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Ukrainian Students Participated in Study Tour to Fukushima

A total of 11 Ukrainian students and researchers participated in a study tour to the disaster-stricken areas in Fukushima from August 25 (Thu.) to 27 (Sat.).
This tour was conducted as part of the project implemented by the Fukushima Innovation Coast Framework with the full support of the Research and Support Center for the Future of Fukushima, Nagasaki University.

Day 1: Thursday, August 25


They gathered at the Bunkyo Campus at 7:15 a.m. and flew from Nagasaki Airport to Sendai Airport via Chubu International Airport. They took a chartered bus from Sendai Airport to "Earthquake Remains: Namie Town Ukedo Elementary School*1".
At Ukedo Elementary School, Professor Noboru Takamura, Director of the Research and Support Center for the Future of Fukushima, guided the students. Everyone was speechless when they saw the traces of the tsunami, including classrooms with peeling walls and ceilings, clocks that had stopped at the time the tsunami hit, and a gym with graduation ceremony signs still on display.

※1 The earthquake and tsunami hit Ukedo Elementary School. With the teachers' quick decision-making and the students' cooperation, the 93 students (including 11 first graders who had returned home) could all survive evacuating to higher ground. However, the subsequent nuclear power plant accident made the area an evacuation zone, and the children could not return, leaving the area as it was at the time of the disaster.

Students looking at a classroom damaged by the tsunami at Ukedo Elementary School

After that, they moved to the coast and walked on the huge breakwater built after the Great East Japan Earthquake to visit Marine House Futaba, a beach house that has been untouched since the disaster. Although it was impossible to enter the house, they felt the destructive power of the tsunami when they saw the exterior walls and the interior that the tsunami had severely damaged.

Students walking on the huge breakwater Visiting Marine House Futaba

Day 2: Friday, August 26

They visited the Great East Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Disaster Memorial Museum in the morning.
Professor Takamura accompanied the bus to the museum and explained the situation in the Hamadori area. Seeing the changing landscape around the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant through the bus's windows, including empty houses, barricaded roads, and newly constructed factories, a student commented, "I can't help thinking about the current situation in Ukraine."

Professor Takamura speaking on the bus

At the museum, Professor Takamura, the museum director, guided the students through the exhibits and video recordings of the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear power plant accidents. The students listened intently to Professor Takamura's explanations as they gazed at the exhibits. In front of a painting with a message from a Ukrainian child, "Keep it up, my Japanese friend," the students smiled a little at the warm international exchange.

※2 The Great East Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Disaster Memorial Museum was built in Futaba town, Fukushima, in 2020. Its purpose is to pass on to future generations records and lessons learned from the unprecedented combined disasters of the Great East Japan Earthquake and the TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, as well as the reconstruction progress, and to disseminate them widely in Japan and abroad. Professor Noboru Takamura has been the director of the museum since its establishment.

Students intently listened to Professor Takamura's explanation

After the tour of the museum, Professor Takamura gave a lecture. He explained the damage caused by the earthquake, efforts toward reconstruction, and the process by which Nagasaki University has been supporting reconstruction efforts. Students asked questions such as: "There are not many people returning to Futaba town, but how do you think they can return?" What kind of support is the government providing to rebuild Futaba Town?

The morning program was open to the media and reported by three local TV stations and two newspapers.


Professor Takamura's lecture


Students actively asked questions

After a lunch break, Professor Emeritus Shunichi Yamashita of Nagasaki University (Vice President of Fukushima Medical University) gave a lecture. He explained his experience as one of the first from Nagasaki University to enter Ukraine to conduct health surveys and provide medical assistance after the Chornobyl nuclear power plant accident.
He also explained how the experience and knowledge gained there were helpful in response to the nuclear disaster in Fukushima and the establishment of a health management system.

Prof. Yamashita's lecture

The last program of the second day was an observation of a field survey of environmental radiation measurements, thanks to the cooperation of the Institute of Environmental Radioactivity, Fukushima University. Professor Vasyl Yoschenko from Ukraine explained how to measure radiation in forests, what it means, and that decontamination in forests is very difficult. Next, they moved to the Takigawa Dam in Tomioka Town, where Project Researcher Mark Zheleznyak, also from Ukraine, explained environmental radiation measurements at the dam. The students were delighted to be able to communicate in Ukrainian and asked many questions in a friendly atmosphere. After the program, one of the students commented, "Although the lecture's content was very technical, the explanation in my native language helped me understand it very well."

Professor Vasyl Yoschenko (left) and Project Researcher Mark Zheleznyak (right)
Field survey of environmental radiation measurements

Day 3: Saturday, August 27

They gathered at the hotel lobby at 7:40 a.m. and headed to Drone Park.
Mr. Toshio Jindo, the owner of Drone Park Kawauchi, emigrated to Kawauchi Village before the earthquake from Tokyo but was forced to evacuate due to the nuclear power plant accident. Even after the evacuation order was lifted, residents had difficulty returning to the area, so he decided to start Drone Park Kawauchi to help the area somehow thrive. Mr. Jindo talked about his hardships and dreams after the disaster, and the students seemed to empathize with his stories of the disaster victims' real feelings.
Next, he asked the students to write their thoughts and feelings on the arrow boards colored with the Ukrainian flag. The students wrote their wishes for peace and their determination for reconstruction.

Students earnestly listened to Mr. Jindo Students wrote messages in Ukrainian

Afterward, the students went outside to watch a professional drone demonstration flight and boarded a Caterpillar cart for a tour of the drone park. They were excited as if they were riding on a theme park attraction. Mr. Jindo's warm hospitality and words of encouragement impressed them.


Touring the park on a Caterpillar cart
All the playground equipment in the park was in Ukrainian colors
A commemorative photo with Mr. Jindo

On the way back, the students disembarked from Sendai Airport via Itami Airport to Nagasaki Airport and disbanded at 7:30 p.m. at the Bunkyo Campus.
The students spent three days learning about the reconstruction and commented, "I have to think about what I can do in Ukraine." "I hope that one day both Fukushima and Ukraine will be restored to beautiful cities like Nagasaki." "I want to share the knowledge from the Fukushima disaster response with Ukraine." They seemed to see the reconstruction of Fukushima as their problem and renewed their commitment to reconstruct Ukraine.