it seems strange to me that people would want to live there.

Well, if nothing else, land is at a premium in Japan and there's only so much physical space that will even work as a densely populated city, never mind the logistical issues; Japan can't grow enough food to feed it's own population.

Furthermore, home is home. People tend to leave a place because there's a threat of violence, death, starvation or other effects, not because something did happen there. No one balks at the idea of living in Tokyo, but fire bombing there inflicted as many deaths as either of the atomic bombs, and by some allegations it burned so hot that the canals were boiling. People still live in Dresden. Jews still live in numerous cities across the US and Europe that historically would have killed them. I don't even want to think of how many lives have been lost over Jerusalem.