Fukushima Learning Journey 2026 @ Iitate Village: Learning from Fukushima 15 Years After the Disaster

About this event

"Fukushima Learning Journey 2026" is a tour marking the 15-year milestone since the disaster, visiting Fukushima, particularly Iitate Village, to deeply understand how people have lived through difficulties and built communities and livelihoods. In Iitate Village, where the pursuit of "living with nature" continues despite having experienced the hardship of whole-village evacuation, participants will experience these practices and look toward hope for the future together. Facilitated in dialogues by Bob Stilger and Susan Virnig, it is recommended for those interested in regional revitalization and community, those who wish to deeply learn about Fukushima today, those exploring the relationship between nature and humanity, and those seeking hope amidst social change. The 3-day, 2-night itinerary includes visiting the environmental dialogue laboratory base "Zuzu Soko", lunch prepared by an Iitate Village chef, a tour of a cattle pasture, a visit to a planetary observatory, a dinner featuring Iitate Village Black Wagyu beef, a tour of the Specified Reconstruction and Revitalization Base Area, a visit to researchers' measurement huts, a tour of Yamatsumi Shrine, lunch at a traditional kominka house, dialogue sessions, an imoni (taro and meat soup) gathering experience, and a trip reflection workshop based on Active Hope. People you will meet in Iitate Village include Atsushi Yano, Representative Director of Zuzu Soko Co., Ltd.; Yoichi Tao, Board President of the NPO "Resurrection of Fukushima"; Hiroaki Misawa, Associate Professor at Tohoku University; Yutaka Yamada, owner of Meat Utopia; Norio Kimura, head of Okuma Mirai Juku; and Yoshio Satomi, 16th-generation proprietor of Iwaki Yumoto Onsen "Furutakiya".

Venue

Iitate Village

Iitate-mura, Soma-gun, Fukushima