Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • NPR

    After 2011 Disaster, Fukushima Embraced Solar Power. The Rest Of Japan Has Not

    After the nuclear catastrophe, the nation's investment in renewable energy soared. Many of those affected in Fukushima started production. But Japan is pushing fossil fuels, causing climate concerns.
    by Kat Lonsdorf Sep 09, 2020 6 minutes
    Chiyomi Endo stands beside her husband's grave. "Remember that this family evacuated Futaba town, Fukushima prefecture," the stone reads, "and moved here due to the nuclear accident following the Great East Japan Earthquake that occurred on March 11, 2011."

    Atop a small hill on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu sits a small solar farm with big, broad panels lined up in rows, tilting to catch the sun. Lush vegetation creeps over the edges of the surrounding fence. In the center of the panels, there's a tall marble gravestone, with an inscription in Japanese.

    "Remember that this family evacuated Futaba town, Fukushima prefecture," it reads, "and moved here due to the nuclear accident following the Great East Japan Earthquake that occurred on March 11, 2011."

    The grave belongs to Hiroyuki Endo, a supervisor and maintenance worker at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power PlantHe fled Fukushima with his family after the disaster and settled nearly 1,000 miles away, as far south as they could drive. He and his family decided to build this solar farm for a living. When Hiroyuki suddenly died four years ago of a brain aneurysm, his wife, Chiyomi Endo, took over.

    You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

    More from NPR

    NPR2 min read
    Columbia Students Barricade Themselves In Campus Building; China's EV Vehicles
    Pro-Palestinian student protesters have occupied a campus building. Electric vehicles are the newest front of competition between the U.S. and China.
    NPR3 min readInternational Relations
    Protesters At Columbia University Have Begun Occupying A Campus Building
    Students began occupying Hamilton Hall early Tuesday morning. The university's public safety department urged people to avoid coming to the Morningside campus Tuesday if they could.
    NPR4 min read
    Scientists Restore Brain Cells Impaired By A Rare Genetic Disorder
    A therapy that restores brain cells impaired by a rare genetic disorder may offer a strategy for treating conditions like autism, epilepsy, and schizophrenia.

    Related Books & Audiobooks