Document 72 Hours

Home for the Holidays: A Supermarket in Fukushima

The Great East Japan Earthquake and the ensuing Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011 forced all the residents of Namie Town to evacuate. When the evacuation order was partially lifted in 2017, some residents began returning to their hometown. In the summer of 2019, a large supermarket opened its doors to eager shoppers. In this episode, we spent 3 days at the supermarket during the busiest time of the year - around New Year's - and asked customers how their lives have changed since the disaster, and how they will be spending the holidays, 9 years on.