Families who lost loved ones in the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami gathered at locations in the disaster-hit areas early Thursday to offer prayers, marking 3½ years since the disasters.
Among them were parents and relatives of the 84 students and teachers who died in the March 11, 2011, tsunami at the Okawa Elementary School in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture.
"It reminds me of that day," said one family member, looking at a large puddle of water on the school grounds after heavy rainfall hit the area.