On March 11, 2011 disaster struck Fukushima, Japan
After an earthquake, a tsunami hit Okuma - the location of Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant.
After the earthquake, the working reactors automatically shut down, but power was lost to the remainder of the control systems.
Typically, emergency generators would have kicked in to supply power back to these controls.
However, the effects of the subsequent tsunami resulted in the failing of these generators.
Insufficient cooling led to three nuclear meltdowns, explosions and the release of nuclear radiation.
It's been 7 years since the residents have been forced to leave. Today we go back.
Where radiation is still present.
And clean-up is still ongoing.
Where homes are empty, roads are blocked and guards keep watch.
With people who can only get a glimpse of their former lives.
Hey, good day everyone. So today we are visiting Fukushima. This is a Akane's
hometown. Her house is just on the other side of those gates, but we're not
allowed to go in. So what we're going to do is we're just going to be walking around
this little part of town. This whole town is abandoned at the moment since the
radiation levels are too high to allow people to live.
Why don't you tell us about 2011.
I wasn't here.
But this area is my grandmothers garden.
But now I can't see anything. It's just weeds.
My house is just over there, but I can't see anything.
So for the last seven years you haven't been allowed to
come back to this place?
I came back once. I just I couldn't
stay more than one hour.
So I have to leave.
and that's because of high radiation levels?
Yeah, yeah.
How does it make you feel?
That you can't come back here?
Umm?
Kind of sad because...
I'm very familiar here because I lived for 20 years but, it's totally different.
When do you think that you'll be allowed to be here and go back?
I don't think. We can't.
We can't anymore.
Some area's you're allowed to live - I don't know, a year later.
I don't know. This area has high radiation.
We were forced to leave the area - especially with my camera.
Take a minute to read the signage along the highway. It tells a scary tale.
"Caution - No entry. R35. Motorcycles, Mopeds, Light vehicles, Bicycles, Pedestrians"
"Caution (high dose radiation area) please pass through as quickly as possible"
Traffic is rerouted at every intersection.
Gates exist at every house, business and side street.
The only road in and out of the nuclear plant.
Where you can still see the stacks of the plant in the background.
Alright guys, so we are back here at Akane's parents house. A really great day
out at Fukushima. It was interesting seeing everything. So one of
the things that you would have saw in the video are a bunch of black bags all
piled up on the sides of the road. Those actually contain grasses and dirt
from all the properties. So what happens, they had to scrape and take up all that
stuff up as it held a lot of the radiation in it, and then stored in those
black bags. Now what I still don't know is what happens to those black bags
after they're taken from the individual properties, but maybe that's
something we'll be able to find out later on. Alright everyone, I want to
thank you so much for watching, if you like the video just hit that thumbs up
button for me. If you're new to the channel, I want to say welcome, I hope you
like it, and I hope you subscribe. I hope to see everybody on the next
adventure tomorrow. Take care guys. Bye.
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Filmed September 2018