Fukushima Nuclear Accident and Its Aftermath

A Survey of Futaba District

Abstract

     This paper reports on evacuees a half-year after the nuclear plant accident in Fukushima in 2011. The survey focused on the evacuees' employment status, mental health, and desire to return home. Their divergence stems largely from gender and generation. In particular, elder men had the strongest desire to return home and to seek regional recovery. The divergent response stems in part from the differential risk to radioactive contamination but also from the different social cost of evacuation due to social status. Given the politically fraught nature of the meaning of “recovery,” we need to debate carefully the nature of support for disaster victims.