Fukushima Hipsters Make Monitoring Radiation Cool Hot

It's been more than a year since the Japanese tusnami caused a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant and the clean-up continues. But a bit of background radiation has not stopped a crew of Japanese hipsters from doing their hip business in the area. They've formed the "Gamma Watch Squadron," the world's coolest nuclear watchdogs.

For months, the Gamma Watch Squad has been taking geiger counter readings around Fukushima and posting the results to Instagram, complete with faux-vintage filters. The leader of the crew appears to be Japanese rapper Deli, a member of the hip hop group Nitro Microphone Underground. I first found the Gamma Watch Squad's work on the blog Fukushima-Diary, which aims to expose what its proprietor says is a "media blackout" of still-dangerous conditions around Fukushima.

In between snowboard sessions and rapping in Youtube video, Deli and his friends take readings and pose in hazmat suits while documenting elevated radiation levels around kids playing barefoot in a stream.

You can check out Deli's web gallery and Instagram feed. They'll be at it for a while, since radiation from Fukushima will hang around for 10 years, (who believes THAT lie? Try thousands of years!) according to reports. Even in the darkest moments, hip finds a way.