Naraha Becomes First Entire Town to Lift Evacuation Order

On September 5, 2015, Naraha town (population ~7,400) became the first entire municipality to have its evacuation order lifted. Naraha is located 20 km south of the Daiichi plant and had been evacuated since March 2011. Despite the formal order lifting, only about 7% of former residents returned initially, citing concerns about radiation, lack of services, and the psychological difficulty of returning after 4.5 years of displacement. Return rates remained low across Fukushima's evacuated municipalities, confounding government projections.