‘Great Walls’ and Geiger Counters: Life After Japan’s Triple Disaster Ten years after the Great East Japan Earthquake, the rebuilding process continues for the few who have returned to the region. By March 11, 2021 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. Credit: AP Photo/Hiro Komae Advertisement A long steel fence stretches along the perimeter of Tomioka city. It is the only physical barrier between the radioactive areas and where residents have been partially allowed to return. Here begins the exclusion zone: 370 square kilometers of land still undergoing decontamination. The damaged reactors of the Fukushima plant are less than 10 kilometers away.