Miho Tominaga
President, Shinsei

Reconstruction of Fukushima

On 11 March, 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake and nuclear accident occurred. 120,000 of Fukushima’s citizens, mainly from the eight towns and villages in the Futaba district which were affected by radiation, were forced to leave their hometowns and start life as evacuees. At that time, the problems faced by Fukushima due to the nuclear accident were so great that it was absolutely impossible for any one organisation or individual to solve them. Under these circumstances, 21 organisations of people with disabilities came together and set up the Japan Disability Forum Fukushima Support Centre for People with Disabilities in the Disaster-affected Area (hereinafter “JDF Fukushima”) in order to support organisations of people with disabilities who had been affected by the disaster.

Shinsei began in October 2011 as the exchange salon (place for people with disabilities who had evacuated to get together) of JDF Fukushima (which ceased its activities in March 2016). At first, we focused our activities on exchange, but we began to hear many people saying “It’s hard to force ourselves to chat every day. We want to work, just like we did before evacuation. We want a role to play.” So from 2013, we scaled down the activities of the salon, and focused our efforts on creating opportunities for work. Around that time, colleagues who had reopened social enterprises in the places to which they had evacuated were experiencing similar problems to us: they could not find work in a new place, and were struggling to pay wages. 13 social enterprises for people with disabilities set up a project to collaborate in creating work, with Shinsei as the secretariat, so that “the work of people with disabilities could contribute to the reconstruction of Fukushima”. We were fortunate to obtain generous support from people in various positions in society, including companies, NGOs and NPOs, and local residents, and were able to set up the “Polvorón Magical Sweets Project”, sold accompanied by a tale of Fukushima’s current situation, and the “Sewing Machine School Project”, where participants learn sewing machine skills and combat the isolation which they might otherwise experience at Fukushima’s small enterprises. Not only the partnership of the 13 social enterprises facing the same issues but also companies, NGOs and NPOs, and local residents worked together on these projects, and they were able to play a part in the reconstruction of Fukushima as dynamic projects utilizing the expertise and resources of each of these participants. In 2018, when society’s interest in Fukushima’s reconstruction was beginning to wane, this role came to an end and the partnership project dissolved in order to make way for the next development. However, we were extremely fortunate to be able to gain this special experience in “creating work in partnership” with various members of society, surmounting the barriers often created by disability. Ever since this project, Shinsei’s basic style has been to work in partnership, joining forces with various organisations in order to create work.

Independence from reconstruction

11 people with disabilities are still working at Shinsei today. It is difficult for them to return to their hometowns for various reasons: there are no facilities, or social enterprises where they could work, and they fear becoming more isolated if they returned home. In order for them to feel secure about continuing to live in the place to which they evacuated (Koriyama City) for many years to come, Shinsei needs to break free from work which is dependent on reconstruction. In 2019, we decided that we wanted to fulfil their dream of returning to their hometowns one day and working in agriculture once more, and so we rented local farmland which was lying idle and set up a farm. By establishing this farm, we were finally able to form regional bonds. From here on, we intend to work together with local farmers to tackle issues which they face, such as the production of processed goods using vegetables discarded because they do not meet the standards, and to set up exchange events in which people with disabilities serve as hosts in order to boost the number of visitors to the area.

Looking back over the decade since the Great East Japan Earthquake and nuclear disaster, we have continually been confronting the isolation of people with disabilities who evacuated from Futaba County. The isolation of people with disabilities was an issue brought further out into the open within the context of a major disaster, but this issue is surely one which it is difficult to overcome even in more peaceful times. It seems that it will be a while longer before the people with disabilities who work at Shinsei can put down roots in this area and become a necessary presence in the community.