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Nearly three years after Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Futaba, Japan was paralyzed by an earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, triggering the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl, members of the media and Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) wear protective suits and masks inside the No. 5 reactor building.
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Children bow to greet their nursery school teacher as they get into a school bus heading to the Emporium kindergarten in Koriyama, west of the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Shortly after the disaster, the city recommended that children up to two years old not spend more than 15 minutes outside in Koriyama each day. Those aged 3 to 5 should limit their outdoor time to 30 minutes or less. The limits were lifted last year, but many kindergartens and nursery schools continue to obey them even now, in line with the wishes of worried parents. An annual survey by the Fukushima prefecture Board of Education found that children in Fukushima weighed more than the national average in virtually every age group. The cause seems to be a lack of exercise and outdoor activity.
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Upon her arrival at the Emporium kindergarten in Koriyama, a girl runs past a geiger counter, measuring a radiation level of 0.122 microsievert per hour.
Toru Hanai/Reuters![galleries/2014/03/11/fukushima-three-years-later/140310-fukushim6_jv9ljp](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/JPFPS57BUNJV5EZQ55KOHP2OQU.jpg?auth=772357451cfb4263b28b2e30ebc83cace9764c41154d1a138563b35949c3d7e2&width=800&height=533)
Four-year-old Iori Hiyama rides a tricycle at an indoor playground, which was built for children and parents who refrain from playing outside because of concerns about nuclear radiation in Koriyama.
Toru Hanai/Reuters![galleries/2014/03/11/fukushima-three-years-later/140310-fukushim4_s3cwmd](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/WG6K6MTL5RIDPMUXWPDXAR6EMA.jpg?auth=3c16c4ce2905845c45014100fc6652dc9487fe75212dd09e80924da638f8b8df&width=800&height=533)
Children play dodge ball in a playroom at the Emporium kindergarten in Koriyama.
Toru Hanai/Reuters![galleries/2014/03/11/fukushima-three-years-later/140310-fukushim7_obcaak](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/IUMDKSVSEZOZLAWZXON7XFJ4RA.jpg?auth=0753414b675227fb254a7eaef9c0cc7a8475e17130d4deb93199b7ce391fd2f3&width=800&height=533)
Two-year-old Nao Watanabe plays in a ball pit at the indoor playground.
Toru Hanai/Reuters![galleries/2014/03/11/fukushima-three-years-later/140310-fukushim12_qaqygp](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/JHTIXYSVWRL47IERKEEEQVMWUY.jpg?auth=238b7e0f1164302f8c82e12d528296769ffbb8b36cb7c4eff2778de62e83fa26&width=800&height=533)
Children play at the indoor playground facility in Koriyama.
Toru Hanai/Reuters![galleries/2014/03/11/fukushima-three-years-later/140310-fukushim8_qxxvnm](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/FPSB6Q7PNZP6FH6PL5ZIONJEGY.jpg?auth=fd8da095d7358cbb7844f1398424262708a12c93caa1ce8adca88b87331a1f10&width=800&height=533)
Paper crafts of Japanese ornamental "hina" dolls, made by children, are displayed on a wall at the Emporium kindergarten in Koriyama.
Toru Hanai/Reuters![galleries/2014/03/11/fukushima-three-years-later/140310-fukushim5_ezos1h](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/OTMCMEGVEZOQZBMUJFV6Q4XVOQ.jpg?auth=8a193f63560b98193b7b4286c2398f559387717ed712c1030f0117a853f7bc2c&width=800&height=533)
A TEPCO employee wears a protective suit and a mask during a blackout demonstration inside the central control room for the No. 1 and No. 2 reactors at the tsunami-crippled TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma.
Pool photo by Toru Hanai![galleries/2014/03/11/fukushima-three-years-later/140310-fukushim9_tf8y6t](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/AEMUHVOBRRJ2JGH6HCWX7ZHO64.jpg?auth=72badba24fb78647ad555dc5a7d60b85d8d8974d5ce4b2d6368dd0f894c713fd&width=800&height=533)
Members of the media and TEPCO employees walk towards No. 1 reactor building at TEPCO's tsunami-crippled Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Pool photo by Toru Hanai![galleries/2014/03/11/fukushima-three-years-later/140310-fukushim10_diyaml](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/4RCTXBCNLFP2RFR4NA3FNPDC6Q.jpg?auth=3c925c4484fb9a3d1c9969096fe37958259468c4b09f040d776fff3be5471313&width=800&height=533)
A drawing of two dolphins is seen at an abandoned swimming pool at the tsunami-destroyed coastal area of the evacuated town of Namie, only some 6 kilometers from the crippled Daiichi power plant.
Damir Sagolj/Reuters![galleries/2014/03/11/fukushima-three-years-later/140310-fukushim11_fnynja](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/H4OG42OWL5NODC6YO64ESQKSLA.jpg?auth=1e6fce39809a5add7c68d62ae558f8133d9d7f2a3ea2fb3c9e8865cb6f3e6dde&width=800&height=533)
Mieko Okubo, 59, poses with a portrait of her father-in-law Fumio Okubo who committed suicide in the evacuated town of Iitate. Fumio, a 102-year-old farmer, hanged himself in the house he lived in all his life after authorities ordered evacuation from the area following the nuclear disaster. Mieko, who lives outside the exclusion zone, comes back every other day to feed Fumio's dog and clean the house. Asked about Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020, Mieko said: "Honestly? They didn't have to run for Olympic games this time. They can spend that money on Fukushima. Many of my friends say the same—we are afraid to be forgotten because of the Olympics."
Damir Sagolj/Reuters![galleries/2014/03/11/fukushima-three-years-later/140310-fukushim13_nusvey](https://www.thedailybeast.com/resizer/v2/6DLANY5DKFNH5FPS3NM55KR77U.jpg?auth=9a3815641273b7fb9073d04a074ae87f3248670c2cd054bbb0da74bd48d7f45b&width=800&height=533)
Fishing boats sit grounded on land three years after the disaster in Namie, near the striken nuclear plant. The 9.0 magnitude earthquake in 2011 sent a huge wall of water into the coast of the Tohoku region, splintering whole communities, ruining swathes of prime farmland and killing nearly 19,000 people.