Sporting kimonos and other traditional clothes, the Carleton University Japanese Association (CUJA) held a fundraiser March 9 to spread awareness for Minamisoma, Japan, a city still struggling four years after the triple disaster that struck the country.
On March 11, 2011, Japan suffered a barrage of three disasters: a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, a tsunami which followed shortly afterward, and a resulting nuclear meltdown from the combined structural damage to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.
CUJA president Mana Murata and CUJA event planner Megumi Baldwin travelled to Japan in January 2014 to spend two days in the community of Minamisoma.
During their visit, they interviewed the mayor, Katsunobu Sakurai, and saw first-hand the aftermath of the triple disaster.
“It was really heavy,” Murata said, outfitted in a red kimono. “There are still some areas where you’re not allowed to drive because of the radiation.”
What stuck with Baldwin was the nuclear poisoning of the soil. The Japanese are still in the process of bagging up the first couple of feet of topsoil to make the area liveable again, she said.
“It’s a systematic problem, to be honest,” Murata said, and added the amount of trash alongside the roads as well as the lack of support from all sides, including the Japanese government, has not helped the area recover.
Just because the story isn’t in the news anymore, it does not mean the problem has been resolved, she emphasized.
The CUJA executives referred to the YouTube video Mayor Sakurai posted in 2011 where he asked for aid, which went viral.
At the time, the Minamisoma community was trapped indoors due to radiation and on the brink of starvation when support came flooding in from around the world.
Now, the mayor is encouraging change. He is asking people to “reengage with the world and the environment,” Murata said. The town and mayor is pushing for innovation in clean energy and is hoping to become nuclear free.
In an attempt to increase support, Murata and Baldwin sold handmade hair accessories. CUJA members made the decorative flowers, made from Japanese silk and other fabrics.
“We want to do what we can and raise awareness,” Murata said.
