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News in Pictures: 13 Years On, Tohoku Remembers 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:41 JST, March 12, 2024

Many people visited seaside areas and monuments in the Tohoku region on Monday to remember loved ones lost in the Great East Japan Earthquake and massive tsunami that devastated the region 13 years ago. This year, victims of the Noto Peninsula Earthquake that struck Ishikawa Prefecture on New Year’s Day were also remembered.

The Yomiuri Shimbun
A woman writes a message on a beach in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, on Monday morning.

Taiko Ishikawa, 58, lost an old friend in the disaster on March 11, 2011. Early Monday morning, she visited a beach in Sendai’s Wakabayashi Ward.

Praying toward the sea, she said to her friend, “Please watch over me, as I live with gratitude for being able to lead a normal life, also on behalf of those who left us.”

The Yomiuri Shimbun
A relative of a town official killed by the tsunami offers a flower at a memorial ceremony in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on Monday.

On Sunday night, the courtyard of the former Kesennuma Koyo High School in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, was lit up with 2,500 LED lights. Tsunami waves reached the fourth floor of the building in 2011, and it is now preserved as a memorial museum.

The Yomiuri Shimbun
LED lights are lit in the courtyard of the former Kesennuma Koyo High School, now a memorial museum, in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, on Sunday.

The lights formed the numbers “3.11” for the quake in Tohoku and “1.1” for the quake in Noto, also expressing hope for the swift reconstruction of disaster-struck areas in Noto.

The Yomiuri Shimbun
People look at candles in Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, on Sunday.

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Residents engage in traditional performing arts to honor the victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, on Sunday.

“I can understand the feelings of the Noto disaster victims because I experienced days of anxiety myself due to water and power outages,” said a 38-year-old high school teacher at the site. “I hope people in Noto can return to their normal daily lives soon.”