Another driving trip to Fukushima

 A couple of weeks ago, I have visited Kotaka district Minamisouma City near the destroyed nuclear plants in Fukushima. I have already gone there a few times in the past. There is a post on one of those trips which I made in this blog 7 years ago; here. 

Two objectives for this driving trip. One is to visit a book store in Kotaka. The other is to trace after the drive with my parents to their friend there. 

What has attracted me to drive to that area is described in the post above mentioned. It was too few times that I took my parents for such a drive while they were alive. Regretting that, I would drive the roads to the place again. I was also wondering if the house of my parents' friend still was gone away there due to the tsunami 10 years ago.

The high way to that area had little traffic. Sometimes drizzly. The mountains in the west were often covered with mist. Like old Japanese drawings. I loved it much. Along the road, however, there were a few radiation measurement displays, one of which showed 2.3μSv/hr. It was above the limit of irradiation to the habitants even in emergency situation. It means the accident has not been under control at all. 

I took off the high way at Namie next to Kotaka. Over a ridge, it took me to Kotaka. In that area, there were a lot of houses not inhabited by anyone with the entrances closed with metal gate, which seemed to have been set later than the accident. There were a lot of signs which said "Uninhabitable area". That sign means they won't be allowed to go on living there. Who has caused it? Who has been responsible for their loss of homeland forever? I could not help feeling vague anger which I didn't know whom I should fling to. This fact in addition to the above normal irradiation around the area should not be forgotten.

There was a place where the house of that lady must used to live. Nothing was left. The ground was flattened without any sign of lives in the past. The scenery was what I had seen 7 years ago. I was curious to know, if that lady might have passed away by now, where her family has gone or even if they were saved in the disaster. A sign close to this place said the tsunami had reached well above the house roof level.   

In my heart, I prayed for those who had been killed in the disaster or at least had lost their home. 

The book store I aimed at is located close to the railway station Kotaka as I have seen before. Very few traffic or people around there. In my last visit, the store was undergoing rebuilding. I could not go into it then. Rebuilding was finished and has made the outlook more like a fancy book store than the previous look as an ordinary house entrance. It is started and managed by a novel writer, Yui Miri, a Korean born and having lived our country throughout her life. For her latest novel titled Tokyo Ueno Station, she has won the National Book Award in the translation genre in the USA recently. The translator is Morgan Giles. It depicts on a homeless man living in Ueno, who has spent his life as one of the lowest class workers in the years of economic development in Japan. She has described his world as if death and life were present side by side. It protests the absurdity of the society causing such a homeless and possibly of the life itself in a quiet touch. I haven't read a lot of her works yet. But, most fascinated at her quiet touch, I wanted to see the book store there, even if not being able to see her. Moving to the town next to the crippled nuclear power plants should be an expression for her to sympathize and collaborate with the people suffering from the accident there.

The street from the station westward. As told above, so few people along there. It may mean only limited number of people have returned this town since the accident and the economy has been depressed ever since.

The beautiful entrance of the store. The name of the store is "Full House" from one of her novels. Yui told elsewhere that she wanted to have the high school students stay there until the train comes to the station. There are very few trains running there. The store is equipped as a cafe where the students could stay taking something to eat and drink.

Neat and clean inside. Beverages or some confection/bread were sold at reasonable price. There are books sorted with the authors in book shelves. Looking around the shelves, I knew it was like a library which Yui wanted them to read. There were a lot of good books, known or unknown to me, which she had selected for young people. Most of the titles were famous or seemingly interesting to be read. 

I was wondering why there were no books of Yui there. There was a corner of her books at the mezzanine floor in the inner part of the store. Each book was with her hand written explanation.

I have got 3 of them. I asked the clerk guy if these books in the shelves had been selected by herself. He answered yes. Complimented with them, I have not missed him showing countenance of pride. 

Feeling satisfied accomplishing the project I had had for a few years, I went back to my home.