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In Japan, Many Still Living On The Edge

LINDA WERTHEIMER, Host:

Outside the danger zone, people are trying to resume normal lives, but it's not so easy, as NPR's John Burnett reports from the city of Soma.

JOHN BURNETT: On Thursday, the government said it's considering expanding the mandatory restricted zone because people in the area may be exposed to dangerous accumulated doses of radiation. Such is the precarious reality in Soma.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

BURNETT: Across from the train station is a traditional Japanese noodle restaurant. Diners sit on tatami mats and eat at low tables. On either side of the entrance are small piles of salt, thought to purify the restaurant and ward off demons and bad luck. In these tense times, owner Yoshitake Sasaki depends on more than salt to keep him safe.

YOSHITAKE SASAKI: (Through translator) We have to believe. We're not just getting our information from Tokyo Electric. We're getting it from the government, the nuclear safety commish and other sources. For us, life is not that different than before the disaster. The level of radiation is so low that it doesn't even have an effect on our health.

BURNETT: The manager, Yuske Kameda(ph), steps to the side of the game room to talk about his fears of radiation. He says he doesn't particularly trust what Tokyo Electric is telling them about the threat of radiation exposure.

YUSKE KAMEDA: (Through translation) So I usually do long sleeves, long pants. When I go home, I wear a hood and, of course, a mask.

BURNETT: In the pachinko parlor, we meet a friendly man who gives his name as Take(ph). He says he got so bored staying inside his house in Minamisoma by order of the authorities that he drove to Soma for some entertainment.

SASAKI: In Minamisoma, something is all closing right there. That's why I come here. I play pachinko, and then I spend money and then spend (unintelligible).

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

BURNETT: The displays inside a brightly lit, American-style supermarket are piled with bananas from the Philippines, mackerel from the Pacific and the long, skinny gobo root. Manager Kazunori Sato(ph) says the only products he's having a hard time getting are yoghurt and natto, a traditional Japanese food of fermented soybeans. They've been able to re-source all the foods that are banned from the nuclear contamination area, such as seafood, leafy vegetables and milk.

KAZUNORI SATO: (Foreign language spoken)

BURNETT: In front of the store, Mayumi Sato sits on a bench chatting on her cell phone. She says her family fled Soma a few days after the tsunami, when they heard about the explosions at the nuclear plant down the road. When they saw Soma was outside the danger zone, they decided to return last Sunday.

MAYUMI SATO: (Through translation) I'm not as worried as I was, but I'm still concerned. I have a 1-year-old and a child in elementary school. I won't let them go outside to play. And I buy mineral water instead of drinking tap water.

BURNETT: John Burnett, NPR News, Sendai, Japan. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

As NPR's Southwest correspondent based in Austin, Texas, John Burnett covers immigration, border affairs, Texas news and other national assignments. In 2018, 2019 and again in 2020, he won national Edward R. Murrow Awards from the Radio-Television News Directors Association for continuing coverage of the immigration beat. In 2020, Burnett along with other NPR journalists, were finalists for a duPont-Columbia Award for their coverage of the Trump Administration's Remain in Mexico program. In December 2018, Burnett was invited to participate in a workshop on Refugees, Immigration and Border Security in Western Europe, sponsored by the RIAS Berlin Commission.