Long time residents and farmers from the village of Okuma Machi, around 7.5 kilometres from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, Ms Oga and her husband had just finished building and moved in to their new house when the disaster struck. As with other people in the region, she has had three chances to return to her property, but she did not want to apply believing that it shouldn't be so easy for people to return to such a contaminated area. Her husband went and confirmed that the house was undamaged from the earthquake, but their vegetable gardens were overgrown with weeds and their dog, which they were unable to return and save, was gone.
His leash had been cut, but they have no idea whether he is still alive. They now live in a small apartment in Aizu, far from their home, and Ms Oga’s dream to live and farm in the countryside is gone for now.