Photo/Illutration Kazuo Naito, right, and his wife, Mitsuko, center, clean up their house in Katsurao, Fukushima Prefecture, with their relative on Nov. 30. (Shinnosuke Ito)

KATSURAO, Fukushima Prefecture--More than a decade after the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant accident, evacuees were finally allowed to stay overnight in their homes in some areas here to prepare for their permanent return.

It is an emotional moment for Kazuo Naito, 64, and his wife, Mitsuko, 63.

This is the first time they are spending the night at their home in 10 years and eight months.

“I’ve been dreaming of staying overnight at my home for the past decade,” Kazuo said with tears in his eyes. “We can finally have dinner at home.”

“I’m glad that this day has come,” Mitsuko said. “I want to cherish this place because my parents spent considerable time and effort making it habitable.”

Some parts of Katsurao, where their home is located, and six other municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture are still designated as “difficult-to-return” zones, where evacuation orders remain in place due to the high levels of radiation from the triple meltdown at the plant beginning on March 11, 2011.

Among these municipalities, the village became the first to permit preparatory overnight stays in a difficult-to-return zone in its jurisdiction.

The new measure started on Nov. 30 and targets about 95 hectares of land in the Noyuki district, located in the eastern side of Katsurao. The district had 83 residents in 30 households, according to data as of Nov. 1.

Kazuo and Mitsuko were the only family that applied for preparatory overnight stays in the area by Nov. 29.

The couple had to evacuate from their house within six months from when construction was finished on it in December 2010.

They have long prepared for the return home. About every two months, they drive five hours to there from Tokyo, where they live as evacuees, to clean the house.

The evacuation order for the area is due to be lifted next spring. The couple said they plan to return home permanently after that.

The region where it is located, within a difficult-to-return zone, is designated as a reconstruction priority area. The central government spends public funds in those areas for decontamination work, which includes demolishing houses, so the evacuation orders can one day be lifted.

Katsurao aims to have 80 or so people live in the reconstruction priority area as part of its efforts to rebuild the difficult-to-return zone.

Noyuki used to have about 40 houses. But many have been demolished over the past decade. Now, only four houses, including one under construction, stand in the district.

Many residents are still reluctant to return home because radiation levels remain high in some areas.

(This article was written by Hirokazu Misaki and Tetsuya Kasai.)

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