Saturday marks the sixth anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear accident, the worst recorded since the Chernobyl meltdown in 1986. How did Fukushima affect the lives of those touched by its radioactivity?

One narrative used by the media in its Fukushima reporting described those who volunteered to return to the dangerous site as “samurai,” “kamikaze,” or simply “Fukushima heroes.”

But my research with Japanese people who have survived radioactive exposure — first from the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, and then from Fukushima — suggests that they bear the burden of discrimination and shame. In Japan, these survivors are known as the hibakusha.…  Seguir leyendo »