Five years ago March 11, a magnitude-9.0 off the coast of northern Japan unleashed a massive tsunami, a disaster that lives on in many ways and will continue to do so for decades to come.
More than 19,000 people were killed.
Entire villages were laid to waste and power to a nuclear plant was cut off, triggering multiple meltdowns in the world’s second-worst nuclear disaster.
They feel like refugees, although they live in one of the world’s richest and most peaceful nations.
Five years ago, these former residents of Fukushima fled their homes as a nearby nuclear plant melted down.
Although the government has started to open up previously off-limits areas, most ‘nuclear refugees’ don’t believe it is safe to go back.
In comparative images, here’s how residents in towns and cities of Japan have rebuilt their lives in the last five years.
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Higashimatsushima city in Miyagi.
Yamada town in Iwate.
Shinchi, Soma District.
Rikuzentakata city in Iwate.
Onagawa city in Miyagi.
Natori city in Miyagi.
Kesennuma city.
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Iwaki, Hamadōri.
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