Midnight 16 July 2012, a ceremony was held as Iitate Village, in Fukushima Prefecture, was officially fenced off.

Iitate is now divided into three zones, based on radiation levels.

In the most radioactive area only people with homes in the area are allowed in, but only for a few hours and never overnight!

This is the beginning of government efforts to manage decontamination efforts, more than one year after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident began.

However, 85% of Iitate is woodland and rice fields, and the government has not announced any plans to decontaminate those areas.