Photographs and text by Donald Weber
As the Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant neared meltdown in March, Japanese authorities evacuated every village and town within 20 kilometers. This exclusion zone, they said, would contain the damage, it would keep people safe.
They were wrong. Nestled in a green valley and surrounded by rolling mountains, the town of Iitate was once considered among Japan’s most beautiful. But not anymore. Located more than 40 kilometers northwest of the damaged reactor—and outside the exclusion zone—Iitate has become the country’s most radioactive village, according to Newsweek’s analysis of statistics compiled by the government and Greenpeace. Today, the town is largely deserted. The shops are closed and the houses are boarded up. The lawns are overgrown and the glass has begun to crack in the windowpanes.
Yet in nearby towns such as Minamisoma and Kawamata, life goes on. Despite dangerous levels of radiation, many have remained, farming the land and raising their families. They have decided to rebuild their lives, to pick up where they left off. However contaminated, this land is still their home.
Weber is a member of VII Photo Agency and the artist group Mastodon.
