All I could gather about the Tokaimura victims

Due to the small amount of information about the lives of the Tokaimura victim before the accident, due to disinterest and respect to the families, all three biographies will be gathered here, first Ouchi, then Shinohara, then Yokokawa, so in descending order when it comes to what I could gather. Medical details will not be discussed, unlike other biographies. 

Hisashi Ouchi was born in September of 1964 in Ibaraki. When he was ten years old, he was hospitalised for a month after a heavy head injury, and was hospitalised for a month again when he was sixteen due to severe gastric ulcers, and recovered both times. In high school, Ouchi played rugby and also met his future wife, Chizuri, whom he dated for seven years, and in 1991 they had a son. The couple was very close and always spent time together after work. After graduating in 1983, Ouchi became a laborer at the fuel production facility in Tokaimura and assisted in the fuel production. As time passed, his career and wage progressed. Said career scared his wife, whom Ouchi assured that it was a safe job. Before his son began elementary school, the family moved to a new house. Ouchi's favorite past time was fishing. Every day, he'd wake up at 6 Am and leave at 6:40 as his shift began at 7. He'd smoke a pack of cigarettes and ever evening he'd drink two glasses of shochu and water. He is the one that we know the most about.

Masato Shinohara was born in the last two months of 1959. His wife was named Satchiko and the two had three children. Shinohara had started working for JCO in 1984 and in 1997 he was allocated the job of processing fuel for Joyo, an experimental reactor. Shinohara was Ouchi's boss and Yokokawa's employee.

Yutaka Yokokawa was born in November of 1945 in Tokaimura while Japan was still under occupation. Yokokawa was the most experienced compared to the other two men. In the 1970s, he worked at the National Institute for Radiological Sciences and a decade later, he joined JCO, and worked his way up until he became the head of the department. Yokokawa smoked, was a diabetic, and faced depression as well as other psychological issues.

Left is Ouchi, middle is Yokokawa, right is Shinohara.

The three of them were good friends, they used to go fishing after work and their families were close too. The men -along with another man named Hiroshi Watanabe, who was not present during the accident- were the special crew that produced uranium oxide powder. In March of 1999, Yokokawa was invited to the conversion test building, where the fuel for the experimental reactors, such as Joyo, was produced. That building, due to the high enrichment of uranium, was kept away from the rest of the other places. At that time, the building was crewed by chief Fujii and his assistant Katsunori Hasi. A month later, Hasi ended up leaving due to chronic problems with his back and Fujii retired, meaning that Yokokawa and the special crew inherited the men's duties. The four of them had never made fuel before and even if Hasi had explained what they had to do, the others never understood fully, but knew that bending the rules was the only way to fulfil their orders. Yokokawa believed that Watanabe didn't know anything when it came to the new building. In 1999, the ninth order for fuel for Joyo was made, and it marked the first ever time for Ouchi and Shinohara to actually process the fuel, while Yokokawa would supervise them. He also asked on the 29th if they could use a sedimentation tank during their job and there was no disagreement. Four batches of uranium were made that day and the other three would be made on the 30th. After work, the group went fishing at the river like usual, and since it was cold, Yokokawa gave Shinohara a jumper. The next day, at 10:35 AM, the criticality occured.

It is necessary that the lives of those men be remembered, and that the story regarding Tokaimura does not get twisted.