a lone piece of tuna sits at a stall in the tsukiji fish market saturday, march 19, 2011, in tokyo. one of the world's largest fish markets, the tsukiji fish market has seen a slowdown in its normally bustling pace as distribution system was shattered following the march 11 2011 tsunami triggered by earthquake.

 

Futoshi Sato said, "Overall it's very lonely. During the day, it's still crowded, but at night no one is walking around. Fukushima was a city where people would go out drinking, but not now. You can't go shopping and even if you go to a bar, they shut at 10pm to conserve energy."

Drinking and eating outside are activities few people here wish to engage in anymore, as many customers are concerned that the water and food might be contaminated.

Shigeru Matsuura, restaurant owner, said, "Everyone is worried, so they go home early and don't want to leave their houses. I think about thirty percent of the bars around here will have to give up."

Although the city's bar owners and restaurant employees wonder how much of a future they have, the people of Fukushima still soldier on.

But the government and the plant's operator have conceded there is no end in sight to the world's worst nuclear crisis since the Chernobyl disaster 25 years ago.