KAWAUCHI, Fukushima Prefecture--Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko observed decontamination work on Oct. 13 in their first visit to Fukushima Prefecture since May 2011, two months after the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.
KAWAUCHI, Fukushima Prefecture--Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko observed decontamination work on Oct. 13 in their first visit to Fukushima Prefecture since May 2011, two months after the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.The imperial couple watched workers fell trees on a hill behind houses and change the soil in the Hayawata district of Kawauchi village, 24-25 kilometers from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.The emperor and empress asked village employees: “Do radiation levels fall when the lawn is cut?” or “Does cesium account for most of the radioactive materials?”They did not wear protective clothing since radiation levels in the area have fallen enough.The central government lifted designation of a no-entry zone for Kawauchi in April. But only 750 of the pre-quake population of 3,000 have returned to the village.The imperial couple also visited temporary housing in the Shimo-Kawauchi district, in which 97 people from 47 households live.Many residents have been forced to move from one place to another, often outside Fukushima Prefecture, due to the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.Michiko told resident Yaiko Sakamoto, “You must have experienced difficulties living in different places.” Sakamoto, 54, replied that she has moved five times or so.