'Please, get away from here' / Tsushima district in Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, is located in the mountains approximately 30 kilometers northwest of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
Tsushima district in Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, is located in the mountains approximately 30 kilometers northwest of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO).
On March 12, the day after the nuclear accident, 10,000 people fled to the Tsushima District from the coastal area that lies within a 10-km radius of the nuclear power plant. Residents took people into their homes, since there was not enough room at the elementary and junior high schools, community centers and temples.
One after another, people began arriving at Mizue Kanno's home throughout the day. By evening, 25 people had gathered. Although many were relatives and acquaintances, there were also strangers among them.
Her new house had recently been built after having torn down the family's 180-year-old, traditional Japanese home. It has an impressive gate, expansive grounds and a large room measuring 20 tatami mats (approx. 33 square meters). It was just right for accepting evacuees, and the yard was filled with evacuees' cars.
"I don't know what happened at the nuclear power station, but if we evacuate this far, then we should be OK." Everyone looked relieved for the moment.
Kanno, 59, cooked two pressure cookers full of rice and made an evening meal of rice balls and miso soup with pork and vegetables. People who fled with only the clothes on their backs assembled in the large room and began eating.
Following dinner, everyone introduced themselves and formed rules for living together:
* To prevent the toilet from getting clogged, toilet paper should be thrown away in the cardboard box placed next to the toilet.
* Everyone should help cook and serve meals.
* Do not hesitate to be open with one another. ...
The people split into groups and slept in two rooms. Kanno handed out all the futons she had.
Then, Kanno stepped outside, where she noticed a white van that had stopped in front of her house. Inside were two men wearing white protective clothing. They turned toward her and shouted, but she couldn't make out what they were saying.
"What? What's the problem?" Kanno asked.
"Why are you here?! Please, get away from here."
Kanno was shocked.
"Flee? But this is an evacuation shelter."
The two men got out of the car. Both were wearing gas masks.
"Radioactive materials are spreading."
They spoke in a grave tone and with a sense of urgency.
National road No. 114 that runs past her house was bumper to bumper with cars at a standstill, full of people who couldn't get into evacuation shelters. The two men also shouted to the people who had gotten out of their cars, "Quickly, get back into your cars!"
The two men then drove off in the direction of Fukushima city. They did not go to the branch office of the town hall, or place a warning on the message board.
The government had said that areas outside of a 10-km radius were safe. Why, then, were those two men wearing protective clothing and gas masks as well? Who exactly were they?
Kanno was puzzled, but at any rate she hurried back to the house and told the evacuees about the men in protective clothing.
A discussion began.
"If it really is dangerous, there should be some information from the town or the police. Let's see what happens."
Everyone had finally gotten settled in and were reluctant to move.
However, in the middle of the night the situation suddenly changed. Several buses arrived at the community center, which served as an evacuation shelter. One of the evacuees noticed the arrival and told everyone the bus drivers had said they were "moving the evacuees."
At the time, the town of Namie was shuttling residents within a 20-km radius who were late in evacuating to the Tsushima district. Kanno was unaware of that fact but had concluded that the area was unsafe. She woke her sleeping guests and a discussion began again.
Most did not want to leave, but one woman noted that, "If everyone stays, then Mrs. Kanno's family can't leave." That settled it.
"Let's drive as long as the gas lasts."
After midnight, two young couples left with a newborn baby who had just been born in February and their small children.
Though at first the couples were reluctant to flee on mountain roads so late at night, Kanno gave them rice balls, saying, "At least get the children out of here."
The next morning on March 13, another discussion ensued after breakfast. A young couple with children who had said the night before they wouldn't leave, decided they would go for their children's sake. An older woman lent the couple her car.
"Since I'm alone, I'll catch the bus at the evacuation center."
By evening, all 25 people had re-evacuated to other locations such as Fukushima, Koriyama and Minami-Soma.
Kanno told others who had sought shelter in a nearby house about the men in protective clothing. One laughed saying, "I worked at TEPCO. The nuclear power plant we built could never be that dangerous."
The man had fled not from the nuclear accident, but from the tsunami. Kanno felt relieved. She and her oldest son, Junichi, 27, decided not to flee.
Junichi was in charge of distributing food from the regional center, which served as a shelter, and was making rice balls.
"I can't leave everyone behind."
At that time, readings at locations approximately 10 km from the Tsushima district using instruments measuring up to 30 microsieverts per hour were going off the meter.