Japan commemorates victims of 2011 tsunami, nuclear disaster

According to details, Emperor Naruhito and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will join a memorial for the 20,000 victims at a commemorative ceremony in Tokyo, while several other public and private events are planned across northeastern Japan to pay homage to dead and their families.

On March 11, 2011, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck Japan followed by powerful waves crashing into the northeastern coast, crippling the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.

Several hundred thousand people were forced to evacuate as radiation spiraled into the air.

The disaster has left survivors in various regions of Japan struggling to cope with the grief of losing families and whole communities.

The Japanese government has invested about $300bn (32.1 trillion yen) to rebuild the tsunami-devastated region, but areas around the Fukushima plant remain off-limits, worries about radiation levels linger and many who left have settled elsewhere.

Decommissioning of the destructive nuclear plant will take decades and billions of dollars.