( CNN ) -- The village of Iitate in Japan 's Fukushima prefecture was once home to 6,000 people . Today , however , it is essentially a ghost town , evacuated after the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant just 25 miles ( 40 kilometers ) away following the Tohoku earthquake in March 2011 . While former residents can return to Iitate during the day , it 's still an eerie scene -- children 's toys lie abandoned in yards , bicycles rust on front porches and only an occasional truck passes through its quiet streets . For elderly couple Yukio and Masayo Nakano the last 20 months have not been easy . Yukio lived had lived in his home in the village for more than 60 years , moving in just after World War Two . `` I ca n't describe it . It 's hard living in the temporary housing , and it 's very stressful mentally , '' he says . The difficult situation has also taken its toll on his wife Masayo . `` I 'm lonely . We 're getting old , '' she says . `` I think every day how long I can survive in this situation . '' Only one building -- the town 's nursing home -- has permanent residents . Following consultation with their families and the Japanese government , the 80 or so people living there were allowed to stay despite the evacuation order . Miyoko Sato , a former Iitate resident who left after the nuclear accident , returns to work there each week for a very simple reason . `` These people will stay here for the rest of their life , '' she says . `` And I cherish them just like a family member . But I do n't know if our village will be able to come back anytime soon . '' However some are trying to make the village inhabitable for all : crews who have the hazardous task of trying to clean up from one of the worst nuclear accidents the world has ever seen . They perform repetitive tasks -- wiping down buildings with damp cloths , and using high pressure hoses to clean drainage systems along the streets . Workers are also clearing a layer of top soil in Iitate , as well as the numerous other affected areas of Fukushima prefecture . But it 's an endless task , as it 's a region that 's roughly the size of greater Tokyo . So far , it 's not clear what the government intends to do with the countless bags of contaminated dirt . Some critics , including experts on radiation , call the government 's clean-up efforts `` meaningless '' and say that using high pressure hoses simply spreads the radiation . Others contend that wiping down a building with a wet rag is pointless , particularly when the wind blows from the nearby forest which is still contaminated . Iitate 's Mayor , Norio Kanno , has heard those arguments but insists they have to start somewhere . `` We have a responsibility to clean up and decontaminate this land . I ca n't accept the idea that we give up . And it 's hard for some people to just start a new life elsewhere , '' he says . Yukio Nakano remains hopeful that he and his wife can return to their home one day . `` But we do n't know when that will happen . It 's hard to predict our future , '' he says .
Japanes village evacuated after meltdown of rectors at Fukushima Daiichi power plant . Former residents can return during the day only . Clean up efforts are pain-stakingly done by hand . Comment: