Seven years after the tsunami that swept northeast Japan, towns are being rebuilt. But will their inhabitants return, and should they? Fukushima’s toxic legacy will last for decades.

Pachamama, the Amerindian Earth Mother, sells tourism to affluent westerners and is used by environmentalists to stop oil and mineral extraction. Indigenous peoples see the balance between tradition and modernity as more complex.

When a head of state who behaves impulsively, and shows little interest in filling in the gaps in his knowledge, becomes commander in chief of the world’s most powerful army, there need to be (...)