NPO Fukushima Dialogue

by Ryoko Ando The first Dialogue I attended was the “Second Dialogue on the Rehabilitation of Living Conditions after the Fukushima Accident,” held in February 2012. I was invited to make a presentation and also one of the roundtable discussants. I had no idea what a dialogue meeting was nor what I should expect, and […]

by Jacques Lochard Dear participants, welcome to this twenty-first dialogue meeting in Fukushima. Thank you for being here today. I am very happy to be back in Iwaki. The summer is in full swing and despite the strong heat you came once again numerous to listen and to share testimonies of residents who have gone […]

Contributed by Astrid Liland Astrid LilandDirector for the Department of Emergency Preparedness and Response at the Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority Disclaimer: Some of this text was first published in the Annals of the ICRP, Volume 45, Issue 2_suppl, December 2016, pp. 92-98, SAGE journals. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146645316680582 1. Norwegian impressions from the dialogue seminars – […]

by Ryoko Ando Another characteristic of the Dialogue was the presence of the participants from abroad. In fact, we received many guests from different countries and cultures. This was because the Dialogue started out as the ICRP Dialogue Initiative. The ICRP is an independent, international, and non-governmental organization of radiation experts. Answering ICRP’s calls, experts […]

by Ryoko Ando So far, we have looked at the divisions created after the nuclear power plant accident. Now we will turn to the healing efforts that emerged in parallel with these problems. The Dialogue was one of these efforts. As described in the section “What is our Dialogue?”, its foundation is the post- Chernobyl […]

by Ryoko Ando Up to now, our focus has been the divide inside Fukushima. But the accident also created a huge gap between Fukushima Prefecture and the rest of Japan. This divide was often discussed in the Dialogue, as people from outside participated in the sessions. If radiation was the problem, discussing the prefectural difference […]

by Ryoko Ando Each Dialogue meeting had a different color, reflecting its theme or the participants’ character. But looking back, sessions on education and child-rearing were memorable for the strained atmosphere. The participants sounded guarded and wary, as if they did not dare speak freely. It may have reflected the difficulty of talking about radiation […]

by Ryoko Ando Divide is one of the words that became widely used after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power accident. It is a tricky word. It sounds convincing and we stop thinking what it really means, like, “Divide―Yes, that should be it.” However, the word itself does not explain the nature of the divide, what […]

by Ryoko Ando Translated by Tazuko Arai Ms. Satsuki Katsumi was the principal of Tominari elementary School in Date city, Fukushima at the time of the disaster. (Ms. Katsumi then served as the member of Date city Education Board. She currently lives in Fukushima city.) Q: Please tell us about yourself at the time of […]