Soundless town
Eight years after Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011, I visited Namie-cho in Fukushima Prefecture. I do not have enough knowledge to comment on nuclear, radiation, or national energy policies, and I do not intend to discuss them.
However, I don't know why I thought so,
I thought that I had to look at unmanned town in response to evacuation order because of damage from tsunami and radioactive contamination (evacuation order was canceled ).
It was a very quiet town.
Big city is noisy and the countryside is full of natural sounds. But there was a world of silence.
According to those who talked, about 1,000 people are returning to town now, but about 2 km from shoreline swept away by tsunami is still unmanned outside rebuilding work area.
I don't know if the town should return to pre-disaster form or if area near coast should be unmanned in preparation for future earthquake damage.
However, when I saw the sea from newly built dike and imagined that day, I could only sense greatness of nature beyond human wisdom.