Residents make brief return to Fukushima – gallery

Takashige Kowata returns to his home in Okuma for what he believes will be the last time. When he arrived, he found it had been broken into Photograph: Robert Gilhooly for the Guardian

Officials don protective clothing and masks prior to ferrying residents to their homes Photograph: Robert Gilhooly for the Guardian

Residents gather outside a gym on the edge of the nuclear exclusion zone prior to being transported to their homes in Okuma Photograph: Robert Gilhooly for the Guardian

Residents put on protective clothing on a bus to Okuma Photograph: Robert Gilhooly for the Guardian

Residents register their names at a gym before being allowed to return and collect valuables from their homes Photograph: Robert Gilhooly for the Guardian

A woman stands by the entrance to her home in Okuma Photograph: Robert Gilhooly for the Guardian

A damaged building in Okuma Photograph: Robert Gilhooly for the Guardian

A man locks windows after being allowed home briefly to collect valuables Photograph: Robert Gilhooly for the Guardian

Dr Kyohei Takahashi examines a patient at his clinic in Minamisoma Photograph: Robert Gilhooly for the Guardian

Letters and other documents lie scattered on the floor of Takashige Kowata's home in Okuma Photograph: Robert Gilhooly for the Guardian

Plants and trees have begun to reclaim the roads of communities inside the nuclear exclusion zone Photograph: Robert Gilhooly for the Guardian