Eight and a half years have passed since the explosion of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Two years and two months have passed since the cancellation of the evacuation order in Odaka Ward of Minami-Soma City. In rural area of this region, a unit of a district, whose origin dates back to the Middle Ages, has been a base for the ordinary life including the collaboration for agriculture, clean-up of roads and some community facilities, a festival, common cemetery and so on. Each district has a mayor of their own and collects some money from each family, who share how to utilize and manage their lands in the district. In Odaka ward, there are thirty-nine districts.
By focusing on Urajiri District, this case study clarified the influences of the explosion by following the transformation from the old times, just after the evacuation until now. There were about one hundred households and half of them left. Because Urajiri District locates along the seashore and on the platform, the lowlands were flooded by Tsunami and zoned as disaster hazard area meaning that people cannot live anymore. All houses are gone and a huge public occupation including a seawall, windbreak tree plantings and temporary storages for Tsunami rubble garbage are set in lowlands. Rice-fields still wait for recovery construction from Tsunami. On the other hand, some houses without residents are left on the platform. Some agricultural fields are not in use because the drastic decrease and ageing of residents.
The most important thing is that the district tried to recover by themselves and they succeeded with some supports from external specialists. They, centered on the mayors at each time, started the process of discussion, intention survey of all residents, share the results and the contents of discussion. At last, they decided to establish a new organization by residents for management of their lands. They understand they have to change the previous way and update to fit the current situations even if the new way should be changed again before long.
This case study is very unique as a disaster area of nuclear power plant explosion, but shows us very universal knowledge that a traditional unit has autonomous power.
