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It is quite difficult for Japanese to discuss what was really going on from March 11 to around March 20, 2011. Although there were facts and truths during and after the magnitude 9.5 earthquake and the record-high tsunamis, it is too murky to clearly draw the line between offenders and victims; their positions were revised depending on the investigation into the evidence of who received benefits. But the undeniable truth is that there are too many victims of the explosion of Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) on March 14, 2014. Fukushima Minpo, a local newspaper in Fukushima, reported that there was no way to stop the suicides among the residents of Fukushima Prefecture (Fukushima Minpo 2014). Even though the reasons for committing suicide were not clearly identified, they were all related to the burst of FDNPP, for concerns such as one's own health or family affairs (mainly too lonely) and for financial reasons. Among the age groups, those in their fifties and sixties were the highest among those who passed away due to suicides. According to Japan's national statistics of suicide incidents relating to the burst of FDNPP in each prefecture (Japan consists of forty-seven prefectures), Fukushima was the top of top. The suicide incidents in Fukushima were 1,383 out of 2,688 incidents in national totals. These are the undeniable truths of being the victims of the burst of FDNPP.

DOI: 10.1057/9781137450852_7

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