第二回:”警戒区域に残るという決断”  — Part 2: "A man who's been living in his home in the no-go zone in Fukushima"

April 20, 2013  •  Leave a Comment

This time I would like to introduce Mr. Naoto Matsumura, who decided to return to his home in no-go zone in Fukushima prefecture right after the explosion of the nuclear power plant while he fights the loneliness, contradiction of the situation and fear towards the radiation. The problems in Fukushima is not just something that happened in the past. It is on-going and also about our future, especially if you have a nuclear power plant in your country. 

When I met Mr. Matsumura for the first time, I was attracted to the positive vibe he had. Living in the horrible situation such as only 8 miles away from the nuclear power plant, how can this guy keep this positive vibe? He must have gone through a lot of conflicts in his mind since the explosion, but somehow he manages to keep the positive atmosphere around him. 

今回のブログは、ご存知の方も多いと思いますが、震災のすぐ後から警戒区域の富岡町にある自宅に戻るという決断をし、孤独や矛盾、放射能に対する不安と闘いながらその地に住み続けている松村直登さんについてです。福島の問題は過去の問題ではなく、現在進行形で未来にもつながる問題なので、撮影に行きました。(つい先月富岡町の警戒区域は再編されました。)

松村さんにお会いしたとき、この方はとても不思議な方だと思ってしまいました。ひどい状況の中で警戒区域に住み続けているのに関わらず、そういったネガティブな周囲の状況を感じさせない方なのです。心の中では相当な葛藤を通り過ぎて来たはずなのですが、なぜか、この方から発される空気はポジティブなのです。どうしたらそうなれるのか、とても不思議でした。

People who had to evacuate from the area after the explosion could not save their animals waiting for them at their homes.  In most cases, they were told to leave their animals with lots of food and water because  "they can return to their home within a few days". However, the evacuation order was not released for long time. As a result, a lot of animals lost their lives. What did you think about this issue? To save the animals at the time, it would have required tremendous amount of money and possibly sacrifice of human lives/health. There must be different opinions from different perspectives. I do not think I am in a position to criticize about this issue because this is such a complicated issue but my opinion about how to treat pets and domestic animals in general is that we are responsible for them as we, humans, create them because of our needs. After about 2 month from the explosion, temporary visit to their homes were organized by the government and permitted in order. During the temporary visit, it was allowed to save their pets if they were still alive. However, for domestic animals, the government officially requested the owners to let the government kill them (by putting them to sleep). By the time this request was made, lots of them already starved to death. Even if damages caused by this earthquake was massive enough to temporarily lose control, the request to kill them, because they were contaminated and no longer valuable commercially, is just too simple and cruel. 

皆さんもご存知のように、原発の爆発の後、ペットや家畜を警戒区域の外に助け出せなかった方達がたくさんいました。皆さんはこのことについてどう思いましたか?色々な方に聞いた話によると、1〜2日で家に戻れるからとりあえず動物達は置いて避難所に行きなさい、というような指示が出ていたそうです。莫大な資金と犠牲が必要になるかもしれない問題ですし、人によって意見が全く違うと思います。私はこの本当に難しい問題に対してどうこう言える立場ではないと思うので、人間の需要のために造り出される牛やブタ等の家畜やペットたちに対する私の一般的な意見を述べますが、私たち人間が責任を持つべきなのは当たり前だと思います。爆発から2ヶ月ほど経ってペットは一時帰宅の際やボランティアの方達によって助け出すことが許可されましたが、家畜に対しては基本的に殺処分の要求が政府から出されました。もうその頃には既に多くの動物達が餓死していました。あまりにも大きな災害であったことを考慮しても、”食べるために作られた動物なのに汚染されて食べられなくなったから殺処分”、あまりにも非情で単純すぎませんか?

Mr. Matsumura once evacuated to the shelter right after he heard the explosion of the power plant. However, he found out that there was no way he was going to want to stay there. Although I can't even imagine how hard it is for him to live in the no-go zone by himself with fear to be affected by the radiation but without electricity, he goes all over the area to feed animals. Those animals are mostly domestic animals and lost pets which belong to different people. He even learned how to use shovel truck after 311 so he can feed cows. He is somebody who does not possess vanity of any sort and told me he started feeding animals just because they were there and it was not because he had some kind of calling or anything. He just couldn't watch them starve to death. As we know, feeding animals requires lots of patience because once you start, you have to continue everyday. Especially under the situation he is in, it is almost impossible thing to do but he has been making it possible by his hard work and warm heart. He also has two ostriches at his home. He caught one when he found him to feed him regularly and the other one, at another time, followed his car to his home. 

To be honest, when I found his website on internet, I actually could not understand how he returned home against the rule made by the government. I was like, "well, he is really brave but must be different". When I went to meet with him in person, I soon realized that I have forgotten the feeling that most of people have; "I want to go home". As I talked with him more and more, I gradually started to understand why he returned home by feeling his honesty, openness and kindness. "I want to go home" and he went back home. He continues to feed animals because there are still precious lives there. It is that simple, although it is for sure not many people are brave enough to actually do it. 


松村さんは、原発の爆発音を聞いた直後、避難所に一旦避難しました。しかし、そこでの生活に慣れることが出来ず、自宅に戻ることを決めました。自分1人の生活でも大変なはずなのですが、松村さんは少しでもその動物たちの命を救おうと毎日町中を走り回っています。犬や猫はもちろん、今まで扱い方を全く知らなかった牛の世話までしています。牛の餌を運ぶため、ショベルカーの運転の仕方も震災後に覚えたそうです。松村さんは見栄のようなものを一切持ち合わせていない方で、動物たちに餌をあげはじめたのは特別な使命を持ってはじめたわけではなくそこにいるから見捨てられずに餌をやり続けている、と仰っていました。見捨てられない、と餌をやりはじめてそれを過酷な環境の中で実際に続けることの難しさとその優しさを考えると、完全に脱帽する気持ちでした。松村家には2羽のダチョウもいました。野生化していた一羽のダチョウは日常的に餌をやるために車で連れて来て、もう一羽のダチョウは、ある日松村さんの車の後を松村家までついて来たそうです。

実は、松村さんのことをインターネットで知ったとき、私は、随分と思い切ったことをする人もいたもんだ、と思っていました。政府の指示を破ってでも警戒区域に住むなんて、自分には到底考えられない、どんな人なんだろう、と思っていました。それが、お話をさせていただくうちに、松村さんの正直さ、率直さ、優しさを目の当たりにして、なぜ松村さんが富岡に戻ったのか、よくわかる気がしました。”うちに帰りたい”、ほとんどの人が抱く感情を持って警戒区域にある自身の家に戻り、そこに命がまだあるから動物達を助け続けているのだと感じました。ただ、実際にそれを行動に移すという勇気は持ち合わせている人は少ないだけなのだと思います。

 
Last time, I introduced about Ms. Akemi Suzuki who suffers from MS and still lives in Ishinomaki city, which was badly damaged by the tsunami. When I met Ms. Suzuki, I truly realized you cannot know the facts unless you actually go there. When the earthquake happened, every TV station in Japan was broadcasting about the earthquake every minute for about a week straight.  When I visited Ishinomaki city after 10 days, what I saw there was totally different from what I watched on TV. Although visiting there left a traumatic darkness in my heart, I feel it was definitely necessary. After two years have passed, I visited Ms. Suzuki and Mr. Matsumura, and again I realized how much I did not know about them. If you are interested in visiting Japan, I highly recommend visiting the damaged area, including Fukushima. It could be life changing experience for you. (Please be sure that you do not go to highly contaminated area by radiation.)Mr. Matsumura, who "just went back home", had to face various contradictions, and started his mission to fight against all the unreasonable issues. If you would like to join his mission, please go to his website. He needs funds to keep feeding the animals. If you need help sending money to him, I'd be glad to help.

前回このブログで、多発生硬化症を患いながらも石巻市の仮設住宅に住む鈴木明美さんについて紹介しました。鈴木さんとお会いした時にも痛感したことなのですが、百聞は一見に如かずとは本当です。いくら震災関連のことをテレビやインターネットのニュースを通じて聞いていても、実際に震災直後にあの惨状を目にしたときの衝撃は全くの別物でした。2年も月日が経って、鈴木さんや松村さんにお話を聞いて、また更に自分が感じていたこと、思っていたこと、知っていたことと違う印象を受けました。被災地を実際に肌で感じてみるツアーのようなものも行われているようなので、もしまだ行ったことがなければ訪れてみることをおすすめします。こちらはJPA(日本難病・疾病団体協議会)が主催して行った福島ツアーのレポートです。(福島へ行く際にはくれぐれも線量の高いエリアには行かないように気をつけてください。)

うちに帰ろう、と富岡のうちに戻って来た松村さんですが、数々の矛盾や不当な扱いに遭遇して、闘いがはじまりました。もし参戦したい方、松村さんのウェブサイトを覗いてみてください。募金も集っています。

 

飢えて死んでいった牛を見てあなたはどう思いますか?

What do you feel by seeing this cow starved to death? 


 



今回の東北への撮影の旅は企業メセナ:GBFund様から助成をしていただきました。仕事でもなく自費で旅をしていた私のようなカメラマンにとっては本当にありがたい限りです。ありがとうございます!!
This project is supported by GBFund. 

 


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