Almost a month from the earthquake and tsunami, towns in the nuclear exclusion zone around Fukushima remain uninhabited.

A 20 kilometer exclusion zone was established around the Fukushima plant and those who lived within the next 10 kilometres had also been encouraged to leave or stay indoors.

The southern areas of Minamisoma city falls within the forced evacuation zone. Houses were abandoned, with residents leaving immediately, some even leaving their pets behind.

Kei Horikoshi said, "My walls were broken. I just left the walls as they were, and now I'm wondering how they are with all the strong aftershocks that have happened. I also left everything in my refrigerator."

With the nuclear crisis now almost a month long, some residents are now uncertain whether they will ever be willing to return home.

Takashi Shibaguchi said, "My house is within a 15-km kilometers radius, so I'm not sure about going back to live. And everyone has evacuated to different places, so if the government comes out and says 'It's alright, please return home', I'm still not sure how many people will actually return."

Many of the elderly residents were helped out of towns by younger relatives, but the few who remain say they are simply too old to worry about radiation.

Even Minamisoma's mayor is now losing hope but says he and other residents are trying their best to keep their town alive.

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