'San Ichi-Ichi' 10-year anniversary | Phyllis B. Dooney

San Ichi Ichi

A passenger bus sits stranded off shore along Northeastern coastal Japan, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan on July 29, 2011.

San Ichi Ichi

Shigeko Hashimoto takes a look around in the deserted area of Tomioka, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan on May 26, 2013. The Yookubenimaru used to be Shigeko's regular grocery store in Tomioka. Her home is in the heart of the exclusion zone and radiation levels remain too high for residents to move back.

San Ichi Ichi

A woman on the clean up crew washes the windows of the empty hospital in Kawauchi, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan on March 13, 2012. In the mountains of Kawauchi, they are currently trying methods like jyosen (earth removal), power washing and even hand scrubbing to lower the area's dangerous radiation levels so that residents can return home.

San Ichi Ichi

Men perform jyosen (earth removal) behind the empty hospital in Kawauchi, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan on March 13, 2012. Here in the mountains of Kawauchi, they are currently trying methods like jyosen (earth removal), power washing and even hand scrubbing to lower the area's dangerous radiation levels so that residents can return home.

San Ichi Ichi

The damage seen from the inside of a car shows the force of the tsunami during San Ichi Ichi (March 11, 2011) in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan on Aug. 18, 2011. Traffic jams added to the death toll as many cars were swallowed up by the waves.

San Ichi Ichi

Fumio Sakuma bows to the family ancestors in his home in Kawauchi, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan on March 13, 2012. Traditionally, Japanese keep Butsudan and Kamidan alters in their homes to cultivate luck and honor the ancestors. Fumio's home is on the outer edges of the exclusion zone where the government is encouraging residents to move home, though radiation levels remain quite high.

San Ichi Ichi

A rice field grows on the outer edges of the exclusion zone in Kawauchi, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan on June 2, 2013. This will be the third harvest since San Ichi Ichi (March 11, 2011) and the government has expressed that radiation levels will be low enough, making it the first harvest since March 11, 2011 that will be ready for resale.

San Ichi Ichi

Kasetsu jutaku (temporay housing) stands in a former parking lot for the Big Palette event center in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan on Aug. 20, 2011. This particular kasetsu jutaku is for the nuclear refugees of Tomioka and Kawauchi, towns within the government mandated exclusion zone.

San Ichi Ichi

Ikuko Sakuma recounts the disaster with her husband, Fumio, in the kasetsu jutaku (temporary housing) in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan on March 5, 2012.

San Ichi Ichi

Shigeko Hashimoto gathers personal items to bring from her home in the exclusion zone in Tomioka to her temporary housing unit in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan on May 27, 2013. Shigeko has been living in Koriyama, in the kasetsu jutaku (temporary housing), for over two years now.

San Ichi Ichi

Shigeko Hashimoto crochets to pass the time in the temporary housing in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan on Aug. 18, 2011. The stress of life since San Ichi Ichi (March 11, 2011) has caused her to lose 10 kilos off her already small frame.

San Ichi Ichi

A nuclear refugee peers out of the sliding door of the kasetsu jutaku (temporary housing) in Koriyama, Fukishima Prefecture, Japan on Aug. 17, 2011. An estimated 100,000+ Nuclear Refugees are displaced due to San Ichi Ichi (March 11, 2011) disaster; Phyllis B. Dooney; documentary photography; photographer

San Ichi Ichi

Nuclear refugees pose for a portrait at the kasetsu jutaku (temporary housing) in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan on June 1, 2013. Clockwise from top left: 1. Toshisuke Hashimoto 2. Chiyoko Igari 3. Atsushi Shida 4. Shigeko Hashimoto 5. Shigeru Kubota 6. Toshie Igari; Phyllis B. Dooney; documentary photography; photographer

San Ichi Ichi

Nuclear refugees pose for a portrait at the kasetsu jutaku (temporary housing) in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan on June 1, 2013. Clockwise from top left: 1. Kokona Wakamatsu 2. Tatsuya Aihara 3. Fumi Ide 4. Ryushiro Wakamatsu 5. Momoko Endo 6. Masaki Endo; Phyllis B. Dooney; documentary photography; photographer

March 11, 2021 marked the 10-year anniversary of “San Ichi Ichi.”
10 years ago, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck North-eastern Japan. Shortly thereafter, a tsunami came ashore and finally, a nuclear meltdown occurred at Tokyo Electric’s Fukushima Daiichi plant. By mid-April the government had mandated that the residents in severely radiated areas leave indefinitely. A year later an estimated 100,000 Nuclear Refugees were living in government issued temporary housing or elsewhere.
The Japanese government and Tokyo Electric are attempting an unprecedented clean-up effort, employing a method called ‘Jyosen’ or ‘earth removal.’ The most recent estimation for Tomioka, at 20 years before habitability, is under fire for being too optimistic.

Photographer Phyllis B. Dooney documented the aftermath:

'From 2011–2013, I chronicled the survivors in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. I see parallels with today’s global pandemic: alienation, trauma, isolation and a disproportionate effect on the local seniors, among others. The Japanese authorities and people continue to struggle with the aftermath, including PTSD and the long-term solutions for the radiation clean-up effort, and I wonder - what will we continue to grapple with 10 years after COVID?'