Japan quake: Inside the evacuation zone

Dai Saito lives in Haramachi-ku in Minamisouma, which lies inside the 20-30km "stay indoors" zone around the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant. After the quake he chose to stay with his mother in Haramachi-ku, while his wife and children went to stay with her parents. His job as a children's football coach has gone. One month on from the disaster, he tells the BBC about his life now.

In the past four weeks the situation in Haramachi-ku has changed a lot. Private shops have started to open gradually. My mother returned to work on 4 April - her company deals in scrap wood so she will probably stay in Haramachi-ku.

Dai Saito (pictured centre) says he will have to give up his dream of being a children's football coach

People come and go from time to time; some have come back home because they are tired of living as evacuees, some have returned to work. Every reason is different, but people are returning. One big difficulty is that moving and searching through the debris takes a lot of time because there are not enough people to help.
Large supermarkets and restaurants are not open in Haramachi-ku. I met the people who turned off the power to the large supermarkets and heard that all the employees had been evacuated - suggesting (although it has not been announced officially) that it will be difficult to reopen in the near future.
Also, restaurant chains are not open. Food safety has not been established and it seems the stores belonging to larger chains are being forced to stay closed by their management.
Some things we need we can buy nearby, and some things we can't. Private shops and convenience stores started opening (though not 24-hour) and we can buy drinks and some daily goods. However, distribution is stagnating and overall stocks are low.
Until my mother restarted her job, we shared tasks. I was in charge of shopping and filling the car, while my mother was in charge of domestic chores such as cooking and washing.
When I go out I wear a hooded coat that I call "protective clothing". By wearing the same clothes, I try to minimise the number of items exposed to radiation. If I changed my clothes every time I went out, I would have to wash my clothes in potentially polluted water, then all my clothes would probably be contaminated.