This town can no longer support human life. The dogs, cats and farm animals left behind searched desperately for water and food. This bed remains exactly where it was left behind—right at the door of the hospital—when patients were evacuated. Very few people, other than security guards and those associated with the nuclear power station, were allowed within a 20km perimeter around the site of the accident. Residents were permitted to return once every two or three months, but visits were too short for them to properly care for the pets and lifestock left behind. Residents were not allowed to dispose of anything highly radioactive; as a result, homes and the town itself have remained exactly as they were at the time of the earthquake and tsunami. The ostriches from a local petting zoo and farm animals were returned to their cages on the orders of the government. With very few exceptions, they were either put down or left to starve without food or water. Residents say that some hospitals would refuse to treat patients who had been exposed to radiation. (Photographs provided by local residents .20km perimeter around Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Station . August 2011—September 2012 ) English by Judy Howland
