By TATSUYA SHIMADA/ Staff Writer
March 11, 2023 at 17:43 JST
Soon after the magnitude-9.0 Great East Japan Earthquake struck on March 11, 2011, photographers with The Asahi Shimbun took to the air to capture the devastation.
On March 5, photographers again were flying over the hardest-hit prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima to record the reconstruction of the areas ravaged by the earthquake and tsunami.
Many coastal areas are now protected by massive embankments, but the building of new homes on higher ground has led to the hollowing out of what once were residential areas of the communities.
A photo from the air taken of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant on March 12, 2011, doesn't show anything out of the normal.
But later that same day, a hydrogen explosion rocked the No. 1 reactor building and similar explosions also severely damaged the No. 3 and No. 4 reactor buildings over the next few days.
A huge number of storage tanks holding decontaminated water from the crippled reactors now lines the grounds of the nuclear power plant.
Residents of Fukushima tally 90% of current 3/11 evacuees
March 11, 2023
EDITORIAL: Fukushima crisis casts shadow on moves to expand nuclear power
March 11, 2023
Cities struggle to preserve ruined buildings hit by tsunami in 2011
March 10, 2023
2,500 people still unaccounted for from 2011 quake, tsunami disaster
March 10, 2023
Figure skating champion Ando melts tsunami survivor’s heart
March 7, 2023
Little progress seen in removing fuel debris at Fukushima plant
March 6, 2023
Man who failed to save girl asks: Am I allowed to be happy?
March 5, 2023
Many Fukushima mayors reluctant to take stand on nuke energy shift
March 4, 2023
Visit this page for the latest news on Japan’s battle with the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
The Asahi Shimbun aims “to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls” through its Gender Equality Declaration.
Let’s explore the Japanese capital from the viewpoint of wheelchair users and people with disabilities with Barry Joshua Grisdale.
Tsunami devastated the Taro district of Miyako, Iwate Prefecture, where smoke rises from fires in the left photo taken on March 12, 2011. The photo at the right was taken on March 5 of the same district. (Tatsuya Shimada)
