Lifting of evacuation order allows son to pay respects to dead mother

May 12, 2012

Exactly 14 months after his mother was killed in the tsunami triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake, Kenji Nakajima was finally able to visit the place where her body was recovered.

An evacuation order imposed by the government on the Odaka district of Minami-Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, following the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant was lifted on April 16.

"I have finally come here," Nakajima, 48, said on May 11.

Nakajima and his wife laid flowers and prayed for his mother, Hisako, at the spot where he believes her body was found.

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Kenji Nakajima and his wife pray for his late mother in Minami-Soma's Odaka district, Fukushima Prefecture, on May 11. (Jun Kaneko)

Kenji Nakajima and his wife pray for his late mother in Minami-Soma's Odaka district, Fukushima Prefecture, on May 11. (Jun Kaneko)

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  • Kenji Nakajima and his wife pray for his late mother in Minami-Soma's Odaka district, Fukushima Prefecture, on May 11. (Jun Kaneko)