The town of Hirono resumed services Thursday at City Hall, the first of nine evacuated municipal offices in Fukushima Prefecture to reopen since the March 11 disaster struck and nuclear crisis started.
Located 23 km south of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, Hirono's municipal office moved its operations to the nearby city of Iwaki in April after the government placed the town within the emergency evacuation preparation zone.
Under the designation, residents were told to be ready to evacuate at a moment's notice. But the municipality recommended that everyone evacuate, after all public schools and nurseries closed last March.