Mothers of Fukushima:

Eiko & Yoshiko

"What can you do but laugh?"

Mizue Furui

Produced by

Motoharu Iida / Akihiro Nonaka

Edited by

Tokachi Tuchiya

2016/HD/95min/Japan　http://www.iitate-mother.com

Sound by

Takashi Tokida

Translated by

Mayu Nakamura /John Junkerman

Presented by

“Mothers of Fukushima” Production Support Committee

Synopsis

Ms.Eiko Kanno is 79 years-old. Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear disaster completely changes her life. She is supposed to be living surrounded by her grandchildren. But she lives alone in a temporary house because the whole of her home Iitate village was evacuated. Her relatives and her friend Ms.Yoshiko Kanno are very important partners in her life. Unfortunately Ms.Yoshiko Kanno lost her parents during the evacuation, so she moved to a temporary house which was next to

Eiko Kanno’s. They cheer themselves up by telling jokes to each other as if they were Grandmother comedians. Thus two women start living at the temporary house.

Eiko-san’s motto for living is producing her food

many varieties of vegetables, tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, soy-beans, and Japanese radish.

Pickled turnips, sticky rice balls with sweet red bean paste, and carrots with sesame sauce are lined up on the table ,and they say with smiles on their face” How delicious!” In order not to end this Japanese traditional food culture, they go to some other areas to teach traditional food: Miso-soy bean paste, and Shimi mochi-dry rice cake.

Iitate village is now on the way to being gradually decontaminated. However there is still very high radiation, and utterly changed scenery…. Two women intend to grasp for their lives talking about an unseen future while laughing and crying.

Director’s Profile

Mizue Furui was born

in Shimane in 1948.

She belongs to Asia

Press, a member of

Japan Visual Journalist Association (JVJA). Since 1988 she has been to the Occupied Territories, reported on the Intifada, resistance movement by Palestinians. She has been focusing on and reporting especially about women and children. Afghanistan, Indonesian African children are interviewed and reported on T.V. in newspapers, and magazines.

In 2005 she received the “Grand prize of Days Japan International Photo Journalism”, “Special prize of Judge”

“Commemorated Ishibashi Tanzan Waseda Jurnalist Grand prize” for the film “ Ghada - Songs of Palestine”

“Peace & Cooperative Journalist foundation” “Commemorated Namiko Arai Prize”

“Grand prize of Kouenji Documentary festival on the film “What we saw - the children of the family of Samunis’ in Gaza”

Contact

Nagako Okado

“Mothers of Fukushima” Production Support Committee

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

090－5570－5306