Report
Project FU KU SH IM A!
2011.03.11 - 2012.03.11

Seinoshin Yamagishi
Project FUKUSHIMA! Executive Committee

1. Introduction

Fukushima City, August 15, 2011.
The grass at the Village of Four Seasons, a city park in the western part of
Fukushima City, about 60 km north west of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power
Plant, was covered by a huge Furoshiki (wrapping cloth) made of many different
colored fabrics stitched together. The total area space was approximately 6000
square meters.
An outdoor music festival, free of charge, was being hosted by Project
FUKUSHIMA!, an organization founded by three artists acting as joint
representatives; Michiro Endo, a musician from Nihonmatsu City, Fukushima
Prefecture, Otomo Yoshihide, a musician who had spent his teen years inFukushima City, and Ryoichi Wago, a poet from and still living in Fukushima City.
The heat and humidity that day were typical of summers in the valley city ofFukushima, accompanied by intermittent thunderstorms. Despite the unstable
weather conditions however, a total of 13000 people from Fukushima Prefecture
and beyond came to the event, while a total of 250,000 people tuned in to
DOMMUNE FUKUSHIMA, the Ustream program aired live on the internet. About
200 volunteers supported the event. 25 artists and musicians, including Ryuichi
Sakamoto, came to the event pro bono, to each perform their own renditions of the
FUKUSHIMA situation on-stage.
I myself am from Fukushima, and having been involved in Project FUKUSHIMA!
since its inception, decided to author this report to describe how Project
FUKUSHIMA! came into being in response to the earthquake, and the activities
that have been conducted over the past year.

2. The Project Begins

Ryoichi Wago, poet and recipient of the 4th Chuya Nakahara Award, and high-school
Japanese teacher in Date City, adjacent to Fukushima City, was at his school officewhen the earthquake struck on March 11, 2011. The intensity of the earthquake in
his home city of Fukushima City was 6 minus (Japan employs a scale of intensity inseismic events running from zero, in which the shaking is not perceptible to humanbeings, to seven, in which the force of the earthquake renders people immobile and2most buildings sustain damage to the walls and windows). As vital utilities, such as
power and gas, stopped operating in most of the city, and frequent aftershocks
continued relentlessly, Wago began communicating via Twitter from his home, fivedays after the quake, driven by a sense that his home of Fukushima was in dangerof “being obliterated.” His Shi no Tsubute (Stones of Poetry), words woven together
almost every night, initially described the conditions at the evacuation centers indetail, eventually giving way to more abstract, poetry-like phrases.
Otomo was recording in a Tokyo studio, when the earthquake occurred. He
frantically searched through blogs and tweets, trying to piece together what was
really happening in Fukushima City, where he himself had spent his teen years,
and his parents still lived. When he came across Wago’s Shi no Tsubute, Otomo felt
as if his chest was being pierced, and fueled by Wago’s words, attempted to get intouch with him via Twitter. Wago, who had known about Otomo as a senior alumnus
from his high school, responded immediately.
Michiro Endo, the other project co-founder, was in a plane headed for Kyushu for alive tour at 2:46 p.m. on March 11. After disembarking from the plane, only to learn
that the earthquake and epicenter were close to his home town of Fukushima, Endo
became glued to the television every free minute during his tour, giving up sleep inorder to keep up with the information coming in about the nuclear power plant andhis home area. Endo, who typically gives more than 100 live performances annually
throughout Japan, met numerous fellow musicians during the course of his tour,
who told him about the unfounded rumors about radiation concerns that wererunning rampant in Fukushima, and gradually came to harbor the desire to go to
Fukushima to hold a free music festival. Endo contacted Otomo, who he knew to be
an alumnus from the same high school, Fukushima High School, after him. Whenthe two met in Tokyo, Endo confided in Otomo that he wanted to host a music
festival on August 15. The date was important to Endo, because it was the day that
the Second World War ended and the post-war period began. Post-war Japanesesociety, in its quest for prosperity, had built nuclear power plants, only to becompletely devastated by the earthquake and power plant accident. By likening thiscrisis to the war, Endo was hoping to force everyone to seriously reassess the societythat the Japanese people had created in the post-war years. During theconversation, Otomo held back from responding to Endo’s proposal to host a music
festival, and suggested instead that they should come to a conclusion after paying avisit to Fukushima and getting a feel from the local people. One thing to note is that3

since graduating from high school and leaving Fukushima, neither man had everreally thought back about Fukushima. Despite that, they were now thinking about
Fukushima more seriously than ever before, in a way that they had never evenconsidered possible before.
In April, Otomo went to Fukushima City, where his parents resided, and met Wago
for the first time to discuss Endo’s idea of hosting a summertime festival in
Fukushima. As they continued to talk, both men, initially skeptical, began to lean
towards supporting the idea.
During his first visit back to Fukushima, Otomo felt that his friends andacquaintances in Fukushima were bleeding from their hearts. I myself had thesame impression when talking to my friends in Fukushima. Fukushima City is
about 60 km northwest of the nuclear power plant, and although it was slowly
coming to light that the radiation levels were relatively high for a location that far
away, there was virtually no credible information available in terms of what thatradiation reading meant, and if there was any impact to human health. Even as
media reports and municipal publicity newsletters echoing government statementsof “no immediate impact,” and “secure and safe,” were being circulated, people near
the nuclear power plant were losing their beloved homes and land, forced into
evacuation shelters, while in Fukushima City, a clear divide was emerging between
people choosing to evacuate, mainly families with small children, and those who
had no choice but to stay put, all creating extreme anxiety and frustration for thepeople of Fukushima as the days went by with mounting despair.
Given these circumstances, Otomo and other project members were not in the least
bit confident about being able to hold the festival, despite the earlier decision to doso. Other ideas, some almost impossible to take seriously, emerged, including doinga live internet performance in lieu of an audience if a large festival could not be held,or doing a guerilla live performance with Endo and Otomo in front of Fukushima
Station, and even began to take on an air of feasibility. Ultimately, the desire to tell
the world what was happening in Fukushima, and to give FUKUSHIMA, a name
now notorious, a positive image of new hope for the future, culminated in a project
kick-off meeting on May 7, with more than 50 volunteers in attendance. On thefollowing day, a press conference was held at a hotel in Fukushima City, featuring
the three joint representatives, Endo, Otomo, and Wago, raising the flag on Project
FUKUSHIMA!, accompanied by a declaration of action towards the goal of hosting
the festival on August 15.

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The following is an excerpt from the project declaration that Endo read at the press
conference.
“Even as the crisis takes away homes, we would like to have Fukushima retain ties
with the outside world, in order for Fukushima to hold onto hope for life, and to
think of a future for Fukushima. That is why we need this festival. We need a forum
for people to come together and communicate. Through this festival, we will sharewith the world what Fukushima is going through now, and what it will be in the
future. We are determined to change FUKUSHIMA! into a positive word.”

3. Collaboration with a Scientist
The Project had officially kicked off at a time when the radiation level inFukushima City was high, at approximately 1.5μSv/h in the city center. Meanwhile,
there was still a great deal of turmoil and confusion surrounding the situation.
Iitate Village, located between Fukushima City and the Daiichi Nuclear Power
Plant was designated as a Planned Evacuation Zone, even though it was outside of
the 20km evacuation radius, due to its high radiation dosage. The Ministry of
Education announced that radiation levels of up to 20mSv/y were acceptable forschools in Fukushima, prompting outcries of dismay and confusion.
Right about that time, one television program provided a beacon of hope for Otomo
and the project members. The program was titled “A Network to Develop a
Radiation Contamination Map,” and aired on NHK ETV on May 15. A documentary,
the program followed a young radiation hygiene researcher, Dr. Shinzo Kimura in
his efforts to traverse more than 2000 km within Fukushima Prefecture, tracking
the radiation, and working with a network of researchers around the country todevelop a detailed and precise contamination map. Seeing the harsh reality of theradiation contamination was painful, but for Otomo, this was the first piece of
information that seemed truly credible, which he described was like seeing a candle
in the dark. Otomo met Dr. Kimura through an introduction from the program staff,
and expressed his appreciation along with a request for his support to the project.
Dr. Kimura readily agreed, saying that there was bound to be a way to come up withthe right measures to make the festival happen. I will never forget the tears that
Otomo showed in that meeting. Since announcing the plan to host the festival,
Otomo had been bombarded with criticism. Some ferociously accused him of5

genocide, by trying to bring people to Fukushima. If the festival was held, there wasbound to be some amount of risk of radiation exposure. Cancelling the festival
would basically be tantamount to him as a musician telling the local communitythat their land was no longer habitable. Either way, he stood to lose, grappling
blindly with the weight of the unbelievable pressure. For Otomo, the endorsementfrom Dr. Kimura, a scientist, meant more than anything. It felt as if the project was
finally moving forward, at this stage, thanks to the addition of a reputable scientist.

4. Preparing for the Festival

4.1 Radiation Dosage M easurem ent at the Venue – Fukushim a Big
Furoshiki

The first thing that the organizing committee did in preparation for the festival wasto measure the radiation dosage of the Village of Four Seasons, located in western
Fukushima City. On June 23, venue conditions were verified and measurements
were taken with Dr. Kimura. The results were around 0.5-0.6μSv/h, which was
relatively low for the city at the time, (city center readings were around 1.2-1.3μSv/h), and it was determined that the event could be held once a mitigation measurefor the grass lawn that occupied a major part of the grounds was put into place.
While taking measurements, Dr. Kimura suggested covering the lawn throughout
the park with fabric or plastic sheets. Grass tends to absorb more radiationcompared to asphalt, so laying down fabric or plastic would prevent surface
irradiation (having radioactive material stick to the body’s surface) and the spreadof radioactive substances that might otherwise be tracked to other locations on
people’s shoes. The radiation would still go through the fabric, so even if the ground
was covered, the dosage in the atmosphere would not be reduced. But Dr. Kimura
advised that it was still important to demonstrate how serious the organizers wereabout containing the spread of radioactive material, prompting the decision todisclose the dosage readings, and lay down fabric on the grass in order to carry out
the festival.
Artist Tohru Nakazaki from Mito, who had collaborated with Otomo in past exhibits,
and Kota Asano, an architect and resident of Fukushima were selected as directors
in the Fukushima Big Furoshiki project. Big Furoshiki, or Oh Buroshiki, (large

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wrapping fabric) in Japanese, could have a negative connotation as a euphemism
for an unrealistic plan, but here we were, trying to host a festival for 10,000 peoplein Fukushima, even as we were confronted by uncertainty. The irony of the decisionto spread a Big Furoshiki (which means to talk big about unrealistic plans) wasapropos, in a way, and coupled with our desire to create something truly worthy of
the Big Furoshiki, the title of Fukushima Big Furoshiki seemed more thanbefitting.
However, the area of the grass lawn in the park was massive, in addition to which
the Big Furoshiki could not be installed until the prior to the day of the festival. We
decided to collect fabric pieces ahead of time, which would be stitched together tocreate a large fabric of 10 meters by 10 meters, or 5 by 5 meters. Doing so would
make it relatively easy to lay down the fabric without gaps on the day of thefestival.
Once the call for help went out on Twitter and newspapers, many various fabricpieces were sent in, not just from the local community, but from all over the country.
Often, the fabric was obviously a piece that someone had treasured for a long time,
or would come with embroidered and hand-written heartwarming messages. Everytime the project members opened a box and encountered a fabric with special
sentiment, which was often, they were tremendously encouraged.
Using the home of Otomo’s parents, a former factory, as a base, dozens of volunteers
came to stitch together the fabric, working at a furious pace. Some volunteers werehousewives from the area, while others came from outside of the prefecture after
having seen Twitter, to engage in this sewing effort for about three weeks, night andday, even amid the intermittent aftershocks.

4.2 Radiation Sem inar for Participants

Statements made by musicians appearing in a festival can often have a powerful
influence starting with the audience and fans. Therefore, a month before thefestival, a radiation lecture was held for the participants and staff in Tokyo. Dr.
Kimura was invited as lecturer, and spoke for more than 2 hours about the basics ofradiation, as well as the conditions in Chernobyl that he had researched, andFukushima. Seeing these famous musicians, more accustomed to being on-stage
and seen by others, actually sitting down at their seats and listening intently to Dr.

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Kimura, was in a way, a very interesting and significant scene, although more
importantly, there were many questions raised by the attendees, indicating the highlevel of interest in the issue of radiation.

4.3 Food Contam ination and Internal Radiation Exposure
We decided to do an open recruitment of local producers and retailers for theconcession stands in the food and beverage area at the festival venue. While it is not
unusual to have food and beverage stalls at an outdoor festival, this one was in
Fukushima, which is why numerous discussions took place about how to select theconcession stand operators. For the project, the issue of internal radiation exposure
through contaminated food was serious indeed, which is why the decision was madeto do mandatory inspections of radiation levels for any food that the operators soldor cooked, and publish the results. Specifically, we issued certificates showing theresults for stalls that had carried out the measurements, so that the audience could
recognize those booths as being the official ones.
Disclosing the measurements meant that people might not purchase the food, andthere were concerns that the operators would not be interested, but when we held
preliminary meetings to explain our approach and seek their understanding, theoperators said that they wanted to prove their products were safe to sell by
providing credible measurements, so it was decided that all food for sale producedin Fukushima Prefecture would be measured for radiation in advance.
As a result of the measurements, no radiation was detected in food such as pork,
cucumbers, and tomatoes from 10 of the 11 operators carrying food produced in
Fukushima Prefecture (*). The only radiation detected was in Fukushima’s famous
peaches, produced in the city, with a total of 23 becquerel/kg of cesium 134 and 137.
This level was far lower than Japan’s provisional criteria of 500 becquerel/kg, andsubstantially lower than the 70 becquerel/kg criteria used for fruit in the Ukraine,
which we were also showing on the certificate per advice from Dr. Kimura. We
determined that the peaches could be sold, as it was important for the project andfor the peach producer alike to be honest producers and sellers by publishing themeasurements of the fruit, to gain the understanding of the consumers.
* Each operator was requested to provide 2kg of food ingredients, with themeasurements paid for by the project committee. The measurements were taken at8the Environmental Analysis Research Institute in Fukushima City, with anaccuracy of 5 becquerel/kg as the minimum determination limit.

5. Festival FU KU SH IM A!
This section covers each of the programs on the day of Festival FUKUSHIMA!, heldon August 15, 2011, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., at the Prefectural Azuma Ball Stadium
and Fukushima Village of Four Seasons.

5.1 Fukushim a Big Furoshiki
9 a.m., August 15. The festival started by spreading out the Big Furoshiki over thelawn that occupied large parts of the park. Experts were also there to take radiation
dosage readings of the venue that day.
Over the next 2 hours, the Big Furoshiki, spanning a total of 6000 square meters,
was placed over the lawn. The sight of the multi-colored Big Furoshiki spread
across the entire venue was an amazing spectacle indeed. The Big Furoshiki was a
message, an effort to prevent surface irradiation, and inadvertently tracking homeradioactive materials, and symbolized the extraordinary nature of this festival, of
being held at a venue where radioactive cesium had fallen, which no one had everexperienced before. Upon closer inspection, messages from the different people who
had sent the fabric could be seen everywhere. The multi-colored fabric that had
been stitched together seemed to represent the festival itself, which had beenpromoted and realized by individuals of different stripes coming together andconnecting to form a network.
5.2 Fukushim a M usic Liberation Zone

At the venue covered by the Big Furoshiki, a program suggested by Otomo, called
the Fukushima Music Liberation Zone was held from 11:00 to 14:00. More than 60
groups of musicians, professional and amateur, came in response to an open
invitation, and spread out across the expansive venue, to each perform in theirunique style, be it a music performance, or art installation.
With Otomo, Endo and other host musicians in attendance, the Music Liberation

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Zone was off to a relaxed start. During the morning hours, when there were still not
many in the general audience, the participants were pretty much performing as
they saw fit, uncoordinated as it were, setting up shop wherever they liked, andperforming at their own pace. What was noteworthy took place in the afternoon,
when a passing shower struck. Until then, the groups were performing
uncoordinated at the venue, which did not have many roof coverings, but in seeking
shelter from the rain, they ended up huddling close together under the tents andlarge trees. For the first time that day, the close proximity triggered a naturalconversation among the participants. Some exchanged instruments, and fromalmost nowhere, a performance began, leading to an improvised session right there
on the spot. Where before, the individuals were all unconnected, the rain brought
everyone together, resulting in the creation of music together, which was very near
what Otomo had vaguely envisioned as the ideal state of the Liberation Zone.
Observing the fortuitous scene brought about unexpectedly by the rain, Otomo says
now that he felt at that moment that the festival would succeed.

5.3 Food and Beverage Area
At the festival’s food and beverage area, 16 concession stands were set up by local
restaurants and producers who had responded to the open recruitment. As
explained, the 11 operators selling or using Fukushima Prefecture produced
agricultural products measured their food for radiation prior to the event, andreceived recognition as official booths, presenting official certificates noting themeasurement results (however, there were also existing concession stand operators
for the park, doing business outside of the official area, selling at least some amountof food produced in Fukushima Prefecture, so it is difficult to say whether the
consumers truly understood that there were officially recognized operators). Most of
the official booths had no radiation detected in their food, but 23 becquerel/kg ofradioactive cesium (a total of cesium 134 and 137) was detected in peaches produced
by a farmer in Fukushima City. The results were published based on an agreement
between both sides, but it is a fact that the disclosure of these numbers affected thesales. The need for a much deeper understanding of the criteria for foodcontamination, as well as the huge issue of credibility in the government’s
restriction levels were felt very seriously. Ironically, the peaches from 2011 were
especially sweet, having been blessed with fine weather. In stark contrast to reality,10the peaches gleaming red in the basket were the picture of deliciousness, a sightthat I can still recall clearly.
5.4 Orchestra FU KU SH IM A!

The performance by Orchestra FUKUSHIMA!, an improvisation mega orchestra,
first proposed by Otomo, was seemingly the climax of the festival, even though it
was held during the afternoon hours when it was still light. Although an orchestra
usually denotes a classical orchestra, this one used a very different set of various
instruments. There were only a few classical instruments such as the violin, as theorchestra was made up mostly of any kind of “instrument” that could sound a sound,such as guitars, ukuleles, wind instruments, Japanese kotos, various percussion
instruments, ethnic instruments, washbasins, frying pans, and even desks. There
were only 2 conditions to participating. One was to be able to play a sound, and theother was to take part in the School FUKUSHIMA! School of Music, held prior to
the event. About half of the participants were from Fukushima, the remainder fromoutside of the prefecture, from Hokkaido to the north, to Oita to the south, ranging
in age from 4 to over sixty. The participants numbered a total of 220, and included
complete amateurs who had never really played on a musical instrument before, toprofessional musicians, including Ryuichi Sakamoto, Yasuhiro Yoshigaki, andMasahiro Uemura, among others. The eclectic members of the improv orchestra
followed Otomo’s lead, as he conducted giving simple cues, playing at times in acontrolled rhythm, or breaking out into a disharmony of noise, hurling a mass ofsound up against the Fukushima skies. At the very end, the approximately 2000
people in the audience joined the circle, and the venue was enveloped in acelebratory mood.
The Orchestra FUKUSHIMA! members residing in Fukushima have continued tooffer multiple performances after the festival, in Mito, and Tokyo, an indication of
the broad spread of Project FUKUSHIMA! activities.
5.5 Fukushim a Gundokudan 2011 “Fukushim a Renshi”

As the excitement of Orchestra FUKUSHIMA! lingered, the main stage wasimmediately taken over by Fukushima Renshi, initiated by Wago. A Renshi (linkedpoem) had been created in a workshop, the School FUKUSHIMA! School of Poetry,11

held prior to the event, and the idea was to do a Gundoku (group recitation) of thepoem by the 40 workshop participants (a group recitation is to read a poem out loud,similar to the chorus of a song).
In the School of Poetry, the participants first reflected back on their lives since
March 11, and split up into groups of 5 to 6 people to share their experiences. They
each developed a poem of 3 or 5 lines that were all linked, to express their thoughts
about Fukushima. In the second session, Wago reconstructed the participants’linked poems and created the Fukushima Renshi, which the participants practiced
reciting out loud, at times as a small group, or solo, in preparation for the actual
festival. An interesting point to note is the profile of the participants. Unlike the
School of Music, the School of Poetry participants were all living in, or from,
Fukushima Prefecture. That’s the reason why their strong feelings about
Fukushima, devastated by the earthquake, reverberated so powerfully from each of
the words that flowed. I especially remember the self introductions at the beginningof the workshop, how several members spoke of their feelings that they had likely
kept bottled up inside since the quake, with tears streaming down their cheeks, andthe organizers, who likewise had spent their days in Fukushima since the quakewith similar feelings, listening in complete concentration, their eyes red with tears.
At the end of the group recital, consisting of 20 minutes of words created entirely by
the participants, Wago read out loud one additional phrase that he had added. “Thefuture is in our hands.” This phrase, which is also the slogan of the festival, utteredby the participants, who had given tearful introductions at the workshop, who were
living in Fukushima in the midst of the turmoil of the nuclear plant accident, wasespecially moving for me, knowing how the people of this region tend to be shy,deferential, and reticent about their own thoughts. Yes indeed, the future isdefinitely in our own hands. To personally think, act, and develop networks. This
truly was the message of the project.

5.6 Three Stages – M eltdown FUKUSH IM A!
Three stages, the Water Stage (and sub-stage), Flower Stage, and Stadium Stage,
were set up in two venues, at the Village of Four Seasons and Azuma Ball Stadium
about 1 km away. Titled Meltdown FUKUSHIMA! rather provocatively, thequintessential outdoor festival program in the evening hours featured a total of 25
groups of musicians, such as Ryuichi Sakamoto, Tabito Nanao, Ikuko Harada, Kenji

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Endo, Zuno Keisatsu, Group Tamashii, Shibusa Shirazu, and local bands from
Fukushima. As all of the artists that made an appearance cannot be mentioned here,
please refer to the website for a list of musicians. The fact that the organizing staff
and the musicians that made an appearance all came pro bono is indicative of how
this festival was an extraordinary one even for the musicians.
Of all the evens, the most closely watched was the one-time only session by two of
the joint representatives, Ryoichi Wago, and Yoshihide Otomo, along with Ryuichi
Sakamoto. Wago’s chilling reading of his Shi no Tsubute, interlaced with improvised
music from Otomo’s guitar and Sakamoto’s piano. Despite being more than 50
minutes long, the several thousand people in the audience listened intently withbated breath, hardly moving at all. Perhaps influenced by the two musicians’
improvisation, Wago’s poetry recital became less about reading out loud from ascript, and became more like an improvisation, of words being spun out of air. Afterthe performance, as Wago himself commented afterwards, the performance, basedon the Shi no Tsubute with the words “Fukushima” and “Inochi (Life)” mixed innumerous times, prompted the people of Fukushima Prefecture to think deeply
about their home struck by the disaster, and also, with its mind blowing force, gave
people from outside of the prefecture a direct awareness of the howls of the
Fukushima people, burdened by the double and triple tragedies of the earthquake
and radiation.
One unique aspect of the festival was the inclusion of the “Shinzo Kimura Report,”
in addition to the regular music programs, only because the festival was being heldin Fukushima City at this time. Dr. Shinzo Kimura came to the main stage at theVillage of Four Seasons, to give a report covering his research of Chernobyl of morethan 10 years, providing comparisons to the current situation in Fukushima. Of
particular note is the video message that he shared, from a couple running a
medical clinic in Narodychi, a highly contaminated area about 70 km west of
Chernobyl, speaking in tears to the people of Fukushima, which no doubt was apowerful message for the people of Fukushima, suffering from the accident at the
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Dr. Kimura’s closing remarks, that heplanned to move to Fukushima, to create a research base there, were met with ahuge applause from the audience.
Lastly, I would like to mention Michiro Endo’s stage performance that he poured hisheart and soul into. Endo had insisted on the festival being on August 15, likening
the situation that Fukushima and all of Japan were in directly to the war, yet that13

was not the message that he vocalized at the top of his lungs that day. But watching
the siren sounded from the red megaphone held high in the air, the signature
trademark of the legendary punk band, The Stalin, and the image of Endo,
screaming and running around the stage, working his incredibly fit body not looking
a day over sixty, it occurred to me that his show was forcing us to come face to facewith the issues presented by the nuclear accident, and also carried a gentle hope fora better future.

5.7 Festival FU KU SH IM A! Synchronized and Global

The festival was centered on Fukushima, but was also positioned as a global
multi-location event, encouraging events in various areas on or around August 15.
Individual, groups, and live houses that supported the aim of the project responded,with 90 FUKUSHIMA! associated events in 14 countries and regions, ranging from
Hokkaido to Okinawa domestically, and Asia, Europe, North America and SouthAmerica globally. Unfortunately, there are only a few documented photos and videos,
but the multiple locations hosting the coordinated events and their global scale canbe seen on the Project FUKUSHIMA! website.

6. Activities Outside of the Festival

Since the festival enjoyed the largest scale and the most hype, many people thoughtthat Project FUKUSHIMA! was all about the 8.15 festival, but in actuality, there
were many other activities associated with the project.
There were 4 major pillars of activity by Project FUKUSHIMA! in 2011.
	  	
  A forum for learning, “School FUKUSHIMA!”
Information sharing media, “DOMMUNE FUKUSHIMA!”
Window for assistance and venue to present art, “DIY FUKUSHIMA!”“A place to meet and share hope for Fukushima, “Festival FUKUSHIMA!”

6.1 School FU KU SH IM A!

How does one continue to live in Fukushima, when the situation is as horrible as it14

is? That is a direct question posed, not just within 福島 (Fukushima in Japanese
kanji characters), but to Japan and the フクシマ (Fukushima in Japanese katakana
characters, used for transliteration of foreign words) that belongs to it, as well as to
the world and the FUKUSHIMA that is a part of it.
Creating School FUKUSHIMA!, a place for learning, was positioned as a major
pillar in the project activities because we wanted to think together how to answer
that pressing and fundamental question. Before and after the festival, as a part of
School FUKUSHIMA!, multiple workshops for the general public were held. Diverse
activities that transcended the conventional relationship between student andteacher were made possible through the experience of learning and creating
together with the project musicians, poets, artists, and researchers.
The following shows documents of each of the schools that have been held so far,with the date, venue, and instructor.
○School of Poetry
July 30 and August 7, 2011
Fukushima College Ekimae Campus, Fukushima City
Instructor Ryoichi Wago

○School of Music
August 7 and August 13, 2011
Iizaka Onsen Ryokan Seizan, Fukushima City
Instructor Yoshihide Otomo○Citizen Scientist Training Program
August 3, 2011
Sahira Building 8F Meeting Room, Fukushima City
Instructor Dr. Shinzo Kimura○Children’s Radiation Class “The Curie School Elementary Class”
November 23, 201115

Village of Four Seasons, Fukushima City
Instructor Dr.

Shinzo Kimura○Yoshihide Otomo’s School of Sound
December 16, 2011
Horikiri Home, Fukushima city
Instructor Yoshihide Otomo

6.2 DOM M UN E FU KU SH IM A!
As soon as the project began moving forward, Otomo, and Shoichiro Mori, a residentof Koriyama City, who would later become a branch manager, began talking about
having their own media. Responding immediately to their need was artist anddesigner, Naohiro Ukawa, who heads up DOMMUNE (http://dommune.com), thepredominant and most popular internet broadcasting station. Ukawa had called forassistance towards the devastated areas immediately after the earthquake, andbegan broadcasting requests for donations 5 days later, to address the disaster froma cultural aspect. He decided to answer Otomo’s pledge by offering to set up a
Fukushima station as a branch unit of the Ustream DOMMUNE station, providing
broadcasting expertise, and swift and broad-ranging support. Incidentally, theProject FUKUSHIMA! speech bubble logo was designed by Ukawa.
The station was launched the night of May 8, the same day as the kick-off press
conference for Project FUKUSHIMA! The studio was a modified apartment flat,
made possible thanks to KOCO Radio, a community FM station in Koriyama, fromwhich broadcasting began, once or twice a month on Sunday nights on an irregularbasis.
There was a major aftershock in the middle of the first broadcast, and radiationlevels for Fukushima Prefecture were announced periodically, due to the nature of
the station being a simultaneous community FM station as well, making for a very
tense broadcast that attracted attention from within and outside of the prefecture,
in many cases garnering more than 10,000 total listeners in one broadcast. 13
programs have been aired during the year following the earthquake. The program isapproximately 4 hours, with Naoto Ogawa, the Sendai Mediatheque curator,

16

emceeing the first half as a talk show with specific themes, interacting with guests
such as the project members, local farmers from Fukushima, researchers, citizens,and the head of Iitate Village, while the second half is a live session and DJ
performance given by musicians from and outside of Fukushima Prefecture. Pleaserefer to the project website to see the previous programs.
6.3 DIY FU KU SH IM A

The project was run as not-for-profit, without sponsorship from any one company,
relying mostly on grants from administrative offices, cultural foundations, andgeneral public donations.
In order to act as window for assistance to the project, DIY FUKUSHIMA!, a
content distribution forum for musicians taking an interest in the project, was set
up on the official website. DIY FUKUSHIMA! was set up after being provided witha system by DIY STARS, an independent music distribution system started bysinger/songwriter, Tabito Nanao, who had been working side by side with Otomo.
More than 20 artists have presented their music and videos on DIY FUKUSHIMA!
up until now. As of one year after the earthquake, 1,629,810 in donations have beencollected. Please refer to the project website for a list of songs that have been offered(http://www.pj-fukushima.jp/download/ ).

7. Sum m ary and the Future of Project FU KU SH IM A!
Looking back at the time when the project first began last spring, when nothing
concrete about the impact of the nuclear accident was known, it feels as if the coreteam members, including myself, were in a state of panic, although this may soundlike an exaggeration. The situation being what it was, the message of “culture has arole” that Otomo shared in his special lecture at Tokyo University of the Arts
solicited a great deal of empathy, and became a post-quake guiding principle of sorts
for people in the culture and arts community. Even while huddling close to thepeople of Fukushima, there is a way to portray a positive future vision for
FUKUSHIMA, and transform the now notorious name of FUKUSHIMA. That is therole that culture serves, that neither science nor politics can achieve alone.
Numerous people were inspired by Otomo’s message to raise their hands as17

volunteers. The Project FUKUSHIMA! message, which was translated immediately
into English, was transmitted globally, prompting an NGO based in Chernobyl tocontact the organizers, and other reactions from around the world, indicating thatthe project was off to a good start.
The fact that Project FUKUSHIMA! achieved a level of what could be called success,despite the challenging circumstances, has a lot to do with how the core members
were independent musicians. Unlike the government, administration, andcorporations suffering from functional failure that can only be called systematic
fatigue, unable to cope with the confusion following the earthquake, these indies
musicians, namely Otomo and Endo, and other core members including an
independent music label owner, were all accustomed to and skilled at acting out
their intentions as individuals and networking with others. Even though they were
bewildered by the deepening crisis in Fukushima, they probably found it relatively
easy to take action in a way that worked with the situation. In that sense, Dr.
Shinzo Kimura, who left his post at the National Institute of Occupational Safety
and Health, Japan, a research institute under the Ministry of Health, Welfare, andLabor, to carry out his investigation in Fukushima immediately after the power
plant accident, can be called an indies researcher. This commonality is really whatbrought people from so many diverse fields together under the name of
FUKUSHIMA!
It is also important to note that after the NHK program, “ETV Special – Sending
Hope from the Land of Fukushima – Project FUKUSHIMA!’s Campaign” was airedon October 9, many opinions were expressed, mostly on Twitter. The festival had
been held following the aforementioned steps of publishing the venue radiationlevels, and using the Big Furoshiki, but the broadcast triggered another wave ofcriticism against the very act of hosting the festival in Fukushima, for the reason
that it increased unwarranted exposure to radiation.
On the project side, the issue of radiation and unnecessary exposure had been
debated multiple times. The information posted on the website, mitigation with the
Big Furoshiki, the School FUKUSHIMA! programs such as the “Citizen Scientist
Training Program,” and “Children’s Radiation Class,” the dozens of hours of
dialogue during DOMMUNE FUKUSHIMA! all came down to our thoughts about
how to live FUKUSHIMA, to find wisdom and to have discussions. The festival
itself was a part of that endless dialogue, and furthermore, in my mind, is the very18

act of living. Although it is not possible to respond to each and every one of thecriticisms that were raised, I accept them all with sincerity, and plan on putting
them to use in our future activities.
I personally feel that the word ふくしま Fukushima when voiced by the threeco-founders each had a slightly different nuance in meaning. Ryoichi Wago is verymuch rooted in his local community, choosing to live in Fukushima even after
winning one of contemporary poetry’s most prestigious awards. Michiro Endo,
despite being over sixty years of age, is constantly on the road, giving more than 100
live performances every year in every corner of Japan. Yoshihide Otomo’s global
music activities have taken him to hundreds of countries and regions in the last
decade. If I were to write it out, Wago’s was “福島 (in kanji),” Endo used “フクシマ(in katakana)” and Otomo employed “FUKUSHIMA (in English).” As it were, eventhough I was a part of the project, this subtle gap felt a bit out of place to me until
around the time of the festival. When one says “Fukushima” in Fukushima, it canmean Fukushima City, or Fukushima Prefecture, depending on the context. The
fact that ASA-CHANG, a musician from Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture, created
Project FUKUSHIMA! IWAKI!!, a movement that parallels Project FUKUSHIMA!
but pays tribute to his hometown of Iwaki demonstrates how the meaning of theword Fukushima is different depending on the region within Fukushima Prefecture.
And then, from a global perspective, the word Japan, in some cases, is likely to beconsidered synonymous with FUKUSHIMA, which since the nuclear accident, has
become world-famous. This difference in meaning exists for all who share“Fukushima” with infinite degrees of varying gradation in between.
Can it be said then, perhaps, that all of us who live in this wretched world after the
nuclear accident and the spewing of radiation across this small country and thesurrounding oceans, actually share this “Fukushima Zone” with Japan, and theentire world. The boundaries of the Fukushima Zone are not like the administrative
borders, and are most likely different from one individual to the next. How do we
grasp the “new daily reality” that Otomo speaks about, amid the complex gradationof the Fukushima Zone? To be safe or dangerous, decontaminate or evacuate, pro or
anti-nuclear… This is a simplistic dichotomy that we must not fall prey to, since themajor challenge that we face, as we live through this new reality, is to have theability to persist in debating, and continue to contemplate.

19

As we mark one year from the quake, I actually feel that each person’s Fukushima,
and the respective meanings that form the gradation, are actually the strength ofProject FUKUSHIMA! How can different beings coexist, and create a positive
future together? While facing the harsh reality in Fukushima, we must also, to use
Wago’s words, “not put a lid on Fukushima,” but connect the inside and the outsideof Fukushima, even hold festivals at times, learn, exchange opinions, anddisseminate, in order to paint a new future, as that is exactly the aim of Project
FUKUSHIMA!
Project FUKUSHIMA! will go into its second year, even as the situation in
Fukushima continues to change, forcing us to continuously think, since we cannot
afford to rest. The first goal is to be recognized as an NPO legal entity, by the end of
the year, for which the procedure has been started. A festival is being planned forthe summertime again, but will not be the same offering nor at the same venue. For
now, the plan is to extend the duration to 12 days, with a diverse content menu andscale in multiple locations, although there is not much that can be shared at thispoint. Please stay tuned for our future activities. And please also think from yourown perspective about the various problems that FUKUSHIMA has brought tolight.

A new future is trying to begin in FUKUSHIMA.

［ Reference M aterial］
・Publication “Project FUKUSHIMA! 2011/3.11-8.15 Ima Bunka ni Nani ga Dekiruka?” (What Can Culture Do Now?)

Ryo Isobe, K&B Publishers

・Publication “Chronicle FUKUSHIMA!”
・Publication “Shi no Tsubute”

Yoshihide Otomo, Seidosha(Stones of Poetry)

・Magazine “Mayonaka・14” (Midnight・14)

Ryoichi Wago, Tokuma Shoten

Little More・Magazine “Shiso Chizu β・vol.2” (Thought Map β・vol.2)
・Magazine “SWITCH・vol.29”

Switch Publishing・Magazine ”Shincho 45・2011.8”
・Magazine “Artes・vol.01”

Contectures

Shinchosha Publishing

Artes Publishing・Program “ETV Special – Sending Hope from the Land of Fukushima – Project
FUKUSHIMA!’s Campaign”	
  2011.10.9 aired on NHK
・Program “News Special – Renshi and Music… The howling voices of 13000 people20

of Fukushima”

2011.9.10 aired on TBS

・Project FUKUSHIMA! official website

http://pj-fukushima.jp

・Fukushima City Disaster Info	  http://shinsai.city.fukushima.fukushima.jp
・DOMMUNE	
  http://dommune.com
・DIY STARS	  http://diystars.net
・Blog “Otomo Yoshihide’s JAMJAM Diary”	
  http://d.hatena.ne.jp/otomojamjam/
・From Otomo Yoshihide’s website “The Role of Culture: After the Earthquake andMan-made Disasters in Fukushima”
	  http://www.japanimprov.com/yotomo/yotomoj/essays/fukushima.html
・Webzine Realtokyo, 3 articles from Out of Tokyo by Tetsuya Ozaki	  “Understanding Festival FUKUSHIMA!” “Festival FUKUSHIMA!”“Project FUKUSHIMA!”	  http://www.realtokyo.co.jp/docs/ja/column/outoftokyo/bn/ozaki_232/	  http://www.realtokyo.co.jp/docs/ja/column/outoftokyo/bn/ozaki_231/
	  http://www.realtokyo.co.jp/docs/ja/column/outoftokyo/bn/ozaki_230/
・togetter “Exchanges related to whether Project FUKUSHIMA! is right or wrong,following the broadcast on Sunday 10/9 of “ETV Special – Sending Hope from theLand of Fukushima – Project FUKUSHIMA!’s Campaign” etc”
http://togetter.com/li/198726
・Twitter	  @otomojamjam	  (Otomo Yoshihide)・Twitter	  @wago2828	
  (Ryoichi Wago)
・Twitter	  @michiro60	
  (Michiro Endo)21