NPO Resurrection of Fukushima and MARBLiNG LLC are renovating an abandoned hardware store in Iitate Village into a community space named ZuttoSoko 図図倉庫 . Its pronunciation means “forever warehouse”. Its kanji imply figure, planning, device, and try. Here is the brochure of it.
Iitate Village
Iitate Village is a mountain village located 40 km northwest of the nuclear power plant. Due to the cold highlands, the land has actively accepted settlers from outside after repeated cold weather damage and famine. People have made a living by farming, horse farming, livestock farming, and dairy farming.
Nuclear Disaster
During the 2011 nuclear disaster, radioactive material was carried in northwest winds from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and contaminated the village. About 6,000 former villagers were forced to evacuate. As of October 2022, most of the area is liveable, but only 1,500 residents have returned.
NPO Resurrection of Fukushima
In June 2011, NPO Resurrection of Fukushima was born. The activity policy is “locally, continuously, collaboratively, based on facts”. In order to recover from the damage caused by the nuclear accident, they have investigated, experimented, and implemented ourselves.
They have built Geiger counters, built automatic mapping cars, and measured radioactivity in space, soil, and food.
They have experimented, measured, and proposed decontamination of agricultural land and forests using their own methods. They worked on agricultural revitalization, such as resuming rice production and hydroponics in greenhouses. They also worked on health care for evacuated and returned residents.
They reported on their activities in Iitate Village, Fukushima City, and Tokyo. They built lodging facilities, exchange facilities, and astronomical observatories in the village, promoting exchanges between people. Since 2021, they have been renovating a home hardware store into ZuttoSoko and began an attempt to pass on their experience and knowledge to the younger generation.
ZuttoSoko
ZuttoSoko will always be a base for people to gather across fields, regions, and generations, and to approach the environmental issues facing Iitate Village and the world, as well as future regional development.
It is a place for experiments and research, with shared offices, cafes etc. Tours will also be held where people outside the village can learn about Iitate Village and participate in creating an environment.
Collaboration
Warehouses always create a new circulation of people and the environment. Artists and farmers work together to develop new products, and companies and farmers work together to create new products.
Circular Economy
The rice husks from the rice cultivation are charcoalized and used as heat insulators and deodorants, or as soil fertilizer for the next rice crop.
Various challenges
The space of ZuttoSoko can be freely partitioned and accommodates ever-changing human activities.
ZuttoSoko aims for
“We want to create a sustainable local environment that brings together diverse people’s perspectives and can be passed on to the next generation with confidence.”
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