By sportswriter Wang Zijiang
FUKUSHIMA, Japan, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Squatting among the eustoma flowers in his 4,000-square kilometer greenhouse at Namie, Fukushima, Hiroshi Kawamura could not take his eyes off the budding plants. In two weeks, his flowers will be sold in some of Tokyo's shops and decorate thousands of people's living rooms.
He has been in this business since 2014, three years after the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster struck this town on March 11, 2011.
Nine years to after the tragedy, he has recently learned that his flowers will be featured in the bouquet at the Tokyo Olympic Games' medal awarding ceremony.
"It is exciting news that our flowers can be presented to the Olympic medalists," the 64-year-old said. "It is a positive message for the reconstruction of Namie and other disaster-stricken regions," Kawamura said.
The former welfare worker tried to grow vegetables after becoming one of the first groups of locals to return home in 2013. But his produce could not be sold due to radiation concerns, so he pivoted to growing flowers. With five people, including two disabled, working for him, Kawamura hopes that the Olympics will further help the reconstruction and encourage young people to return to the area.
"For the Olympics, I have to increase the current harvest by four times so I need to find more people to help me," he said.
But out of 18,000 people evacuated after the disaster, only 1000 have returned home and the majority are elderly. Even Kawamura's children do not want to come back.
Abandoned houses ruined by the tsunami are everywhere although the government is trying to bulldoze them to make way for new ones, the rebuilding of the community is made harder by the lack of people.
Wataru Izumi, a representative of Namie Farm, said, "There are so many ghost houses. You can't imagine how Namie will look like in another 10 years."
Concrete sea walls along the Pacific coast have been built to prevent another tsunami from wreaking havoc. Two hundred meters off the newly-built walls stands the wreckage of a school building. All 93 students from the Ukedo Elementary School miraculously escaped the tsunami and the wreckage has become a reminder of the lessons of the disaster.
Some of them went on to study at the Futaba Future School, which was founded in 2015 for students from those destroyed schools.
World No. 1 badminton player Kento Momota was one of them. The world champion, a student in the Tomioka Junior High School nearby, was competing in Indonesia when the disaster occurred. Now he is the pride of the school.
"I hope Japanese athletes can play an active part in the Olympics," said 15-year-old Hayao Matsuo, who plays badminton for the school team.
Nango Ippei, the schools vice principal, said the terrifying memory of the disaster is still fresh in the hearts of some students. He hopes the Olympic Games can "inspire them" for their studies and for life.
"We will hold a party to welcome the Olympic torch relay," he said. "We hope Momota can come back to his former school."
Tokyo organizers and the Japanese government have labeled this year's games the "Recovery Olympics," and the Olympic torch relay will start on March 26 in J-Village, a football stadium used as an emergency evacuation center, which will also host the baseball and softball competitions.
Two students from the school have been selected to participate in the torch relay.
The Olympics have given high expectations to people in the town of Okuma, where the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is situated.
About 40 percent of Okuma, which sits immediately west of the plant, was declared safe for residents last year to make a permanent return after decontamination efforts significantly reduced radiation levels.
However, less than 100 people from Okuma's pre-disaster population of 10,341 have returned, living in the newly-built council houses in front of the town hall, which was opened last year.
Yoshihiro Takada, Executive Director of Public Corporation for the development of Okuma, said the torch relay, which will be passing the town hall, will increase the confidence of the people and show that Okuma is safe.
But Takada remains cautious about the effect of the Olympic Games, warning that the Olympics is not a signal of the end of reconstruction.
"There are still a lot of challenges and difficulties for the reconstruction," he said. "It is in progress and it will take a long time."
Concern over the possible health effects of exposure to radiation remains high among people from areas near the nuclear plant, particularly families with young children. A poll by the Asahi newspaper and a local broadcaster found that almost two-thirds of evacuated residents felt anxious about radiation despite official claims that decontamination work had been a success.
Akihiro Yoshikawa, a former employee of TEPCO, the owner of the nuclear plant, gave up his job in 2014 to help the communities to learn about nuclear power stations, the decommissioning process through presentations and interactive discussions.
"If you are frightened, you need to listen to the experts," he said.
But he too plays down the significance of the Olympics, "I used to stay up all night to watch the Olympics. After all the things we have experienced since 2011, it is difficult to say that I will enjoy the Tokyo Olympics."
