NAHA, Okinawa Prefecture--Following the Fukushima nuclear crisis and fearing the spread of radiation, a number of Kanto residents fled to this southernmost prefecture and continue to live here despite the lack of personal connections.
NAHA, Okinawa Prefecture--Following the Fukushima nuclear crisis and fearing the spread of radiation, a number of Kanto residents fled to this southernmost prefecture and continue to live here despite the lack of personal connections.
"The Okinawans are really warm-hearted. I wouldn't want to live in Tokyo again," said Jin Tanimura, 38, clad in "kariyushi" wear, a locally promoted attire that looks like a Hawaiian shirt.
Following the nuclear crisis, more people have moved out of Tokyo and surrounding areas to Okinawa and other parts of western Japan than have moved in. Some well-known figures, including the writer Hitomi Kanehara, have openly said they evacuated out of the region to safety.
No data is available on the number of evacuees from the Tokyo metropolitan area to Okinawa, but local sources suggested there were hundreds.
The evacuees chose Okinawa because "it is far removed from Fukushima, it hosts no nuclear plant, and because Japanese is spoken there," the sources said.
That sense of fear drove Tanimura, his wife, child, younger brother and sister-in-law to evacuate to Kyushu after the crisis began to unfurl at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant on March 11.
A search for a place devoid of nuclear plants led the family of five to Okinawa, although they had no relatives in the prefecture. It was only here that they could finally feel comfortable enough to take off their protective masks. They have lived in Okinawa for five months.
"The risk of radiation is fundamentally different from other risks," Tanimura said. "It is invisible, and information is of mixed quality, and there are so many things that you don't understand. That's what makes it scary."
Tanimura established in July a company to measure radiation levels in food in hopes of alleviating anxieties over shopping. However, the business has yet to gain any traction, and Tanimura is living off his savings.
Currently there are active exchanges among the Tokyo evacuees. Mari Takenouchi, 44, who has been advocating against the danger of nuclear plants and earthquakes for more than 10 years, hosted a meeting for evacuees at her Naha apartment.
Takenouchi also has translated books on low-level radiation exposure.
"The accident was of such an extent, but the government kept saying it was safe," she said. "I could no longer believe in the government."
Immediately following the crisis, she evacuated along with her son, who would soon turn 2. Both of them had suffered from health problems, with frequent fevers, she said.
Takenouchi said she remains seriously concerned about the expanding threat to residents' health.
"Internet sources say that a growing number of people are having health problems in the Tokyo metropolitan area," she said. "This will result in an awful outcome if the situation continues."
Takenouchi is organizing lectures and demonstrations. She has also set up a "Society of Hibakusya," where "hibakusya" means sufferers of radiation exposure.
Mamiko Yanaka, 44, who co-directs the Society of Hibakusya with Takenouchi, appeared to be suffering even as she sat.
"I feel sluggish," she said.
Yanaka quit her job and came to Okinawa in July after sensing that her health was failing.
She used to suffer from a thyroid gland disease. Following the Fukushima crisis, she mostly stayed at home out of fear of radiation, but still suffered from nosebleeds, diarrhea and other symptoms.
A search for information on the Internet led her to the conviction that she was suffering from low-level radiation, but "nobody took me seriously at any of the eight clinics I visited," she said.
She became estranged from her friends, but she met new people at demonstrations against nuclear plants and seminars on radioactivity.
Yanaka said she has a strong distrust of the government and the media. For some time, she placed her trust in academics, but she stopped believing in them after she heard them say that Tokyo was safe, she said.
Wasn't she just seeking information that confirmed her beliefs?
"The truth is in my own body," she insisted.
Some Internet resources carry dubious information on what their posters claim is the "truth that the government and the mass media are eager to conceal," which have generated large followings.
Also, the many voices from across Japan complaining about their health concerns tend to be associated with the "effects of radiation" without verifying their accuracy.
Kazuya Nakayachi, a professor of risk psychology at the Faculty of Psychology, Doshisha University, said people should make decisions on what to believe based on the authority and sincerity of the person delivering the information. He added that a common sense of values is essential.
Sympathy holds the key to trust when people feel they are not being understood and feel isolated, he said.
"There is a whole variety of economic conditions and family situations, so different people will make different judgments on the risk of the radiation levels in the Tokyo metropolitan area," Nakayachi added. "We are surrounded by risks of different kinds. You could make a judgment on the necessity of evacuation by comparing the risk of quitting your job and living far from your family members against the dangers of the current radiation levels."