TOKYO — Japan marked the second anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that swept through northern Japan, damaging more than one million homes and killing almost 19,000 people.
A moment of silence was observed at 2:46 p.m. local time on Monday at various locations where the scars of the disasters still remain.
More than 320,000 people remain displaced, many of them living in temporary housing units provided by the government.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who took office in December, vowed to accelerate the speed of the reconstruction efforts and his government has already expanded the relief budget to $266 billion to subsidize many of these projects.
"Our ancestors have overcome many difficulties and each time emerged stronger," Abe said.
Meanwhile, thousands of anti-nuclear protesters marched in Tokyo. "People and the media are starting to forget Fukushima and what happened there," one 32-year-old mother of two at the demonstration told Reuters.
This fall, the operators of the plant will begin extracting fuel rods from one of the less-damaged reactor units to mark the start of decommissioning the nuclear facility. But without a clear plan to carry out the removal for the rest of the reactors, the process is expected to take at least 40 years to complete.
Reuters contributed to this report.
