02/02/2016 Newsround

Hi, I'm Ayshah, with a special Newsround.

It's nearly five years since Japan was hit by one of the most

powerful earthquakes ever.

It caused a tsunami out at sea, bringing a massive wave

which destroyed whole towns in its path.

Leah travelled to Japan to meet some children who are still affected

by what happened.

Tokyo, it's a fast moving city that never sleeps,

home to millions of people.

It's also a place where earthquakes are a way of life.

But on the 11th of March 2011, the country was struck by one

of the most powerful quakes in years.

The quake struck in the middle of the working day.

On Newsround, there's only one story.

The massive earthquake that has hit Japan.

Just before three in the afternoon, one of the most powerful earthquakes

on record hit north-eastern Japan.

But something more devastating was on its way.

These are the rather shocking and amazing pictures that

are coming into us live now from the state broadcaster.

The earthquake triggered a tsunami right out at sea,

and a half an hour later, a ten metre high wave slammed

into the coast, destroying everything in its path,

including the town of Ishinomaki.

Ishinomaki was one of the many coastal towns along the north-east

of the country badly hit by the tsunami.

Many homes, businesses and schools were simply washed away.

Today, in Ishinomaki, life is returning to normal.

One girl who will never forget what happened that day is Hinako.

I was sitting somewhere here when we felt the quake.

At first I didn't think it would be that big,

but soon I realised it would be huge.

We all went under desks to protect ourselves,

but the desks were shifting and the windows were broken.

We all knew the earthquake would not be as small as the ones

we were used to.

So, this is the room that Hinako and her friends witnessed

the tsunami wave rising and rising, and it was quite

fast and quite high.

It was shocking to see the seat and swings floating in the water,

rising up high enough to cover the whole slide.

I wondered if I was outside at this very moment,

what would happen to me?

Hinako took us to how where her old house used to be.

No one in the house was killed but this empty spot

is all that remains.

This is where your home used to be.

Can you tell us what happened to it?

Ever since I was born, I lived in this house with my mum,

dad and big sister.

She was alone at home when the tsunami hit the house.

She ran to our neighbour and saw a car being washed away

by the tsunami.

She insisted she never wanted to live around here again.

That's why we decided to leave the area.

My school friends helped me out through the difficult times

after the tsunami.

I have many friends now.

I feel very lucky.

It's great to see children like Hinako back in the classroom

with friends who support one another.

But there's a town not too far away from here that is thought to be too

dangerous for anybody to live.

This is Tomioka Town.

Just look around.

It's deserted.

Shop fronts were completely destroyed, cars overturned,

and the reason people don't live here any more

is because of something called radiation.

It leaked from the nuclear power station just a few kilometres

from here after the building was hit by a powerful wave.

Nuclear energy provides us with some of the electricity

which powers our homes.

It's made in power plants by something called

a nuclear fission reaction.

This process creates lots of energy, some

of which is in the form of radiation.

Normally, the radioactive material is sealed within

the nuclear power station.

But in this power plant, the damage caused by the tsunami

meant that some of the radiation leaked out.

You can't taste, smell or see radiation with your eyes,

but very high levels of exposure can make you ill.

Many people in Japan were very worried about what had happened.

After the accident, Japan's government moved everyone living

within a few miles of the plant and closed it down.

It was the world's worst nuclear disaster for 25 years.

This would have been the main street into the town.

But today, nobody lives or works here.

And it's been like this ever since the government ordered people

to leave, concerned over dangerously high levels of radiation that may

have fallen to the ground after the nuclear plant disaster.

But it's OK for us to be here today because we're wearing these plastic

protective covers on our shoes and we're only

here for a short time.

Some scientists have tried to reassure people that areas

like this, close to the power plant, are safe.

Others think it could take hundreds of years for all the radiation

to completely break down.

It's playtime here in Koriyama city.

It's a two-hour drive from the nuclear plant.

This place was built a year after the disaster

and it was a chance to give children a safe environment to play and also

to have loads of fun.

Fear of radiation means many parents prefer their children to play

indoors, and that means many children here have no idea what it's

like to play outside in the fresh air.

This is one of Koriyama's biggest parks, and with school just

finishing, you'd expect this place to be packed full

of children playing.

Over there is a gadget that monitors the radiation.

At the moment it is safe but it is a fear of radiation

that is keeping people away.

But things are slowly starting to change.

The fear of radiation isn't completely gone.

We have less opportunity to play outside compared

to before the disaster.

And when we were stuck indoors, we were all getting angry

and arguing a lot.

We can now go outside more and that's made us closer

and better friends.

Before the quake I was playing with my friends outside,

sometimes playing ball and having barbecues over the weekend.

We couldn't use the school field, even though we wanted to be active.

That made us pretty stressed.

Now I have more friends and we enjoyed being able to play

together as a group.

What happened that day and the destruction that it brought

will stay with the people of Japan forever.

Natural disasters will always be a part of life for children here,

but I have witnessed their strength and determination to get

back to normal.

But more than anything, it's friendship and families

being together that made them strong and able to cope with whatever might

come their way in the future.