R . Ando et al .: Radioprotection 2024 , 59 ( 4 ), 261 – 269 265 Fig . 5 . The storyteller with a group of visitors of Naraha . Fig . 6 . The foreigner with a friend visiting the village of Yamakiya .
3.1 The storyteller
The first testimony was that of a young woman who experienced the accident and the evacuation while she was still in junior high school . She lived for some time after the accident , without talking about it or her experience as an evacuee , even within her family . The idea of creating a theater script about her post-accident experience while she was still in high school allowed her to reflect on what she had experienced . Little by little , her desire to return to her hometown grew stronger and one day she decided to take the plunge alone after the evacuation order was lifted . Since then , she has devoted herself mainly to transmitting her experience of the accident but also of the current situation in the affected areas ( Fig . 5 ).
With artist friends from other prefectures who came to live in the Naraha region as a dual residency after the lifting of the evacuation order , she organized visits introducing the historical context of the affected area during which she introduced an artistic performance . By studying the region ’ s history in depth , she became aware of its unique local characteristics and engaged in personal reflection on what should be preserved but also abandoned in the areas affected by the accident , with a view to reorganizing these areas and giving them a new image . Her approach is therefore completely focused on the future while being strongly anchored in local tradition and culture .
3.2
The foreigner
The second testimony was that of a young man who said that several years after the accident after graduating from high school , he visited the affected areas of Fukushima as part of his university studies , which had subsequently encouraged him to go regularly to the affected areas . At one point , he even decided to live in the area for a year and thus experienced local life . Currently , while in graduate school , he is seriously considering renting a vacant house in an area where the evacuation order has been lifted and using the place as a base for community activities . The initial reason for his visit to the evacuation zone was to understand why people are returning to the area and what their motivations are ? Initially , he hypothesized that people came back because they had a specific intention to do so , but after listening carefully to them , he realized that many of them came back without much motivation . They returned just as they had lived before .
He would like to carry out small revitalization activities individually in the community . Being a foreigner with the image of an ” intellectual ”, who poured into the affected areas after the accident and regarded as distant by local resident , he must think about first what he could do with the locals to benefit their daily lives because it is not easy for intellectuals to be welcomed and gain people ’ s trust ( Fig . 6 ).
In the evacuation zone , he mentioned that there were other young people who were involved in “ small-actions ” initiatives as well as him , such as giving lessons to young children for example . He hopes that in the long term they could gradually spread and a dynamic could be created favoring living together in the affected territories . It is in this spirit that he is looking for a house to rent where all those involved in these ’ small actions ’, like him , could meet , share ideas and initiate new actions .
3.3
The farmer
The third testimony is that of a young farmer who practiced organic farming in another prefecture and who chose to come and settle in Okuma , north of Naraha ( Fig . 7 ). He explained that he was preparing to start an agricultural business as Okuma land , which has been abandoned for over 10 yr and where no pesticides have been used , is an ideal location for organic farming , with rich soils found nowhere else in the world . For farmers who wish to maximize the profitability of their crops , Okuma lands have the advantage of not only being able to exploit the new characteristics of the land but also , despite the fact that the latter was affected by the accident , to attract consumers due to the high quality of the products .
Finally , he also wants to create a store selling directly his production to surrounding communities . Not only does he intend to sell his own products there , but also products from all over the world so that this store could be a meeting and exchange place for consumers attracted by the quality and diversity of the products .