15 years after Fukushima meltdown, an innkeeper makes radiation surveys to revitalize her hometown

Tomoko Kobayashi reopened her hostel northeast of Fukushima to restore some sense of normal life in her deserted hometown five years after the nuclear disaster. She was reassured by her own radiation monitoring results. Today at the Futabaya Ryokan, the latest versions of the region’s color-coded radiation maps hang on the wall, a routine she has followed since the inn reopened in 2016. It is the foundation of her life in her hometown, 15 years after one of the worst nuclear disasters in history.