Residents who were forced to evacuate following radiation leaks at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant began to move into a now-defunct hotel in Tokyo on April 9.
The Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka, a fancy hotel that was once a symbol of the bubble economy and was just closed down at the end of March, is now accommodating about 360 people from some 140 households from Fukushima Prefecture for free.
At 10 a.m., the new occupants of the hotel in Chiyoda Ward started moving in, given precautions and other information on the first floor before checking into their respective rooms.
Those who had earlier evacuated to Tokyo Budoh-kan in Adachi Ward and two other facilities in Tokyo, as well as unsuccessful applicants for public housing in Tokyo who lived outside the 30-kilometer evacuation and indoor standby advisory zone around the trouble-stricken nuclear plant, were eligible to apply for the hotel rooms, according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
"Our family of seven has decided to evacuate to the hotel after we lost out in the lottery for public housing spaces. All we need is clothing, food and shelter," said a 43-year-old English conversation teacher from Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture.
The number of the hotel's new occupants, however, was only about 30 percent of what the metropolitan government had been ready to accommodate -- up to 1,600 people in 715 rooms. Since the evacuation now looks to be far more prolonged than initially predicted as the nuclear crisis drags on, more and more evacuees want to settle down in public housing, so they can find jobs and send their children to school.
"As we have a son who just became a first-grader, we can't go back to our home out of concern over the nuclear plant," said a 33-year-old man from Iwaki, who has been staying at Tokyo Budoh-kan. "I'd like to find a job while living in public housing. If we move into the hotel, we will have to force my son to transfer from one school to another."
The metropolitan government was apparently somewhat disappointed at the applicant turnout. "We must say the number of applicants was smaller than we had expected," said a metropolitan official in charge of the hotel relocation program.
Metropolitan officials assume that the plan was unpopular because evacuees thought they must bear a portion of their living expenses if they moved from shelters -- where clothing, food and accommodation are basically provided for free -- to the hotel. The metropolitan government now has a plan to cover not only utility costs but also food expenses for evacuees.
Evacuees will be able to stay at the hotel until the end of June, when demolition of the aging building is scheduled to begin.
(Mainichi Japan) April 9, 2011
福島第１原発：赤プリ入居始まる 避難の３６０人
避難施設となった旧グランドプリンスホテル赤坂にボランティアと共に入る被災者＝東京都千代田区で２０１１年４月９日午前１０時２１分、武市公孝撮影
３月末閉館した旧グランドプリンスホテル赤坂（東京都千代田区）で９日、福島第１原発事故で避難してきた人たちの受け入れが始まった。
午前１０時に入居手続きが始まり、避難者はホテル１階で、注意事項を説明されて各部屋へ向かった。都によると、入居対象は都営住宅入居の抽選に漏れた福島第１原発３０キロ圏外の住民や、東京武道館など都内の３施設に避難している人で、収容人数の３割に当たる約１４０世帯、約３６０人が入居する。
福島県いわき市中央台の英会話講師、高桑マリビックさん（４３）は「都営住宅の抽選に外れたので、家族７人でホテルで避難することにした。衣食住あれば十分です」と話した。入居できる期間は解体作業が始まる６月末まで。宿泊は無料で、食費や光熱費も都が負担する。【山本将克】
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