Futaba kara toku hanarete dainibu

In 2012, Atsushi Funahashi presented Nuclear Nation, his film about the consequences of the March 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukushima Daiichi. 1400 people from nearby Futaba were evacuated to a school building in a Tokyo suburb. Funahashi documented people’s desperation with true empathy and showed the full extent of the destruction. This year, he presents the sequel. We learn that the former mayor – previously a fervent advocate of nuclear energy and now a passionate fighter for the victims of the catastrophe – has now been replaced by someone younger. The single-minded cattle breeder also makes another appearance, originally having resisted the government's orders to evacuate the disaster zone and kill his livestock. Today, a look at his animals lays bare the consequences of radioactive contamination: they all have ulcers and open wounds. It wasn't until late 2014 that the final people left the school building – but they're unlikely ever to be able to return to their homes. The epicentre of the catastrophe has been declared a toxic waste disposal site. The inhabitants of Futaba, to whom nuclear energy once brought affluence, are now alone in paying the high price for it.