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Starting in May 2011, veterinarian Seido Watanabe of Tomioka, Fukushima Prefecture, repeatedly entered the no-entry zone around the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant along with people affiliated with the nuclear power industry and Diet members.
He saw many dead cattle in their pens. Horrendous odors emanated from the enclosures, which were infested with maggots and flies. Seeing the scenes, however, Watanabe felt unmoved. “If the cattle died, their suffering ended here,” he thought.
What did pain him was seeing cattle that were leisurely grazing, but would be soon put down.
Watanabe did not understand why the cattle had to be killed just because they were exposed to radiation.
“We will return to Tomioka in the future," he thought. "Even if it is impossible to ship adult cattle, we could ship calves someday. By doing so, we will reconstruct our town. For the reconstruction, we should refrain from killing cattle.”
Watanabe called livestock farmers who were acquaintances. Sometimes, he went to evacuation centers where those farmers were staying. In his discussions with them, he persuaded them not to give their consent to putting down their cattle.
Yasuaki Tashiro, 59, a livestock farmer of Tomioka, thought that what Watanabe was saying was correct.
While working in the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, he was raising cattle with his wife. He even gave names to 12 head of cattle, and took care of them, petting their heads each day.
Though the cattle were “tools of his job,” he regarded them the same as he did the pets he had affectionately taken care of for more than 10 years. Even if he was ordered by the central government to kill his cattle, he would not be able to obey the directive.
On a bus for evacuees’ temporary return to their houses, however, Tashiro overheard the conversation of two passengers. “My storehouse for miso (fermented soybean paste) was damaged by cattle,” one said. The other replied, “My garden trees were damaged.”
Tashiro was shocked by the reality that roaming cattle were causing damage throughout the area, though the nuclear accident in reality was what created the situation.
Later, Tashiro knew that the Tomioka town office was receiving complaints about wandering cattle. He also heard a rumor that some residents were considering demanding that livestock farmers pay compensation.
“Is our desire not to kill our cattle preventing reconstruction (of our town)?” Tashiro asked himself. After thinking seriously about the issue, Tashiro called veterinarian Watanabe, and said, “It is impossible to continue opposing the killing of our cattle. We have to give up.”
Tashiro was eager to improve the quality of the meat and milk coming from cattle. His willingness was having a positive effect on other livestock farmers.
“If Tashiro, who was carefully taking care of his cattle, concluded that there is no other way except for killing them, I must respect his conclusion,” Watanabe thought.
On July 29, 2011, the veterinarian wrote in his diary, “White flag” (meaning surrender).
Some scientists and stock farm operators began to round up cattle, which had been exposed to radiation, without killing them to study any radioactive materials in their bodies. However, Watanabe began to distance himself from such activity.
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