Last summer, a farmers market called Sukanagosso opened up in my village in western Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, and the timing could not have been better. A few months after the reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant, and with uncertainty and cesium still in the air, there was a strong demand for local produce. So strong, in fact, that the Sukanagosso parking lot was jammed, and cars were lined up down the road in both directions waiting to get in.

The customers were mostly outsiders, though, some of the many visitors from Yokohama, Kawasaki and Tokyo who come to the Miura Peninsula to go to the beach, sail, breathe clean air, eat maguro donburi (bowls of tuna and rice) and clog the roads. The locals don't need to shop at Sukanagosso because they're the farmers who supply the farmers market. Or they're the family members, friends and neighbors of the farmers.

This part of Yokosuka is only an hour's drive from Tokyo, and just up the coast from Hayama, Zushi and Kamakura, where for centuries wealthy Tokyoites have maintained weekend homes.