Photo/Illutration New 20-year-olds pose for a group photo in Futaba, Fukushima Prefecture, on May 1. (Mamoru Nagaya)

FUTABA, Fukushima Prefecture--The town of Futaba on May 1 celebrated its long journey back to partial normality by holding its first coming of age ceremony for 20-year-olds since the 2011 nuclear disaster.

Futaba, which co-hosts the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, for the most part still remains a no-go area due to high levels of radiation. An evacuation order is still in effect.

As a result, the ceremony for new adults had been held in Iwaki or Koriyama, also in Fukushima Prefecture. The town initially planned to hold the event in Iwaki on Jan. 3, but postponed it due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The town hall decided to stage the ceremony in the Futaba Business Incubation and Community Center, which opened in Futaba last fall, after listening to opinions voiced by members of the organizing committee, which includes new 20-year-olds.

Of the 62 young people eligible to attend the ceremony, 19 showed up, having traveled from other parts of Fukushima Prefecture and elsewhere.

“That we can hold the ceremony in Futaba at all shows that we are on course to rebuilding,” Mayor Shiro Izawa said in his address. “I am hoping you will take part in efforts to rebuild and sustain the town.”

The buzz among the new adults at the ceremony was their plans for the future.

“I am determined to give something back to Futaba by learning about the local community,” said Yuki Hosozawa, a college junior who lives in Fukushima, the prefectural capital.

Yukino Sakamoto, an employee of a hotel in Iwaki, said she is considering studying overseas.

Miyu Ishii, who heads the organizing committee and is a college junior living in Tokyo, expressed relief the ceremony could finally be held in Futaba despite the current health crisis.

“I will eventually return to Futaba, hopefully as someone who can be described as a rich resource,” she said.

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