Fukushima Town Resumes Cherry Blossom Festival

   Namie, Fukushima Pref., April 4 (Jiji Press)--The northeastern Japan town of Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, on Friday held its cherry blossom festival for the first time since the March 2011 accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
   About 120 "someiyoshino" cherry trees, which are around 70 years old, stand along the Ukedo River in the town. While the festival was suspended after the nuclear accident, volunteers, mainly evacuated residents, made efforts to preserve the cherry trees, such as pruning branches.
   After the evacuation order was lifted, they worked to resume the festival to revive local communities and send information outside of the town, as reconstruction efforts progressed.
   Recently, people who moved to the town after the removal of the evacuation order have joined the festival's organizing committee or helped take care of the cherry trees.
   "We have taken the first step," said Keizo Oguro, 69, a senior member of the festival committee. "I hope we can create a new type of community from scratch" with residents from before the accident and those who moved to the town after the disaster, he added.

(2025/04/04-19:00)