Japan on Sunday marked a year since the massive earthquake and tsunami rocked Tohoku and its Pacific coastline on March 11, 2011, leaving nearly 20,000 people confirmed dead or missing.
The disasters and the meltdowns they triggered at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant combined to create the greatest political and humanitarian calamity the nation has faced since the end of World War II in 1945.
They also sparked an unprecedented outpouring of domestic and international sympathy and volunteerism, while the Fukushima crisis launched a worldwide backlash against nuclear power and a growing interest here in renewable energies.