Made in Fukushima. A Sustainable Decontamination Method for Farming. - METER Group
METER Enviroment

Shortlist

Title of Entry:	Made in Fukushima. A Sustainable Decontamination Method for Farming.
Brand:	METER Group
Product/Service:	METER Enviroment
Client:	METER Group
Entrant Company:	SERVICEPLAN GERMANY
Creative Agency:	SERVICEPLAN GERMANY
Creative Director:	Franz Röppischer, Lorenz Langgartner
Art Director:	Eduardo Alvarez
Copywriter:	Carolina Soto
Sector:	N/A
Production Company:	Albert Coon
Producer:	Johannes Maierbacher
Date of Release:	2019-03-15
DOP:	Andreas Wolf
Notes:	On March 11, 2011, Japan’s Fukushima Prefecture was struck by one of the greatest disasters in recent history. A tsunami, caused by an earthquake in the Pacific, hit the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant, triggering the meltdown of the nuclear reactors, which led to explosions and radioactive material being released into the atmosphere. In the following days, wind and rain carried the radioactive material inland. More than 25,000 hectares of farmland, in what used to be one of Japan’s most important agricultural regions, were contaminated. The official decontamination method removes the fertile topsoil and replaces it with infertile dirt from the mountains, which produces huge amount of radioactive waste: 16 million m2, stored all over the region. Most importantly: removing the fertile soil makes farming impossible. Even as radiation decreases, the region remains abandoned, because without farming, rural Fukushima communities lose their livelihood. Environmental technology specialists from METER, together with Dr. Masaru Mizoguchi from The University of Tokyo, fellow environmental scientists and the NPO Fukushima Saisei, have developed an innovative sustainable decontamination method for farming: By removing the radioactive material from the soil, without removing the soil itself. The method can be easily applied by farmers themselves, because it uses only available resources. It enables farmers to grow perfectly safe rice on the fields inherited from their ancestors again. And because it removes only the radioactive particles instead of the whole topsoil, it reduces the amount of radioactive waste by 95% compared to the official method. By giving the farmers back their fields, they regain their livelihood. This revitalizes communities and business. The whole region can grow again.
Other Credits:	Alex Schill, Global Chief Creative Officer
Other Credits:	Saurabh Kakade, Creative
Other Credits:	Dr. Colin Campbell, Christian Hertel, Scott Campbell, Kirsten Ralph, Julia Mumford, Kersten Campbell, METER Group
Other Credits:	Dr. Masaru Mizoguchi, The University of Tokyo / Fukushima Saisei
Other Credits:	Yoichi Tao, Fukushima Saisei
Other Credits:	Henning Janzen, Rumi Tominaga, Ivan Kovac, Freelance
Other Credits:	Nick Frank, Photographer
Other Credits:	Yuta Matthew Kato, SAS ­ SHOOT IN JAPAN