Some of the smallest children in Koriyama, a short drive from the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, barely know what it is like to play outside — fear of radiation has kept them indoors for much of their short lives.
Though the strict safety limits for outdoor activity set after multiple meltdowns at the plant in 2011 have now been eased, parental worries and ingrained habit mean many children still stay inside.
And the impact is now starting to show, with children experiencing falling strength, lack of coordination — some cannot even ride a bicycle — and emotional issues like shorter tempers, officials and educators say.
Photo: Reuters
“There are children who are very fearful. They ask before they eat anything: ‘Does this have radiation in it?’ and we have to tell them it’s OK to eat,” said Mitsuhiro Hiraguri, director of the Emporium Kindergarten in Koriyama, about 55km west of the Fukushima plant. “But some really, really want to play outside. They say they want to play in the sandbox and make mud pies. We have to tell them no, I’m sorry. Play in the sandbox inside instead.”
Following the 2011 quake and tsunami, a series of explosions and meltdowns caused the world’s worst nuclear accident in 25 years, spewing radiation over a swathe of Fukushima, an agricultural area long known for its rice, beef and peaches.
A 30km radius around the plant was declared a no-go zone, forcing about 160,000 people from homes where some had lived for generations. Other areas, where the radiation was not so critically high, took steps such as replacing the earth in parks and school playgrounds, decontaminating public spaces like sidewalks and limiting children’s outdoor play time.
‘AVOID OUTSIDE AIR’
In Koriyama, the city recommended shortly after the disaster that children up to two years old not spend more than 15 minutes outside each day. Those aged three to five should limit their outdoor time to 30 minutes or less.
These limits were lifted in October last year, but many kindergartens and nursery schools continue to adhere to the limits, in line with the wishes of worried parents.
One mother at an indoor Koriyama playground was overheard telling her child: “Try to avoid touching the outside air.”
Even three-year-olds know the word “radiation.”
Though thyroid cancer in children was linked to the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident, the UN said in May last year that cancer rates were not expected to rise after Fukushima.
Radiation levels around the Emporium Kindergarten in Koriyama were now down to between 0.12 and 0.14 microsieverts per hour, from between 3.1 and 3.7 right after the quake, Hiraguri said.
This works out to be lower than Japan’s safety level of 1,000 microsieverts a year, but levels can vary widely and at random, keeping many parents nervous about any outdoor play.
“I try to keep from going out and from opening the window,” said 34-year-old Ayumi Kaneta, who has three sons. “I buy food from areas away from Fukushima. This is our normal life now.”
CHILD STRESS ON RISE
However, this lack of outdoor play is having a detrimental affect on Koriyama’s children, both physical and mentally.
“Compared with before the disaster, you can certainly see a fall in the results of physical strength and ability tests — things like grip strength, running and throwing balls,” Koriyama City Government official Toshiaki Yabe said.
An annual survey by the Fukushima Prefecture Board of Education found that children in Fukushima weighed more than the national average in virtually every age group.
Five year olds were roughly 500g heavier, while the weight difference grew to 1kg for six-year-old boys. Boys of 11 were nearly 3kg heavier.
Hiraguri said that stress was showing up in an increase of scuffles, arguments and even sudden nosebleeds among the children, as well as more subtle effects.
“There’s a lot more children who aren’t all that alert in their response to things. They aren’t motivated to do anything,” he said.
Koriyama has removed decontaminated earth in public places, sometimes more than once, and work to replace all playground equipment in public parks should finish soon.
Yabe, at Koriyama City Hall, said parental attitudes toward the risk of radiation may be slowly shifting.
“These days, instead of hearing from parents that they’re worried about radiation, we’re hearing that they’re more worried because their kids don’t get outside,” he said.
However, Hiraguri said things are still hard.
“I do sometimes wonder if it’s really all right to keep children in Fukushima, but there are those who can’t leave, and I feel strongly that I must do all I can for them,” Hiraguri said.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in