Japan nuclear crisis: the ghost towns inside Fukushima exclusion zone - Telegraph.co.uk

Everyday, a few of the 140,000 people who once lived here drive into the zone to retrieve their abandoned belongings. There are even rumours that some old people have chosen to stay inside the zone, too frail to escape with everyone else.

Visitors are advised to remove all outer layers of clothing afterwards, including shoes, seal them in a bag and throw them away.

However, at a nearby evacuation centre, Toshimi Owada, 34, grinned as he was screened for radiation poisoning. The Geiger counters again gave him a clean bill of health.

"This is the third time I have been into the red zone," he said. "I make sure I wear a mask and I try to be careful. I only stay an hour or so, two at the most." This time, he managed to salvage his family's bank books and other documents.

"I think that in one year it will still be difficult for us to go back there," he said. "We're not getting much information and I do wish someone would tell us how long it will be before we can go home."