July 2011, approximately four months after the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. At the accident site, large volumes of contaminated water were being generated by groundwater flowing into the reactor buildings, making it an urgent priority to secure facilities to treat and store that water. Tomohiko Suzuki’s *Yakuza and the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant: An Undercover Report* is a journalistic account documenting the people working at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant during this period, as he entered the site as a worker. One of the major tasks on site was the installation of tanks to store the contaminated water. At the work site, plans were underway to construct a large number of tanks in a short period of time, and work known as the “100-Tank Project” was being carried out. Immediately after the accident, Fukushima Daiichi lacked sufficient space to store contaminated water; the situation was such that cooling the reactors and treating the contaminated water could not continue without the constant addition of new tanks. According to TEPCO documents, from around March 2011 to around March 2013, a large number of flanged tanks—which could be procured and constructed in a relatively short period—were installed at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Subsequently, problems such as water leaks came to light, and the transition to more reliable welded tanks proceeded. In other words, the construction of the 100 tanks was part of a massive emergency infrastructure project designed to support the accident response. However, it was workers gathered from numerous partner companies and subcontractors who actually built this massive facility. Suzuki’s records feature subcontracted workers who had come to Fukushima from distant locations such as Omuta and Arao in Kyushu. Although they belonged to different companies, they worked together on the same site, lending and borrowing tools, and chatting about shops and towns back home during breaks. Apart from corporate organizational charts, horizontal bonds formed among the workers amid the harsh working conditions. Working at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in the summer was grueling. Since workers had to continue working outdoors while wearing protective suits, masks, gloves, and other gear, the heat itself became a major burden. In addition to radiation, heatstroke and fatigue were also hazards on site. The fact that the installation of the 100-unit tanks was described as a “scorching hell” symbolizes this dual danger. Workers had to be constantly aware of radiation levels while on the job. Unlike typical construction sites, working hours and locations were constrained by radiation levels. At the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in the aftermath of the accident, there was a simultaneous pressure to complete the facilities as quickly as possible and a safety requirement to minimize workers’ exposure to radiation. Subsequently, the contaminated water tanks became a major problem at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. In 2013, there was a series of leaks of contaminated water from the tanks, prompting Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) to establish a Contaminated Water Tank Countermeasures Headquarters on August 26. The flanged-type tanks, which had been introduced in large numbers during the early stages, carried a risk of water leakage from joints in the steel plates and other areas; consequently, efforts were made to replace them with welded-type tanks. Viewed in this context, the term “100-unit tanks” is not merely a label for a construction project. It is also a term that symbolizes the period following the nuclear accident when, faced with ever-increasing volumes of contaminated water, it was simply necessary to keep building storage containers. And behind that cluster of tanks were numerous workers whose names were virtually unknown to the public. People gathered from prime contractors, subcontractors, and companies even further down the chain assembled equipment, connected piping, and maintained the site amid the heat and radiation. *Yakuza and the Nuclear Power Plant* depicts more than just the massive system of the nuclear power plant. It portrays the daily lives of the people who, working near the very bottom of the hierarchy, used their own bodies to support the accident cleanup. What lies beyond the phrase “100 tanks” is the fact that the response to this massive accident ultimately depended on the labor of each and every individual. Workers who continued to build tanks inside the radiation-controlled zone during that scorching summer. Though their work went unnoticed, it was a vital part of the effort to manage the aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.
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