Return to Nahara (5)

September 5, 2015

Town near Fukushima plant renews hope for rebuild

Sep. 5, 2015 - Updated 15:10 UTC+2

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/nuclear.html

An event has been held in a town near the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to celebrate the lifting of an evacuation order for the first time in more than 4 years.

About 200 people attended the ceremony in the town of Naraha on Saturday to pray for the town's rebirth.

Mayor Yukiei Matsumoto said he hopes to work with residents to create a new community. He said he will make all-out efforts to revive Naraha.

Yosuke Takagi, the head of the local task-force on the nuclear disaster, pledged that the government will provide full support for rebuilding the town.
Town officials unveiled an image of a planned "compact community," where medical facilities, shops and housing are concentrated into a small area to boost convenience.

The mayor and a group of children then planted a tree as a symbol of the town's recovery and children's health.

Three elementary and junior high school students read out essays they had written about their town and how happy they were to return.

A 65-year-old man said being back in Naraha was the happiest he has been in the past 4 years.

The central government ordered 7 municipalities near the Fukushima Daiichi plant to be completely evacuated soon after the March, 2011 disaster. Naraha is the first of the municipalities to have had the evacuation order lifted.