FUKUSHIMA -- Vivid murals are going up in front of JR Futaba Station in Futaba, Fukushima Prefecture, where all the townspeople are still under an evacuation order following the 2011 accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
A project to create drawings on the walls of shops that have been abandoned for more than nine years is underway by people who hope to use the power of art to revive the town that remains devoid of residents.
A drawing of a mischievous woman peeking through a doughnut hole appeared on the wall of what once was a pharmacy on Oct. 7. The model was a woman who used to run a fast-food eatery for nearly 30 years in front of the station. It was popular among high school students as they waited for trains.
"I was like their mom back then," the woman said when she saw the drawing. "I'm glad they remember me."
Her eldest son reopened the eatery at a facility constructed in an area where the evacuation order was partially lifted in March this year.
The idea for the mural was conceived by Jo Takasaki, 39, who ran the izakaya pub Joe's Man located in front of the station before the nuclear accident at the plant run by Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. He now runs another bar in Tokyo to where he evacuated.
Takasaki was inspired to start the project by an artist he became acquainted with who had worked on a project in Amsterdam to transform a deserted former shipyard into a popular spot.
Hoping to use the power of art to transform a negative legacy, Takasaki asked Takato Akazawa for help. Akazawa, 38, heads a Tokyo-based mural art company called Over Alls. Akazawa accepted the job without pay.
The first mural was created in August at the site where the building that housed Joe's Man used to stand.
Yuki Yamamoto, 40, an artist with the Tokyo company, and other painters used spray paint and other materials to draw a giant hand pointing at the ground with the message "Here we go!!!"
"I hope the project will serve as a beacon of the development of a new town where young people can gather," Akazawa said.
They plan to start working on a third project in December.
"Together with the residents of the town, we want this to be a spark to make Futaba a place where many people will come," Takasaki said.
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