The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Nine years after the nuclear disaster, surfing is still present in Fukushima

2020-03-09T13:40:29.217Z


THE SCAN SPORT - Fuskushima was one of the best surf spots before the nuclear disaster in 2011. Nine years later, lovers of the discipline are once again facing the waves of this area.


On March 11, 2011, a gigantic tsunami triggered by a magnitude 9 earthquake devastated the east coast of Japan and caused the explosion of three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. More than 18,000 people died and 160,000 had to leave the radioactive zone. Koji Suzuki, a 64-year-old Japanese man, remembers this day very well, his entire neighborhood was swept away by the tidal wave, including his surf shop. “I lost my house, my job, my shop. My mother died during the evacuation and my father followed a few months later, ”he recalls nine years later.

"I told myself that if I did not immediately return to the water, this coast would have died for eternity"

To escape the tsunami, Koji Suzuki fled the area by car, leaving everything behind, except two surfboards that happened to be in his vehicle. A few months after the disaster, he returned to his beach in Minamisoma, some 30 km north of Fukushima Daiichi. It was covered with debris from houses reduced to pieces. "It was a heartbreaking vision but the ocean was still there, like itself (...) and I told myself that if I did not immediately return to the water, this coast would be dead for the eternity, "says the Japanese surfer.

Koji Suzuki on Minamisoma Beach in JapanAFP

It was then that he decided to resume his regular surfing trips, as he had always done for decades. “I surf about 250 days a year. I take a break on New Years Day and the day after. The rest of the year, I come to see the ocean every day, ”he says. After making sure that the levels of radioactivity were not dangerous, he entered the water one morning while rescuers were still plying the beach in search of the missing.

"Fukushima will be stigmatized in history forever"

This summer, the Olympic Games will take place in Japan and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to make these 2020 Olympics a showcase of progress in the reconstruction of the Fukushima region. Koji Suzuki appreciates the fact that Fukushima is advertised as a safe place during the Games, but does not believe in the government-touted “Reconstruction Games”. According to him, “Fukushima will never recover. I can never go back to where I lived and take over my store (…). Fukushima will be stigmatized in history forever. ”

In the summer of 2019, the city of Minamisoma, where Koji Suzuki is from, officially opened the beach to visitors for the first time since the accident. “It was wonderful to see children rushing into the waves. They never felt the taste of salt water, ”says the Japanese, who can no longer imagine a life without surfing.

Read also

  • Paris 2024: the IOC validates the choices of Tahiti and Place de la Concorde

Source: lefigaro

All sports articles on 2020-03-09

You may like

News/Politics 2024-02-08T06:42:38.927Z

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.