The coastal town of Yamada, Iwate Prefecture, used to have a railway station, cafes, restaurants and medical clinics, but all that remains now are the foundations and twisted iron support bars of buildings.
In the months since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami devastated the town, various reconstruction efforts have made progress: Temporary accommodations have been built for some of the survivors living in shelters, and debris has mostly been cleared up in Yamada's central commercial and residential areas.
But for the town's disaster survivors, daily life hasn't gotten much better or any easier.