Traveling to Fukushima is currently gaining popularity as a post-disaster/dark tourism spot. What is it actually like to travel here and in particular to visit Fukushima with Young Pioneer Tours?
This is obviously a subject we will have some bias on, but also one we can now talk about after running our inaugural tour here.
How do tours to Fukushima work?
Technically, much of Fukushima, which is quite a large prefecture, can simply be visited autonomously, but if you do want to see the reactors, as well as speak to people related to the disaster, you will have to join a tour.
There are of course different companies offering this, with not all doing all the cool stuff. Many tours also only run with certain numbers, which when they do run can lead to fairly eclectic groups.
YPT personally work closely with one company that offers all the must see parts of Fukushima on a surreal overnight trip .We also “block book”, meaning it is our group, which truly gives us slightly more control over how things are run – at least within a Japanese prism.
Getting to Fukushima
Much of Fukushima is now reachable with Japan Railways, but this obviously does not include major places that you would like to see. Previously, tours have been done utilizing the train, but in reality you need the freedom of a bus.
Therefore, on a YPT visit to Fukushima, we utilize and take a bus for the three hour journey to Fukushima and it then stays with us for the whole trip. We start the trip at the iconic Tokyo Station with us utilizing motorway rest stops for sustenance.
Day one of a Fukushima Tour
We won’t go intro crazy detail on the itinerary, but day one when you are traveling to Fukushima is dominated by going to the nuclear reactor, as well as other sites heavily related to the accident.
This is the main difference between a Chernobyl tour and a Fukushima Tour. This is because traveling to Fukushima gets you a really close look at the nuclear reactors, whilst wearing protective gear, as well as learning the story of how it happened and what they are doing to make it better.
This is for the most part really cool, but it is also heavily evident here that this is little more than a huge propaganda thing for Tokyo Electrical Power Corporation.
Sleeping in Fukushima
Around the area, there is quite literally one hotel that is there mostly to serve workers. This is extremely simple, with the rooms being made out of containers. The dinner here is a simple buffet, but there is a nicer restaurant in the same complex. There is also a family mart opposite that closes at 8:30. Closing early is a thing here…
And as for the nightlife of Fukushima? Well in this part we can say it was fairly non-existent, but that YPT at least made their own. It turns out that buying booze and exploring the beaches are a pretty cool thing to do.
Day 2 of traveling to Fukushima
Day 2 of traveling to Fukushima involves getting up nice and early, enjoying breakfast – or not – and then heading out. Again we won’t detail the itinerary too much, but this day is about meeting people, hearing a lot about what Tepco wants to do here, as well as some Urbex.
Highlights here included meeting a cowboy with fairly fruity views the current government, as well as an abandoned school, where thankfully everyone survived.
We also visited a town that was trying to rebuild and since 2020 has gotten back to 100 residents. Quite surely we were guided here by two Indians, who again were very much singing the party/Tepco line on things.
We do get to do some quality, at least by Japanese standards, Urbex, although much of this will likely be gone soon.
Then it is time to head back to Tokyo, in our case to the Akasaka district to party with the group for one last night.
Is it worth traveling to Fukushima?
While this was our first trip, it will certainly not be our last at all, and it was extremely interesting, particularly in contrast and comparison with our tours to Belarus and Chernobyl
The fact that it also led into our Extremes of Japan Tour was just the icing on the cake.
You can check out our Japan tours here.
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