The March disasters generated an outpouring of volunteerism unseen since — let alone matched by — what followed the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake.

From Tohoku to Tokyo, the impact of March 11 shook the country to its foundations. Skyscrapers wobbled like jelly in the megaquake and mountainous tsunami washed away homes, cars and lives along a wide stretch of the Tohoku coast. The destruction, played out constantly on TV and the Internet, was forever etched in the minds of the nation's people.

The unprecedented disaster prompted an equal measure of volunteerism as even people untouched and living far away from the impact zone took it upon themselves to pitch in and help the survivors.