© Komae/APKunio Shiga poses for a photo at his home in Minami Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, inside the deserted evacuation zone established for the 20 kilometer radius around the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex in northeastern Japan. The 75-year-old man was stranded alone in his farmhouse ever since Japan's monstrous tsunami struck nearly a month ago.
© Komae/APThe devasation in Minami Soma.
He doesn't know where his wife is, and his neighbors have all fled his city of Minami Soma because it's within the 12-mile zone of a radiation-leaking plant. Authorities had ordered evacuations but Shiga, who has trouble walking, and was unable to leave.
"You are the first people I have spoken to" since the earthquake and tsunami, Shiga told the Associated Press.
With the man's permission, local police were notified of his dire situation.
Shiga recounted his harrowing experience, how he had nearly run out of food, had no electricity or running water, and how no rescuers ever came for him.
The farmer said he had spent his days sitting in his dark home listening to a battery-powered radio.
© Komae/APKunio Shiga listens to a battery-powered radio in the living room.
'The tsunami came right up to my doorstep," he recounted. "I don't know what happened to my wife. She was here, but now she's gone."
More than 27,000 are dead or missing since the 9.0 magnitude quake and ensuing tsunami rocked Japan, authorities said.
Shiga, who was taken to a shelter, is one of the lucky ones. But before he was taken to refuge, the resigned man said he wasn't sure he even wanted to go.
"I'm old," he said from his home. 'I don't know if I could leave here. Who would take care of me?"
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