Horseback warrior appears in Joban Expressway ceremony

Horseback warrior appears in Joban Expressway ceremony

YAMAMOTO, Japan - A horseman of the traditional "Soma Nomaoi" festival adds zest to a ceremony in the Miyagi prefectural town of Yamamoto on Dec. 6, 2014, as the northeastern Japanese town was fully connected with Namie town in Fukushima Prefecture on the Joban Expressway. Parts of the expressway section between the two towns had not opened.

2 years after quake in Tohoku

2 years after quake in Tohoku

SENDAI, Japan - A female resident asks about post-disaster public housing at the counter of the town office in Yamamoto, Miyagi Prefecture, on Feb. 7, 2013.

U.S. volunteers repair tsunami-hit buildings

U.S. volunteers repair tsunami-hit buildings

SENDAI, Japan - American volunteer Steve Lengkeek (L) from Delaware works to remodel a building used to house a dentist as an accommodation facility in Yamamoto, Miyagi Prefecture, on April 13, 2012. A group of 35 Americans has been taking turns visiting Japan to repair buildings in coastal Miyagi Prefecture damaged by the massive March 2011 tsunami.

A month after disaster

A month after disaster

YAMAMOTO, Japan - A woman and her grandson walk to visit where their home used to be in the town of Yamamoto, Miyagi Prefecture, on April 10, 2011, after the March 11 quake and tsunami.

Japan quake aftermath

Japan quake aftermath

YAMAMOTO, Japan - Photo taken on March 18, 2011, shows remains of a rail track of the JR Joban Line, destroyed by the March 11 quake-triggered tsunami, in Yamamoto, Miyagi Prefecture.

Japan mega quake aftermath

Japan mega quake aftermath

YAMAMOTO, Japan - Men search for a missing relative on March 14, 2011, in Yamamoto, Miyagi Prefecture, in the wake of the March 11 monstrous earthquake and tsunami that devastated the region.