Sixty-eight former residents of Miyake Island returned Saturday morning for a four-day visit, their first overnight stay since the entire population of about 3,800 people was evacuated when the island's volcano rumbled into life in September 2000.
Residents have previously made one-day visits to the island, which lies some 180 km south of Tokyo, but it was not possible for them to stay until a shelter was constructed recently.
The passenger ship Sarubia Maru arrived at a port on the island shortly after 5 a.m. It had departed from a Tokyo port the previous night.
The returnees will be allowed to stay at their homes during the day, but will have to spend nights at the shelter, called Clean House. The facility is equipped with an apparatus that eliminates toxic sulfur dioxide, found in volcanic gas, from the air.
Kyoko Uematsu, a 53-year-old former innkeeper, told reporters the main reason for her return is to clean her house.
