Japan commemorated with emotion this Thursday the tenth anniversary of the triple disaster of March 11, 2011 - earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident - which permanently traumatized the entire nation.
At 2:46 p.m. (5:46 a.m. French time), the time at which the earthquake struck in 2011, a minute of silence was observed across the country, followed in Tokyo by a ceremony in which Emperor Naruhito and Prime Minister Yoshihide spoke. Suga.
Sirens sounded at the same time on coastal beaches where people gathered with clasped hands looking out to sea.
Worst accident since Chernobyl
The heavy human toll of nearly 18,500 dead or missing was caused mainly by a gigantic tsunami, whose building-high waves hit the coast of northeastern Japan shortly after the 9.0 magnitude earthquake. .
The ensuing nuclear accident at the flood-invaded Fukushima Daiichi power plant, where the cores of three of the six reactors melted, left entire communities uninhabitable for years from radiation and forced dozens of thousands of people to leave.
It was the worst nuclear accident since that of Chernobyl (Ukraine) in 1986.
“The magnitude of the damage caused by the disaster runs so deep that the unforgettable memory of the tragedy lingers in my mind,” the Emperor said.
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"Our nation has lived through several disasters that can be considered as national crises" but "our predecessors have overcome each crisis with courage and hope", recalled for his part Mr. Suga, assuring that Japan would look "always towards the before ”.
Messages of solidarity were sent from all over the world, including by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and singer Lady Gaga.
In France, President Emmanuel Macron sent a video message to the Japanese.
My message to the Japanese people.
In the name of the friendship that unites us.
日本人 へ の メ ッ セ ー ジ。
私 た ち を 結 び つ け る 友情 の 名 に お い て。 pic.twitter.com/5yEGoR4twF
- Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) March 11, 2021
"Olympic Games for Reconstruction"
Tributes were held throughout the day in northeastern Japan, such as Hisanohama, in the coastal town of Iwaki (Fukushima county), where locals gathered near the sea, to the sound of monks praying. Buddhists.
In Miyagi, one of the three most damaged departments in the northeast, search operations have been organized by residents who still hope to find a loved one.
The remains of a woman swept away by the tsunami ten years ago were identified last week, freeing her son from excruciating uncertainty and allowing him, at last, to mourn.
Japan has learned some lessons from the triple disaster, erecting ever-taller new tsunami walls, improving warning systems and evacuation routes, but dangers remain.
A 7.3 magnitude earthquake, considered a distant replica of that of 2011, was a reminder on February 13 of the permanent seismic risks off Japan.
These commemorations took place just two weeks before the scheduled departure, in Fukushima, of the Olympic torch relay for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, called "Reconstruction Games."
The shadow of the pandemic hangs over the event, postponed to this year, but the Japanese government and organizers hope that the relay will refocus attention on this bruised region.
2% of the area of Fukushima in a prohibited zone
Nayuta Ganbe, a student from Sendai, capital of Miyagi County, speaks regularly at events on the topic of disaster prevention.
But he usually prefers to pray in private on March 11.
“It was the day I lost my classmates.
People died before my eyes.
It's a day that I hope I never have to relive, ”says the young man, now 21.
For many, this anniversary is the occasion of a moment of introspection, while this national tragedy is still painfully present with tens of thousands of people still displaced and 2% of the area of Fukushima in a no-go zone.
The dismantling of the nuclear power plant has proceeded very slowly since the accident and is expected to take at least another three to four decades.
Most of the power plants in Japan remain shut down.
