RIKUZENTAKATA, japan —
With moments of silence and prayers, Japan today was remembering the earthquake and tsunami that struck the nation one year ago, killing more than 19,000 people and unleashing the world’s worst nuclear crisis in a quarter century.
At dawn in the devastated northeastern coastal town of Rikuzentakata, dozens of people from across Japan gathered to offer prayers in front of a solitary pine tree that stands amid the barrenness, a symbol of survival. Some returned to where their houses and those of friends once stood, and placed flowers and small gifts for loved ones lost in the disaster.
Naomi Fujino, 42, a Rikuzentakata resident who lost her father in the tsunami, was in tears recalling March 11, 2011.
With her mother, she escaped to a nearby hill where they watched the enormous wave wash away their home. They waited all night, but her father never came to meet them as he had promised. Two months later, his body was found.
“I wanted to save people, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t even help my father. I cannot keep on crying,” Fujino said. “What can I do but keep on going?”
Later today, memorial ceremonies to mark 2:46 p.m. — the precise moment the magnitude-9.0 earthquake hit — were planned along the northeastern coast and in Tokyo, where the emperor and prime minister were scheduled to speak at the National Theater.
The quake was the strongest recorded in Japan’s history, and set off a tsunami that towered more than 65 feet in some spots along the northeastern coast, destroying thousands of homes and wreaking widespread destruction.
About 325,000 people rendered homeless remain in temporary housing. While much of the debris has been gathered into massive piles, little rebuilding has begun.
Many towns are finalizing reconstruction plans, some of which involve moving residential areas to higher ground. Bureaucratic delays in coordination between the central government, prefectural (state) authorities and local officials have slowed rebuilding efforts.
An anti-nuclear protest was also planned for today in downtown Tokyo amid growing public opposition to atomic power in the wake of the disaster, the worst since Chernobyl in 1986.
