Japan has observed a moment of silence in Japan to mark the third anniversary of the quake-tsunami. Source: AAP
JAPAN has observed a moment of silence to mark the third anniversary of the quake-tsunami disaster which swept away thousands of victims, destroyed coastal communities, and sparked the nuclear emergency that forced a re-think on atomic power.
Survivors bowed deeply at remembrance ceremonies in towns and cities around the disaster zone and in Tokyo, where Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko led tributes to those who died in Japan's worst peace-time disaster.
A national moment of silence followed the cry of tsunami alarm sirens which were set off at 2:46pm, the moment a 9.0-magnitude undersea quake hit.
Its raw force unleashed a towering wall of water that travelled at the speed of a jet plane to the coast. Within minutes, communities were turned to matchwood, and whole families drowned.
Giant waves also crashed into the Fukushima nuclear plant, sparking reactor meltdowns and explosions, and setting off the worst atomic crisis in a generation.
The crippled plant remains volatile and the complicated decommissioning process is expected to last for decades, as fears persist over the health effects of leaked radiation. Tens of thousands were evacuated from the stricken area.
Emperor Akihito paid tribute to victims killed in the tragedy, and those struggling in its aftermath.
"Many victims still lead difficult lives in devastated areas and places that were evacuated," he said from a national theatre hall in downtown Tokyo.
"It is important for all people to join together and show their support in the long-term... I pray for a return of peaceful times to devastated areas."
Although no one died as a direct result of Fukushima, about 1,650 area residents passed away from complications related to stress and other problems following the accident.
A total of 15,884 people are confirmed to have died in the tsunami with another 2,633 still listed as missing. Human remains are sometimes still found years later.
In the shattered town of Namie, just eight kilometres from the stricken plant, about 200 former residents, police and firefighters gathered to search for remains.
They raked a beach where broken timber and cars pulled by the waves once lay half buried.
"Our parents are still missing," said 25-year-old former resident Miho Suzuki, joined by her sister.
"I don't think we'll ever find them, but we came here to take part because we felt like doing something to help."
For another former Namie resident, Morihisa Kadoya, returning to a town that remains uninhabitable due to health concerns seems like a distant dream.
"It's impossible to come back - the decommissioning at the plant is going to take years," he said.
Despite the government pledging billions of dollars in reconstruction aid, progress in disaster-hit regions has been slow, and thousands of disaster refugees struggle to cope.
Among almost 270,000 evacuees from the tsunami and Fukushima, about 100,000 are in temporary housing while others found shelter in new cities or with relatives.
Japan has so far built only 3.5 per cent of the new homes promised to disaster refugees in heavily affected Iwate and Miyagi prefectures.
And doubts are growing. Some 77 per cent of Japanese say the pace of reconstruction has fallen short, according to a poll by Japanese media this month.
"I'm determined to accelerate the recovery and not let this disaster fade from memory," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told parliament Monday.
"Japan's revival won't come without the restoration of devastated areas."
