Japan lifts evacuation order for radiation-hit Fukushima

The Japanese government on Saturday lifted the evacuation order for the first town near the crippled Fukushima reactors, more than four years after ordering mass relocations near the tsunami-wrecked nuclear plant.

Among communities where the entire population was forced to evacuate after the nuclear crisis started in March 2011, Naraha is the first town to allow all of its residents to return home permanently.

It is seen as a pilot case for nearby areas, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government aiming to lift a raft of evacuation orders by March 2017.

But only about 10 per cent of 7,368 registered residents of Naraha were expected to return home due to fears over continued nuclear contamination and uncertainty over whether enough locals - particularly young people - would come back to restart the community.