#Radioactive Japan: Volunteers Including Small Children Plant Rice Just Outside 20-Km Radius in Fukushima Prefecture

From the photograph by Mainichi Shinbun, both the small girl and the mother (I think) are planting rice with bare hands and bare feet. The location is Kawauchi-mura, Fukushima Prefecture, just outside the 20-kilometer "no-entry" zone and inside the former "evacuation-ready zone" which was abolished in September last year.

Why is this happening? Mainichi Shinbun (5/13/2012; emphasis is mine) reports:

東京電力福島第１原発事故で昨年、政府がコメの作付けを全域で制限した福島県川内村で１３日、試験田への作付けが始まった。村商工会などが呼びかけ、首都圏から訪れた家族連れのボランティアら約５０人が泥に足をとられながら、昔ながらの手植えを楽しんだ。

In the wake of the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident last year, the national government restricted the planting of rice in Kawauchi-mura in Fukushima Prefecture. On May 13, the experimental planting of rice started in Kawauchi-mura. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the village planned the event, and about 50 volunteers including families from the Tokyo Metropolitan region enjoyed rice planting the old-fashioned way - by hand, in the mud.

　今年も村は独自判断で作付けを自粛。試験栽培の結果を踏まえて来年以降の本格的な作付け再開を目指す。試験ほ場で計３０枚の水田に１０アールずつ順次作付けし、放射性物質を吸着する鉱物の散布量や耕す深さを変えて栽培。収穫後のコメは流通させず放射性セシウムを検出するかを調べる。

This year, the village has decided to refrain from planting rice on a commercial scale, but plans to resume planting next year based on the experimental cultivation. In the experimental plot using 30 rice paddies, rice will be planted in 10 ares with differing amounts of minerals that absorb radioactive materials and different tilling depths. The harvested rice won't be sold in the market, but will be used to study whether radioactive cesium is detected.

　神奈川県藤沢市の大学４年生、小宮明子さん（２２）は「風評被害が広まる中、現地で自分の目で見て、安全を信じたい。前を向いて頑張る人を応援したい」と話した。昨年も作付けを行ったコメ農家、秋元美誉（よしたか）さん（６９）は「試験田でも農業再生の第一歩。すぐ売れなくても、地道に消費者に理解される活動を続けたい」と語った。

Akiko Komiya (age 22), college senior from Fujisawa City in Kanagawa said, "As baseless rumors spread, I wanted to see things for myself. I want to believe in safety, and want to support people doing their best in a positive manner." Yoshitaka Akimoto (age 69), the farmer who planted the rice last year, said, "Even if this is only an experiment, it is the first step toward the agricultural renewal. Even if it cannot be sold right away, I want to continue to slowly persuade the consumers."

With a college senior like Ms. Komiya, the future for Japan is as bright as in the past 20 years or so.

Fukushima's local paper Fukushima Minpo (5/13/2012) reports on the same news, and says this experiment is part of the project to develop new sales routes for the rice grown in Kawauchi-mura. The project is called "Revival of Rice Project (復活の米プロジェクト)", and is hosted by Mr. Akimoto. The paper quote him as saying:

コメ作りが始まると考えると、気分が高揚する。消費者と交流の輪を広げながら、一歩ずつ前進していきたい

I'm excited to think that rice growing is just about to start. One step at a time, as I interact with more consumers.

As Mainichi article says, Mr. Akimoto planted and harvested rice last year, too, despite the ban. The harvest rice is supposed to have been tested and discarded. I haven't found the result of the test, if it was ever done. Looking at the photo at Fukushima Minpo, he looks like he means well.

The Ministry of Education and Science's cesium deposition map of Kawauchi-mura, and the map roughly indicating where Mr. Akimoto's rice farm is located (from Kobe Shinbun last year):

Contamination in most of Kawauchi-mura seems less than areas in Fukushima City or Date City, 50 kilometers or more from the nuclear plant. Still, the MEXT map shows Mr. Akimoto's farm to have soil with 100K to 300K Bq/m2 of radioactive cesium. It doesn't seem like the "safe" enough level for a mother to let her small daughter go bare feet and hands to play in the mud.

Kawauchi-mura's Tourism Bureau informs us as of April 25, 2012 that the public building (museum) right near Mr. Akimoto's farm remains closed, and no decontamination work has been done.

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