Every day, at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., a part-time worker at one of Fukushima's most well-known beaches walks toward the shoreline and lowers a dosimeter to the water. The device measures radiation, and its readings this summer have delivered the best news one can hope for 70 km south of a still-leaking nuclear plant:
The levels are normal.
Nearly 2½ years after a series of meltdowns at a coastal atomic plant, normalcy has become Fukushima's scarcest commodity, and those who live here cherish it — or anything approaching it — in whatever form they can find. Local officials describe Nakoso Beach as a symbol of recovery, its seasonal opening day this year feted with hula dancers and hopeful speeches. But the officials acknowledge that the Fukushima region's recovery is tenuous, and only by the standards of a traumatized region does Nakoso Beach feel normal.