March 11 marks the third anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. In Koriyama, near the crippled nuclear plant, city officials recommended shortly after the disaster that children under two years old not spend more than 15 minutes outside each day to avoid radiation exposure. Those aged three to five 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, in line with the wishes of worried parents. (13 PHOTOS)
Three Years After Fukushima, Children's Lives Still Confined Indoors
1
A boy plays with a paper plane in the corridor of a kindergarten in Koriyama.
2
Children play in an indoor sand box.
3
Children play dodgeball at their kindergarten.
4
Four-year-old Iori Hiyama rides a tricycle at an indoor playground.
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A girl stands by the door of a teacher's staff room.
6
Children play in an indoor sand box.
7
A girl runs past a Geiger counter as she arrives at school.
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A girl wears a mask as she rides a school bus.
9
Two-year-old Sakuya Zui plays at an indoor playground.
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Two-year-old Nao Watanabe plays in a ball pit.
11
A doctor conducts a thyroid examination on a five-year-old girl as her older brother and a nurse take care of her at a clinic in a temporary housing complex in Nihonmatsu.
12
Seven-year-old Masyoshi Kaneta plays video games at home in Koriyama.
13
A man passes by a Geiger counter during radiation decontamination work at a park in Koriyama.