Google Street View cameras take you inside the nuclear ghost towns created in the wake of Fukushima disaster

The world has been given a rare glimpse into one of Japan’s eerie ghost towns that remain deserted two years after the country’s triple disaster.

Google Street View has released new pictures inside the 12-mile exclusion zone around Namie that was devastated in 2011 by the earthquake and tsunami.

The natural disasters sparked the Fukushima nuclear disaster that left the area uninhabitable.

The stark pictures were captured this month after Namie town mayor Tamotsu Baba invited Google into his town.

Google Streetview allows people to see inside the exclusion zone two year's after the nuclear meltdownGoogle Street View allows people to see inside the exclusion zone two years after the nuclear meltdown

The 2011 tsunami crippled the power plant leaving devastation in its wakeThe 2011 tsunami crippled the power plant leaving devastation in its wake

Google said by publishing the pictures it wants to show the world what the town of Namie now looks like Google said by publishing the pictures it wants to show the world what the town of Namie now looks like

Thousands of residents fled after the meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant Thousands of residents fled after the meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant

They show a town abandoned in a hurry as thousands of residents fled to safety.

Within the no-go area lies a ship stranded on a stretch of dirt flattened when the tsunami hit the coastline.

Concrete rubble is strewn across the roads and shops lie empty and cars abandoned in fields.

Google Street View pieces together digital images captured by Google’s fleet of camera-equipped vehicles and allows viewers to take virtual tours of locations around the world.

The technology has revealed to the world what Namie’s 21,000 residents left behind and what many will never see again in person.

They have not been able to return since they fled the radiation spewing from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant two years ago.

Koto Naganuma, 32, who lost her home in the tsunami, said some people will find it too painful to see the places that were so familiar but cannot return to.

The use of such technology is the only way the public can see inside the 12-mile exclusion zone The use of such technology is the only way the public can see inside the 12-mile exclusion zone

The basketball net in a sports hall remains intact but the disaster formed a huge crater in the ground The basketball net in a sports hall remains intact but the disaster formed a huge crater in the ground

Images, such as this one of a damaged housImages, such as this one of a damaged house, will be made available on Google Maps, Google Earth and the Memories for the Future site

The town's mayor Tamotsu Baba said memories came flooding back after he saw the images The town’s mayor Tamotsu Baba said memories came flooding back after he saw the images

 

A year ago she returned for just a few minutes to her former home town.

She said: ‘I’m looking forward to it. I’m excited I can take a look at those places that are so dear to me. It would be hard, too. No one is going to be there.’

Mayor Baba invited Google into the town earlier this month.

He said memories came flooding back as he saw the pictures and he hopes they will act as a permanent reminder of what residents lost.

He spotted an area where an autumn festival used to be held and another of an elementary school that was once packed with schoolchildren.

‘Those of us in the older generation feel that we received this town from our forbearers, and we feel great pain that we cannot pass it down to our children,’ he said in a post on his blog.

He wrote: ‘We want this Street View imagery to become a permanent record of what happened to Namie-machi in the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster.’

Highways are deserted but adverts and road signs were seemingly undamaged by the destruction Highways are deserted but adverts and road signs were seemingly undamaged by the destruction

It is hoped the Street View images will act as a permanent record of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster It is hoped the Street View images will act as a permanent record of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster

It was the second anniversary of the disaster, which ripped buildings apart and left thousands homeless It was the second anniversary of the disaster, which ripped buildings apart and left thousands homeless

In total about 160,000 people fled the evacuation zone and are still living in temporary housing.

Google said in a statement quoted by The Guardian: ‘By capturing and publishing this imagery, we hope to allow people in Namie, in Japan and all around the world to see what the town currently looks like.

‘We also hope that this will keep alive memories of the disaster for future generations.’

The prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has promised to speed up the construction of homes for displaced tsunami survivors and nuclear evacuees.

The images will be made available on Google Maps, Google Earth and the Memories for the Future site, according to The Guardian.

Street View was started in 2007, and now provides images from more than 3,000 cities across 48 countries, as well as parts of the Arctic and Antarctica.

Read more: Daily Mail UK

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