Rice has been deeply rooted in Japanese culture for more than 2000 years. The word for "cooked rice," means both "meal" and "food" in Japanese. Rice is the nation's staple food, pride and soul. One of Japan’s most important rice farming regions is the Fukushima Prefecture. On March 11, 2011, a tsunami hit the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant, triggering the meltdown of the nuclear reactors. In the following days, wind and rain carried the radioactive material inland. More than 25,000 hectares of farmland were contaminated. Environmental technology specialists have developed a sustainable decontamination method that allows farmers to grow safe rice again. The data proves that the rice is safe, but not one buys products from Fukushima because most people don’t understand the complex data. Even though radiation has decreased, the region remains abandoned. Without income from farming, Fukushima communities can’t survive.