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Boo-hoo-hoo Fukushima Diary, Part 7

9-year-old daughter addresses energy issue

One night when there was a variety show on television, young people were holding an all-night demonstration at Kansai Electric’s nuclear plant in Oi, Fukui Prefecture. I was watching it live on the Internet, and I felt there was a disconnect between what was on TV and reality. I told my wife what I thought, but she didn’t see it the same way, and the conversation just moved on.

My 9-year-old daughter, who interrupted the conversation between my wife and me, had her own ideas about the energy issue.

I reacted strongly to the problem of the accident at the nuclear power plant and transferred my daughter’s legal residence from Fukushima City to her grandparents’ home in Aizu Wakamatsu, located in the western part of Fukushima Prefecture. She has been living there ever since. She has both gained and lost as a result, and now I can’t say whether I did the right thing or not.

We’ve been living like this for nearly 500 days without any of us knowing how long it will go on. If only there were a finish line like there is in a marathon, we could hang in there.

(Originally published on July 17, 2012)

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