Minami Soma - Dark in the Tomb on Holy Saturday

One of the most common scenes in Fukushima nowadays is this - black turf bags full of radiation contaminated top soil removed from ground. Last year when Ken Warren, a professional horticulturalist, visited Fukushima, he said to us, "It takes 250 years to recover an inch of top soil." (read the full story here). 

This is a temporary solution for agricultural land which Fukushima was best known for until the day of disaster 5 years ago - for its quality rice, juicy stone fruits, and fresh vegetables. But all of these are now wrapped in the big question in the air: "How long? How long will it take to recover all of this?"

Yet, other questions continue to rise on top of these unanswered questions.  

What about the water contamination?

How long will it take to clean all the radiation contaminated mountains and forests?

Every time I come to Fukushima I see the scars and wounds on the face of the earth, and hear this deep groaning of creation. It seems like the darkness of the tomb where Jesus was laid continues forever without any hope of Easter, just like the very first Easter when the grieving disciples hopelessly sat in the upper room without knowing what to do with their lives.

However, I come to the joy of Easter time and again, whenever I see small signs of resilience and hard labour of the people of Fukushima. People started returning and started getting their hands dirty again in whatever ways they could.

Midori and I took a bus to come to Minami Soma, the city worst affected by the disaster. This city is located within 25KM radius from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Many people evacuated, both mandatory and voluntary, soon after the disaster. Five years after the disaster some returned but the overall population is reduced by more than 10%.

Green-house farming is the safest way of growing produce here in Minami Soma. 

Well maintained home gardens are a good sign of people returning. 

The streets are still empty due to a complex set of reasons. To name a few, the lack of functioning infrastructure, close proximity to Sendai, one of the major cities in northern part of Japan (people moved north to Sendai area instead of choosing temporary evacuation), and the higher levels of radiation found in the interior areas of Minami Soma compared to other cities in Fukushima. 

Night view of the town centre. 

Another way to tell whether people have returned or not is the lights at night. Dark streets and residential buildings show the people of this wounded city are wandering somewhere else, waiting for the signs of hope to return home.

Lord, we are waiting in the darkness.