Name: Miku KOIZUMI

Age: 26

(Age 14 in March 2011)

Birthplace: Okuma Town

Home address: Okuma Town

Occupation: Futaba project

(Junior high school sophomore in March 2011)

‘No matter what, always believe in yourself’

① The people from the neighborhood were panicking: “The nuclear power plant is in danger,” but I personally really didn’t feel a sense of danger. “We need to evacuate for now, but why aren’t they coming for us? Why are we evacuating in the first place?” is really all I could think.

② I evacuated to Tamura City, but rather than go inside, I stayed in my car. I’d go walk the dog around noon, and go shopping at the shops that were open, but most of the time I spent inside the car. Looking back at it now, it was a tough environment. I wasn’t able to watch TV and didn’t fully realize what happened at the nuclear power plant, so I didn’t worry too much.

③ I was in a company-owned apartment with only one room, and we were with 6 or 7 of us, so it was really tight. But everything worked, so we could take showers, eat warm meals, and charge our phones, so I remember feeling relieved at the time.

④ When the junior high school had been reopened in Aizu-Wakamatsu City, we didn’t have access to school lunches, we didn’t have school uniforms or gym clothes, and there were only about half of the original number of students, so school life changed drastically. Yet, I felt satisfied, being able to spend time with my friends and teachers.

⑤ Some of my friends were nervous about starting our new lives at high school from scratch, but I didn’t consider coming from Okuma Town as something negative and didn’t bother hiding it, and was never treated strangely for it. I was blessed with a lot of friends, and had a blissful school life. The only sad times were when I couldn’t mingle into typical Iwaki conversation.  There wasn’t anyone who could relate to my stories about life in Okuma, which made me feel a bit lonely at times.

⑥ I hated when the place I was born and raised, which harbors so many of my memories, was referred to as ‘contaminated.’ Nevertheless, because radiation can’t see. I couldn’t really grasp the concept of contamination. “Everything still looks OK, so we should be able to go home soon,” is what I thought during our first visit home. I feel like I clung to hope rather than desperation.

⑦ During the fall of my third year of high school we built a house in Iwaki, but I wasn’t happy about it at all. I had always regarded Okuma as the place we would go back to, so whenever I’d go home to the newly built house, I couldn’t help feeling like a visitor. I couldn’t feel of this house as my own, all the way until high school graduation.

⑧ The feeling of wanting to go back and do something significant got stronger and stronger. Because I decided I was not in a mental state to work, I quitted my job and took time to rearrange my mind, rest, and find a new job. Whenever I told people about wanting to move back, even more than I expected, people responded positively: “That’s great! You should move back!” which gave my confidence.

CAPTION

・Sheet music of songs for choir contests and graduation ceremonies. There are many notes written on it, incl. their thoughts and corrections and tips from the teacher.

・This sheet music was found during a temporary opening to move belongings from the junior high school. After the disaster, the sheet music and instruments were left in the gymnasium, but they were taken out by the time of this temporary visit. However, this one piece of sheet music had fallen, and Koizumi brought it home. “The moment I found it I saw all the notes and thought it was mine.”

・A textbook of music class that was initially taken out of the school. Koizumi has a lot of feelings towards the music, having been a member of the brass band club.

・A group picture taken on the occasion of the joint brass band club performance before the disaster, in which the Namie-, Futaba- and Okuma Junior High School participated. Namie is in dark blue, Futaba in green, and Okuma in blue.

・The club was supposed to go on a three-day trip to Kyoto in May, if it hadn’t been for the disaster. They had been researching destinations and making preparations. After school restarted at their evacuation location in Aizu, they managed to organize the trip, although the destination was changed to Tokyo. Koizumi: “I’m just really glad we were able to go.”