Two years after the the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011, and the following tsunami and nuclear disaster, a large area around the failed Fukushima nuclear plant is still considered an exclusion zone. Namie, a small city just north of the nuclear power plant, was evacuated shortly after the quake, and its 21,000 townspeople have been unable to return since, leaving it a ghost town. At the invitation of local officials, Google recently deployed its camera-equipped vehicles to Namie to create a street view map of the deserted town so residents can see their abandoned homes, and the world can witness the remains of the disaster. On Google's Map blog, Namie's Mayor Tamotsu Baba said, "Ever since the March disaster, the rest of the world has been moving forward, and many places in Japan have started recovering. But in Namie-machi time stands still... Those of us in the older generation feel that we received this town from our forebears, and we feel great pain that we cannot pass it down to our children." I've collected some of the scenes captured by the Google Maps crew below, a glimpse into an otherworldly landscape a few kilometers north of the Fukushima nuclear plant.
The empty shell of the tsunami-damaged Tanashio meeting house stands in Namie town, Japan, just north of the failed Fukushima nuclear power plant. Google recently sent its Street View team into Namie, still within the nuclear exclusion zone, to document the empty streets and fields, deserted now for more than two years. See this on the map.#
A jumble of stones lie in a cemetery just a few hundred feet from the shoreline. The stones and surrounding buildings were swept up by the massive tsunami two years ago. See this on the map.#
The exterior of Ukedo Elementary School, heavily damaged by the tsunami. The school's 92 students were able to evacuate before disaster struck. See this on the map.#
On the second floor of Ukedo Elementary School, long-abandoned computer monitors have become perches for sea birds seeking shelter, who have smeared the screens with droppings. See this on the map.#
Standing atop the Ukedo Elementary School, looking south, one can make out a few tall structures in the distance, belonging to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant, a few kilometers to the south. See this on the map.#
Recent scenes from Wuhan, Shanghai, Beijing, and other coronavirus-affected areas, where travel restrictions and quarantine measures have left many streets, parks, and malls deserted.