Inside Fukushima's Exclusion Zone | Watch Now! (& My Private Thoughts)

If YouTube won't promote you then we will have to spread the word! This is an amazing documentary and I'll tell everyone I know. Thank you for all the hard work. It paid off for real.

I thought the video was very well done and it was very thoughtfully made, as well as thought provoking. It was different from normal content but I feel that it was an important piece :)

Awesome content. Feels like a true professional, TV-grade production. Huge big kudos, keep up the great work!

I really liked the video , it gave a glimpse into the locals, which they were stigmatised due to the nuclear incident years ago by the rest of the world. It is so hopeful to see how people are trying to rebuild this area and bring it back to its original state before the nuclear disaster. Great video Chris, really liked that one!

I think you're absolutely right that after all these years that many of have gotten desensitized over how serious the issue. I've also helped with the "Support Our Kids" project, specifically with the children who visit Canada, and I've heard stories from of their experiences on March 11 and how the area is like today. But your video helps to give a clear perspective on how things are now and how much more work is left to be done, and for that I am truly thankful. And yes if it is possible please do make a follow up video in the future as I'm sure many of us would love and hope to see the area improve even more.

This has certainly got me thinking about the health implications of living near such a large scale disaster area. I wonder if there have been any reports of cancer or other illnesses that have resulted from such an event.

This video was sad and amazing at the same time. The story of the people from affected region is really heart warming... I wish there were more youtubers like you who would make such high quality content. Wonderful video as always Chris 👍👍👍 keep up the great work 😁

Brilliant documentary. You can indeed be very proud of your numerous re-makes of the versions because you seem to have landed on a comfortably natural tone and style that binds everything together nicely. It makes it seem like you have a big experienced BBC TV crew behind the production. Really impressive. Huge like from Denmark :)

Great documentary with true emotions. You set new standards to youtube videos. The stories were so heartbreaking but also heartwarming to see that the people do their best to get back to a normal life, or at least deal with the situation as good as they can.

I was so impressed with the documentary, amazing work! I also loved how you, just like you did in the tsunami documentary, focused on the people and the incredible way they deal with horrible situations like these. I love to hear their stories and learn more about the way they manage to stay optimistic! Thank you!

Mia

Wow that was an amazing documentary Chris. I had heard stories about the clean up effort, but it truely blew my mind at the scale of it. Its great to see the farmers have been able to utilise and monetize solar power on their properties. I wish Fukushima and its people all the best in the future. ❤

We were fantastically close to getting a wild boar on camera, but we scared it off with the camera at the last minute! You're right though, the radiation doesn't discriminate it really affects everything and every stakeholder of the countryside, whether it's cattle, plants or people were influenced by the aftermath.

Abroad in Japan

From what I understand (and here's me pretending to sound clever), the Caesium 137 penetrated the soil to a depth of 5cm when it rained down on the area after the explosion. The thinking goes, by removing that contaminated top soil the radiation levels will return to normal. As for the buildings you can wash off the particles with water. It seems to be effective, but they've got such a huge area to decontaminate there's no way they can clean it all.

Abroad in Japan

Wow no way?! How come you were going to choose Tomioka? Is it a sister city with your town back home?

Abroad in Japan

nice one mate!

This was actually thrilling to watch. I felt like I was watching a documentary on Netflix; from the great commentary, to the overhead perfectly panned drone shots, to the interviews. The flow, the story, the soundtrack, the visuals, and the entire start to finish experience is phenomenal. The pride you take making this is obvious. This is phenomenal.

Chris, I definitely enjoyed the documentary. Tomioka was one of the places I had planned on selecting as a placement in JET before the disaster happened and although it is slow, it’s good to see the area recovering. Thanks for your hard work!

Great job! The production quality was on point as always.

Great job Chris! It's great that you were able to get drone footage of the solar panels and especially the storage areas of contaminated soil. I'm really interested in what they will do with the soil in the future, or if the temporary storage will become the de facto long term storage because there is no other place to out it.

This was fantastic to watch and really quite moving. Thankyou for sharing this with us and I hope to see more documentaries like this from you.

This was a wonderful piece Chris, I wish it had been longer. . Thank you!

The documentary was really amazing! You hear so much about the disaster when it happens on the news, but they never look back on it. It is amazing to see how people rebound after disaster and try to resettle. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this video.

Love the documentary. I miss the funny shorter videos of old, but I definitely love the two documentaries you have done now and look forward to more of these amazing documentaries.

Great documentary! Reading how much work you put in doesn't surprise me, given how polished it was. Definitely felt like watching a high quality production.

Wow. I wish I could be more articulate, but right now you've taken my breath, and thoughts, away. And although you aid this isn't a typical story arc, I think you did an excellent job showing hope growing out of tragedy. I hope you revisit in 5 years or so, I look forward to seeing more stories of hope. And I agree with the others above who've suggested you should submit this to festivals. This is not a jvlog, this is a documentary. You should definitely feel proud of this work.

Dr Dia

It left me wondering HOW they actually decontaminate and I'm gonna need to look it up and research how it's done because you got me curious. I mean how does putting the contaminated top layers of soil into big bags help anything.. and what do they do with the bags.. so many new questions

Jette Nielsen

The wonderful people before me has already said pretty much all the stuff I wanted to say about the documentary so I'll keep it brief.. I loved it! And I was really touched by the people you interviewed! How they talked about people abandoning their animals to starve and suffer and how Katsumi san wants to create a place for people to return and sometimes goes a week without talking to anyone. Really amazing touching stuff. Thank you for making this.

Jette Nielsen

I LOVED the documentary. You should feel proud, it's so impressive! And do revisit in a few years - you just know so many other people's stories are waiting to be told there.

Nynke de Haas

Good job with the documentary! I appreciated your choice in music and how you were able to weave the music in between the sections where the residents were talking. Despite your initial reluctance to use a drone, I think the shots you used were tasteful, not overdone, and provided a bit of context. I think it stood out when you included panning shots of the soil. It kind of showed just how much work is being done and how much work still needs to be done. One thing that also stood out to me was the relationship between the people of the land and the land itself. The shots of plants reclaiming the land and hogs coming back to take advantage of what we left behind were a bit thought provoking. It's always a treat when you do these types of videos. Anyways, I'd love to see what you can do with more long form works or maybe a focused (documentary) series! I think it's entirely doable with the way you've been growing. Thanks for sharing this with us. Edit: I also loved the cows and their pineapples. Who knew they have a taste for pineapples??

Got to watch it this morning before I headed out for work and I've got to say Chris, I seriously felt like I was watching something from Netflix or any other major production channel. The mix of cinematography with your transitions plus the drone footage (everyone loves drone footage!) made it a fantastic production. The voice-over was fantastic and the colors and haunting shots were amazing. Music was beautiful and matched the scenes and tension of each section. Absolutely loved it and I really think you should submit these things to film festivals! It was 12/10!