Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

HEXaMedia via Vimeo
Japan

These shots reveal just how desolate Fukushima is now

The entire area around the nuclear disaster site remains empty.

JAPANESE AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY company HEXaMedia flew a drone equipped with cameras through Tomioka, Japan – the largely abandoned town that played host to the Fukushima nuclear meltdown.

The result is a 7-minute video that reveals just what the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster site is like now, having remained untouched for more than three years.

After being devastated by the 2011 tsunami, which killed almost 16,000, the area was declared a no-go area due to the high levels of radioactivity.

Just one man still lives there – a fifth-generation rice farm who VICE have dubbed “the most stubborn man in the world”.

Check out the most stunning shots from HEXaMedia’s video below, or watch it in full by clicking here.

Tomioka, Japan is an especially quiet town after the meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear reactor.

001 HEXaMedia HEXaMedia

A solar-powered device measures ambient radiation still left over from the event.

002 HEXaMedia HEXaMedia

By and large, people are nowhere to be found.

003 HEXaMedia HEXaMedia

This used to be an operational train station that’s become overgrown and unusable.

004 HEXaMedia HEXaMedia

Even from a drone’s high vantage point, there’s little evidence of people outside of their abandoned homes and shops.

005 HEXaMedia HEXaMedia

The most obvious thing one can see is evidence of the tsunami’s destruction.

006 HEXaMedia HEXaMedia

The tsunami was powerful enough to pick up a boat and set it down next to this road.

007 HEXaMedia HEXaMedia

Pulling away from the boat by drone, we can see just how far inland the tsunami swept the boat.

008 HEXaMedia HEXaMedia

Plant life bounced back relatively quickly.

009 HEXaMedia HEXaMedia

People who survived saw their homes destroyed.

010 HEXaMedia HEXaMedia

Looking at things up close, we see lots of garbage left behind.

011 HEXaMedia HEXaMedia

Looking at things from farther away, it’s overwhelmingly desolate.

012 HEXaMedia HEXaMedia

Tomioka’s future is a bit uncertain.

013 HEXaMedia HEXaMedia

Now watch it in full below:


HEXaMedia / Vimeo

- Dylan Love / Nicky Ryan

Read: Engineers begin dangerous task of removing fuel rods from Fukushima >

Published with permission from
Business Insider
Your Voice
Readers Comments
38
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.