Japan marks anniversary of tsunami tragedy

ISHINOMAKI, Sunday

Japan fell silent Sunday to honour the 19,000 people killed a year ago in a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami that triggered the world's worst nuclear crisis in a generation.

Tearful families gathered in towns and villages across the country's shattered northeast to remember those lost as the towering waves smashed ashore.

At 2.46 pm (0546 GMT) the nation paused for a minute's silence to mark the moment nature's fury was visited on Japan, when the 9.0-magnitude quake set off a devastating chain of events.

At a national ceremony of remembrance in Tokyo, Japan's prime minister and the emperor led silent prayers for those who lost their lives in the country's worst post-war calamity.

Emperor Akihito said Japan would "never forget" the tragedy. (SEE IN PICTURES: Japan quake)

"Many difficulties lie ahead in the reconstruction of the disaster-affected areas," he said, urging citizens to "join their hearts with the people affected by the disasters, and continue to help them to improve their lives."

A single pillar symbolising the souls of those who died stood in the middle of the stage, decorated with white chrysanthemums and lilies.

Anti-nuclear demonstrations were held across the northeast region where an estimated 160,000 people were forced to evacuate after the monster waves triggered a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

One year on, more than 340,000 people are still living in temporary housing -- most lost their homes when a wall of black water crushed whole communities.

Others were forced to flee homes in the shadow of Fukushima as it began venting toxic radiation over homes and farmland when its cooling systems were knocked out, unleashing the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

Many parts of a 20-kilometre (12-mile) exclusion zone imposed around the Fukushima plant are likely to remain uninhabitable for years -- perhaps decades.

In Okuma, home to the crippled plant, displaced residents wore anti-radiation suits, gloves and masks on a rare visit to their contaminated home town, where they remembered those they had lost.

An elderly woman, whose grandchild is still listed as missing, wept as she laid flowers at a makeshift alter. "I want my grandchild to be found," she told reporters.

In another nearby city, Koriyama, around 16,000 people rallied to demand an end to nuclear power generation in Japan, their numbers overwhelming the seating available at a baseball stadium.

Organisers opened up parts of the stadium that have not yet been cleansed of radioactive fallout, asking participants with small children not to use the area, an AFP journalist said.

"Fukushima is being forgotten day by day," said one protester, Yumiko Ono, a 34-year-old graphic designer from Tokyo.

"If we don't raise our voices right now, another accident could happen. We want to tell the world that the crisis and the hardship is still going on."

The battle for control of three runaway reactors was declared won in December when the government and plant operator Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) announced they were in "a state of cold shutdown".

But the crisis at Fukushima badly dented Japan's faith in nuclear power.

The energy-hungry country is just two reactors away from total nuclear shut-down, with public disquiet preventing utilities from re-starting shuttered plants amid fears for safety in earthquake-prone Japan.

Swathes of the tsunami-hit coast remain in ruins, with reconstruction work stalled amid arguments over where and how to rebuild. Once tight-knit villages have been scattered and the economy has taken a battering.

In Ishinomaki, home to a fifth of those who died in the disaster, tsunami warning sirens wailed to mark the moment the quake hit, sending a wall of water into the city where it claimed the lives of nearly 4,000 people.

"It's been a year since my father died. I am going to pray that I can get over my grief and that my children can feel better," said Hitomi Oikawa, 37, who lost her father in the disaster.

Speaking at the national ceremony, Japan's prime minister Noda pledged Japan would recover from its tragedy.

"Our forebears, who led our country to prosperity, stood up with brave resolution in times of crisis," he said.

"While offering our support for the daily struggles of those people in the disaster-affected regions, we will join hands as we seek to fulfill our historic mission of "the rebirth of Japan through reconstruction."