Japan Emperor, Family Visit Education Facility in Fukushima

Okuma, Fukushima Pref., April 7 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako and their daughter, Princess Aiko, on Tuesday visited an educational facility in the northeastern prefecture of Fukushima, which was affected by a powerful earthquake and tsunami 15 years ago.

The facility, "Manabiya Yumenomori," in the town of Okuma functions as an integrated elementary and junior high school and a certified "kodomoen" kindergarten-nursery hybrid. Okuma is one of the two municipalities hosting Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power station, which was severely damaged in the March 2011 disaster.

Following the nuclear accident, two elementary schools and a junior high school in Okuma were relocated to the city of Aizuwakamatsu in the prefecture. The schools were then integrated and return to the town in 2023.

The Imperial couple and Princess Aiko watched elementary and junior high school classes at Manabiya Yumenomori. A female junior high school student said that she wants to become a pastry chef, and Empress Masako asked her what kind of bright town she wants to make.

At the school, the family spoke with three people who were affected by the disaster. One of them, Shigeo Tsuchiya, 77, a former security personnel at the nuclear power plant, said he was at an emergency response room of the plant when the quake struck.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]