Page 4 - 2011 Disaster News Today

John Roos, then U.S. Ambassador to Japan, shakes hands with children at Kawamata Minami Elementary School in Kawamata, Fukushima Prefecture, on Jan. 17, 2012. (Asahi Shimbun file photo) Former U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos will never forget spearheading a highly stressful emergency response as the United States lent a helping hand following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster.  But the thing that stands out most in his mind even after the passing of 10 years...

OKUMA, Fukushima Prefecture--A decade ago, a massive tsunami crashed into the Fukushima No. 1 nuclea

Construction work continues in the Arahama area of Sendai. (Ryo Kato) The Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami not only sped the population decline in many municipalities in the northwestern prefectures of Miyagi and Iwate, it sparked population growth in Sendai, a core city in the Tohoku region. The tsunami, on top of leading to scores of fatalities along the Pacific coast, also forced many survivors to move elsewhere in search of homes and work. “Municipalities where population decreases...

Eiki Okuyama, center, receives the remains of his mother, Natsuko, at the Ishinomaki Police Station in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, on March 10. (Shinjiro Omiya) ISHINOMAKI, Miyagi Prefecture--The remains of a woman who went missing in the 2011 tsunami were returned to her son on March 10, just one day before the 10th anniversary of the disaster.  Remains identified as Natsuko Okuyama were discovered in February in the grounds of a company near her home in Higashi-Matsushima, Miyagi Prefectu...

Seiichi Koshita kneels in prayer and offers flowers at the foot of his younger brother’s grave in

The chief of Tokyo Electric Power Co. apologized to victims of the Fukushima nuclear disaster but ad

Yokozuna Hakuho stands next to a monument along with local children to mark the rebuilding of a sumo dohyo in Yamada, Iwate Prefecture. (Asahi Shimbun file photo) When yokozuna Hakuho turned 26 on March 11, 2011, the tragic events that transpired on his birthday that day made him feel it was his destiny to be a symbol of hope and encouragement.  That link to the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami has come out not only in Hakuhos comments after sumo tournaments over the years, but also thr...

Mieko Konno, left, principal of Takata Elementary School in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, on Oct. 20, 2020, introduces a woman who lost her son in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. (Provided by Mieko Konno) RIKUZENTAKATA, Iwate Prefecture—In this coastal city, almost everyone has a story of tragedy related to the 2011 disaster. But teachers at the city-run Takata Elementary School here had shielded the pupils from anything related to the tsunami that tore through the city on March 11, 2011...

Workers use gas burners at a glasshouse on Sept. 20, 2019, that opened in Minami-Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, after the Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster. (Shoko Rikimaru) The central government’s “reconstruction and revitalization period” for the Tohoku region is nearing an end and various infrastructure projects have been completed, but one thing remains missing in certain areas: people. Under the post-disaster rebuilding period (fiscal 2016 to fiscal 2020), seawa...

Michiyo Suzuki remains undecided on whether to return to her hometown of Futaba in Fukushima Prefecture, where the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is located. Michiyo Suzuki is pictured on Dec. 16, 2020, in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, a city she said she will never consider her real home. (Kyodo) When a massive earthquake and tsunami struck on March 11, 2011, her family was unable to find a space in an evacuation center and was forced instead to spend the night in their car. The next ...