Cover Photo: Study of a Cow, by Kuroda Seiki, Kagoshima City Museum of Art, Kagoshima, Japan. From Wikimedia Commons.
Study of a Cow, by Kuroda Seiki, Kagoshima City Museum of Art, Kagoshima, Japan. From Wikimedia Commons.

The Rancher Who Refused to Leave: A Fukushima Story

Masami Yoshizawa hauled his radiated cows down to Tokyo, demanding that his animals be studied.

Douglas Sprott, Flickr

It was almost 3:00 p.m. and the highway that led back to Namie and his cattle ranch ran along the coast. Masami’s land was in the hills, away from any waves, but he had no idea if the house or outbuildings were damaged. He couldn’t call Shizue, his sister, who lived with him. He had to get back.

kuro-wagyu

Kanae Yamamoto, Cow. Via Wikimedia Commons.

san

Those within a three-kilometer radius of the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant are instructed to evacuate, those within ten kilometers are advised to stay indoors

Greg Webb / IAEA, via Flickr

jika-tabi

naturalflow via Flickr

Konnichwa

san

Greg Webb, IAEA, via Flickr

misohotoudon

Gochisousama desu

Ohara Mitsusada, Toy Cow, via the Los Angeles County Museum of Art

kumai

Koko mo dame da ne.

san

Sono uchi nan toka ni naru

san

Dou shiyou

Entry Prohibited

taikukan.

Torihiki ha kotowareta.

kesshi kyumei, danketu!Unite, save lives or die trying!

M.W. Larson is a writer, editor, and translator based out of Tokyo. His fiction and essays have appeared in Colorado Review, Ninth Letter, and Witness. mwlarson.com