The Fukushima Youth: Who Are They? And What Do They Want?

March 11th, 2011. A day that will long be remembered by the people of Fukushima, Japan. As Sukagawa Katsuko Armina prepared to open her new organic restaurant, Ginga No Hotori (roughly translated as “Edge of the Galaxy”), she was hopeful in her dream to help people make their eating habits better for the environment and themselves. However, the danger of high cholesterol would soon seem irrelevant compared to the actions that occurred later that day. At 2:46 pm, an earthquake of 9.0 magnitude, the most powerful earthquake to hit the region since records began in the late nineteenth century, struck Japan with dangerous ferocity despite it only lasting for a few seconds. People were, of course, surprised by the power of the earthquake; however, it was nothing out of the ordinary for the people of Japan, with around 1,500 earthquakes hitting Japan each year. Little did they know, this was anything but a normal earthquake. 

Soon after the earthquake hit, a massive tsunami hit the coast of Japan, with its gigantic waves surging over the defenses of the nuclear power plant of Fukushima. The nuclear disaster which followed would be the worst since the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the Soviet Union in 1986. Nearly 20,000 people were killed, with 90% of those due to drowning. It was also the most expensive tsunami in history, costing the Japanese government 360 billion dollars in damages, making it the most costly natural disaster since Chernobyl. Fears over the radiation caused over 150,000 people to flee from the area, which is now inhabitable. Now, the children forced to evacuate eleven years ago are taking action against those who they believe to be partly at fault for the nuclear disaster. 

Six of these children, now adults, are known as The Fukushima Youth. They range from six to sixteen when the disaster hit and are suing the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) seeking $5.4 million in damages. The six people suing the power company believe the radiation from the disaster eventually caused them to get cancer a few years later. All of the plaintiffs went through operations to remove parts, or all, of their thyroid glands, as it was the location of their cancer. This is not the first time compensation has been wanted by people for the effects of the Fukushima disaster, with a family receiving a substantial sum of money from the Japanese government after it was proved that a worker in the family had been killed by the radiation from the plant. 

Lawyers of the Fukushima Youth believe their clients also have a good chance of receiving compensation, with one of the major reasons behind it being how none of the plaintiffs have a family history of thyroid cancer. A governmental report set up by Japan’s parliament also backs the plaintiffs. It explains how the Fukushima disaster was “a profoundly man-made disaster.” The report showed how several safety requirements failed to be met by Tepco, with the proper safety requirements and plans not ready for an event such as the Tsunami. Despite this, in 2019, three former Tepco executives were cleared by a Japanese court on the count of negligence, the only criminal trial to come out of the disaster. Governmental officials believe processing the areas affected will take between 30 and 40 years, in which they must remove fuel rods, nuclear waste, and more than one million tons of radioactive water. However, some former residents and people throughout the country are still skeptical of living there again, with many scared of returning to the areas heavily affected by the radiation. If the Fukushima Youth were to win their case on top of these fears, the public perception of this horrific disaster will turn from one of fear to anger. With the realization that corporate billionaires could have saved people and their homes but were more focused on themselves than the well-being of the people, they are supposed to protect.