Fukushima apartment buildings

1. This MG book in verse is called “Unbound," by Ann E. Burg. What a wonderful book. ♥️ It's set in the American south. Grace and her family are enslaved by a family who live in the "big house." Grace is told that she must leave her family to work as a servant in the big house. She doesn't want to.

Fukushima river This is Fukushima City.

1. Fukushima City I rode my bicycle to take photos. I shouldn't have taken photos here because a bear had been spotted along this river, but I didn't know that. (And bear or bears spotted since I took these photos here.) So people along this river nervous about bears. cont.

"FUKUSHIMA'S STOLEN LIVES: A Dairy Farmer's Story" by Kenichi Hasegawa He was in Iitate (part of Exclusion Zone.) Hasegawa died of blood cancer after writing this memoir. "There had been no assistance from the government to relocate, feed, or help the cows in any way."

"FUKUSHIMA'S STOLEN LIVES: A Dairy Farmer's Story" by Kenichi Hasegawa He was in Iitate (part of Exclusion Zone.) Hasegawa died of blood cancer after writing this memoir. "I was seething with anger at TEPCO..."

Fukushima tunnel Two sets of tracks over the road (and sidewalk--behind the white fence) in south part of Fukshima City. TOP--bullet train track BOTTOM--local train track

I saw this cat yesterday in Fukushima City! Except she was in front of a restaurant. lol (I am joking, obviously, but I did see a similar kitty. Those markings!)

Fukushima cargo train

Fukushima scare crows I think the bottles are used to scare crows away. Crows are like dogs and cats that fly. Dogs will dig your garden. Cats will pee in your garden. Crows will eat your garden. But they are all loveable, just need to be trained. No! Don't mess with the garden!

Fukushima farm

Fukushima shed

Oh, wait. Yes. I DO HAVE A THOUGHT ABOUT THIS PLANT IN NEW YORK!!! My thought: Indian Point is a dumb name for a nuclear power plant. Indian???? www.thecooldown.com/green-busine... Looking at the names given to nuclear power plants, we can see that the owners do NOT want to take responsibility.

I saw this on @suzwarto.bsky.social 's feed also. www.pennlive.com/opinion/2025... I do have thoughts about the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. --Because of the partial meltdown there. --Because this plant might be used for A.I.😟

Passing this on. Thank you, Susie!!! I have no thoughts about New York, just passing this on.

Fukushima clouds When I take photos, there are two types of sky I like best: a blue, blue cloudless sky and clouds that are fascinating.

Fukushima scary

1. Arthur Less is the star of “Less," a novel by Andrew Sean Greer. It's a funny book. Arthur Less himself is a novelist. His most recent novel was rejected by the publisher for being too depressing. And so Arthur Less revises his book to make it less depressing. Author--Arthur? lol

1. It's not that I think it's creepy. I feel that-- Like everyone on our planet, Isabelle Boemke has a right to say what she thinks. But is she correct? I can't afford her pro-nuclear book. It does not look correct. It looks like propaganda. So how does propaganda book get published by Penguin?

“We’re losing billions of dollars a year, but at least we’re telling teens to kill themselves”

Fukushima shovel This is on my walk south. As I walked back (north) I saw a farmer here, hard at work. ♥️

Fukushima cargo train, heading north. This is Fukushima City.

Powerful quake strikes off the coast of Japan, tsunami advisory lifted after 3 hours https://apnews.com/article/japan-earthquake-tsunami-62344ef5cc944482343933127ea81312

1. apnews.com/article/japa... The 6.7 quake hit off coast of Iwate Prefecture & Miyagi Prefecture. It seems that it caused no damage. (The highest intensity was 4.) Iwate/Miyagi are part of Tohoku Region. This 6.7 quake hit slightly north of where the 9.0 quake of 2011 hit. cont.

Fukushima cargo train I stopped & took photos of the train as it rumbled by. After it went past, an elderly woman crossed the tracks and we chatted. She said that the scenery was lovely on the other side of the tracks, so I crossed the tracks and walked south. (Rural Fukushima City.)

Fukushima bullet train tracks I kid you not.

Toy museum in Shiroishi, in Miyagi Prefecture- I'll post just one more photo. Haircut of the female dolls. This was the haircut that virtually all little Japanese girls had in this era. Virtually all boys had shaved heads. Thus the two boy dolls are bald. (I researched this for my manuscript.♥️)

Toy Museum The map is of Tohoku Region. The Japanese: 東北地方の土人形 That means: "Tohoku Regions's Clay Dolls" (Clay Dolls of Tohoku Region.)

Photography was allowed in the toy museum, and I took a lot of photos. I'm not going to post them all here! Or even some of them! Well, maybe a couple. This toy museum was much better than I thought it would be.

1. "The Witch of Woodland" is an MG book by Laurel Snyder. I have read quite a few books by Laurel Snyder because she is one of my favorite authors. Her books are so intelligent! Without being boring! The "Voice" in this book is great! Snyder's on BlueSky. @laurelsnyder.bsky.social As a fangirl. ♥️

1. Miyagi toy museum I usually take photos in Fukushima, but not always. I went slightly north, over the border to Shiroishi in Miyagi Prefecture. I wanted to go to its toy museum. The woman working there was SO NICE!!! 😍 Details of museum in next post.

FYI to everybody: "It’s not psychologically normal to want people to die, Amy." If you EVER say that I want people to die, I will block you. I NEVER want people to die. Ever. What we are discussing is why a person died. And how many deaths. This has happened before, people manipulating. Hard No.

lol This is what is out there about us in Fukushima. The internet is the only way to discuss these things. My book isn't about Fukushima. It's set in Kansas.

I live in Fukushima. You can ask me questions. I moved here in 2006, and was here on 3/11/11. We of Fukushima (and Tohoku) are the ones who are muffled. We are the experts. So if you have questions, I'll try to answer them.

1. When I was in the U.S., I saw this memoir at a Goodwill, & picked it up. The back blurb read "Growing up...in a highly controlled, religious household, Jessica Willis...." She wondered if "other daddies came into their daughters' bedrooms at night." Jessica Willis, & her siblings, were abused.

Fukushima spider webs and spider or I can't see what quite is in the web

Fukushima spider web (You have to look closely)

The impoverished country often faces difficulty in responding to such natural disasters, especially in remote regions. Buildings tend to be low-rise constructions, mostly of concrete and brick, with homes in rural and outlying areas made from mud bricks and wood, many poorly built.

“The Inheritance Games” by Jennifer Lynn Barnes “Counting Down With You” by Tashie Bhuiyan “The Making of Us” by Diane Hawley Nagatomo “A Long Walk to Water” by Linda Sue Park

1. I've only used ChatGPT once. I asked it to tell me about "My memories of Fukushima" ChatGPT was new & I wanted to see what it would say. I'll tell more in the next box.

Fukushima, Nihonmatsu Kiku Festival. In my reading life, I am reading Ueda's "雨月物語." Listening in Japanese. (Public domain.) 菊花の約～ 月日は逝やすし。 おそくとも此秋は過さじ "The months, the days pass quickly. At the latest, before autumn is over." www.youtube.com/watch?v=SASH...

After watching the news about civil war that is continuing in Sudan, and the risk of war in South Sudan (I hope I have that right--that seems to be the current state, as of end of Oct. 2025), it feels wrong to just continue with my photos, as usual. Wiki of authors: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...

1. This book by Linda Sue Park is for kids. "A Long Walk to Water is based on the true story of Salva, one of some 3,800 Sudanese “Lost Boys." -quote from Park's website. There are two separate characters in this book. Nya (fictional, but based girls who walk to bring water to their home) & Salva.

Tohoku Pride❤️ He's from Iwate Prefecture.

Fukushima Kiku Masturi in Nihonmatsu City The festival is on the grounds of Kasumigajo Castle Park in Nihonmatsu City. Don't let the word "city" fool you. In Japanese, "city" is used for what we in US. call towns. Actually, Tokyo isn't even a "city," according to Japan language! It's the capital!

Fukushima chrysanthemums Two weeks ago, I went to Nihonmatsu's "Kiku Matsuri." kiku-Chrysanthemum matsuri-Festival en.japantravel.com/fukushima/ni... The festival is going on right now! I walked from station, but a taxi ride is 500 yen. (no shuttle bus)

Fukushima I think I see heaven up there Sky

Trump might do more nuclear testing, in Nevada. I'm not much of a video watcher (I don't have time to watch them, I'd rather be reading a book) but here's a video. If anyone knows of books with the thoughts of locals of Nevada, please let post below. I'll read them if I can.

1. This novel is called “The Making of Us," a romance by Diane Hawley Nagatomo. This book is set in Tokyo in the 1980's. Fascinating! I came to Japan in 1995, and so that's before my time in Japan. Women wearing their aprons to the grocery store--yep, I remember. All the smoking! Yep, I remember.

If you are in American publishing, or a a lit agent, keep in mind that Ohtani is from Tohoku. (The area worst hit by the 9.0 quake.) He was in Tohoku when quake hit. Same with Sachiko Kashiwaba, author "The House of the Lost on the Cape." Thank you to RESTLESS BOOKS. www.asahi.com/ajw/articles...