Japan - Fukushima evacuees left in limbo

An increasing number of evacuees from Fukushima Prefecture have given up hope of returning to their hometowns, according to a Yomiuri Shimbun survey.

The survey, carried out prior to the one-year anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, targeted 500 evacuees from disaster-hit Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures. The Yomiuri Shimbun conducted similar surveys one month, three months and six months after the disaster.

Asked whether they wanted to return to their hometowns, 57 per cent in Fukushima Prefecture said they did. This contrasts with the 87 per cent who felt this way in the one-month survey, 71 per cent after three months and 65 per cent after six months.

Evacuees in Iwate and Miyagi prefectures were more eager to return home and expressed more confidence in restoration work, according to the survey.

The survey was conducted from February 21 to 29 through direct interviews with 150 evacuees each in Iwate and Miyagi prefectures and 200 people who evacuated in and outside Fukushima Prefecture due to the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

In Iwate and Miyagi prefectures, 43 per cent of people responded, "We want to return to the areas where we used to live before the disaster." Although the number of people who responded this way fell from 65 per cent after one month to 47 per cent at three months and 42 per cent at six months, the decline has stopped.

Evacuees from Fukushima Prefecture still are deeply concerned about radioactive substances and basic living standards such as jobs and houses.

They expressed serious concern about their health and children's education if they remain evacuees for a long time. One evacuee said, "We want the government to provide us with a clearer picture of the future, even it's negative, so that we can restart our lives."

Even one year after the accident, evacuees from Fukushima Prefecture seem to harbor doubts about information provided by the government.

Concerning when they would be able to return to their hometown, 43 per cent responded, "When people in our neighborhood have begun to return and the living environment, including shops and hospitals, is in place." Twenty-three per cent responded "when radiation levels become zero," while 17 per cent said "when the central and local governments say it is safe to do so."

A 67-year-old man who evacuated from Iitate to a temporary housing unit in Date said: "I want to return to the comfortable surroundings of my hometown, but I wonder whether I can live there even if I did return. I doubt whether young people will return."

About 25 per cent of Fukushima Prefecture evacuees in temporary housing wanted to move farther from the disaster-hit areas, an increase from 21 per cent in the previous survey. The number of people responding like this has been increasing in each survey.

Asked why, 67 per cent of evacuees from Fukushima Prefecture said they were concerned about radiation, while 55 per cent said "restoration of the areas where we used to live is not possible," up from 47 per cent in the previous survey. The figures indicate an increasing number of people have given up hope of returning home.

News Desk

The Yomiuri Shimbun

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