Japan marks 1 year since quake, tsunami

RIKUZENTAKATA, Japan -- People across Japan prayed and stood in silence yesterday to remember the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck the nation one year ago, killing 19,000 people and unleashing the world's worst nuclear crisis in a quarter century.

In this devastated town on the northeast coast, a siren sounded at 2:46 p.m. -- the exact time the magnitude-9.0 quake struck on March 11, 2011 -- and a Buddhist priest in a purple robe rang a huge bell at a damaged temple overlooking a barren area where houses once stood.

In the town of Onagawa, people facing the sea pressed their hands together in silent prayer.

In Tokyo, at a memorial service in the National Theater, Emperor Akihito, 78, Empress Michiko and Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda stood in silence with hundreds of other people dressed in black.

Even in Tokyo's busy shopping district of Shibuya, pedestrians briefly stopped and fell silent before carrying on.

Noda recalled in a speech that the Japanese have overcome disasters and difficulties many times in the past, and pledged to rebuild the nation so that the country will be "reborn as an even better place."

"We will stand by the people from the disaster-hit areas and join hands to achieve the historic task of rebuilding," Noda said.

It was the strongest earthquake recorded in Japan's history, and set off a tsunami that swelled to more than 65 feet in some spots along the northeastern coast, destroying tens of thousands of homes and bringing widespread destruction.

Many towns are still finalizing reconstruction plans, some of which involve moving residential areas to higher, safer ground -- ambitious, costly projects. Bureaucratic delays in coordination between the central government and local officials have also slowed rebuilding efforts.

Anti-nuclear protesters at a downtown Tokyo park also held a moment of silence yesterday before marching toward the headquarters of Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant.

Enormous risks and challenges lie ahead at the plant, including locating and removing melted nuclear fuel from the inside of the reactors and disposing of spent fuel rods. Completely decommissioning the plant could take 40 years.