This picture was taken Nov 26th, 2011 in Date City, Fukushima. It was one of the last pics I took on my trip to Fukushima, and it is facing the southeast. If you cross those mountains, approximately 45 miles away lie the dead husks of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors.
At the end of November, equipped with my Soeks Ecotester, I headed to Fukushima. As I said in an earlier post, I've been there many times, so I know the area well. My first year in Japan I climbed Mt Adatara right near Fukushima Station, and after that went back again and again and climbed most of the taller mountains in the area. And let me tell you, is it a beautiful place.
Which makes this trip even more sad.
The first thing I noticed leaving the main station was the lack of people. Yes, Fukushima was never a huge city (est pop around 290,000 last May), but somehow it seemed even more deserted this time. It was a warm day despite it being so late in the fall, but very few people were out and about.
Leaving the station, I got readings in the range of 0.70uSv/hr, and walked to the northeast to pay my respects at a series of temples that dot the city.
None of the temples are huge, but like the prefecture itself all have a subtle beauty to them.
Walking around the city, the highest reading I got was around 1 microsievert per hour. Not an insane reading, but around 10x the normal background levels.
The mountains near Fukushima station.
Rows of low income shanties near the rail line. Naturally these low-lying areas read higher than the surrounding area (around 1uSv/hr). Heading back to the station the lowest reading I got was 0.45uSv/hr, which is around 4x what they consider normal. Most places hovered around 0.70.
Then I boarded the local train and headed for Date City. I got off at Date Station, to the NE of Fukushima City, but roughly the same distance from the power plants. With me on the train was a group of high school students, chatting and enjoying their weekend. When I got off at Date, the readings were much lower, around 0.35.
It was my first time in Date, a small rural city made up of narrow old streets and as you go east more and more farms and orchards.
A quiet, empty road led to a quiet seemingly abandoned temple.
It was from here that I headed east, across a bridge and into fields of kaki persimmons and beautiful apples.
On the bridge, I got the shit scared out of my by this big-ass spider. It was near the top of the bridge hanging in its web, but God, the thing had to be like 6 inches long at least, and with the legs it would've easily spilled out of your hands. Scary.
Along the road east of the river I got reading in the 0.85 range.
The area has lush vegetation growing wild all over.
A little dam crossing a smaller stream.
Some odd plants I spotted on the other side of the street from an orchard.
Heading further still I got to the area of Mukaisenoue Station, a tiny unmanned station just east of Fukushima. I was going to keep hiking on but I was exhausted.
So taking a breather I sat and had a coffee, and read the train time tables. I had enough time to go onward one more station's length to the east, and then I'd have to call it a day.
This was the last leg of my journey, and I hiked up a long slope towards Takako Station. It was late fall, so some of the lush greenery was being replaced by fall colors.
Persimmons on the tree ready to be picked.
As I climbed this hilly road (which was surprisingly well kept), my Geiger counter was constantly giving me the warning alert - I had passed the 1uSv/hr mark, and it slowly but steadily headed up. It never went over 1.26, but surely if I'd checked the bushes nearby or masses of leaves and dirt I would've found higher readings. I never saw levels that would have an effect on someone just passing by, but what about people living there? What about the food they're growing?
I met a friendly old guy out walking his dog, and we walked and talked as I headed to the station. He mainly asked me about my life in Japan, where I'd gone and what I was doing for a living. Quietly after some time chatting, he expressed his feelings with a long sigh, stating how beautiful his home was. We both were thinking the same thing, but neither had the heart to say it.
Lake Takako, located high in the hills of Date City.
***
I was in Fukushima Prefecture for 8 hours, 6 of which were spent hiking outside. I estimate that I received a dose of 5-7 microsieverts - which is roughly equivalent to 2-3 days of normal background radiation. So there is nothing to worry about for my health. But I wasn't that close to the plants. I had originally planned to go to the limit of how close you can get - take a taxi to the border of the exclusion zone - but after talking to the man I met on the path, and then talking to a couple as I had a few beers later, I knew I'd seen enough.
Can it be changed, made better? Will they be able to clean up those areas to get them down to normal radiation levels? I hate to say it but this is highly doubtful. The area is just too huge. What can possibly be done on such a large scale?
[ Final Note: The radiation readings I stated here were all taken at waist level. There is a margin of error, but from testing my counter against others I think it is fairly accurate. ]
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