【英语生活】日本重灾区市长：恢复工作任重道远

Katsunobu Sakurai finished two hours behind the leaders in the Tokyo Marathon Feb. 26. But he was one of the most prominent runners nonetheless. The 56-year-old mayor of Minamisoma rose to global fame a year ago with his YouTube plea for help for his town located 16 miles from the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. His campaign earned him a spot on Time magazine's list of the year's 100 most influential people.

Mr. Sakurai ran the race with a team of locals who all sported a red sash with the words 'With one heart, for the revival of Minamisoma.' At a press conference afterwards, he described the city's condition as still grim. 'There are problems with radiation decontamination, which affect the restoration of medical services and nursing care, as well as education,' he said. 'This also affects the workforce shortage in the manufacturing industry, and symbolizes how all these problems are interconnected. We must actively work to create an environment in which the younger generation can return.'

Minamisoma has made some progress over the past year. The city's population -- 70,000 before the disasters -- has risen back to approximately 40,000, after a drop to 10,000 directly after March 11. The city performs regular medical screenings and environmental radiation monitoring, schools have been re-opened, and emergency housing repairs are being completed. Damage from the tsunami that flooded part of the city has been cleared, and work on rebuilding homes has begun. Plans to invigorate the local economy with both traditional industries like agriculture and new investment ventures like renewable energy and robotics are also beginning to take shape. Several companies have signed up to help in economic reconstruction, including IHI Corp, a heavy industries manufacturing company based in Tokyo.

Radiation remains a problem. Decontaminating the city will be an ongoing process in the next year, and full dissipation of the radiation is expected to take up to 40 years. Schools have been thoroughly cleansed, but students are told to spend only one to two hours a day outdoors, and to do only with protective masks.

Sarah Berlow

2月26日的东京马拉松比赛期间，樱井胜延(Katsunobu Sakurai)落后领跑者两个小时才跑完。但他仍旧是最引人注目的选手之一。这位56岁的南相马市市长一年前在YouTube上为他离福岛第一核电站只有16英里（约26公里）远的城市求援，一时间成为全球名人。因为那次行动，他进入了《时代》周刊(Time)年度100位最有影响力人物名单。

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images图为南相马市市长樱井胜延，摄于2011年3月。樱井胜延和一群当地人参加了这次比赛，他们全都佩戴有一条绶带，上书“一心只为南相马复兴”。樱井胜延在跑完全程之后的新闻发布会上说，南相马市的情况仍旧不容乐观。他说，辐射除污工作遇到了问题，这影响了医疗服务、护理以及教育的恢复。他还说，这也加剧了制造业的劳动力短缺，从这件事可以看出各种问题是如何相互交织在一起的。他说，我们必须积极营造一种可让年轻一代回来的环境。

南相马市的灾后恢复工作在过去一年取得了一定进展。该市灾前人口7万，去年3月11日后直接下降至1万，现在已经回升至接近4万。该市经常做健康筛查和环境辐射监测，学校已经重新开放，应急住房的修缮接近完工。海啸淹没城市部分地区造成的损害已经被清理，重建住房的工作也已开始。用农业等传统行业和可再生能源、机器人等新投资项目刺激当地经济的计划也开始制定。包括东京重工制造企业IHI Corp.在内，多家公司已经参与当地的经济重建。

辐射问题依旧存在。接下来的一年还要做除污工作，预计最多要花40年才能够完全消除辐射。学校已经被彻底清洁，但学生们被告知每天只能在户外呆一到两个小时，而且必须佩戴防护面具。

Sarah Berlow

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