Back to Fukushima: Surfers return to the beaches, 12 years on

Twelve years after the Fukushima accident, the people from the region are working with determination to revive tourism and keep their ancestral traditions alive.

Iwasawa Beach is situated 20 kilometres from the nuclear power station, it used to be a surfing mecca.

The beach reopened last year. Its top-quality waves and swell conditions are bringing back local surfers.

Yoshida Kentaro is one of them.

He grew up in these waves. Now he runs the family hotel nearby, Ocean Waves. The business's hopes lie in bringing surfing back to the area.

Water quality controls are carried out every week by the municipal authorities. Official data show levels of radiation close to zero.

In the coming months, water from the nuclear power station – filtered by a system called ALPS - will be discharged here into the Pacific Ocean.

Concerns have been raised by some experts and locals.

But the surfers are following the data.

"Honestly, I have some concerns," says Yoshida Kentaro. "But I'm not against the decision to discharge treated water because the water will be diluted to one-fortieth of the national standard before being released, and the Government has already announced that it won't be harmful to health. "

Local surfers are heavily involved in the cleaning and reconstruction of the beach.

They hope for a brighter future for their cherished spot.

Yoshida Kentaro and his colleagues plan to bring surfing back to its peak: "I want to revive the Naraha Town Mayor’s cup," he says. "It ran for 25 years before the earthquake. Discharging the treated water may lead to reputational damage. So to avoid this, we've got to draw people's attention to the fact the sea is safe."

We travel to the mountain city of Shirakawa to visit a pottery workshop with unique