4 years later, Japan’s tsunami victims frozen in their tragedy

Japan on Wednesday commemorates the fourth anniversary of the quake-tsunami disaster that swept away thousands of victims and sparked a nuclear crisis, while survivors are still struggling to recover from the tragedy. Remembrance ceremonies will be held in towns and cities around the disaster zone and in Tokyo, where Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko are to lead tributes to those who died in Japan’s worst peacetime disaster. A national moment of silence is to follow the cry of tsunami alarm sirens that will be set off at 2:46 p.m. local time, the moment a 9.0-magnitude undersea quake hit. Its gigantic force unleashed a towering wall of water that traveled at the speed of a jet plane to the coast. Within minutes, communities were turned to matchwood, and whole families drowned. Almost 16,000 people died and 2,500 are still missing.

Somebody needs to do this, walking along the shore. Otherwise there is no possibility that anyone will be found.

Takayuki Ueno, who combed a desolate winter beach during the weekend for the bones of his 3-year-old son

Thousands of people afflicted by the tsunami remain unable to turn the page on the horror of 2011. For them, grief is frozen in time because they cannot find the bodies they need to mourn. According to the government, nearly 230,000 people have been displaced, of whom 80,000 still live in temporary houses.

Reconstruction is shifting to a new stage. We will help disaster victims become self-sustaining. As the government, we will provide the best possible support.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

World Japan tsunami