March 2011 Disaster Victims Remembered in Japan

Fukushima, March 11 (Jiji Press)--Memorial ceremonies of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami were held in the three northeastern prefectures hit hardest by the disaster.

Participants renewed their pledge to pass on lessons learned from the catastrophe while wishing for further reconstruction.

At 2:46 p.m. (5:46 a.m. GMT), exactly 12 years from when the 9.0-magnitude quake struck on March 11, 2011, silent payers were offered by those attending the ceremonies in Fukushima, Iwate and Miyagi prefectures.

Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako, and their daughter, Princess Aiko, also took a moment of silence at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, according to the Imperial Household Agency. Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko also gave silent prayers at their Sento Imperial Residence in the Akasaka Estate in Tokyo.

The central government stopped hosting an annual memorial ceremony on the disaster after holding the final one on the 10th anniversary.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]