Virtual "homecoming" for young evacuees

November 27, 2018

Drone footage probably closest evacuees will get to going home

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201811270053.html

By KAZUMASA SUGIMURA/ Staff Writer

Children living as evacuees are glued to images shot by a drone of their hometown of Futaba during a special presentation at their temporary campus in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, on Nov. 26. (Yosuke Fukudome)

IWAKI, Fukushima Prefecture--With barely no recollections of growing up in Futaba, a town rendered uninhabitable by the 2011 nuclear disaster, 11 young evacuees had a "homecoming" of sorts on Nov. 26.

The children, fourth- to sixth-graders at two public elementary schools who currently study at a temporary campus in Iwaki, 80 kilometers south of Futaba, attended a special 45-minute presentation in a school gym to watch drone footage of the area where they were born.

A satellite feed allowed the pupils to talk to local officials about efforts to decontaminate the once-bustling community.

Futaba was transformed into a ghost town by the triple meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant triggered by the earthquake and tsunami disaster. High radiation levels mean that entry still remains restricted.

The children watched aerial footage of scenic spots shot by drones on three 70-inch monitors. Beautiful images of beaches and mountains in fall colors caused them to lean forward and express amazement.

Fifth-grader, Mao Oyano, 11, who has few memories of living in Futaba as she left at the age of 3, expressed surprise at seeing “many more houses than I expected.”

The children fell silent when eerie images appeared of the wrecked nuclear plant.

Ninety-six percent of Futaba, a town that co-hosts the stricken nuclear facility, is located in a difficult-to-return zone because of high radiation levels and remains uninhabited.

Adults must receive permission to enter the area, but children under the age of 15 are not allowed access.

The children were aged between 2 and 4 when they left, and have not set foot in Futaba since then.

Prior to the disaster, Futaba had two elementary schools with 309 pupils. In spring 2014, the town opened a temporary school facility in Iwaki, a coastal city to where many Futaba residents evacuated, but the number of pupils dropped to 31.

The “homecoming” was the school’s first attempt to give the children an opportunity to ponder the tragedy that befell their hometown, according to a school official.