A terrible silent tragedy is happening in Fukushima! The lone horseman of Itate speaks out!

“I would like to welcome anybody who is concerned to contact me. I request vets and radiation specialists to come and investigate my horses.”

http://blog.goo.ne.jp/rainbowgarnet1/e/6d51ec6ae9dd6c4314d2175bb18e4005

(Abstract)

(Translated by Mia)

7 May 2013

Iitate village (In Fukushima Prefecture) is surrounded by beautiful mountains and forests. And the village and setting still looks beautiful, even after being heavily contaminated by the fallout from the Fukushima disaster.

Mr. Tokuei Hosokawa (60 years old), a third-generation livestock dealer working in the family business, is one of a few who has remained at this village since the disaster.

He has kept quiet about the condition of his horses up until now, but as the condition of his horses has been deteriorating, he has decided to warn others that there is something terribly wrong going on, by making people aware of what has been happening to his horses.

He kept a carcass of one of his horse that died a month ago, he said;

“I want to bury it, but I preserved it so that I could show it as proof to Tepco”.

“I hear that lots of cows have been dying of hunger in 20k radius of the crippled plant. My horses have been looked after and fed well but four out of thirty two horses are getting very weak, unable to stand up well, with weakness in their knees.”

One of them, a little white pony, has been in the worst condition with its coat in a very poor condition.

The vet came to look at the little pony and diagnosed that it developed jaundice with a malfunctioning liver.

Also, 14 out of 15 foals died within 1 week to 1 month.

He asked a health care-centre for blood tests for his horses.

And there was no evidence of contagious disease or malnutrition found in the test results.

He was told that the blood test were not enough to find out the reasons behind his horses getting weak. He said;

“I think that it is to with the fallout from the Fukushima disaster. I can’t prove it scientifically, but I know it from my many years of experience in working with my horses. “

While he was running his family farm, he was also involved in various volunteering activities using these horses.

Various shrine ritual events such as “Soma Nomaoi”, the most famous traditional war game using horses.He even appeared on some TV period dramas such as ”水戸黄門”, the Tokugawa Shogun Mito Mitsukuni, a historical drama loved by all generations in Japan.

He was also actively involved with local primary school events and also held horse therapy sessions at an educational facility for the blind.

He evacuated with his family out of the village, but couldn’t bare to leave his horses behind, so he returned on his own to look after them.

He has been helping to save other cows and horses owned by other people in the same situation. So far, he saved 87 horses by himself and found a second home for them in different places in Japan.

He asked Tepco for the compensation of the cost of re-housing and caring for these horses but Tepco has rejected his appeals with the reason that there is no proof he looked after them.

He has been rejecting all personal health checks including the radiation “whole body counter”. For him it doesn’t seem to be an important issue to check his health because he has made the decision to stay, for the rest of his life, with these horses.

And although he feels that he is getting to the end of his tether, he still cannot bring himself to kill them. They have been in his family for generations, so he feels honour bound to return to return the help the horses have provided his family. He feels he should show gratitude and give respect to these wonderful creatures for their many years of work by keeping them company until they die, no matter the personal cost.

A week after this interview, as he had guessed, the little white pony had died (at the end of March 2013.)

During the interview Mr. Hosokawa kept saying;

“Japan is in a mad situation! From now on, even more terrible things will happen!”.

A personal plea by Mr. Hosokawa:

*A personal pleas by Mr. Hosokawa:

“I would like to make public about the situation of my horses, my name, address and telephone numbers are below. I would like to welcome anybody who is concerned to contact me. I request vets and radiation specialists to come and investigate my horses.”

細川牧場　細川徳栄さん

福島県相馬群飯舘村臼石字町123-1

090-9742-3141

Tokuei Hosokawa

Hosokawa Farm,

123-1, Usui Aza-machi,

Iitate village,

Soma-gun, Fukushima prefecture

Tel: 090-9742-3141

h/t ;http://fukushimaappeal.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/a-terrible-silent-tragedy-is-happening.html

May 8, 2013 - Posted by arclight2011 | Uncategorized

14 Comments »

This is totally unreal, please will the Japanese government wake up and do something about closing the plant

Comment by sarah orr | May 8, 2013 | Reply
My heart hurts for these people and their animals….they are innocent of the horror that is being done to them. People need to get angry and share this info and help in any and every way possible.

Comment by Peggy Dirsa | May 9, 2013 | Reply
[…] from https://nuclear-news.net/2013/05/08/a-terrible-silent-tragedy-is-happening-in-fukushima-the-lone-hors… […]

Pingback by A terrible silent tragedy is happening in Fukushima! The lone horseman of Itate speaks out! « Antinuclear | May 9, 2013 | Reply
I could very well be wrong–and, in fact, I Pray that I am(!), but it feels like, for these citizens, the damage has been done and it will take Many (MANY!) years to recover. And for those in or near the Pacific Ocean, and All Brothers and Sisters of the Earth, the fallout, while not as quickly as for those in Japan, will be Devastating, nonetheless… My Heart goes out to this Very courageous and inspiring man! And to ALL our Relatives so affected. (We Are ALL One!)

Comment by moonjuju | May 9, 2013 | Reply
P.S. If I had the means I would be Honored to care for and comfort these poor, sick creatures alongside Mr. Hosokawa!

Comment by moonjuju | May 9, 2013 | Reply
[…] from https://nuclear-news.net/2013/05/08/a-terrible-silent-tragedy-is-happening-in-fukushima-the-lone-hors… […]

Pingback by Tokuei Hosokawa’s loyalty to his irradiated horses inIitate village | Nuclear Australia | May 9, 2013 | Reply
It’s sad…so sad. It’s a sad situation. Why is it so hard to simply realize that nuclear energy must be abandoned because just the possibility of the horrible consequences of its misuse and/or accidental leakage etc. should be enough to say, “NO MORE NUKES!…EVER!”

Comment by Carole Duet | May 9, 2013 | Reply
He need to feed them hay or silage from somewhere else and pen them up so they don’t eat the local grass. The fallout is in the rain and dew. Well water is ok but don’t let them drink from ponds or streams. Feed them beets and carrots and cucumbers for their liver function and watch so they don’t get colic, is so flush them with water hose to clean their bowels. Also, some sugar like hersey’s choc. bar or gluosemine power will help the joints. Also, L-Lysine tablets will add in the absorbsion of calcium in the joints crush it up and sprinkle it uver sweetfeed.

Comment by Sam | May 9, 2013 | Reply
- To Sam,
  
  I’m just translating your suggestion into Japanese. A few questions: what do you mean by “flush them with water hose to clean their bowels”. Also if you could let me know where you could get those: hersey’s choc. bar or gluosemine power and L-Lysine tablets. If you know website to buy, then I can forward the information.
  
  also where did you get these information? are you also a farmer?
  
  Comment by Mia June | May 9, 2013 | Reply
In the name of progress. i guess nuclear energy is not such a good option after all.

Comment by Mandy Sstafford | May 9, 2013 | Reply
Could we petition for an end to nuclear usage?

Comment by chicasan | May 9, 2013 | Reply
[…] A terrible silent tragedy is happening in Fukushima! The lone horseman of Itate speaks out! (Nuclear News, May 7, […]

Pingback by A Terrible Silent Tragedy Is Happening In Fukushima! | May 9, 2013 | Reply
Thank you all for your warm heartfelt comments and encouragements for Mr. Hosokawa and his horses. I will do my best to translate and forward your messages. Thanks Sam for your advise. As far as I understand he has been feeding his horses ok under the circumstances, but it sounds like he is doing all on his own. So I’m not sure if he could give his horses the optimum nutrition to combat the radioactive contamination. He might need outside help. I will suggest him to set up donation account. Also if no specialist offer their free help to examine his horses, he will need to cover the cost.

There is a study done with cows in the 10-20km radius of the crippled plant by Tohoku university supported by an Emergency Budget for the Reconstruction of Northeastern Japan… I’m afraid to say they don’t mind spending money for scientific research but not really for helping animals in the dangerous area in Fukushima prefecture.

(Reference)
Distribution of Artificial Radionuclides in Abandoned Cattle in the Evacuation Zone of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant 　　http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0054312

A few findings in this report:
Between August 29 and November 15, 2011, we collected 79 cattle in total, 27 of which were from Minami-soma city located north and 52 from Kawauchi village located southwest of the FNPP. Both places are within the evacuation zone between 10- and 20-km radius of the FNPP. The cattle included 63 adult females (3 of which were pregnant), 10 male calves, and 3 female calves.
Typical gamma-ray spectra (134Cs, 137Cs, 110mAg, and 129mTe )obtained from muscle, liver, and kidney.
In the control animals, which were housed in Hokkaido Prefecture (northern edge of Japan, 630 km from FNPP), we could not detect any photopeaks of 134Cs, 137Cs, 110mAg, and 129mTe
We concluded that the detected radionuclides, such as 134Cs, 137Cs, 110mAg, and 129mTe, in the abandoned cattle were attributable to environmental contamination by the nuclear fallout from the FNPP accident

Comment by Mia June | May 9, 2013 | Reply
To Sam,

I’m just translating your suggestion into Japanese. A few questions: what do you mean by “flush them with water hose to clean their bowels”. Also if you could let me know where you could get those: hersey’s choc. bar or gluosemine power and L-Lysine tablets. If you know website to buy, then I can forward the information.

also where did you get these information? are you also a farmer?

Comment by Mia June | May 9, 2013 | Reply