English leaflets are available!
We have been supporting children in Fukushima!
Fukushima Children’s Fund(FCF)
To learn a lesson from Chernobyl to protect children
About our Recuperation Project
Recuperation in radiation-free places will help the children living in radiation affected areas reduce internal exposure to radiation. Playing outside freely in a clean environment, they can relax as well as improve their immune systems.
Conforming to the Law of Chernobyl which was enacted after the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear incident, the Belarusian government started letting the children, who were exposed to radiation of 1 mSv or more per year, stay at recreation camps for about three weeks a year. This policy is still in effect even today. CCF, Japan, our sister organization continues supporting this project.
While in Japan both the central and local governments failed to provide this kind of project for the children in Fukushima. This is why we are emphasizing the importance of recuperation while cooperating with the people who are organizing / providing their own recreation project.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, not a few groups had to downsize their services though; most of them continued carrying out their recreation programs Using Kumi-no-sato as our key base of operations, we will keep assisting them from all over Japan to the utmost of our abilities.
(Photo) ocean view of Kumejima Island
About our recent events
Offshore Marine Survey:
In March 2024, the 45th marine survey was conducted. For the past nine years from 2015, we have sampled seawater and fish from the area 1.5km off the coast of Fukushima where the nuclear plants were located. In July 2022, Mr. Kurobe, our chief secretary was on board to survey the area.
*see TARACHINE web site for details
A lecture on “The Earthquake Disaster and Children’s Mentality” by Dr. Hisako Watanabe at the Infant Psychiatrists’ Meeting:
A participant said, “She told us about her scientific expertise based on her own experience.” The other said,
“I was very much impressed with her story on life and human society.” * her lecture is now on YouTube on our FCF web site
Ukraine Emergency Support; Catherine’s Concert:
The invasion of Russia into Ukraine started in February 2022; so we held this concert in May that year. We have not yet seen any sign of a bright future there. We sincerely wish them to restore peace as soon as possible.
*a part of her concert is now on FCF YouTube
Message from Shin’ichi Kurobe, Chief
Secretary — pediatrician （FCF）
In order to help the victims of the Fukushima nuclear incident reduce the amount of radiation they have in their bodies, we have promoted the movement of fund-raising.
With the donations from you, we have been helping local citizens’ radiation observatories purchase instruments like food radiation dose detectors and pay their maintenance costs.
We have also undertaken a recuperation project for the children who are being exposed to low doses of radiation due to unavoidable reasons. With our longterm experience of supporting the victims of the Chernobyl nuclear incident as a sister group of CCF, Japan; we have realized that recreation in radiation-free places will help children reduce the amount of internal radiation exposure. From a psychoneuroimmunological point of view, this project is effective as it relates to their physical as well as mental health.
In Chernobyl, those who failed to avoid radiation exposure due to poverty have been suffering from various kinds of cancer as well as many other disorders.
As a study on child victims in Belarus suggests; the children who were exposed to radiation during their fetal period are far more likely to suffer from developmental / cognitive disorders than their counterparts. As for their language acquisition skills and emotional health, not only pathological stress but also mental stress which was caused by their unstable life as evacuees negatively affected them.
While in Japan, morbidity rates of diseases except for thyroid cancer are not fully reported. But it is becoming clear that quite a few children in Fukushima have allergies and developmental disorders. They also tend to have PTSD.
We have suspended group recuperation programs for school kids at Kumi-no-sato due to the COVID-19 pandemic; and instead, we provided / are providing small family-unit recuperation programs. Thirteen years after the Fukushima nuclear incident, we have begun to realize the importance of the children’s mental health. So we recently started new programs — the school expense support for high school students and the medical expense support for sick children.
Groups/ individuals whom we have been supporting:
*TARACHINE radiation measuring center in Iwaki City and other measuring centers in / around Fukushima Pref.
* Kumi-no-sato recuperation center organized by TARACHINE on Kumejima Island, Okinawa Pref. as well as other citizens’ recreation camps in Okayama Pref. and in the Tokyo metropolitan area
*Volunteer groups that are offering free thyroid gland examinations: TARACHINE Clinic and other facilities in / around Fukushima Pref.
Sick children: medical expenses for them
*High school students: school expenses for them
*Organizers of food banks
(Photos) *thyroid gland examination at TARACHINE Clinic
*children enjoying activities in / around Kumi-no-sato
◇Pictures including the cover are all taken in Kumejima Town, Okinawa
Excerpt of the regulations of FCF:
# Annual membership fee: \10000 for special members; \3000 for regular members; \2000 for student members
(A part of membership fees is used for donations)
# Office: Shiki City, Saitama Pref., Japan
# Fiscal year: fiscal year starts on June 1 and ends on May 31 since FCF was established on June 1, 2011
About us:
On June 1 in 2011, we founded FCF to support the children in Fukushima. Since then we have been supporting them with publicity and fund-raising. Our
activities and financial records are reported at the
annual general meeting
About donations:
There are three ways to donate: Money transfer at the Japan Post Office Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Bank, and/or any other bank in Japan.
Any amount of donation is greatly appreciated.
Please note that FCF is a volunteer organization so your donation is not tax-deductible.
Thank you for your kind consideration!
Japan Post Office Bank
account name: Fukushima Children’s Fund
checking account: 00190-0-496774
* When you transfer donations to the Japan Post Office Bank from another bank, please use the following numbers:
bank number: 019 / bank name: 019
checking account: 0496774
Mitsubishi UFJ Bank
account name: Fukushima Children’s Fund
Kagurazaka Branch (#052)
bank account : 0064011
Postal address of Fukushima Children’s Fund office
353-0006 c/o Ms. Mukai 2-3-4-409 Tate, Shiki City,
Saitama Prefecture
Tel:090-3539-7611 Fax:048-470-1502
https://www.facebook.com/fukushimachildrensfund/
Email:info@fukushimachildrensfund.org
