Story by APF June 24th 2011
TOKYO — Campaigners in Japan are asking people to grow sunflowers, said to help decontaminate radioactive soil, in response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster that followed March’s massive quake and tsunami.
Volunteers are being asked to grow sunflowers this year, then send the seeds to the stricken area where they will be planted next year to help get rid of radioactive contaminants in the plant’s fallout zone.
The campaign, launched by young entrepreneurs and civil servants in Fukushima prefecture last month, aims to cover large areas in yellow blossoms as a symbol of hope and reconstruction and to lure back tourists.
“We will give the seeds sent back by people for free to farmers, the public sector and other groups next year,” said project leader Shinji Handa. The goal is a landscape so yellow that “it will surprise NASA”, he said.