Several return to live in Fukushima’s last deserted town
By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press
TOKYO (AP) — Several former residents of Futaba, the only remaining uninhabited town in Japan still recovering from effects of radiation from nuclear plant meltdowns in 2011, have returned to live for the first time since the massive earthquake and tsunami forced them out. Authorities have declared most other areas safe and reopened them following extensive decontamination efforts over the past decade. In Futaba, only 15 of 7,000 residents living there before the tragedy struck expressed their desire to return this week on a trial basis. A fully-fledged reopening of the town on Japan’s northeastern coast is set for June. Prospects for a larger return are grim. Many of the other residents have found new jobs elsewhere and say they have no interest in coming back.