Kazuto Tatsuta

An important and interesting comic written by an actual worker who worked cleaning and decommissioning the Fukushima nuclear power plant over several years. He wrote it to be an eyewitness account, and it is interesting and educational. I learned a lot about nuclear work in general, as well as the cleanup process and the Fukushima plant in particular, YA readers would also learn a lot about how blue-collar work 'goes,' and about Japanese culture. It plays out as a standard manga write-up. The art is good, especial care is given to recreations of the conditions of the buildings at certain points.
The book addresses the fault and larger societal implications only slightly, or at least not definitively. Tatsuta doesn't take a stand for or against nuclear power in general, or the fault of the company or government in the matter. At one point he asks a coworker who both had to evacuate and was part of the complany that ran the plant, "Don't you feel anger or hatred at TEPCO for this mess?" The response was that yes, but it was his company that caused it, and if he doesn't clean it then the people who evacuated will never be able to return. "We're the only ones who can do anything about it." The author reflects later about his coworker's, "Anger as a resident, and duty as a worker... Mr. Ono was both victim and perpetrator in this delicate situation, and I had no right to quibble with his views. I'm just an outsider coming in from Tokyo to work." Suffice to say, not everyone would react the same way.
I recommend this for manga fans of course, and also as a way to discuss nuclear power, Japanese culture, odd jobs or blue-collar work, and processing complicated experiences. At the end he misses it, even though it was not a fun experience.… (mehr)

I really liked reading about what happened agree the tsunami and its effects. I knew about Fukashima Daiichi through the news in the days after the earthquake and tsunami but not much more than there were problems. Then other things took over and it wasn't news.

I liked this because it presents a point of view of someone who has actually been there and was dealing with the actual reality verses what was sound bit for news. I did have to read this in chunks because it was so much but it was a lot to chew on. Reading about all they went through in getting dressed in PPE (personal protective equipment) was familiar to me from my work in industrial security so I could sympathize with the tediousness of the process.

Overall, an excellent read and a good look at what happened after the news cameras went home.… (mehr)