These Haunting Photos Capture The Current State Of The Fukushima Exclusion Zone In Japan

    "This disaster could have been foreseen and prevented."

    Mikey Nicholson
    by Mikey Nicholson

    BuzzFeed Staff, Australia

    In 2011, following a major earthquake, a tsunami forced the closure of four Japanese nuclear reactors.

    Arkadiusz Podniesinski / REX Shutterstock

    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.

    Polish photographer, Arkadiusz Podniesinski, visited the site in September 2015. He said, "My goal was to represent the actual state of the exclusion zone."

    Arkadiusz Podniesinski / REX Shutterstock

    "Futaba, Namie and Tomioka are ghost towns whose emptiness is terrifying and show a tragedy that affected hundreds of thousands of people."

    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

    Even supermarkets were abandoned...

    Arkadiusz Podniesinski / REX Shutterstock

    ...with products still on shelves and in aisles.

    Arkadiusz Podniesinski / REX Shutterstock

    Thousands of workers have been tirelessly cleaning the houses to allow residents the chance to return home.

    Arkadiusz Podniesinski / REX Shutterstock

    Podniesinski spoke with many concerned residents, "They do not believe the government's assurances that in 30 years from now the sacks containing radioactive waste will be gone. They are worried that the radioactive waste will be there forever." A drone photo of dump sites show sacks of contaminated radioactive soil stacked in layers to save space.

    While natural disasters caused the accidents, Podniesinski doesn't blame them.

    Arkadiusz Podniesinski / REX Shutterstock

    He says, "Humans are to blame for the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. This disaster could have been foreseen and prevented."