Spooked by the radiation leak at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, thousands of people this week have been applying for re-entry permits in preparation for evacuation from Japan.
On Wednesday, the number of applicants at the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau appeared to surpass the nearly 5,000 who lined up Tuesday, according to a bureau official.
"I arrived here at around 9:30 a.m. And there already was a long line," said a 20-something Chinese student who only gave his last name, Ouyang. "My friend told me it's going to take five or six hours to reach the application counter, so I came here expecting to wait that long."