Japan celebrates 10th anniversary of Fukushima

A resident throws leaves, with messages to loved ones, into the sea in Soma, Fukushima, Japan.

An artist performs a dance on the beach to commemorate the earthquake in Great East Japan on March 11, 2021 in Iwaki, Fukushima.

Buddhist monks pray for the victims of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011 on a beach on March 11, 2021 in Iwaki, Japan.

Takao Fujisaki, whose daughter and grandson died in the 2011 tsunami, is praying on March 11, 2021 in front of the tomb in Namie, Japan.

The Japanese Emperor Naruhito, accompanied by Empress Masako, delivers his speech in front of the altar to the victims of the earthquake and tsunami on March 11 while attending the national memorial service in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the disaster, in Tokyo, March 11, 2021.

Left: A combination photo shows smoke (above) in an area in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on March 12, 2011, a day after the earthquake and tsunami disaster, and the same area on February 12, 2021.: A tsunami-ravaged area (above) in Minamisanriku, Miyagi, northeastern Japan, depicted from a helicopter on March 13, 2011, and a memorial park created in the same area (below).

Mariko Odawara holds flowers as she prays to mourn the victims of the earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands of people and the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl, on its 10th anniversary, in Iwaki, Fukushima, on March 11, 2021.

Paper lanterns are lit to mourn the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in the Great East Japan in Natori, Miyagi Prefecture, on March 11, 2021.

Lighted candles form characters reading “memory” and “future connections” at the Great East Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Disaster Museum in Futaba, Fukushima, on March 10, 2021, on the eve of the 10th anniversary.

Gathering staff launches on March 10, 2021, a traditional Japanese kite with messages by children living in Fukushima with their dreams and hopes.

A Buddhist monk prays for the victims of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011 on a beach on March 11, 2021 in Iwaki, Japan.

A man searches for the remains of people who went missing after the earthquake and tsunami in 2011 on March 11, 2021 in Iwaki, Japan.

People are praying on March 11, 2021 at 14.46 in Hirono, Fukushima, the time when the massive earthquake occurred exactly ten years ago in northeastern Japan.

Balloons are released to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011 on March 11, 2021 in Ishinomaki, Japan.

A priest prays at the former site of a shrine in the tsunami-ravaged city of Futaba in northern Japan in Fukushima in memory of his victims on March 11, 2021.

A woman lays flowers at a beach in Iwaki city in the tsunami-ravaged city of Iwaki in Fukushima prefecture.

People unleash balloons that attached messages to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the disaster that killed thousands of people and a nuclear crisis in Natori, Miyagi, Japan.

Flowers for the victims of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami will be placed on a beach in Iwaki, Japan, on March 11, 2021.

On March 11, 2021, locals released lanterns for earthquake and tsunami victims in Koriyama, Fukushima.