Japanese Rancher Fights to Rescue Radioactive Cows He Would Have Sent to Slaughter

The Fukushima nuclear disaster of 2011 was a shocking incident that devastated the wildlife of the surrounding areas, leaked tons of radioactive material into the Pacific Ocean, and forced many to flee their homes. Some people are still being evacuated from the affected areas, as the scale of the disaster’s impact becomes more and more pronounced – while Japanese-Canadian scientist David Suzuki warns that another such disaster would “decimate” Japan, and even lead to evacuations on the West Coast of the U.S.

The incident has caused many Japanese citizens to demand that their government turn its back on nuclear energy. And now Japanese cattle rancher, Masami Yoshizawa, is hoping to raise awareness of some overlooked victims of the disaster: the 83,000-strong herds of cattle who were abandoned by ranchers when the disaster hit.

Yoshizawa’s ranch is situated on the outskirts of a town called Namie, located within Fukushima’s evacuation zone – meaning that no-one is legally permitted to reside there – but he was moved to return because of his outrage over how the evacuation process had been handled.

“These cows are living testimony to the human folly here in Fukushima. The government wants to kill them because it wants to erase what happened here, and lure Japan back to its pre-accident nuclear status quo. I am not going to let them,” Yoshizawa said via the New York Times.

Before the disaster, Yoshizawa would have sent his cows – prized because of their marbled “wagyu-style” beef – to slaughter, but on returning to his ranch and witnessing their plight, he was inspired to rescue them instead.

He relies on donations of money and feed to Support the cattle, but says that he is concerned about the radioactive material they may be ingesting from the soil and the grass.

Manabu Fukumoto, a pathologist at the Institute of Development, Ageing and Cancer at Tohoku University, has criticized his actions by saying, “Looking at the over-concentration of animals, I personally don’t think this is very humanitarian.”

However, Yoshizawa is determined not to be ignored. He regularly appears in Japanese news media, maintains a blog with a live webcam of his ranch, and occasionally holds one-man protests in front of the headquarters of Tokyo Electric Power Co, who was in charge of the Fukushima nuclear plant.

He said, “Not all Japanese are passive. My cows and I will show that there is still a chance for change.”