Reflecting on Fukushima Visit

by | Feb 2, 2016 | Energy, Pollution

Fukushima. One month ago, I used this word to refer to the partial and complete meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant resulting from the cataclysmic earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011. In most of my circles before coming to Japan, Fukushima represented a...

A Sketch from Fukushima

by | Jan 29, 2016 | Pollution

A few days ago, we went into the prefecture of Fukushima, where the Daiichi Nuclear Reactor Accident occurred in conjunction with the Tohoku Earthquake and tsunami. With Fukushima College Professor Ishii as our guide, we were able to look at some of the devastation...

Living Communities

by | Jan 27, 2016 | Community, Energy, Farming, Pollution

Grappling with Disaster On Monday, our class toured the communities surrounding the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant. There is no way to accurately describe the experience we had, but I can say with confidence that it was undoubtedly sobering. As we traveled from...

Remembering the Plight of Yanaka Village

by | Jan 26, 2016 | Pollution

One of the many reasons studying abroad here in Japan has been so incredible is that sometimes the opportunity arises to actually visit the locations we’ve been reading about in our textbooks. A few days ago, our class visited the Watarase Basin, the site for much of...

Witnessing History at the Watarase Retarding Basin

by | Jan 26, 2016 | Pollution

As if this class has not already challenged and broken down my personal definition of what nature is, today we visited the Watarase Retarding Basin in southern Tochigi prefecture. The Watarase Retarding Basin is an active, industrial flood protection operation. In the...