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Temporary housing residents' picture-story shows

MORIOKA, Japan - Yuriko Nakamura (front L) and other residents of temporary housing in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, damaged by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, hold hand-made picture-story cards based on local folklore on June 18, 2014, in the northeastern Japanese town.

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Fish shop owner in tsunami-hit town fillets salmon

TOKYO, Japan - Shoetsu Mukushi, owner of a family-run seafood-processing firm, cuts a lightly salted salmon into fillets in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on Dec. 8, 2014. The town and other parts of the northeastern Japan region of Tohoku were ravaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake and ensuing tsunami in 2011 but he revived the business a month after the disaster.

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Car parked near site of home swept away by 2011 tsunami

OTSUCHI, Japan - Yoshihiro Abe, who lost his parents in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that hit the northeastern Japan region of Tohoku, has his car parked in this file photo of Aug. 11, 2014, near the site of their home that was swept away by the disaster. He regularly visits the location in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, by driving about two hours from the inland town of Shiwa.

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Man takes flowers to parents' home on mother's birthday

OTSUCHI, Japan - Yoshihiro Abe, who lost his parents in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that hit the northeastern Japan region of Tohoku, carries flowers to the site of their home in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on July 7, 2014, the birthday of his mother Koyo.

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'Benzaiten' statue before and after repair

OTSUCHI, Japan - The repaired statue of "Benzaiten," a Japanese goddess originated from the Hindu goddess Saraswati, is shown on the right in Otsuchi town, Iwate Prefecture, on Aug. 31, 2014, a far cry from the tattered figure (L) pictured in May 2013 after it was damaged by the devastating 2011 tsunami.

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Repaired 'Benzaiten' statue unveiled in Iwate Pref.

MORIOKA, Japan - The statue of "Benzaiten," a Japanese goddess originated from the Hindu goddess Saraswati, is displayed in the town of Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on Aug. 31, 2014, after repairs from damaged caused by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami were completed. It was originally enshrined at the town's gourd-shaped Horai Island (L back), regarded as the model of the island in the TV puppet show "Hyokkori Hyotanjima."

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Tsunami-hit Otsuchi town compiles new evacuation map

OTSUCHI, Japan - The updated tsunami evacuation map created by the disaster-hit town of Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, is pictured in this undated photo. The map contains information to help residents prepare for a major tsunami, including evacuation sites and the need to carry photos of their family members if the members get separated, etc. The tentative version was made in August 2013.

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PM Abe visits Iwate Pref.

OTSUCHI, Japan - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe talks with members of the Otsuchi Recovery Sashiko Project group in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on July 2, 2014. After the visit to the prefecture, the prime minister revealed a plan to create a new funding scheme to offer financial support for reconstruction from the 2011 disaster. (Pool photo)

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PM Abe visits Iwate Pref.

OTSUCHI, Japan - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visits a factory of a marine product processing company in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on July 2, 2014. After the visit to the prefecture, the prime minister revealed a plan to create a new funding scheme to offer financial support for reconstruction from the 2011 disaster. (Pool photo)

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Man prays for his 2011 disaster-victim parents

OTSUCHI, Japan - Yoshihiro Abe prays for his parents, victims of the March 11, 2011, disaster, as he crouches on a walkway before a lot where his parent's home used to stand in the town of Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on June 11, 2014. A message to them that he sprayed on the path in blue ink says, "Where have you gone? We are all waiting for your return."

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Demolition of ex-Otsuchi town office bldg. begins

MORIOKA, Japan - Demolition works of the former town office building in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, begins in full-swing on June 4, 2014 by using heavy machinery. Since opinions of local residents are polarized regarding the demolition of the building, where 40 town officials died due to tsunami in the March 11 devastating earthquake in 2011, part of the building, including the front entrance, will be kept as a relic.

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Children plant 'miracle' rice seedlings

TONDABAYASHI, Japan - Elementary school students in Tondabayashi, Osaka Prefecture, on May 25, 2014, plant rice seedlings cultivated from the seeds of rice plants that were growing in the debris from the March 2011 tsunami disaster in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture.

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Garden designer Sasaki holds 'Kaze no Denwa' picture book

TOKYO, Japan - Garden designer Itaru Sasaki in February 2014 holds picture book "Kaze no Denwa" (The Phone of the Wind), themed after a phone booth he built to provide a place to mourn for people who lost their loved ones in the March 2011 disaster, in the town of Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture. Visitors talk with their missing or deceased family members or friends in their heart at the booth. The book was written by children's book author Yoko Imoto.

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Young returnees to Tohoku aiding post-earthquake recovery

MORIOKA, Japan - Photo taken June 7, 2013 shows Mamoru Kondo (back L) and Mariko Takada talking with a resident at a temporary housing site in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture. Kondo and Takada are among a growing number of young people who are returning to their hometowns in the Tohoku region to support their recovery from the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster.

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Tsunami memorial

OTSUCHI, Japan - Photo on March 26, 2013, shows the former town hall of Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, damaged by a tsunami in the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. Otsuchi Mayor Yutaka Ikarigawa expressed an intention on March 27, 2013, to preserve part of the building as a memorial.

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Shizuoka to dispose of debris from quake-hit Iwate

SHIZUOKA, Japan - Employees of the Shizuoka city government and local residents, in Shizuoka city on Oct. 18, 2012, measure levels of airborne radiation from incinerated debris generated in the town of Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Four Shizuoka municipalities the same day started receiving shipments of debris from Iwate Prefecture for disposal.

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Shizuoka to dispose of quake debris from Iwate

SHIZUOKA, Japan - Photo shows combustible debris generated by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in the town of Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, arriving for disposal at an incineration plant in Shizuoka city on Oct. 18, 2012. Four Shizuoka municipalities the same day started receiving debris from Iwate Prefecture for disposal.

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Tokyo NPOs provide tutors for kids in quake-hit town

OTSUCHI, Japan - Aya Kawai deals with questions from a junior high school student at a tutorial class in the town of Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on July 2, 2012. She is a staff member of a free after-school program launched by Tokyo-based nonprofit organizations.

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Initiation ceremony in tsunami-hit area

OTSUCHI, Japan - A newly hired employee of the Otsuchi town office in Iwate Prefecture receives a letter of appointment during an initiation ceremony at a temporary town office building in the tsunami-hit town on April 2, 2012. An estimated 800,000 people newly joined companies and government offices across Japan the same day, the first weekday of the country's new fiscal year.

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Temporary shopping center in Iwate Pref.

RIKUZENTAKATA, Japan - People flock to a makeshift shopping center set up in a schoolyard in the town of Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on Dec. 17, 2011. The shopping center opened the same day for people affected by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in the area.

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Disaster debris in Otsuchi

SENDAI, Japan - Debris from the massive March 11, 2011, tsunami is piled up on a beach in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, in northeastern Japan on Nov. 17, 2011.

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Astronaut Furukawa communicates with Tohoku children

OTSUCHI, Japan - An elementary school student (L) in the quake- and tsunami-hit town of Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, speaks with Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa aboard the International Space Station via radio on Oct. 15, 2011. Sixteen students from five elementary schools in the town participated in the event, chatting with the astronaut for about 10 minutes.

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Quake-hit schools begin classes at temporary building

OTSUCHI, Japan - Photo taken on Sept. 20, 2011 shows paper cranes made and presented by elementary school children in Shizuoka Prefecture hanging outside a classroom of a temporary school building in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture. The building has been constructed for pupils and students of four elementary schools and a junior high school in the town that were put out of use by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

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New mayor of tsunami-hit Otsuchi

OTSUCHI, Japan - Yutaka Ikarigawa (C) shakes hands with a supporter after winning the mayoral election in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on Aug. 28, 2011. The election was held to fill the vacancy left by the death of Mayor Koki Kato, who was killed in the March earthquake and tsunami.

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Gubernatorial race in disaster-hit Iwate Pref.

OTSUCHI, Japan - Voters listen to the speech of a gubernatorial candidate in the tsunami-hit town of Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on Aug. 25, 2011, on the first day of official election campaigning. The election had been postponed due to the March 11 quake and tsunami.

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Gubernatorial race in disaster-hit Iwate Pref.

OTSUCHI, Japan - Voters listen to the speech of a gubernatorial candidate in the tsunami-hit town of Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on Aug. 25, 2011, on the first day of official election campaigning. The election had been postponed due to the March 11 quake and tsunami.

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4 months after disaster

OTSUCHI, Japan - A Buddhist service is held at Kokishiji temple in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on July 11, 2011, as Japan marked four months after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

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U.S. envoy Roos in disaster-hit Iwate Pref.

OTSUCHI, Japan - U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos is welcomed by children at a high school in the quake- and tsunami-hit town of Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on June 28, 2011. Roos visited the northeastern Japan prefecture, where one of two American teachers confirmed dead in the disaster had been working, to show continued U.S. support for the areas.

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Tsunami-damaged public hospital resumes services

OTSUCHI, Japan - A public hospital in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, resumes services on June 27, 2011, at a prefabricated clinic after its previous building was submerged by the massive March 11 tsunami.

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Roses bearing messages of encouragement in petals

OTSUCHI, Japan - A woman looks at roses with messages of encouragement for people in tsunami-hit areas printed on their petals, such as ''Believe in reconstruction,'' at a shelter in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on June 13, 2011. Flower producers and wholesalers in Yamaguchi Prefecture, who have been donating part of their flower-related revenues for the victims of the March 11 disaster in northeastern Japan, delivered the roses to the shelter in Otsuchi, one of the communities hardest hit by the tsunami.

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Ship removed from roof

OTSUCHI, Japan - The sightseeing ship Hamayuri is lifted by cranes to be removed from the roof of an inn (back) in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on May 10, 2011. The sight of the vessel on the rooftop had been seen as symbolizing the devastation of the March 11 disaster since it was brought there by a tsunami.

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Removal of debris from disaster areas

KAMAISHI, Japan - Members of the Self-Defense Forces remove rubble in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on April 30, 2011. The central government assumes it will take three years for the prefectures worst hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami to finish removing massive piles of debris left by the disaster.

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Mourning for disaster victims

OTSUCHI, Japan - A memorial service for victims of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami is held at the Buddhist Renjo Temple, whose main alter hall was damaged by the disaster, in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on April 28, 2011. Buddhist services marking the 49th day since the disaster, when it is believed the souls of the dead depart for another world, were held across disaster-struck northeastern Japan.

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Tsunami aftermath in Otsuchi

OTSUCHI, Japan - A man holds an umbrella in rain and searches for usable items on April 23, 2011, where his house used to stand before being swept away by the March 11 tsunami in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture. In the background, the sightseeing boat Hamayuri was left atop a two-story inn.

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Tsunami-hit town in Iwate

OTSUCHI, Japan - A person views the damaged town of Otsuchi in Iwate Prefecture from higher ground, on April 20, 2011. The March 11 earthquake and tsunami devastated the area.

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Rain falls in disaster area

OTSUCHI, Japan - A girl walks with an umbrella as rain falls on rubble in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on April 19, 2011. Her father was a volunteer firefighter and died in rescue work after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

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Recovery efforts in Otsuchi

OTSUCHI, Japan - People check heaps of waste on April 19, 2011, in the town of Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, which have been gathered along a riverbank after the March 11 quake and tsunami.

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Postman in Otsuchi

OTSUCHI, Japan - A mailman rides on a motorcycle on April 16, 2011, in the town of Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, which was devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

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Quake aftermath in Otsuchi

OTSUCHI, Japan - A shrine gate stands among debris in the quake-hit town of Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on April 7, 2011, about four weeks after tsunami and fires ruined the area following a massive earthquake.

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Praying for disaster victims

OTSUCHI, Japan - A Buddhist monk prays at a site destroyed by the March 11, 2011 tsunami and earthquake, in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on April 5.

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Quake aftermath in Otsuchi

OTSUCHI, Japan - A member of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces directs traffic and people in the quake-and-tsunami hit town of Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on April 3, 2011.

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2nd day of 3-day intensive search

OTSUCHI, Japan - Members of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force offer prayers after recovering a body from the rubble in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on April 2, 2011. The SDF, the U.S. military and other rescue workers continued for the second day of the three-day intensive search operation.

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Bonfire at evacuation center

OTSUCHI, Japan - People warm themselves by huddling around a bonfire in snow in an evacuation center in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on March 27, 2011. The area was devastated by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and ensuing tsunami on March 11.

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Ship on building after tsunami

TOKYO, Japan - Photo from a Kyodo News helicopter taken on March 23, 2011, shows a passenger ship on top of a building in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture. The area was hit hard by the March 11 quake and tsunami.

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Students help run evacuation center

OTSUCHI, Japan - Students at Otsuchi High School in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, which is sheltering around 700 quake evacuees, pose for photos as they clean utensils used to serve meals on March 17, 2011. The students are helping at the evacuation center, cooking, cleaning up and taking care of the elderly evacuees, while some have lost their homes or missing family members from the March 11 earthquake and ensuing tsunami.

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Rescue and recovery efforts

OTSUCHI, Japan - Firefighters carry out a recovered body in the snow in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on March 16, 2011, following the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11.

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Man looks for relative

OFUNATO, Japan - A man looks at messages put up on a wall at a shelter to see if he can find any information about a missing relative in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on March 15.