NARAHA, Fukushima Prefecture--The first seasonal illuminations here since the Fukushima nuclear disaster are a signal that the town is lighting up again in more ways than one.
NARAHA, Fukushima Prefecture--The first seasonal illuminations here since the Fukushima nuclear disaster are a signal that the town is lighting up again in more ways than one.
The Naraha town government is staging the event to offer a reason for evacuees to return home during the New Year holidays.
The still largely deserted town’s display features trees and buildings adorned with 120,000 colorful LED bulbs in a park. The event started Dec. 21 and runs through Jan. 17.
An evacuation order that applied to most of the town following the disaster at the nearby Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in March 2011 was lifted on Sept. 5.
People have since started to return to their hometown, although to date only around five percent of the local population has opted to go back.