I spent most of March and April covering the tsunami aftermath in Northern Japan. It's feels like forever. It's been quite difficult emotionally and logistically. Resources such as fuel, food, and transportation are still in short supply. While that makes it challenging to get around, its pretty trivial in the face of all of this. Since I arrived I've heard so many people tell me the stories of loved ones lost or homes destroyed. At the same time I've heard people talk about hope and having a never give up spirit through all of this. I’ve met a mayor of a town who lost his wife yet has barely slept since the tsunami trying to hold his town together.
- Tsuyako Ito, 84, a geisha since she was 14, sits in the rubble next to her home inKamaishi, Iwate prefecture, Japan, Thursday, April 7, 2011. Mrs. Ito was forced to flee her home as she was carried on the back of a fan after the March 11 tsunami and earthquake that devastated northern Japan. Photo by Keith Bedford for Stern
- A woman walks past a by destroyed tanker ship March 22, 2011 in Kesennuma, Japan. Eleven days after the magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami struck Japan that left thousands dead with still many missing. Presently the country is struggling to contain a potential nuclear meltdown after the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant was seriously damaged from the quake
- Rescue workers remove bodies from a washed out motorway in Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture, Japan more than a week after the area was hit by a 9.0 earthquake and tsunami, Sunday, March 20, 2011. With over 1700 people missing and over 400 dead, Rikuzentakata, having the greatest human loss in the prefecture with nearly 10% of it's population, has an active body search and recovery mission.
- Residents warm themselves by a fire at an evacuation center in Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture, Japan more than a week after the area was hit by a 9.0 earthquake and tsunami, Monday, March 21, 2011. With over 1700 people missing and over 400 dead, Rikuzentakata, having the greatest human loss in the prefecture with nearly 10% of it's population, has an active body search and recovery mission.
- The remains of a house floats in the river March 22, 2011 in Kesennuma, Japan. Eleven days after the magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami struck Japan that left thousands dead with still many missing. Presently the country is struggling to contain a potential nuclear meltdown after the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant was seriously damaged from the quake.
- Families and relatives of the dead cry as they identify their family members at a temporary burial ground March 25, 2011 in Higashi Matsushima , Japan. Under Japanese Buddhist practice a cremation is the expected traditional way of dealing with the dead but now with the death toll so high crematoriums are overwhelmed and there is a shortage of fuel to burn them. Local municipalities are forced to dig mass graves as a temporary solution. Two weeks after the magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami struck Japan the death toll has risen to 10,000 dead with still thousands missing and the expectation is that it will end up well over 20,000.
