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Inawashiro nature tour
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The Fukushima
Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011 contaminated many areas in Fukushima
Prefecture, Japan. The national government adopted the policy of
attempting to decontaminate these areas by removing radioactive
substances. The areas include densely populated parts of Fukushima
City, which are severely contaminated but have not been officially
designated as mandatory evacuation zones.
“We sincerely wish that at least children could evacuate
to a safe place and stay there until the decontamination work starts
and its effects become apparent.” In response to such voices from local
residents, the Fukushima Poka-Poka Project (named after a Japanese
onomatopoeia indicating warmth) was established as an organizer of
getaway programs which took the families, both parents and children,
living in relatively high-dose areas in Fukushima Prefecture to the
Tsuchiyu Hot Springs and Tsuchiyu Tōge Hot Springs resorts, both of
which are located in Fukushima Prefecture but have a low air dose. The
programs received favorable comments from the participants, who said
they enjoyed staying in the relaxed, low-dose environment. Due to the
geographical proximity of the resorts from the contaminated areas where
the families lived, participants could easily make the round trip to
the resorts by car over a weekend, and thus traveling fatigue was low.
In addition to the short-stay programs in Fukushima
Prefecture, we organized collaboration programs with the citizens’
group Minami-Bōsō Youth Camp in Chiba Prefecture. Using the summer and
winter school vacations, we organized short-stay programs of four days
and three nights in Minami-Bōsō City. Children from Fukushima were able
to play freely outdoors and enjoy the natural beauty of Chiba. The
total number of participants in our programs has exceeded 3,000. To
provide information, we also organize informative lectures on an
as-needed basis.
A short-stay program using a shared house located in
Inawashiro Town, Fukushima Prefecture, is currently underway. The house
is located in a less contaminated area. During the previous programs in
the Tsuchiyu Hot Springs resorts, participants were able to enjoy
leisurely stays in hot-spring inns. At the shared house in Inawashiro
Town, the program is slightly different. Unlike stays at inns, lodgers
at the shared house prepare their meals together. Therefore we request
program participants to join in with the meal preparation and dish
washing. In the programs using inns, only a part of the food
ingredients used for meals was selected by us. At the shared house,
however, the meals are prepared entirely from ingredients we have
selected. The joint meal preparation and dish washing provides a good
opportunity for friendly exchanges among participants, and some
participants say that children look forward to cooking together, which
we are pleased to hear. Thanks to support from local residents in
Inawashiro Town, we put on nature tours, including a visit to Lake
Inawashiro, which participants also enjoy very much.
The Fukushima Poka-Poka Project makes continued
efforts to organize better short-stay programs. Currently we are making
preparations for a short-stay program in Chiba Prefecture in August.
Applications for participation are coming in for the summer program as
well as autumn programs. We also plan to organize short stays at
hot-spring inns during the winter.
The Fukushima Poka-Poka Project is made
possible through donations from the general public. We would very much
appreciate your kind support by asking you to donate any sum that you
can easily afford.
Please send your donations to our bank accounts at:
Beneficiary Bank: THE TOHO BANK,LTD.
Branch: Head Office
Beneficiary Bank Address: 3-25, Oo-machi, Fukushima-Shi, Fukushima 960-8633, Japan
SWIFT Code: TOHOJPJT
Payee Account Number: 101-3697748
Name of Payee Account Holder: WATARI THUCHIYU POKA POKA PROJECT Daihyo KANNO Yoshihiro
Payee Address: 101, SoleadoⅠ, 95-2, Iwasaki-cho, Watari, Fukushima-Shi, Fukushima 960-8141, Japan
Payee Telephone Number: 090-3982-6393
Fukushima Poka-Poka Project Blog (in Japanese)
http://ameblo.jp/pokapro/
Please write to us at pokapoka.watari@gmail.com if you would like to receive more information.
