A woman paying a brief visit to her home walks under a sign reading 'Nuclear power – the energy for a better future', at the entrance of the empty Futaba town. Decades ago the citizens ofFutaba took such pride in hosting part of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex that they built a sign over a promenade proclaiming that atomic power made their town prosperous. Photo: Damir Sagolj / Reuters

A woman paying a brief visit to her home walks under a sign reading ‘Nuclear power – the energy for a better future’, at the entrance of the empty Futaba town. Decades ago the citizens ofFutaba took such pride in hosting part of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex that they built a sign over a promenade proclaiming that atomic power made their town prosperous. Photo: Damir Sagolj / Reuters

3 October 2013 (The Guardian) – In 2011 a massive earthquake and tsunami wrecked the Fukushima nuclear plant, resulting in a meltdown that became the world’s worst atomic crisis in 25 years. About 160,000 people living near the plant were ordered to move out and the government established a 12-mile compulsory evacuation zone. [more]

Fukushima’s deserted towns – in pictures