The Horses of Fukushima

Like his father and grandfather before him, Tanaka raises horses a few dozen kilometers from Fukushima. Forced to evacuate the area due to the nuclear accident that followed the tsunami of March 11, 2011, he was able to return only several weeks later, finding many of his animals, like Mirror Quest, nearly starved to death or still traumatized by the tragic event. Usually slaughtered after the Soma Nomaoi, the age-old traditional festival that annually celebrates the importance of horses in human life in the nearby town of Haramachi, it was precisely exposure to radiation that prevented Mirror Quest and his companions from becoming prized cannon fodder.