In March 2011, Japan experienced two disasters within one day. An earthquake had occurred in the ocean, and sent a tsunami straight for multiple towns along the coast. The local populace was evacuated, however the tsunami caused the nuclear power plant in the area to explode, causing an extremely harmful radiation leak. The full consequences of the leak are still not yet known, even 12 years later. The whole area around the nuclear power plant is uninhabitable, and will be for a very long time. That hasn’t stopped people from sneaking into the site to get an up close and personal look at the devastation that was brought throughout the town. Surprisingly, it is almost completely untouched. A young man recently decided to make a trip to the town, illegally I might add. His pictures are like something you would see in a zombie apocalypse movie.
I’m not sure about his choice of attire. The upper half of his body seems good, but what’s the point of covering your top half if you are wearing sandals and shorts with it?
As you can see, this grocery store was left entirely intact.
People living in the area were immediately evacuated when the tsunami warning was issued. Normally people would come back to their homes and life would resume as normal.
The radiation has made that impossible though, so these places are simply left to rot and crumble away along with their contents.
Listerine circa 2011. Nothing in this area will ever be able to be used again in our lifetime most likely.
Losing your business to a disaster like this would be a very hard thing to go through.
5-year-old laundry still sits in these washing machines. People literally had to leave everything behind to avoid this tragedy.
For the towns of Okuma, Namie, Futaba and Tamioka, time stopped on this day in March of 2011.
Another super market in Namie. Many of the items are still in the exact place they were 12 years ago. This would be so eerie.
The abandoned train station of Namie has been quiet for 12 years. This probably carried many people being evacuated to safety.
Rubble from the earthquake can be seen in every town they visited.
At one time this was a local bar where people would gather for drinks with friends. Now it sits desolate and empty in this uninhabitable wasteland.
This media shop sits in ruins collecting dust. The value of goods left behind must be unimaginable.
It’s sad that nothing from these places will ever be usable again because of radiation contamination.
A barricade was erected outside the town of Okuma for people’s safety. Some people just need to take risks though.
An abandoned Family Mart. All of this infrastructure will never be useable again. There is a ton of money just sitting here.
Mountains of bags of irradiated items and trash fill entire areas of these towns.
McDonald’s
The radiation infected remnants of what used to be the thriving town of Fukushima.
An old shoe stall in Fukushima.
The aftermath of the earthquake that caused the nuclear reactor meltdown is still very evident.
This abandoned home is actually located in the yellow zone. My knowledge about radiation level distinctions is a bit rusty, but I’m assuming the yellow zone is right outside the red zone.
An old Playstation 2.
This town has been abandoned for 12 years, but apparently electricity hasn’t been cut off to it. The stop light still seems to be working.
This was once a floral shop where beautiful flowers would be sold.
This sign is 100 meters away from the nuclear power plant melted down. I would never get this close to it without full protective gear.
It will be a long, long time before this place is inhabitable again. It may not even be in our lifetime. The full effects of that day have still not been felt. There is talk that the radiation that was leaked into the ocean has already made its way around most of the world. The environmental consequences could be absolutely dire if we don’t find a solution to undo what has happened.