Saturday, May 14, 2011

The story of Iitate Village

On our way to the city of Minamisoma, we passed through the village of Iitate. In part one of the behind-the-scenes footage from that trip I mentioned that Iitate was being evacuated because of the extremely high radiation levels.

They have not been allowed to plant rice or grow vegetables this year. They have been told to kill their cows as they cannot be sold due to radiation exposure. The ENTIRE village is being evacuated and will be abandoned. Not only will the people lose their land, their houses, and their way of life, but they will be losing their sense of community as well.

David McNeill, a foreign correspondent that I know from the Press Club here in Japan, wrote a really beautiful portrait of one of the families being affected. You can read that, here.

I have decided to travel to the village of Iitate tomorrow to film and to try to help tell this tragic story.

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