Friday, September 2, 2011

A Solitary Farmer in Tomioka-Machi: "I'll Never Leave, I'll Never Be Beaten"

AP News reported on August 31 about Mr. Naoto Matsumura, who refuses to leave his home and his farm in Tomioka-machi, which lies in the no-entry evacuation zone within the 20 kilometer radius from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. His family has farmed in that location for 5 generations.

"I'll never be beaten", he says. If he wants to stay, it's his right to do so, he also says.


(h/t Irene)

17 comments:

STeVe the JeW said...

should send this cat some monitoring equipment.

Anonymous said...

Pack of smokes in his pocket. Probably eating the rice he grows on his farm.

He'll probably outlive us all.

arevamirpal::laprimavera said...

@anon 12:12AM, that's what I thought, too. LOL. He looks good.

bulletpointpost said...

I recall seeing a documentary with an old guy still living in the Chernobyl evacuation zone, eating food grown in the area

Anonymous said...

Someone slipped the Kabuki man some lice.

Anonymous said...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904279004576527470755113128.html

Anonymous said...

This person is an example of the scope of the tragedy of Fukishima. Five generations of a way of life destroyed; farming is a vital tradition whick will become lost to the following generations..as well as the ability to provide food for Japan.

Anonymous said...

Yes, to think one private company did this to this man and robbed many like him--it's incomprehensible. Let's hope everyone at TEPCO and in Japan's government is held accountable, tried and prosecuted.

Anonymous said...

They had plenty of time to protest and stop nuclear power, but until an accident happens nobody cared. Perhaps they should of listened to the warnings that were carved into the rocks about Tsunami's from generations past and realized that the plant wasn't protected like it should of been. Hindsight is 20/20.. they should of been improving geothermal energy as they are near fault zones so its easier to access, requires no fuel, and can never cause a disaster like this. We know how to dig deep and all you need is water for fuel so simple. Oh well Japan.

pat said...

the skeletal cows are ghastly.

the japanese govt should have sent farmers in to
shoot all the cows or let them free.

trust me thousands of pet cats and dogs also were left to the fates.

Cruel MF's all of them

Anonymous said...

tea once again....sorry only japanese

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/news/20110903-OYT1T00630.htm

arevamirpal::laprimavera said...

@pat, you know what these MFs at the government said to these farmers when they told them to evacuate? "We'll take care of your cows. If we have to kill them we will do it in a humane way, and bury them." Sure. All they did was to just let the cows starve to death and left them there.

Anonymous said...

Mushrooms from Fukushima also way over the limit, clocking in at 28000 becquerels/kg (cesium).

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/feature/20110316-866921/news/20110903-OYT1T00616.htm

Anonymous said...

>> Perhaps they should of listened to the warnings that were carved into the rocks about Tsunami's from generations past and realized that the plant wasn't protected like it should of been. <<

You're talking about a completely different location from where Fukushima Daiichi is located. The Fukushima Daiichi area had no such markings from times past, because the immediate area in fact used to be a cliff (until TEPCO shaved it down by several meters to bring the plant closer to sea level). So that exact area has no such markings.

However, we know that there is a large crack in the groundrock almost directly under the plant, which TEPCO and the government knew about but ignored. So I'm NOT suggesting that there was no evidence anywhere that the area was seismically active, just saying that your image of "tsunami level was here" stone markers is from a different area in Tohoku, not the immediate location of Fukushima Daiichi.

Anonymous said...

All I am saying is if the population has the intelligence to actually mark rocks for future generations then perhaps a large tsunami should be calculated for the entire island since they have the potential to wrap around the entire island. In particular because the island is littered with fault zones all around it. This should of especially been considered based on what you claim with respect to their manipulation of the land itself to place the sucker down by the water. Sometimes you don't need something to be slapped right in your face in order to understand the risk.... risk assessments are the most important things to consider when placing a nuclear power plant since they can easily get out of control

Anonymous said...

He looks mentally impaired.

Anonymous said...

No he doesn't, he looks kind-hearted and determined, and he is clearly no one's stooge. If people are still living there because they don't understand what is happening, that is a different problem, but he knows exactly what is happening and chooses to stay on his forefathers' land. I wish him every success doing as he pleases based on his own personal calculation of risk vs. reward. Winter will be terribly hard there with only a small generator. Best of luck, brave farmer.

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