Fukushima seeks revival in radiation-free farms

Kawauchi, a farming village 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the site of the world’s worst atomic disaster in 25 years, feared for its future as radiation from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant soaked into the soil. Then Takeo Endo suggested farming without soil.

As paddies that once supplied Japan’s imperial family with rice sit fallow, Endo is leading a local government team that’s pioneering a project to grow food in a sealed-off hydroponics factory. An aluminum-clad, single story building the size of a soccer field is under construction that will produce 8,000 heads of lettuce a day from April. More may be built for tomatoes, strawberries and other fruit.