ABSTRACT
Shattered windows and broken roofs still dot the landscape of Tomioka Town, a coastal community that was divided into three evacuation zones after the nuclear accident; some of the entry restrictions on the town were due to be lifted in 2016 (Figure 11.1). This edited volume has focused on the process of fukko (recovery, reconstruction, and redevelopment) in Hama-Dori, the region of Fukushima most severely afflicted by meltdown and hydrogen explosions at the TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Five years after the accident, one still finds a stark contrast between the fukko process in tsunami-hit areas of Tohoku and the areas of Fukushima affected by nuclear fallout. The ongoing nuclear disaster continues to bring dismal news, including, most notably, the discharge of radioactively contaminated water from the plant. With no end to the disaster in sight, it seems likely that it will be nearly impossible for Tomioka Town residents to happily return to their homes even when restrictions are lifted. All of the chapters in this volume clearly illustrate that while efforts to restore the livelihoods of residents in nuclear disaster-afflicted areas began soon after the accident, the hard reality is that the progress of reconstruction and redevelopment has been hampered and complicated by the continuously changing conditions of the disaster (Yamakawa and Yamamoto 2016).
