Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and Emperor Akihito attended a national memorial service Sunday in Tokyo to mark the first anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, remembering the people who perished and consoling the survivors of Japan's worst calamity since World War II.
About 1,200 people attended the service at the National Theater in Chiyoda Ward and observed a moment of silence at 2:46 p.m., the time when the earthquake off Tohoku spawned the tsunami that wrecked the Pacific coast on March 11, 2011.
Among those at the solemn memorial were about 35 people from the disaster zone representing the families of the bereaved, the speakers of the Lower and Upper houses, Cabinet ministers, lawmakers and ambassadors.