As part of its Japan-themed workshops, Japan Desk Scotland arranged a talk of ‘Changes in my thought after Fukushima’ by Miyuki Sasaki, a fourth-year student studying Science at Fukushima University, for students studying Higher Physics at Cumbernauld High School (now Cumbernauld Academy after a merger) , North Lanarkshire, on 17 September 2012. She grew up in Aomori Prefecture, northern Japan, where Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Plant is the top company, and she was considering entering this plant to enjoy decent life for herself and her family.
However, with experiencing the earthquake, the tsunami and the nuclear power plant accident in March 2011, she is now considering what she could do for others. For example, her dissertation, the study of how radioactive caesium is embedded in the soil, could help decontamination process, which in turn would benefit many people. And, this talk was another example of what she could do for others. After the talk, she told that she had sensed that, while doing presentation, her message had reached the students, and she was pleased with this, as she prepared the presentation not for herself but for them. As she sensed, her presentation was well received by the students, and they learned how the study of nuclear physics could help many people.
Fumi of Japan Desk Scotland has been teaching Japanese language for the school’s Japan Club since 2010 during lunch break.
Miyuki’s talk was reported by Kyodo News and Nikkei, Japan, in Japanese, and Cumbernauld News, Scotland, in English.