By Keow Wee Loong
Five years ago, an energy accident involving the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant rendered the Fukushima Prefecture in Japan uninhabitable. The power plant’s failure was primarily caused by a tsunami following the Tōhoku earthquake on March 11, 2011.
Photographer Keow Wee Loong entered the exclusion zone without a permit as he became impatient with the bureaucratic process of applying for one. He felt a burning sensation in his eyes and smelled chemicals in the air as he stepped into the deserted town.
According to Keow’s Facebook page, the town had remained largely unchanged since the energy crisis. There was little sign of looting as he could find objects such as food, money, gold and laptops in the exclusion zone.
Areas impacted by the 2011 nuclear accident included the towns of Okuma, Futaba, Namie and Tomioka.
Click to see more of Keow Wee Loong’s work on Facebook.