“This disaster could have been foreseen and prevented.”
In 2011, following a major earthquake, a tsunami forced the closure of four Japanese nuclear reactors.
160,000 people were evacuated from their homes with 120,000 still unable to return. Within a 20km radius the radioactive exclusion zone demonstrates the dangerous nature of nuclear energy. Left in its wake are a network of abandoned towns and villages.
Arkadiusz Podniesinski / REX Shutterstock
Polish photographer, Arkadiusz Podniesinski, visited the site in September 2015. He said, "My goal was to represent the actual state of the exclusion zone."
"Futaba, Namie and Tomioka are ghost towns whose emptiness is terrifying and show a tragedy that affected hundreds of thousands of people."
Arkadiusz Podniesinski / REX Shutterstock
With residents fleeing en masse, a lot was left behind.
Arkadiusz Podniesinski / REX Shutterstock
Some restaurants appear largely as they were before the disaster struck.
Arkadiusz Podniesinski / REX Shutterstock
