Ghost Town: Abandoned Areas Around Fukushima Pictured Four Years After Nuclear Meltdown

GHOST towns in Fukushima are pictured four years after 100,000 people fled nuclear meltdown

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Ghost town: A decontamination officer wears a suit to protect himself from radiation

Images from forbidden zones show decontamination and construction workers, many of whom used to live in the towns, employed as part of a government funded clean-up operation.

A solitary man sits on the border of the forbidden zone

One poignant photo shows a flower memorial to a victim of the tsunami, which caused three of six reactors in the Fukushima 1 Nuclear Power Plant into meltdown.

Fog obscures the lake as unusual fishing boats are moored in the harbour

Photographer Pierre Boutier shot images of people who have been allowed into the forbidden zones, to help restore the areas back to civilian use.

Nearly 3,000 people work in the forbidden zone - and some do not wear a mask

He said: “More than 3,000 workers are busy every day in the off-limits areas for cleaning tasks.

“Without further possibilities of making a living after fishing was prohibited as well as the culture of risky rice fields was prohibited the only option is to become a cleaner."

Do not enter: A sign warns of high radiation levels

Pierre also photographed the town of Naraha 20km from the nuclear plant - an off-limits zone which only decontamination and reconstruction workers have access to.

Enter if you dare: A replica of the Statue of Liberty is seen on the outskirts

One of the worst affected places is the city of Tomioka, where thousands of tons of radioactive waste is stored next to a destroyed railway station.

Nuclear waste is collected in black bags and dumped in open air

A small memorial is constructed in memory of a victim of the tsunami caused by the earthquake

Pierre, who took the photos on May 26, continued: "The marks of earthquake and tsunami are still present.

Abandoned: A car overturned by the tsunami is left to rot in the empty town

“The torn apart houses are still visible as well as the overturned cars, evoking the violence of the disaster that took place four years ago.

"Even a primary school has become the storage location for nuclear waste."

The vending machines and homes are left to rot in the abandoned town

The nuclear meltdown in 2011 was the result of a tsunami caused by a magnitude nine earthquake off the coast of Tohuku in Japan, which struck on March 11 causing reactors to leak a day later.