Once picnic zone near Japan nuclear plant now a no-go zone

Part of the town of Tomioka, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, is still a no-go zone 10 years after a meltdown sent radioactive fallout over the area.

An abandoned restaurant stands surrounded by weeds in the exclusion zone in Tomioka town, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan, Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021.

The no-go zone is about 12% of the town but was home to about one-third of Tomioka’s population of 16,000.

This photo shows the inside view of an abandoned business office in the exclusion zone in Tomioka town, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan, Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021.

It remains closed after the rest of the town in northeastern Japan was reopened in 2017.

This photo shows inside an abandoned restaurant in the exclusion zone in Tomioka town, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan, Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021.

Only those with official permission from the town office can enter the area for a daytime visit.

A statue stands surrounded by weeds at a park in the exlcusion zone in Tomioka town, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan, Friday, Feb. 26, 2021.

Part of the area, called Yonomori, used to be a commercial center dotted with shops, houses, a 7-Eleven convenience store and a popular regional supermarket chain called York Benimaru.

Streets that lead into some residential areas are closed with barricades and are indicated with signs for the exclusion zone in Tomioka town, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan, Friday, Feb. 26, 2021.

The area also includes Yonomori Park, surrounded by streets lined with cherry trees, where townspeople used to gather for “hanami” (flower viewing) parties, picnicking under the blossoms and walking through a tunnel of flowering trees.

A set of swings looks over a weed-covered playground of an elementary school that was used until children evacuated due to a nuclear scare following a 2011 earthquake in Futaba town, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021.

This part of the no-go zone is designated a special recovery site and officials want to reopen it in 2023.

Bags containing radioactive soil, chopped down tree branches and other debris collected from the area are temporarily placed at a park seen during a tour guided by a Tomioka town official in the exclusion zone in Tomioka town, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan, Friday, Feb. 26, 2021.

The other half of the zone is a nuclear waste dump, an area filled with black bags containing radioactive soil, chopped down tree branches and other contaminated debris collected from across the town.

This photo shows bags containing radioactive soil, chopped down tree branches and other debris collected from areas affected by the nuclear power plant disaster following a 2011 earthquake and tsunami, at a temporary storage area in the exclusion zone in Tomioka town, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan, Friday, Feb. 26, 2021.

The bags will eventually be sent to a midterm waste storage facility in Futaba and Okuma, the two towns that host the nuclear plant.

A collapsed gate at a Buddhist temple sits in Futaba town, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021.

This photo shows solar panels installed to provide electricity, Tomioka town, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan, Friday, Feb. 26, 2021.

This photo shows firefighters' clothing at a fire station in Futaba town, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021.

A clock at a fire station in Futaba town shows a few minutes after 2:46, the time when a massive earthquake occurred on March 11, 2011, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021.

A collapsed building at a Buddhist temple lies in Futaba town, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021. The temple is in the area that used to be designated as the nuclear disaster exclusion zone, but part of the zone has been lifted since March 2020. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)

This photo shows inside a house seen through an open window in Futaba town, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021.

This photo shows the damaged Unit 1 reactor (back) and the exhaust stack shared with the Unit 1 and 2 reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma town, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan, Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021.

A community patrol vehicle moves amid deserted houses in Futaba town, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021.

Cluttered desks are left abandoned in the city hall offices of the town of Namie, inside the 20-kilometer (12-mile) exclusion zone around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, northeastern Japan, July 8, 2011.

An abandoned pachinko parlor sits along highway 6 near Tomioka, inside the 20-kilometer (12-mile) exclusion zone around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, northeastern Japan, July 16, 2011.

An abandoned bicycle rests on a road partially blocked by ships that washed ashore in the town of Namie, inside the 20-kilometer (12-mile) exclusion zone around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, northeastern Japan, July 24, 2011.

A stray dog looks back at the ruins of a tsunami-destroyed neighborhood in the Odaka area of Minamisoma, inside the deserted evacuation zone established in the 20-kilometer (12-mile) radius around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors, April 8, 2011.