LIANE HANSEN, Host:
As many as 400,000 people are now displaced because of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident. Since last week, NPR's Doualy Xaykaothao has been reporting in Fukushima Prefecture, where the nuclear plant leaking radiation is located. She's at a safe distance, outside a government-ordered evacuation zone, and visited one of the largest shelters in Koriyama City.
DOUALY XAYKAOTHAO: Usually, at the Big Palette, people enjoy cultural events. But now, some 2,000 people are crowded onto every inch of this modern concert hall. And every half an hour or so, an announcement calls over loudspeakers about missing family members.
XAYKAOTHAO: (Japanese spoken)
XAYKAOTHAO: Everywhere you look, people are distressed. Men smoke outside. Women search through donated clothes for their children. Some people try, unsuccessfully, to call family or friends. The elderly lie wrapped thick with beige blankets on the floors.
(SOUNDBITE OF BABY CRYING)
XAYKAOTHAO: Eighteen-year-old Fumito Fukuda sits not far from some crying babies. He's charging his cell phone. On a different day, you might think he was just a skinny, punk kid - looking grungy and hanging out. But today, his dark clothes, his greasy hair, his tired eyes and his weak voice tell a different story. He says he hasn't showered in five days...
M: (Japanese spoken)
REIKO: He feels disgusting, but if he takes a bath once, he maybe feel a little better.
XAYKAOTHAO: Most evacuation centers are without showers, and some places don't even have running water. Japan's self-defense forces are building bathtubs at some locations. Fukuda says his home was not damaged by the earthquake or tsunami. But he and his family had to evacuate because of possible radioactive materials leaking from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant.
M: (Japanese spoken)
REIKO: We have a program at nuclear plant so people, humans, don't have to create nuclear...
XAYKAOTHAO: Reiko, who is helping to interpret for me, can't finish Fukuda's sentence. She is moved by his words, asking to make this a nuclear-free world. Other refugees here echo this same sentiment.
POST: Outside the evacuation center, buses are being unloaded. More refugees are arriving. Seventy-five-year-old Kichisaburo Suzuki is wearing a face mask. He stands outside Big Palette with his family; a little girl clutches his legs. He explains that he used to work at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, as a contract worker for Tokyo Electronic Power Company.
M: (Japanese spoken)
REIKO: He really worried about pollution. He knows about TEPCO. He watches TV. It doesn't tell the truth.
XAYKAOTHAO: Do you think it's safe to be here?
M: (Japanese spoken)
REIKO: He doesn't think Koriyama City is safe.
XAYKAOTHAO: Doualy Xaykaothao, NPR News, Aizukawamatsu, Japan. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
