Prayer in Stricken Land


  • Photographer
    Uma Kinoshita
  • Prize
    Honorable Mention
  • Company/Studios
    la vie en paws
  • Date of Photograph
    2012-2013

This is a second-year story of Fukushima. I took these photographs in Minami-souma, Fukushima Prefecture. Minami-souma is a small seaside town located to the north of the exploded nuclear power plant. It was literally devastated by triple disasters on and after March 11, 2011, namely earthquakes, tsunami and nuclear power plant accidents. In the second year, difficult situations did not change but remaining people started to struggle in hope for restoration. What ties them together is the attitude of praying. They also restarted to hold religious events to confirm their unity.

Story

This is the second part of my Fukushima project. I took these photographs between May 2012 and April 2013. In this series, I focused on Minami-souma, a small seaside town located to the north of the exploded nuclear power plant. The town was literally devastated by triple disasters, namely earthquakes, tsunami and nuclear crisis.

People lost a lot of things from families and friends to houses and jobs. A lot of people are still living in temporary shelter houses. Many people lived on agriculture and fishery, but they could not do anything for 2 years. The death rates, especially among the old, have been drastically rising mainly due to stressful situations. A lot of farm animals, which the owners had to leave when the nuclear power plant exploded, starved to death. Some parts of the city are still off limit, for the radioactive levels are so high. Decontamination works have started in some parts but made little progress.

But in the second year, people started to struggle in hope for restoration. What ties them together is the attitude of praying, which is perhaps a source for their community resilience. In particular in Minami-souma, largely due to the long stable reign throughout the medieval ages, old religious traditions and practices remain intact. Remaining people restarted them, while trying to confirm their unity to overcome the hardships.

Desperate situations still continue. Praying is not simple. But people are struggling supported by one another, though between hope and fear.

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