Thousands converged on Tokyo's Hibiya Park over the weekend to hold candlelight services, play music and offer prayers to commemorate the first anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, one of the largest of many such rallies and gatherings across the capital.
Nonprofit groups and nongovernmental organizations at the park in Chiyoda Ward set up booths and tents where they handed out pamphlets calling for aid for the crisis-struck Tohoku region and to share their thoughts on the year.
"Time has passed by and the rubble has been removed, but we are not sure how to proceed from here," said Risa Watanabe, 33, who came from Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, to attend the event. "It is great that so many people have gathered today and that the media is reporting the event. But it shouldn't be only today that this sort of attention is given to Tohoku."