The Daily Yomiuri
YOMIURI, Japan — The government lifted the no-entry zone designation in Naraha, Fukushima Prefecture, at midnight Thursday.
Following the realignment of areas where evacuation had been ordered or recommended, the no-entry zone in Naraha has been reclassifed as a “zone being prepared for residents’ return.” Its no-entry designation had been in place since the onset of the crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
Now that people can freely enter the town, many residents have temporarily returned to visit family graves and offered prayers for victims of the tsunami.
At Kotokuin temple in the town’s Shimokobana district, Ichiro Suzuki, 78, placed incense sticks at his family grave.
At the temple, gravestones had fallen and were overrun by weeds. Suzuki removed the weeds before placing chrysanthemums and praying at the family grave.
“I’m relieved that I can visit my family grave. But decontamination has yet to be completed at my house here and the roof tiles are still broken. I’m worried about the future,” said Suzuki, who now lives in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, as an evacuee.
Hiromitsu Shibata, 65, the leader of a local firefighting volunteer group and a special team that patrols the town around the clock, made his early morning rounds in the northern part of the town.
While patrolling the Namikura district, which was heavily damaged by the tsunami, Shibata offered a silent prayer for his fellow volunteer firefighters who died evacuating residents.
At the site where a fire brigade had been engulfed by the tsunami, weeds had grown unattended.
“On behalf of my late fellow volunteers, I take responsibility for watching our town seriously,” Shibata said.
Locals eager to contribute
Naraha residents have begun various efforts for full-fledged reconstruction, engaging in activities such as around-the-clock crime prevention and making preparations to reopen businesses.
In Iwaki, the seat of the town government’s temporary office, 10 members of a special patrol team in Naraha were awarded certificates of delegation on Thursday afternoon.
The town, which was mostly located within the no-entry zone, is now open to traffic. Because theft is a concern, police and town residents are cooperating to patrol the town.
Hideo Igari, 67, a member of the special team, said, “I want to keep a firm eye on our town.”
Some residents were enthusiastic about reopening their businesses.
Shigeki Nemoto, 50, who ran two local supermarkets before the Great East Japan Earthquake, evacuated to a relative’s home in Tochigi Prefecture at one point.
“My employees don’t have visions for the future. I want to look forward even if it’s only a little bit,” he said.
In May last year, Nemoto rented a space at a minshuku inn in Hirono, a town neighboring Naraha, and opened a prefabricated store.
He sold bento boxes, ready-made foods and packs of sashimi to workers of the Fukushima No. 1 and No. 2 nuclear power plants and a thermal power plant in Hirono.
The workers were heartened, and said they had not expected to be able to eat sashimi.
In December last year, Nemoto opened a makeshift supermarket in a temporary housing complex in Iwaki, where many Naraha residents live as evacuees.
The town government asked him to reopen the business inside the town. Nemoto said, “I will, if it contributes to reconstruction for residents.”
Nemoto plans to initially sell bento boxes and other goods to workers who come to Naraha for reconstruction and decontamination work.
Sadakazu Yuki, 59, who ran a gasoline station near Tatsuta Station of the JR Joban Line in Naraha, plans to reopen his business soon.
If reconstruction work accelerates, demand for gasoline will rise.
“I considered starting another business, but we have to put the town’s restoration first,” Yuki said. On Tuesday, he submitted a document to the town government to obtain a permit for a gasoline station.
Copyright 2012 The Yomiuri Shimbun
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