Coveted leather book bags remain in the cubby holes of a hastily evacuated classroom, months after the Fukushima nuclear incident. Children receive regular evacuation drills, so knew what to do, but were expecting to return in a few days.

An animal rights activist walks within half a kilometer of Fukushima Daiichi. Animal rescuers defied restrictions to aid abandoned pets and livestock.

The carcass of a cow lies in a farmyard within the contaminated nuclear exclusion zone, in July. No provision was made to evacuate pets or livestock following the Fukushima nuclear incident.

Dogs fight on the deserted streets of Okuma, near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, on 5 June.

An unmade bed, in Okuma, less than five kilometers from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, is testament to a hasty exodus. Evacuation orders were broadcast during a televised news conference before dawn on 12 March.

Grass sprouts from a wrecked car, more than four months after the Fukushima nuclear incident.

Nobuko Sanpei (74) eats dinner in her cardboard-box home, in an evacuee shelter at a convention center, in June. She cut a window into the wall because it was too hot inside.

An evacuee rests in a makeshift home in a convention center, in June.

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on 8 November, nearly eight months after the tsunami.

In a gym in Hirono, on 8 June, former residents of the exclusion zone are briefed before an escorted visit to their homes to retrieve a few small items.

The Tohoku earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Japan damaged vital cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. A 20-kilometer exclusion zone was declared around the plant, and more than 80,000 people were evacuated.

Men bathe at an evacuation center, three months after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear incident.

Portraits,3rd prize

Toku Konno