Top down view
A map of the roads around Namie that you can view with Google Maps. The town's mayor, Tamotsu Baba, invited Google to tour the town evacuated in March 2011 following the Fukushima plant disaster.
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Top down view
A map of the roads around Namie that you can view with Google Maps. The town's mayor, Tamotsu Baba, invited Google to tour the town evacuated in March 2011 following the Fukushima plant disaster.
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No mail today
The shuttered post office in central Namie. When citizens were evacuated, they were moved to temporary housing in Nihonmatsu, Fukushima, where the town's government installed a whole-body dosimeter to evaluate former Namie residents' internal radiation levels.
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On the outskirts
Outside town, there are many piles of garbage and debris as well as abandoned buildings. Namie and its outskirts were damaged during the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami that affected the Fukushima plant.
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See right through you
A close-up of the disheveled building.
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People withdrawal
A collapsed stone building across the street from a Toho Bank.
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One falls, one stands
A fallen building next to another with its roof tiles coming loose.
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I was told there would be cars
An abandoned gas station and highway. Before the disaster, Namie was home to 22,000 people who were evacuated following the plant meltdown.
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What are you doing here?
A couple of men wearing hard hats who appear to be doing some kind of cleanup outside this building. We spotted a few people moving around town, though all seemed to be part of a cleanup crew.
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Seek care elsewhere
An abandoned hospital with garbage scattered along both sides of the street.
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Did somebody say...
According to Google Maps, there's a McDonald's inside this abandoned shopping mall.
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Overflowing garbage
An overflowing garbage locker on a street in town.
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School's out forever
The empty Namie Elementary School.
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Swing low
The playground across the street from the elementary school.
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Fallen roof
The fallen buildings in Namie are presumably a result of the March 2011 Tohoku earthquake. Even though some fell...
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Almost perfect
... A good number of roofs slid off with barely a tile out of place.
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Free stuff
A convenience or grocery store (though there's a clothing rack outside of it) bursting with abandoned goods.
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Even more free stuff
A closeup of the storefront.
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Car driving around
A car drove by Google's own vehicle while it toured the evacuated town. Namie is about 14 miles from the Fukushima nuclear plant site.
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Shopping and living
A desolate parking lot, store, and apartment complex.
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Buyer beware
A shopping mall with a few abandoned vehicles in the parking lot.
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No more fill-ups?
A Shell station in Namie. A year after residents were evacuated, they were given health handbooks to track their medical state following the Fukushima meltdown a few miles away.
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Tipples to avoid
Plenty of drink machines around Namie remain stocked with presumably irradiated liquids. Remember what happens in Fallout, kids.
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Hats off
Another roof that slid off its respective building into the street.
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The last checkout
The Hotel Namie in town.
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No reservations
A close-up of Hotel Namie's doors and window.
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Two things that smell awesome
A flower shop and laundromat stand empty behind a deserted parking lot.
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Closed for business
Two shuttered stores in central Namie, with an abandoned bike outside of one.
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Hungry?
A collapsed building next to a convenience store purveying "hamburg steak," among other delights.
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For sale, excellent prices
A bike store's doors loll open, offering its goods to passersby.
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Halfway house
Only one part of this building seems to have crumbled, leaving the other half without a facade.
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Death traps
Mangled cars on the outskirts of Namie that may have been damaged during the earthquake.
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Escape to the shore
Garbage bags line the coast to the east of Namie.
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