10 years on, Japan mourns victims of earthquake, Fukushima nuclear disaster
11 March, 2021
With a moment of silence, prayers, and anti-nuclear protests, Japan on Thursday (Mar 11) mourned about 20,000 victims of the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan a decade ago, destroying towns and triggering nuclear meltdowns in Fukushima.
Huge waves triggered by the 9.0-magnitude quake - one of the strongest on record - crashed into the northeastern coast, crippling the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant and forcing a lot more than 160,000 residents to flee as radiation spewed into the air.
The world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl and the tremor have left survivors struggling to overcome the grief of losing families and towns to the waves in a few frightening hours on the afternoon of March 11, 2011.
About 50km south from the plant, in the gritty coastal city of Iwaki, which has since turn into a hub for laborers focusing on nuclear decommissioning, restaurant owner Atsushi Niizuma prayed to his mother killed by the waves.
"I want to tell my mother that my children, who were all near her, are successful. I came here to thank her our family is living safely," said Niizuma, 47.
Before setting off for work, he quietly paid his respects at a stone monument at a seaside shrine with carvings of his mother's name, Mitsuko, and 65 others who died in the disaster.
On the day of the earthquake, Mitsuko was caring for his children. The kids rushed right into a car but Mitsuko was swept away by the waves as she returned to the home to seize her belongings. It took per month to recuperate her body, Niizuma said.
The Akiba shrine has turned into a symbol of resilience for the survivors since it was barely damaged by the tsunami while houses nearby were swept away or burned down.
About two dozen residents gathered with Niizuma to decorate it with paper cranes, flowers and yellow handkerchiefs with messages of hope sent by students from in the united states.
"It was sleeting a decade ago, and it had been cold. The coldness always brought me back again to the memory of what happened on your day," said Hiroko Ishikawa, 62.
"But with my back soaking up sunlight today, we are feeling more relaxed. It's as though sunlight is telling us that 'It's okay, why don't you go talk to everyone who returned to go to their hometown?'"
REMEMBERING THE DEAD
Emperor Naruhito and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga were slated to honour the dead at a commemorative anniversary ceremony in Tokyo while other events were planned across northeastern Japan, that was most badly hit by the tremor.
The government has spent about US$300 billion (32.1 trillion yen) to rebuild the spot, but areas around the Fukushima plant remain off-limits, worries about radiation levels linger and several who left have settled elsewhere. Decommissioning of the crippled plant will need decades and vast amounts of dollars.
About 40,000 persons remain displaced by the disaster.
Japan is again debating the role of nuclear power in its energy mix as the resource-poor country aims to attain net carbon neutrality by 2050 to fight global warming. But an NHK public TV survey showed 85 % of the general public worries about nuclear accidents.
The mass demonstrations against nuclear power observed in the wake of Mar 11 have faded, but distrust lingers. Some anti-nuclear activists are organizing demonstrations before the operator of the plant, Tokyo ENERGY, for Thursday night.
Only nine of Japan's 33 remaining commercial reactors have been approved for restarts under post-Fukushima safety standards and only four are operating, compared with 54 before the disaster.
Nuclear power supplied just 6 per cent of Japan's energy needs in the first half of 2020 compared with 23.1 % for renewable sources - far behind Germany's 46.3 % - and practically 70 % for fossil fuels.
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