Fukushima’s most popular beach reopens for first time since March 2011 disaster


A beach in Iwaki, Fukushima

Prefecture, which was long regarded as the most popular swimming spot in the prefecture, has reopened to the public for the first time since the March 11, 2011 disaster.
After an opening ceremony was held on Saturday morning, about 100 high school students and girls dressed in hula costumes rushed into the sea, Sankei Shimbun reported. By late Saturday afternoon, around 1,800 people had visited the beach, officials said.
The beach has been closed since the tsunami caused a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The tsunami also took the lives of 120 residents of Iwaki.
Prefectural health officials say radiation levels in the area have dropped to where they were before the nuclear accident.
An Iwaki government official told local media that it was wonderful to see smiling faces and people having fun at the beach again after seven years (the beach closed after the summer season ended in 2010).