Soon after giving birth to her second child in 2011, this mother evacuated with her two young children to Kansai in western Japan. Yet, their life in evacuation was also full of struggles, including housing conditions and thoughtless comments from those around them. Five years after evacuating away from Fukushima, the family decided to move back. Upon returning, she was able to hear the voices of those mothers who had not been able to evacuate away from the disaster-affected region. She shared with us that “one mother who heard my story, said that until then she had been so jealous of those who had evacuated, and had been blaming herself. Yet she said to me, “evacuation was also very difficult, wasn’t it.” I felt it made sense a little more. When I think of her feelings even now, I really want to return that to her. The damage we incurred is the same for both of us, and we are both victims, so we should not be blaming each other for our actions. I came to hope that we can really recognize and understand each other.”
Please listen to this testimony, to hear the voices and ongoing dilemma of mothers in Fukushima (11mins 30 sec).
English https://youtu.be/e_cH_CnvtTY
French https://youtu.be/agI1d5GIfYs
Korean https://youtu.be/Ok1cLNtq5B4
Chinese (traditional) https://youtu.be/7oNXSW2hXeM
Chinese (simplified) https://youtu.be/HVdGonDB_9Q
German https://youtu.be/zFRRoqOrCyo
Spanish https://youtu.be/4ghaNY2OwWg
Japanese https://youtu.be/GYY16xcLA-s