Tsunami-destroyed railway station to be restored

Tsunami-destroyed railway station to be restored

SENDAI, Japan - East Japan Railway Co.'s Rikuchu-Yamada Station on the Yamada Line in Yamada, Iwate Prefecture, northeastern Japan, is seen in tatters in this file photo taken on March 23, 2011, a dozen days after it was hit by the devastating earthquake and tsunami. The company and the local community agreed on Dec. 24, 2014, to restore the station, burned down by a tsunami-caused fire, as part of a project to revive the line wrecked by the disaster.

Emperor, empress visit Cape Iwaisaki

Emperor, empress visit Cape Iwaisaki

KESENNUMA, Japan - Japanese Emperor Akihito (C) and Empress Michiko (R) visit Cape Iwaisaki in the city of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, on July 23, 2014. The cape is located in Sanriku Fukko (Reconstruction) National Park, which the government created in 2013 by expanding the Rikuchu Kaigan National Park along the Sanriku Coast following the devastating March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. (Pool photo by Jiji Press)

2 and a half years after quake

2 and a half years after quake

SENDAI, Japan - Combination photos from a Kyodo News helicopter show an area in the town of Yamada, Iwate Prefecture, on March 23, 2011 (L), after the March 11, 2011, Great East Japan Earthquake, and about two and a half years later on Sept. 6, 2013 (R). The building (front in the former) for JR Rikuchu-Yamada Station is not in the latter.

Yamada soon after quake, now

Yamada soon after quake, now

TOKYO, Japan - Photos taken from a Kyodo News helicopter show an area in the town of Yamada, Iwate Prefecture, on March 23, 2011 (L), shortly after the area was devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and the same location on March 1, 2012 (R), in which the building (front) for JR Rikuchu-Yamada Station has been removed.

Rikuchu Kaigan National Park

Rikuchu Kaigan National Park

MIYAKO, Japan - A man (L) stands in front of Jodogahama beach on May 19, 2011, at Rikuchu Kaigan National Park in Miyako, Iwate Prefecture, which was struck by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Debris has been cleaned up by local residents and volunteer workers.

Rikuchu Kaigan National Park

Rikuchu Kaigan National Park

MIYAKO, Japan - A man (L) stands in front of Jodogahama beach on May 19, 2011, at Rikuchu Kaigan National Park in Miyako, Iwate Prefecture, which was struck by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Debris has been cleaned up by local residents and volunteer workers. (Kyodo)

Yamada soon after quake, now

Yamada soon after quake, now

TOKYO, Japan - Photos taken from a Kyodo News helicopter show an area in the town of Yamada, Iwate Prefecture, on March 23, 2011 (L), shortly after the area was devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and the same location on March 1, 2012 (R), in which the building (front) for JR Rikuchu-Yamada Station has been removed. (Kyodo)

Recovery from 2011 quake, tsunami disaster

Recovery from 2011 quake, tsunami disaster

Compilation photo shows Yamada in Iwate Prefecture on March 23, 2011, as seen from a Kyodo News helicopter (upper) less than two weeks after a massive tsunami swept through the town in northeastern Japan, and on Feb. 23, 2018, with shops in business and reconstruction of the JR Rikuchu-Yamada Station under way as seen from a drone. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo