Kwansei Gakuin University, Institute of Disaster Area Revitalization,
Regrowth and Governance Evacuation Research Group
National survey of people evacuated due to the nuclear accident(summary) latest version1
Yoko Saito: Associate Professor, Institute of Disaster Area Revitalization, Regrowth andGovernance, Principal investigator Kwansei Gakuin University
Shigeki Yamanaka: Advisor, Institute of Disaster Area Revitalization, Regrowth andGovernance, Kwansei Gakuin University
Ryosuke Aota: Professor, Graduate School of Disaster Resilience and Governance,
University of Hyogo
Hisae Tanami: Associate Professor, Kawasaki University of Medical Welfare
Mayumi Furube: Representative, Marutto Nishi-Nihon :Ikuyo Hattori: Representative, Hotto-Okayama
Objective:
Almost 10 years have passed since the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power
Station of the Tokyo Electric Power Company caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake.
The Evacuation Research Group presided over by the Kwansei Gakuin University Institute ofDisaster Area Revitalization, Regrowth and Governance has investigated the changes infamily environment and health status, opinions on support measures by national and local
governments, and the impact of COVID-19, with the objective of understanding how thepeople who were evacuated because of the nuclear accident have lived during the past 10
years.
Survey outline:
Survey participants were people who were evacuated from Fukushima Prefecture or otherregions because of the nuclear accident. Questionnaires were sent to lifestyle reconstruction
support bases (14 groups) and a voluntary group (1 group). They were sent by mail anddistributed in newsletters of prefectures and municipalities. They were also distributed via
social media, so participants who saw the questionnaire returned individual responses.
Responses were anonymous and were returned in a return envelope provided to participants.
Period: July 17‒September 10, 2020
Number of survey forms distributed: 4,876
Number of surveys returned: 694 (retrieval rate: 14%)
Contact information
Kwansei Gakuin University Institute of Disaster Area Revitalization, Regrowth andGovernance
1-155 Uegahara 1-bancho, Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, 662-8501
Phone: 0798−54−6996
E-mail: hinan-chousa@ml.kwansei.ac.jp

1

In the latest version, 15 responses from the evacuation cancellation preparation area released on March 4 weresummed.

1© 2020 Institute of Disaster Area Revitalization, Regrowth and Governance, Kwansei Gakuin University

1. Attributes
The age composition of the respondents was dominated by people in their 40s and 60s,
comprising 54% of the total. The average age was 55.8 years. The gender distribution was 40%
male and 60% female.
Age and gender of respondents

10s

20s

30s

40s

50s

60s

Male

70s

80s

90s

Unknown

Female522 respondents (75% of the total) were residing at Fukushima Prefecture at the time of theearthquake. Additionally, 168 were from restricted areas (24%), 39 from planned evacuation areas(6%), 64 from emergency evacuation preparation areas (9%), 4 from specific evacuation
recommendation points (1%), 23 from contamination survey priority areas (3%), and 320 fromunspecified areas (46%). Furthermore, considering the current status of the areas where therespondents lived prior to the earthquake, 100 respondents lived in areas that are difficult to returnto (14.4%), 140 respondents lived in areas where the evacuation order was lifted (20.2%), and 417
respondents lived in undesignated areas (60.1%).
Residence at thetime of earthquake
Hokkaido / Nagano / Unknown
Fukushima

Evacuation area after nuclear
accident

Current status of areas where
people lived prior to theearthquake

Restricted area

Tohoku
Kanto

Planned evacuation
area
Emergency
evacuation
preparation area
Specific evacuation
recommendation
point
Contamination
surveypriority area

Difficult-to-return area
Area where evacuation order was canceled

Unspecified

Unspecified
Unknown

Unknown2© 2020 Institute of Disaster Area Revitalization, Regrowth and Governance, Kwansei Gakuin University

2． Overall situation

2-1. Decreased income

A comparison between total income before the earthquake and income of the past year
showed that the respondents reporting income in all categories from 3‒20 million yen andhigher decreased and those reporting income in the categories from no income to2‒3 million yen increased.
Total income before the earthquake andlast year (overall)Unknown
Over 20 million yen
15-20 million yen
10-15 million yen
9-10 million yen© 2020 Institute of Disaster Area Revitalization, Regrowth and Governance, Kwansei Gakuin University

Unknown

Other

Student

Unemployed

Housewife

Temporary employment, part-time, side-job

engineer, etc.)

Specialized (doctor, lawyer, professor,

higher at company or government office)Management position (Section chief or

employees or at government office)Business / sales (employment at company with 300+with less than 300 employees)

Business / sales (employment at company

Family employee

Self-employed (employer present)

Self-employed (employer absent)

Labor (employment at company with

Agricultural / forestry / fisheries

300 employees)

Labor (employment at company with less than300+ employees or at government office)Current

Pre-earthquake

8-9 million yen
7-8 million yen
6-7 million yen
5-6 million yen
4-5 million yen
3-4 million yen
2-3 million yen
1-2 million yen

Less than 1 million yen
No incomeOccupational changes
2-2.

Last year
Before earthquake

Pre-earthquake and current work (overall)3

Questions about the currents and pre-earthquake occupations revealed that
agricultural/forestry/fisheries jobs, company work, self-employed work, and specialized work
decreased, whereas temporary work, part-time work, side jobs, full-time housework, andunemployed individuals increased.
Agricultural/forestry/fisheries jobs and self-employed work decreased in all area
designations. The percentage of unemployed individuals increased significantly in groups
with area designations.
Changes in profession by area
designation

Pre-earthquake | current
Difficult-to-return area

Pre-earthquake | current
Area where evacuation
order was canceledPre-earthquake | current
Unspecified

Agricultural / forestry / fisheries (does not include second-rank farmer classifications or
agricultural / forestry / fisheries processing businesses)
Labor (employment at company with less than 300 employees)
Labor (employment at company with 300+ employees or at government office)Self-employed (employer absent)
Self-employed (employer present)
Family employee
Business / sales (employment at company with less than 300 employees)
Business / sales (employment at company with 300+ employees or at government office)Management position (Section chief or higher at company or government office)Specialized (doctor, lawyer, professor, engineer, etc.)
Temporary employment, part-time, side-job
Housewife
UnemployedStudent
Other
Unknown4© 2020 Institute of Disaster Area Revitalization, Regrowth and Governance, Kwansei Gakuin University

2-3.

Fewer human interactions

Regarding relationships within the neighborhood, the number of respondents having a closefriend at the evacuation site for mutual assistance in time of need decreased significantly,
whereas the number of respondents stating that they had only acquaintances with whom theyexchanged greetings or had almost no interactions increased significantly.
Pre-earthquake and current extent ofrelationships with neighbors (overall)Unknown

Almost nointeractions
at allPerson withwhom I
exchangegreetings

Person withwhom I chatpresent

Person with whom
we conduct mutual
visits present

Close friend formutual help whensomething went
wrong present

Present

Pre-earthquake

2-4.
Decreased life satisfaction
The degree of satisfaction for 15 domains (work content, income, health, leisure time,
housing, regional environment, educational environment, natural environment, public
facilities, places for cultural activities, places for sports activities, convenience of shopping,convenience of medical facilities, convenience of transportation, and general life) was asfollows.
Convenience of shopping and transportation showed an increase in the “slightly
satisfied/somewhat satisfied” category but also showed an increase in the“unsatisfied/somewhat unsatisfied” category. Furthermore, the “unsatisfied/somewhat
unsatisfied” category was selected more frequently for all domains.
Degree of satisfaction (overall)Pre-earthquake/ currentPre-earthquake/ currentPre-earthquake

Place for Conveni
sports ence ofactivities shopping/ currentPre-earthquake/ current

Cannot say one way or the otherPre-earthquake

Place forculturalactivities/ currentPre-earthquake

Publicfacilities
in thecity/ currentPre-earthquake

Naturalenvironment/ currentPre-earthquake /Educational
environment

current

Satisfied / somewhat satisfied

Pre-earthquake

Local
environment/ currentPre-earthquake

Housing/ currentPre-earthquake

Health/ currentPre-earthquake/ currentPre-earthquake/ currentPre-earthquake/ current

Work Income
content

Convenie Convenie Generalnce oflife
nce ofmedical transportfacilities
ation

Unsatisfied / somewhat unsatisfied

5© 2020 Institute of Disaster Area Revitalization, Regrowth and Governance, Kwansei Gakuin University

3． Status of individuals in forced evacuation areas
3-1. Evacuation destination
According to data from the Reconstruction Agency, the number of evacuees living outsideof the prefecture of origin due to the Great East Japan Earthquake as of October 12, 2020,
was 43,000, of which 29,441 were evacuated from Fukushima Prefecture. According to thedata, most evacuees were in the Kanto region, followed by the Tohoku and Chubu regions.
However, regarding the current location of residents in this survey, there were many
responses from the Kanto (196 individuals), Chubu (142 individuals), Kinki (137 individuals),and Chugoku (99 individuals) regions. Most respondents from the forced evacuation area
were in the Tohoku and Kanto regions (in red box), especially in Ibaraki Prefecture.
Evacuation destination (overall)Unknown

Restricted area

Kyushu/Okinawa

Shikoku

Chugoku

Kinki

Chubu

Kanto

TohokuHokkaido

Unspecified

3-2. Home ownership rate
Housing style (overall)

Owner-occupied

home

Rental home

Company home

Pre-earthquake

Current

Compared to the pre-earthquake home ownership rate of 64.2%, the rate after the earthquake
was lower at 49%.
The home ownership rate of respondents from difficult-to-return areas decreased from
86.3% to 70%, but the number of respondents residing in apartments increased from 0% to

6© 2020 Institute of Disaster Area Revitalization, Regrowth and Governance, Kwansei Gakuin University

8.3%.
Changes in housing style x Area designation

Pre-earthquake/current
Area where evacuation
order was canceledPre-earthquake/current
Difficult-to-return area

Pre-earthquake/current
Unspecified

Owner-occupied home (detached unit)
Owner-occupied home (apartment)
Publicly-managed rental home
Public organization/company rental home
Private rental home (cases where individual primarily pays rent)
Private rental home (cases where company pays or helps with rent)
Employee home (company home, employee dormitory, official residence, public
residence, etc.)
Boarding house, lodging

3-3.

Feelings toward hometown

It can be seen from the figure that nearly half of the respondents in the designated areas
had lived in the area for more than 30 years before the earthquake.
Number of years of residence by area designation

Difficult-to-return area

Area where evacuation
order was canceledLess than 5 years

5-10 years

10-15 years

20-25 years

25-30 years

Over 30 years

Not specified
15-20 years

3-4.
Residence card remains in hometown
The survey showed that many of the respondents in the group with an area designated left
their residence card at their original address. As concluded from the free-form answers, the7© 2020 Institute of Disaster Area Revitalization, Regrowth and Governance, Kwansei Gakuin Universityrespondents intend to relocate their residence to their current location when support fromtheir site of evacuation comes to an end (at present, there are tax exemptions from town
prefectural tax, property tax, and others, and medical expenses for children 18 years andunder are also free). Respondents expressed various attitudes, such as resistance toward
transferring the residence card from the hometown in which they lived for so long.
Residence of resident card x Area designation

Area where evacuation
order was canceled

Difficult-to-return area

Moved to current residence

Not specified

Remaining at original residence

3-5. Decreased attachment to evacuation sites
The number of respondents who "felt strongly" attached to their place of residence prior to
the earthquake and their current place of residence has greatly decreased. Groups who were
forcibly evacuated, such as those in difficult-to-return areas, have an especially low degreeof attachment to their current region. The current degree of attachment among groups thatwere forced to evacuate, especially from difficult-to-return areas, was very low.
Attachment to area of residence prior to earthquake andat present (overall)Strongly felt

Somewhat felt

Not very much felt Not felt at all
Pre-earthquake

Unknown

Present

Change in degree of attachment to region x Area designation

Pre-earthquake

Present

Difficult-to-return area

Pre-earthquake

Present

Area where evacuation order
was canceled

Strongly felt

Somewhat felt

Not felt at all

Unknown

Pre-earthquake

Present

Not specified
Not very much felt

Some comments from forced evacuees (excerpts from free-form descriptions) are listed below.
 The house was left unattended, became uninhabitable, and was demolished.

8© 2020 Institute of Disaster Area Revitalization, Regrowth and Governance, Kwansei Gakuin University






I wonder what will be done with the land (rice paddies, fields, homes) remaining inFukushima.
I donʼt want Japan to ever forget its first nuclear power plant accident. I want people toknow how difficult it is to lose the place where you were born and raised and to have tolive in another prefecture. It is not just about the money.
I see a psychiatrist. I want to return to my old home. I donʼt have anyone to talk to.

4．Status of unspecified (voluntary evacuation) groups
4-1. Evacuation areas
Most of the evacuees from the restricted area responded that they resided in the Tohoku
and Kanto regions, but many of those who responded as voluntary evacuees indicated thatthey resided in Nagoya and farther to the west (in red boxes).
Evacuation destinations (overall)Unknown

KyushuOkinawa

Shikoku

Chugoku

Kinki

Chubu

Kanto

TohokuHokkaido/

Restricted area

Unspecified

4-2. Respondent characteristics
Area designation by age and gender

Male/female Male/female Male/female Male/female Male/female Male/female Male/female Male/female Male/female
10s

20s

30s
Difficult-toreturn area

40s

50s

60s

Area where evacuation
order was canceled

70s

80s

90s

Not specified

Respondents in the voluntary evacuation group were mostly women in their 40s and 50s.
4-3. Increasing household separation and evacuation of mothers and children
When asked about the changes in their cohabitation situation before and immediately after the9© 2020 Institute of Disaster Area Revitalization, Regrowth and Governance, Kwansei Gakuin University

earthquake as well as at present, responses indicated that single-person households tended toincrease, with percentages of 5.8% before the earthquake, 10.8% immediately after the earthquake,and 13.1% at present. Before the accident, 4.3% of respondents lived with an unmarried child, but
this proportion increased by 3.8 times to 16.4% at present. Furthermore, the percentage of
respondents who lived with their parents or with their spouseʼs parents decreased from 7.1% before
the earthquake to 2.9% at present. Those who lived in a three-generation household decreased from
10.8% before the earthquake to 4.5% at present, indicating increasing household separation.
Cohabitation situation (overall)Prior toearthquake

Immediately after
earthquake

Present

Four generations

Three generations

Two generations (spouseand parents)

Other

With own parents or

spouses' parents

With married child only

With spouse and married

childWith unmarried child

onlyWith spouse andunmarried childWith spouse (husband orwife) only

Single (living alone)

From these respondents, we extracted the groups of respondents who were living alone,with their spouse and unmarried child, and with only their unmarried child. The percentageof people living with unmarried children before the earthquake was 5%, which has since thengreatly increased to 24.2%. By comparing the cohabitation situation among the difficult-toreturn group and the unspecified (voluntary evacuation) group, it can be seen that thepercentage of respondents who either lived alone or with only their unmarried child increased
from immediately after the earthquake to the present day. A total of 117 respondents statedthat they were women and lived with only their unmarried children. Among these, 103 (almostall) of these respondents were in the voluntary evacuation group.
Cohabitation situation (difficult-toreturn area/voluntary evacuation)

Prior toearthquake

Immediately after Present | Prior
to earthquake
earthquake

Prior toImmediately

Present | Priorearthquake

after earthquake

to earthquake

Difficult-to-returnarea
Single (living alone)

Unspecified
Spouse and unmarried child

Unmarried child only

10
© 2020 Institute of Disaster Area Revitalization, Regrowth and Governance, Kwansei Gakuin University

At the present time, 127 children were mentioned by voluntary evacuation grouprespondents. The percentages of elementary school, junior high school, and high school
students were very high, probably because children were evacuated at a preschool orelementary school age.
Status of children in voluntary evacuation group

Student preparing
again for entrance
exam
Professional school

Unknown
Other

Student

Unemployed

Housewife

Temporary employment, part-time, side-job

Specialized (doctor, lawyer, professor, engineer,
etc.)

Management position (Section chief or higher atcompany or government office)Business / sales (employment at company with
300+ employees or at government office)Business / sales (employment at company with lessthan 300 employees)

Family employee

Self-employed (employer present)

Self-employed (employer absent)

Labor (employment at company with 300+
employees or at government office)Labor (employment at company with less than 300
employees)

Agricultura/ Forestry / fisheries

Current

Pre-earthquake

Graduate school

Six-year university

Four-year
university

Juniorcollege/technicalcollegeHigh school

Junior high school

Elementary school

4-4. Occupational changes

In the voluntary evacuation group, the percentages of respondents who had temporary work,
part-time work, side-jobs, or no job increased after the earthquake, but the percentage offull-time housewives decreased considerably.

Voluntary evacuation group x Occupational changes

11© 2020 Institute of Disaster Area Revitalization, Regrowth and Governance, Kwansei Gakuin University

4-5. Changes in housing style
In the voluntary evacuation group, the rate of home ownership decreased by one-half, andrenters increased (26.9 to 40.8%). Despite the higher utilization of rental housing by this group,
62 percent of respondents in the voluntary evacuation group stated that they did not receive
the various housing subsidies provided at their evacuation destination after the earthquake.
This result was higher than the 40.2% of respondents in the restricted area group who repliedthat they were not receiving subsidies.
Voluntary evacuation x change in housing style

Other

Boarding house, lodging

Employee home (company home,
employee dormitory, official residence,
public residence, etc.)

Private rental home (cases wherecompany pays or helps with rent)

Private rental home (cases whereindividual primarily pays rent)

Public organization/company rental
home

Publicly-managed rental home

Owner-occupied home (apartment)

Owner-occupied home(detached unit)

Pre-earthquake

Present

4-6. Increased divorce
There were 103 divorcees, and 59 of these divorced after the earthquake. The ratio of men
and women was 19% men and 81% women. Of these, 83% of the divorced women said thatthey were raising one or more children from elementary school to university age.
Current marriage status

Time of divorce(overall)Prior to earthquake

After earthquake

Unmarried
MarriedDivorced
WidowedSeparated
Unknown

12© 2020 Institute of Disaster Area Revitalization, Regrowth and Governance, Kwansei Gakuin University

Comparisons of the incomes of divorced mother and child evacuees from before theearthquake to after the earthquake showed that the percentages of respondents in the
categories of less than 1 million yen and 1 to less than 2 million yen increased considerably.
Changes in income of divorced mother and child evacuees
from before to after the earthquake

Unknown

Over 20 million yen

15-20 million yen

10-15 million yen

9-10 million yen

8-9 million yen

7-8 million yen

6-7 million yen

5-6 million yen

4-5 million yen

3-4 million yen

2-3 million yen

1-2 million yen

Less than 1 million yen

No income

Before earthquake

Last year

4-7. Status of mother and child evacuees
The changes in neighborhood relationships in the group with only mother and childevacuees indicated that more than half of the respondents had almost no interactions withothers. The results in the figure exceed 100% because some people selected multiple answers
other than “almost no interactions at all.” However, the respondents who answered that they
have “almost no interactions at all” did not select other options.
Mother and child evacuation x Changes inneighborhood interactions

Almost nointeractions at all

Person withwhom I exchange
greetings present

Person withwhom I chatpresent

Person withwhom weconduct mutual
visits present

Close friend formutual help
when something
went wrong
present

Preearthquake

Present

Among these, 27% of the respondents selected family members as their primary counselor.
The next most common response was a support group (17%). The role of the support group13© 2020 Institute of Disaster Area Revitalization, Regrowth and Governance, Kwansei Gakuin University

was thought to be large.
Primary counselor for mother and child evacuees

FamilyFriend from work
Acquaintance through child
Friends from hobbies / activities
Support group

Comments from voluntary evacuees (excerpts from free-form descriptions) I live in a small room, where I intend to stay, but my child has gotten bigger, and the roomis feeling even smaller. Itʼs become more stressful. I want to speak with a counselor withthe assumption that radioactive contamination is ongoing (various discussions about
topics such as re-employment, future residence areas, childʼs advancement to school,transfer periods).
 I am living a double life as I support my childʼs education, so I canʼt afford to send mychild to a cram school. Money and time are tight.
 I want to interact with people who are evacuating nearby.
5．Effect of COVID-19
5-1. Major impact on low-income earners
Impact on 2019ʼs annual income x COVID-19 impact

Over 20 million yen

15-20 million yen

10-15 million yen

9-10 million yen

8-9 million yen

7-8 million yen

6-7 million yen

5-6 million yen

4-5 million yen

3-4 million yen

2-3 million yen

1-2 million yen

Less than 1 million yen

No income

Major/slight impact

Not much/no impact

Based on 2019ʼs annual income, 55% of the group that responded that there was a major orslight impact from COVID-19 had incomes of less than 4 million yen. The impact became14© 2020 Institute of Disaster Area Revitalization, Regrowth and Governance, Kwansei Gakuin University

greater as respondentsʼ incomes decreased.
5-2. Impact on voluntary evacuees
COVID 19 impact X Area designation

Unspecified

Area where
evacuation order
was canceled

Difficult-toreturn area
Major impact

Slight impact

No impact

Minor impact

The voluntary evacuation group was more strongly affected by COVID-19. The percentage
of voluntary evacuee respondents indicating that they were majorly or slightly impacted was
58.8%. The percentage who responded that their monthly income was affected by 100,000
yen or more per month was 20%.
Impact on monthly income x Area designation

Over 100,000 yen per month

50-100,000 yen per month

Difficult-toreturn area

Less than 50,000 yen per month

Area where evacuation
order was canceled

Unspecified

Unspecified x Coronavirus impact
Lost work
Placed on leave
Placed on temporary forced leave
Could no longer work overtime
Reduced work days
Reduced work hours

As an additional note, one respondent who was concerned about benefits stated, “They15© 2020 Institute of Disaster Area Revitalization, Regrowth and Governance, Kwansei Gakuin University

had evacuated against the wishes of their original home, so they have no right to benefits.”
Another respondent answered, “The head of the household received it and did not give it tome.” Previous surveys of Kansai-area evacuees also showed that repairing relationships after
being accused of evacuation by friends, people at work, and parents-in-law is difficult.
6．Unable to return home/distrust
Many evacuees, particularly those in the forced evacuation group, left their hometowns
with the intention of evacuating temporarily.
Intentions toward relocation destination at thetime of earthquake x area designation

Difficult-to-return area

Area where evacuation order wascanceled

Unspecified

Because I've settled down in my current residence
Because those from where I evacuated spoke negatively of my evacuation
Because the hospitals and commercial facilities from where I evacuated are lacking
Because the area is no longer vibrant despite schools, train stations, hospitals, etc.
being organized at the place from where I evacuated
Other
Unknown

Intention of returning to Fukushima (for 522
people from Fukushima Prefecture)

Intend to return

Do not intend to return

Unknown

When 522 subjects from Fukushima Prefecture were asked about their intention of
returning to Fukushima in the future, 138 (26.4%) responded that they intended to return, 341(65.3%) responded that they did not intend to return, and 43 (8.2%) were uncertain or other.
The most common reason for not wanting to return was that the "air dose has decreased, butthere are still contaminated areas in the forests and grasslands." Furthermore, many16
© 2020 Institute of Disaster Area Revitalization, Regrowth and Governance, Kwansei Gakuin Universityresponded that "they have settled in their current residence," which reflects the long 10-year
duration of evacuation.

Reasons for not returning to place of residence before
earthquake (multiple answers)

Unknown
Other
Because the area is no longer vibrant despite
schools, train stations, hospitals, etc. beingorganized at the place from where I evacuatedBecause the hospitals and commercial
facilities from where I evacuated are lacking
Because those from where I evacuated spoke
negatively of my evacuation
Because I've settled down in my current
residenceDue to children's school
Due to work issues
Difficult to procure funds for relocation

Because it is still a difficult-to-return area
Because it is still a difficult-to-return area
Residence is still destroyed and repair isdifficult
Air dose has decreased, but it seems that there
are still contaminated areas in the forests andgrasslands
Because I don't know what is happening at thenuclear power plant during decommissioning
work

Credibility of decommissioning completion goal (overall)

Can trustCan somewhat trust

Cannot trust much

Do not trust at all

Do not know

Unknown

Furthermore, 77% of people did not have much or any trust in the decommissioning work

being carried out by TEPCO and their completion target of 30 to 40 years. Moreover, there

were doubts about future decommissioning work.

17© 2020 Institute of Disaster Area Revitalization, Regrowth and Governance, Kwansei Gakuin University

6. Comments from evacuees (excerpts from free-form descriptions)

Are there evacuees similar to me in the neighborhood? I donʼt know about the othertowns. Iʼve always wanted to interact with others like myself.

Even when I receive notifications about exchange meetings, I cannot go without a car.
Itʼs too far away to go by taxi. I canʼt do anything but just hole up at home. I wish thatthey would think of ways that we can participate.

I donʼt understand the procedure for compensation, and it takes so much time.

Even under such instability, I feel like I am finally able to take a step forward after 10
years, so Iʼd like to have support for a stable income so that I can start moving.

7．Interim summary
The “evacuation life” of those who were evacuated because of the nuclear accident has
not yet come to an end. Even if they have built or purchased a house in the new location, their
attachment to the land is lower, and their lifestyle satisfaction is also low. Particularly,
voluntary evacuees and mother and child evacuees have lower incomes than they did before
the earthquake and also have few interactions with neighbors. It was shown that various
factors of wanting to return but not being able to return are entwined in a complex mannerand that the realization of “human reconstruction” has not yet been attained. Although some
respondents who wrote free-form descriptions said that they were now okay, there weremany worrisome responses, such as “struggling to live,” “have no counselors,” and “worrying
about childrenʼs tuition fees.” Implementing welfare measures is not the solution. These arepeople who would not have fallen into such a situation had there not been an accident. We
must consider a system in which everyone naturally retains a right to escape and can survive
in a new location.
This survey is an interim report. The final analysis will be published as articles from eachmember in August 2021 in the Institute of Disaster Area Revitalization, Regrowth andGovernance Bulletin Disaster Reconstruction Research.

18© 2020 Institute of Disaster Area Revitalization, Regrowth and Governance, Kwansei Gakuin University