Survivors gathered along Japan's north-east coast to remember the thousands of lives that were lost in the tsunami four years ago.
Candles are placed to form the date of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster during a memorial event to mourn the victims of the disaster in Ishinomaki, Miyagi prefectureKyodo/ReutersA man touches the name of a fellow fisherman killed by the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, at a cenotaph in Wakabayashi district, Sendai, Miyagi prefectureKyodo/ReutersPupils sit in an almost empty classroom at Kawauchi Elementary School in Kawauchi, Fukushima. The school had 114 students before the disaster, now the number is 29 even after the evacuation orders were lifted for the eastern area of the villageKen Ishii/Getty ImagesPeople observe a moment of silence near a tsunami-devastated disaster prevention office building in Minamisanriku town, Miyagi prefectureKyodo/ReutersPeople look at paper lanterns during a memorial service for tsunami victims at the Yuriage Junior High School in NatoriChris McGrath/Getty ImagesBalloons in the shape of doves are released into the air during a memorial service at the former Yuriage junior high school in Natori, Miyagi PrefectureKazuhiro Nogi/AFP
On 11 March 2011, Japan was shaken by an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0, the biggest in the nation's recorded history and one of the five most powerful ever recorded around the world.
The latest numbers from Japan's police department show 15,891 people have been confirmed dead, with 2,584 still unaccounted for.
Members of Japanese Coast Guard and policemen search at the seashore in Shichigahama town, Miyagi prefecture, in the hope of finding missing bodiesKazuhiro Nogi/AFPA woman takes a photo of the "miracle tree" in Rikuzentakata, a replica of a lone pine tree that survived the 2011 earthquake and tsunamiChris McGrath/Getty Images
Some 229,000 people remain evacuated from their homes, with about 90,000 living in temporary housing. Of the total, more than half come from areas affected by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant meltdowns.
At a solemn ceremony in Tokyo, Emperor Akihito said he still recalls the "unforgettable, horrifying" footage of the tsunami on television four years ago and that he shares the pain of those still without prospect of returning home because of the radiation in Fukushima.
"When I think of the people who are still unable to return to their homes, it hurts my heart," Akihito said.
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko during the national memorial service for the victims of the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, in TokyoToru Hanai/Reuters
The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant held a moment of silence to commemorate the victims of tsunami and nuclear accident four years ago.
Three of the plant's six reactors suffered core meltdowns after the tsunami struck, triggering the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.
Employees of Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), the operator of the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, take part in a moment of silence at the company's headquarters in TokyoYuya Shino/ReutersPolice officers offer chrysanthemums during a memorial ceremony at Namie, near Tepco's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Fukushima prefectureYoshikazu Tsuno/AFP
While Tepco employees were holding the tsunami commemoration, about a hundred people marched on streets of Tokyo to protest against the government-owned utility's handling of the nuclear crisis.
The decontamination and decommissioning of Fukushima Daiichi is expected to take up to 30 years and cost billions of dollars.
An aerial view of the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture, with hundreds of tanks of radiation-contaminated waterKyodo/ReutersAn aerial view shows (front to rear) reactor buildings numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4 at Tepco's tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plantKyodo/ReutersPeople shout slogans and display banners during a rally criticising the Tokyo Electric Power Company, outside the prime minister's official residence in TokyoToru Yamanaka/AFPChildren wearing padded hoods to protect them from falling debris sit on a playground during an earthquake simulation exercise at a school in TokyoIssei Kato/ReutersChildren take shelter under desks during an earthquake simulation exercise at a school in TokyoIssei Kato/Reuters
