From March 11 to March 15, Japanese government ordered the evacuation of residents within 20km from Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Residents between 20 and 30 km must stay indoors. On April 22, five other villages were ordered to evacuate before the end of May : Iitate, Katsurao, Namie, MinamiSoma (partially) et Kawamata (partially). Some are located more than 40km from the plant. After more than two months spent in the emanation from Fukushima Daiichi, the level of radioactivity reached the level of maximum exposure for nuclear workers in most Western countries. Officials didn’t anticipate that the radioactivity could spread farther than 20Km, due to winds, snow and rains the days after the accident. I spent the last days of the evacuation with some residents, near the 20km evacuation zone border and in the newly-evacuated villages.
Jérémie Souteyrat
Freelance photographer based in Tokyo, Japan, Jérémie Souteyrat, met the photography during a travel in 2002: “she hasn’t left me alone. She stayed with me, helped to express myself, made me discover the world and opened my eyes. When I settled in Tokyo in June 2009, I decided to adopt her and to devote my time to her.”
