Mayor of Town in Fukushima to Resign due to Illness

June 13, 2018

Namie, Fukushima Pref.- Tamotsu Baba, mayor of the town of Namie in Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on Wednesday submitted his resignation due to illness.

After obtaining approval from the town assembly on the same day, the 69-year-old mayor will leave office as of June 30.

Baba has been hospitalized on and off since December last year.

First elected mayor of Namie in 2007, Baba is currently serving his third term.

He spearheaded the town's efforts to cope with the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, which mainly rocked the Tohoku northeastern region, and the subsequent nuclear accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s <9501> Fukushima No. 1 plant.

Namie is located next to the towns of Okuma and Futaba, home to the disaster-crippled nuclear plant.

At the end of March last year, Baba decided the lifting of evacuation advisories given to Namie residents, except for heavily contaminated areas.

The town is asking TEPCO to increase the amount of compensation paid to its some 15,000 citizens. Jiji Press