IN JAPAN’S INDOOR EVAC ZONE

Japan quake: Inside the evacuation zone
Dai Saito, 29 March 2011 (BBC News)

"I am still in the area. Once my mother decided to stay I knew I could not leave her. However I never imagined the situation would become so serious…There are still not enough fuel or relief supplies but some shops are gradually opening and, as long as we don't want a luxurious life, we can get on…My life has calmed down considerably compared to immediately after the earthquake but we still need relief supplies.

"Rice, bread and emergency rice (onigiri), drinking water, petrol and kerosene are all rationed…But we don't get enough daily necessities like toilet rolls…And although we get fuel rations they are usually not enough…This is my life now. We can't live a 'relatively normal' life if we stay inside our house for too long but also, I have to worry about my health when we have to go outside to pick up the rations."

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"The nuclear power plant is a worry. When will this situation end and what will happen now? …I don't have confidence in the government's actions especially because I am in the area that has been ambiguously designated the "Indoor Evacuation Zone" …[and] apparently they are now encouraging voluntary evacuations from here…

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"Indoor evacuation makes no sense because you cannot stay at home all the time. It makes me wonder if this is a ploy by the government to avoid responsibility if we all suffer health issues as a result of radiation exposure - I suppose they could argue that they had informed us not to go out. One just has to laugh...

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"It angers me that that they are putting much effort into covering up and making deliberately ambiguous statements. We now know that some of the reports were at least a day old at the time of disclosure. Even today, they reported the finding of plutonium at a press conference that was held in the middle of the night…The fact that our lives are in danger right at this minute is apparently less important than the number crunching they seem to do in a safe office far away."

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"I personally think this accident at the nuclear power plant is, at least partly, a man-made disaster therefore it is Tepco's duty to hold a press conference and report the facts…However, they have been releasing reports that don't give us accurate pictures and at such times that no one would be awake to see them.

"One cannot help but think they are deliberately trying to tell very little to people like us who live in the area…I am not aware of any actual aid organised by Tepco. The president and the chairman of Tepco have not been seen in public since the earthquake. I demand prompt disclosure of information and immediate relief for the people in the stricken area."