Fukushima Prefecture: Students from Università degli Studi di Milano (University of Milan) Are Sharing the Now of Fukushima
Students Observed the State of Recovery after
the Great East Japan Earthquake and Local Efforts in Food Safety
Social
Media used to Share Visual, Aural, and Emotional Experiences, in the
Students’ Own Words
FUKUSHIMA, Japan–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Fukushima Prefecture:
University of Milan Students Observed the State of Recovery and the
Efforts to Ensure Food Safety
For an approximately one-week
period, beginning on July 20th 2016, Fukushima Prefecture
invited eight students from the University of Milan, in Italy, to come
and learn about the now in Fukushima, particularly with regard to
the state of the recovery and the efforts to ensure food safety. This
project was the fruit of last year’s Expo Milano 2015, which ran from
May 1st through October 31st, 2015. That event
fostered a relationship between Fukushima Prefecture and the University
of Milan which led to continuous sharing of information.
The
students visited places like the Fukushima Agricultural Technology
Center, commercial peach farms, experimental fisheries stations, and
renewable energy research centers. They came into contact with the
various efforts specific to food safety, including monitoring and
testing, and with the expectations of food producers.
Students were
also able to directly experience regional lifestyles and living examples
of culture through interactions with students in Fukushima, stays at the
homes of farmers, the painting of traditional cow figurines, called akabeko,
and observations of a local festival, the soma-nomaoi.
Surprised by the Now in Fukushima, Students Were Moved to
Share Information
One of this year’s program participants, Ms.
Ylenia Previti, remarked that the people in Italy have no idea of how
far the recovery effort in Fukushima has progressed, and that she was
very surprised. The image of Fukushima in Italy, she said, is
predominantly of the earthquake damage and the immediate aftermath of
the failed nuclear power plant. Her experiences deepened her
understanding of the now in Fukushima, after the privations of
the Great East Japan Earthquake. Ms. Anna Fumagalli indicated that her
visits with farmers enabled her to experience how far the recovery
efforts have come for the people living there, especially for the food
they eat and their day-to-day lives. She also noted that Fukushima, with
its older towns and villages and bucolic vistas, allows you to
experience the greatness of Japan in ways that big cities like Tokyo can
not. She went on to say that she wanted to come back to Fukushima again.
Moving
forward, these students will all use various platforms, including social
media, to share in their own words the things they saw, heard, and felt
during their travels.
Contacts
Fukushima Prefecture
Takashi Tsurumaki, +81-24-521-7124
Deputy
Section Chief, Public Relations Section, General Affairs Division
FAX:
+81.24.521.7901
2-16 Sugitsuma-cho, Fukushima City, 960-8670, Japan
