raised the legal public dose limit of radiation exposure for Fukushima prefecture from 1mSV per year to a provisional limit of 20mSV per year, comparable level to “radiation controlled areas” (areas exposed to 0.6 μSV or more per hour). Because of this new standard, big cities such as Fukushima city and Koriyama city were not designated as evacuation zone, but quite a few families escaped immediately after the explosion. However, maximum residents including children chose to stay, because of their economic reason, family reason, etc. read more

 One of the most affected people in Fukushima, where extensively contaminated with radiation released by the nuclear accident, was the hardworking organic farmers. There were many organic farmers who had continued steady efforts for a long time as Fukushima prefecture government had been encouraging organic agriculture. As Fukushima prefecture is close to Kanto area, the large consumption area including Tokyo, organic farmers in Fukushima were able to utilize this advantage and make profit by the labor intensive farming method. read more
Fukushima Organic Agriculture Network