Must Read: Asahi Shinbun "Trap of Prometheus" Series Part 1 - Men in Protective Clothing (11,12) "Who Were Those Men?"

(Installment 1, Installments 2 and 3, Installments 4 and 5, Installment 6, Installments 7 and 8, Installments 9 and 10, Installments 11 and 12)

Asahi Shinbun's series "Trap of Prometheus" - Men in Protective Clothing documents what happened in Namie-machi in Fukushima Prefecture right after the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident.

Installment 12 says the district chief still remains in Namie-machi. Part regret, part frustration that his community is now gone. He wonders, along with Mizue Kanno, why the authorities did not tell them about high radiation, when they could and should. The district chief also regrets that he didn't take the warning of the men in protective clothing, as told by Mizue, seriously.

If you read Japanese, you can read all installments (1-12) in one location, at this blog.

Even if the series is written by a reporter at a major Japanese newspaper, not many Japanese are aware of it, which, after the initial launch, was buried in the 3rd page of the printed version. (For more on the "3rd page", go to the note before the Installments 9 and 10, here.)

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防護服の男（１１） あの２人のおかげで

Men in Protective Clothing (11) Thanks to those two men

菅野みずえの家に避難した２５人は、「白い防護服の男」の情報とみずえの判断でそれぞれ再避難し、危険な状況から逃げることができた。

25 people who evacuated to Mizue Kanno's house were able to escape from a dangerous situation by evacuating again thanks to the information from the "men in protective clothing" and Mizue's urging.

　大量の放射性物質が飛び散り、住民が被曝（ひばく）するかもしれない緊急の時期だった。しかし政府も東京電力も、それを住民に教えなかった。

It was a period of emergency when a large amount of radioactive materials were being dispersed and endangering the residents. But neither the national government nor TEPCO told the residents about it.

　しかし２５人は、混乱を起こすこともなく、冷静に動いている。

However, these 25 people have acted calmly, without panic.

　みずえは今、福島市に近い桑折町（こおりまち）の仮設住宅で暮らす。

Mizue now lives in the temporary housing in Kori-machi, near Fukushima City.

　「ほら、見てください」。みずえは空き地で遊ぶ子どもたちを指さす。

"Take a look over there", Mizue says, pointing to children in the open space.

　「あんな小さな子が、避難生活の苦労を背負ってこれから生きていくんですよ。もし被曝していたら……」

"Small children like that will have to live with the hardship as evacuees. What if they've been irradiated on top of it..."

　それにしても、あの白い防護服の男たちは一体だれだったのか。みずえは今も考える。

Who were those men in white protective clothing anyway? Mizue still wonders.

　そのころ福島県内は、文部科学省や福島県、日本原子力研究開発機構、東京電力、東北電力などの計測車が走り回っていた。

At that time, radiation monitoring cars from the Ministry of Education and Science, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, TEPCO, and Tohoku Electric Power were all over Fukushima Prefecture.

　例えば新潟県からの応援車もきていた。３月１２日夕のちょうどその時刻、津島地区を通っている。

There was even a monitoring car from Niigata Prefecture. Around the time when the men in white protective clothing visited Mizue in the evening of March 12, the car from Niigata passed through Tsushima District.

　新潟県の職員２人は、原発事故対応の支援のため、ワゴン車に乗って福島県に入った。１１４号を浪江町に進み、津島地区を通った。午後４時ごろ、その先の川房地区で警官に止められて引き返している。

Two personnel from Niigata Prefecture came to Fukushima in a wagon in order to support the effort to deal with the nuclear plant accident. They proceeded on Route 114 to enter Namie-machi, and passed through Tsushima District. About 4PM, they were stopped by the police in Kawabusa District and turned back.

　その職員に話を聞くことができた。ただ、内部被曝してしまったので、名前が出るのは困るとのことだった。

The reporter was able to talk with the two. However, they asked me to withhold their names because they suffered internal radiation.

　職員によると、当時、測定器は激しく鳴りっぱなしで、焦っていた。

According to them, their radiation survey meter was constantly beeping and they were fretting.

　津島地区を通ったとき、車がたくさん止まっていたので避難所だと思った。

When they passed through Tsushima District, they saw a lot of cars parked. They assumed it was an evacuation shelter.

　「防護服？　いいえ、着ていませんでした。車を降りてもいません」

"Protective clothing? No we weren't wearing. We didn't get out of our car, either."

　１４日未明には、放射線医学総合研究所のモニタリングカーが津島地区を通過している。まだ大勢の避難民がいたころだ。

In the early hours of March 14, a monitoring car from National Institute of Radiological Sciences was passing through Tsushima District. There were still many evacuees remaining.

　車には測定器などを積み込んでいたが、「資材を運ぶのが目的だった。放射線量は測っていない」（広報課）という。

The car carried the radiation measurement equipoment, but according to their PR department, "The purpose was to carry the equipment, and they didn't measure the radiation level."

　みずえが会った２人は、そうした計測チームの一つだった可能性が高い。

The two that Mizue met are likely to have been one of those survey teams.

　「あの２人の警告のおかげで逃げられた。それをなぜ国や東京電力は組織としてしてくれなかったのだろうか。もっと多くの人が逃げることができたのに」（前田基行）

"Because of the warning of the two men, we were able to escape. Why didn't the national government or TEPCO give a warning like that? So many more could have escaped."

(Reporting by Motoyuki Maeda)

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防護服の男（１２）区長は逃げなかった

Men in Protective Clothing (12) District chief remained

菅野家の２５人が再避難した３月１３日、下津島区長、今野秀則（６４）は、家を訪ねてきた菅野みずえから白い防護服の男の話を聞かされた。

On March 13 when the 25 evacuees at Kanno's house re-evacuated, Hidenori Konno (age 64), district chief of Shimo Tsushima, heard about what the men in white protective clothing had told Mizue, who came to visit him.

　しかし、逃げなかった。確かな情報もなしに右往左往すべきではないと思った。なにより、区長として先に逃げるわけにいかなかった。

But he stayed. He thought he should not run around in confusion without solid information. More than anything else, as the district chief, he felt he couldn't escape before anyone else.

　３月１５日の午前１０時。津島支所の対策本部に呼ばれ、支所が二本松市に避難すると告げられた。

At 10AM on March 15, he was called to the headquarters for countermeasures at the Tsushima Branch, and was told that the Branch would move to Nihonmatsu City.

　なぜだ。原発から３０キロ離れた津島は安全のはずではなかったのか。しばらく事態がのみ込めなかった。

Why? Wasn't Tsushima safe, being 30 kilometers away from the nuke plant? He couldn't grasp the situation for a while.

　そのとき、テレビが政府の会見を放映していた。２０～３０キロに屋内退避の指示。職員が食い入るように画面を見つめている。これなのか。

The TV was showing the press conference by the national government. Instruction to stay indoors for the residents in 20 to 30 kilometer radius from the plant. The branch personnel were staring into the TV screen. Was this the reason?

　午後から下津島の５０軒を１人で回り、避難を呼びかけた。

In the afternoon, he went to each of the 50 households in Shimo Tsushima, and asked them to evacuate.

　大半の家はカーテンが引かれ、避難していたが、１０軒が残っていた。避難を促したが、拒まれた。３軒は「牛がいるので避難できねえ」といった。寝たきりの老人もいた。

Curtains were drawn in most houses and people had already evacuated, but 10 households still remained. He urged evacuation, but was refused. 3 households said to him, "We can't go anywhere because of our cows". There was a bedridden old man.

　今野は妻（５５）と長女（２３）を先に逃がし、そのまま津島に残る。

Konno evacuated his wife (age 55) and his eldest daughter (age 23), and remained in Tsushima.

　大勢の避難民でごった返した地区から物音が消えた。夜、雨が雪に変わり、路面は真っ白になった。静かだった。

The district, which had been crowded with many evacuees , went completely silent. At night, rain turned to snow, and the roads were covered with white snow. It was quiet.

　昨日はたまたま留守だった家があるかもしれない。１６日、もう一度、５０軒を回った。いったん避難した５軒が戻ってきていた。

There may be households who happened to be away yesterday. So, on March 16, he visited the 50 households again. 5 families who had evacuated had come back.

　妻が車いすで、避難所ではトイレに行くのも大変だから帰ってきた――。１軒で、老夫婦がそう答えた。夫は「いいんだよ放射能なんか。もう年だし、ここで生活する」といった。今野は、車いすでも不自由しない別の施設をさがして伝えた。

In one household, they told him they had come back because the wife was wheelchair-bound, and had a hard time at the shelter even to go to the bathroom. The husband said, "It's OK if there's radiation. We're old. We will live here". Konno told them of another shelter that was wheelchair-friendly.

　「地域が消滅してしまう」

"The community will disappear."

　無人となった地区を車で走りながら、今野は悔しかった。

Running around in the empty district in his car, Konno was frustrated.

　今野は元県庁職員で、今後は地元の伝統芸能保存活動に力を入れるつもりだった。しかし、そんな老後の夢は消え去った。

Konno used to be an official at the prefectural government. He was planning to be active in preserving the local traditional performance art. But his dream was gone now.

　今野は町から測定器を借り、７月から毎月、地区の一軒一軒の放射線量を測り、その住人の避難先に郵送で知らせている。

Konno borrowed a survey meter from Namie-machi, and he's been measuring the radiation level at each house in the district since July. He mails the results to the residents at their temporary addresses.

　県や町からいわれたわけではない。防護服の男の話を聞いたとき、津島が高い線量だと知っていたら、もっと強く避難を呼びかけたのに……。そんな後悔があるからだ。

It's not that he was asked to do so by the prefectural government or Namie municipal government. It is from his regret. When he heard about the men in protective clothing, if he had known that Tsushima had a high radiation, he would have told people to evacuate more strongly.

　ひと月前と比べ、どの家の軒先も雑草が生い茂っている。３年前に亡くなった父が大事に育てていた庭の植木も枯れた。（前田基行）

Compared to a month ago, weeds infest the front yard of the houses in the district. The plant in the garden of his house died; his late father, who died three years ago, had grown the plant with great care.

(Reporting by Motoyuki Maeda)

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