FUTABA, Fukushima Prefecture--Illuminated by the light of the moon that drifts in and out of the clouds, wild boars swaggering down a shopping avenue of a desolate town here are captured on camera, like ghostly swine.
The entire population of the town of Futaba, which co-hosts the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, is currently living elsewhere. Almost all of Futaba remains designated a "difficult-to-return zone" more than six and a half years after the nuclear disaster.
The streetscape of the area that is a no-entry zone at night remains as it was when the disaster occurred. Several cameras were set up in the area with the cooperation of the town government of Futaba.
In October, 16,166 photographs were taken in long exposures under the faint light of the moon. In some of those images, free-roaming wild boars as well as damaged buildings along the shopping avenue that were previously in operation could be seen.
The central government designated a part of difficult-to-return zones including the shopping avenue as a “rebuilding hub” in September. It plans to lift the evacuation order for the entire hub in 2022.
However, it is not known whether the residents will return to what is the current ghost town.