A voice from an evacuee at Saitama Arena “I was against the nuclear power plant

A 63 years -old male evacuee from Futaba-cho, near the Fukushima nuclear power plant, expressed his feelings at his evacuation cite at the Saitama Arena. “I used to work for a major enterprise in Iwaki city until 58. I was a union official there, but retired earlier than the fixed retirement age of 60 and went back home in Futaba-cho to work in the paddy fields. I wanted to stay there, because I’m old enough not to care about the radiation. So I had my grandchildren and their mother leave, but I didn’t move. There were three others who said they will stick to the last, but we were forced to evict by the self defense force. I was raising cows, so it was hard to leave them behind. I’m through with TEPCO. There is no easy way to reconstruction. We won’t be able to sell vegetables even if we could make them.
Some people blame the government, but TEPCO is the main culprit. TEPCO is planning a rolling blackout in Saitama, but it is not carried out as planned. They are fooling us around. I used to be active in the union and was against nuclear power plants.”(ETO Takumi)
Photo:　evacuation　cite at Saitama Arena


「原発なくせって思ってたよ」～さいたまアリーナ 避難者の声
「58歳まで、いわき市の大企業で組合やってて早期退職して、双葉町で親が作った田んぼをしてた。放射能の影響っていっても俺はもう年だから、ここにいたいって言ったんだ。孫と嫁は逃がしたけど。俺は動く気はなかった。最期まで双葉に残りたいっていうやつ、4人くらいいたけど、自衛隊、消防団が来て、ここにつれてこられた。強制退去だね。牛を飼ってたんだ。生きものたち残して・・つらかったと思うよ。東電には見切りをつけた。復旧なんて見通しないじゃん。野菜作ってもたたかれて・・売れないジャン。政府が悪いって言う人いるけど、東電が一番わるい。こっち来てみても、計画停電っていっておいて消えなかったり、馬鹿にすんなって思う。これからが問題だ。おれは組合やってきた。原発なくせって、思ってたよ」（63歳男性・取材 江東拓美）　＊写真＝避難所になった「さいたまアリーナ」