[Tokyo Shimbun] “The nuclear accident is not a thing of the past” – Mr． Kamoshita and his son， who have been living in evacuation shelters for 13 years， give a lecture in Oiso．

Miwa Kamoshita (54) and her eldest son Matsuki (21), who evacuated from Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture to Tokyo on their own accord following the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident in 2011, gave a lecture in Oiso Town, Kanagawa Prefecture at the end of July. The two spoke of their experiences of suffering during the 13 years they spent living as evacuees, when they faced a lack of understanding toward those who had evacuated voluntarily from outside the evacuation order zones, and argued that “the government should make the damage caused by the accident more widely known before discussing nuclear power plants.” The Kamoshita family left their home the morning after the accident. Miwa and her husband Yuya (55) both worked with radioactive materials in a research lab during their university days. “I knew about the dangers and the strict management,” he said, and he lived his life with nuclear power in mind. According to Miwa, after she started living in Tokyo, she was “treated as a fake victim.” This is because his home is about 40 kilometers south of the nuclear power plant and is outside the evacuation zone. Even though it was clear from measuring the levels that there was contamination, they assumed there would be “no damage.” Masumi was 8 years old at the time of the accident. When he transferred to a new school, he was bullied because he was from Fukushima. In 2018, when he was a high school student, he sent a letter to the Pope informing him of the unfair situation the victims of the accident had found themselves in, and in March 2019 he was invited to the Vatican to meet with him. Eight months later, he met the Pope again at a meeting in Tokyo. In her speech, she said, “I was bullied and my days were so painful that I wanted to die.” “The amount of compensation and the demarcation of evacuation zones were decided by the government, which wants to maintain nuclear power as a national policy, and this has created division among the victims.” Yuya is the leader of the plaintiffs in the “Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Victims Tokyo Lawsuit,” which holds the government and Tokyo Electric Power Company responsible and seeks compensation. Meanwhile, following the termination of the free provision of housing to those who evacuated voluntarily, the city was named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in March 2010, demanding that the housing be vacated. “The accident is not something of the past. The problem has not been solved. I would like to continue to spread the message as a party involved.” (Yoshioka Jun)
Tokyo Shimbun
August 26, 2024 07:18
Related (with community notes).

「原発事故は過去の話ではない」　13年間続く避難生活　鴨下さん親子、大磯で講演：東京新聞 TOKYO Web

2011年の東京電力福島第1原発事故で福島県いわき市から東京都内へ自主避難した鴨下美和さん（54）と長男全生（まつき）さん（21）が7...

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