The images still hold the power to shock.
Dazed survivors walk beneath huge sea tankers deposited amid an expanse of rubble and twisted iron that was once a busy downtown, the ships toppled onto their sides like children’s toys. Grieving survivors pick through the flattened debris where their homes used to be. Deserted farms stand in the shadow of the Fukushima nuclear plant, where a catastrophic meltdown still reverberates.
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The images still hold the power to shock.
Ten years later, AP journalists have returned to document the communities that were ripped apart by what’s simply referred to here as the Great East Japan Earthquake. The urge to rebuild in a land that has been wracked by millennia of disaster — volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, earthquakes, war and famine — is powerful, and there are areas where there’s little or no trace of the devastation of 2011.
These AP images, then and now, raise a fundamental question: How do you mark change after great trauma?
All of that, and more, is present in these powerful scenes of before and after, then and now.
In this March 5, 2016, file photo, a survivor of the earthquake and tsunami rides his bicycle through the leveled city of Minamisanriku, in northeastern Japan, four days after the Tsunami. (AP PhotoDavid Guttenfelder, File)
In this Feb. 23, 2012, file photo, a car passes through the leveled city of Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, almost one year after the March 11 tsunami. (AP PhotoDavid Guttenfelder, File)
In this March 5, 2016, file photo, trucks and cars pass through the leveled city of Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan, nearly five years after the Tsunami. (AP PhotoEugene Hoshiko, File)
A woman walks through the city of Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan, Saturday, March 6, 2021, nearly ten years after the Tsunami. (AP PhotoEugene Hoshiko)
In this March 19, 2011, file photo, residents of the tsunami and earthquake destroyed town of Onagawa in Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan, walk down an empty street. (AP PhotoDavid Guttenfelder, File)
In this Feb. 22, 2012, file photo, two officials walk along a street in the tsunami and earthquake destroyed town of Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan. (AP PhotoDavid Guttenfelder, File)
In this March 5, 2016, file photo, Trucks line up in queue to dump soils in the tsunami and earthquake destroyed town of Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan. (AP PhotoEugene Hoshiko, File)
Ten years after the disaster, some of new buildings stand sparsely are seen in the tsunami and earthquake destroyed town of Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan. Thursday, March 4, 2021. (AP PhotoEugene Hoshiko)
In this March 28, 2011, file photo, a ship sits in a destroyed residential neighborhood in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, after a powerful tsunami hit the area on March 11. (AP PhotoDavid Guttenfelder, File)
In this Feb. 23, 2012, file photo, a ship sits in a destroyed residential neighborhood in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, almost a year after an earthquake and tsunami ravaged the country's coastline. (AP PhotoDavid Guttenfelder, File)
In this March 6, 2016, file photo, reconstruction process is seen at the 2011 tsunami destroyed residential neighborhood in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan. (AP PhotoEugene Hoshiko, File)
Tsunami destroyed residential neighborhood in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan is seen on Friday, March 5, 2021. (AP PhotoEugene Hoshiko)
In this March 17, 2011, file photo, residents pass through a road that was cleared by bulldozer through the ruins of the city of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, six days after the March 11 tsunami. (AP PhotoDavid Guttenfelder, File)
In this Feb. 23, 2012, file photo, Japanese Residents are seen on a road in the destroyed part of the city of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan, on Feb. 23, 2012, almost one year after the March 11, 2011 tsunami. (AP PhotoDavid Guttenfelder, File)
In this March 7, 2016, file photo, a worker checks the construction site in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan. (AP PhotoEugene Hoshiko)
Nearly 10 years after the 2011 tsunami disaster, recovered streets are seen in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan Friday, March 5, 2021. (AP PhotoEugene Hoshiko)
These arresting images were captured by The Associated Press in 2011 after a massive wall of water leveled part of Japan’s northeastern coast, washing away cars, homes, office buildings and thousands of people.
In this March 15, 2011, file photo, vehicles pass through the ruins of the leveled city of Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, four days after the Tsunami devastated the area. (AP PhotoDavid Guttenfelder, File)
Ten years later, AP journalists have returned to document the communities that were ripped apart by what’s simply referred to here as the Great East Japan Earthquake. The urge to rebuild in a land that has been wracked by millennia of disaster — volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, earthquakes, war and famine — is powerful, and there are areas where there’s little or no trace of the devastation of 2011.
But this triple disaster in the Tohoku region of Japan — earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown — has been unlike any Japan has faced before, and the challenges of returning to what was normal a decade ago have been immense. Half a million were forced from their homes; tens of thousands have not returned, emptying towns that were already struggling to keep their young people from leaving for Tokyo and the other megacities. Radiation fears linger. Government incompetence, petty squabbling and bureaucratic wrangling have delayed building efforts.
Despite the setbacks and uneven progress, the Tohoku of 2021 is a testament to a collective force of will — national, local and personal. Look closely, though, and you’ll see that even the most breathtaking transformations carry the residue of what happened in 2011, the scars of that deep wound to the region’s psyche.
In this Feb. 23, 2012, file photo, Vehicles pass through the ruins of the leveled city of Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan, almost one year after the March 11, 2011 tsunami. (AP PhotoDavid Guttenfelder, File)
These AP images, then and now, raise a fundamental question: How do you mark change after great trauma?
In one way, it’s the simplest thing in the world to describe. The removal of tons of rubble here, the absence of toppled tankers there. The repaved roads where there had been cracked and buckled piles of asphalt before. The gleaming new buildings that now rise above what had been cleared dirt patches.
But the starkness of this physical change also carries the idea of something that’s much less clear cut, something about the people who live in these places. Their resilience, their stoicism, their grief and anger and stubborn refusal to bow to forces outside their control, whether natural or bureaucratic.
In this March 7, 2016, file photo, construction works go on in the leveled city of Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, almost five years after the March 11, 2011 tsunami. (AP PhotoEugene Hoshiko, File)
All of that, and more, is present in these powerful scenes of before and after, then and now.
The pictures tell the story — of great change and the people who made it happen.
Vehicles pass through the streets in the city of Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on March 6, 2021, nearly 10 years after the March 11, 2011 tsunami. (AP PhotoEugene Hoshiko)
In this March 5, 2016, file photo, a survivor of the earthquake and tsunami rides his bicycle through the leveled city of Minamisanriku, in northeastern Japan, four days after the Tsunami. (AP PhotoDavid Guttenfelder, File)
In this Feb. 23, 2012, file photo, a car passes through the leveled city of Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, almost one year after the March 11 tsunami. (AP PhotoDavid Guttenfelder, File)
In this March 5, 2016, file photo, trucks and cars pass through the leveled city of Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan, nearly five years after the Tsunami. (AP PhotoEugene Hoshiko, File)
A woman walks through the city of Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan, Saturday, March 6, 2021, nearly ten years after the Tsunami. (AP PhotoEugene Hoshiko)
In this March 19, 2011, file photo, residents of the tsunami and earthquake destroyed town of Onagawa in Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan, walk down an empty street. (AP PhotoDavid Guttenfelder, File)
In this Feb. 22, 2012, file photo, two officials walk along a street in the tsunami and earthquake destroyed town of Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan. (AP PhotoDavid Guttenfelder, File)
In this March 5, 2016, file photo, Trucks line up in queue to dump soils in the tsunami and earthquake destroyed town of Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan. (AP PhotoEugene Hoshiko, File)
Ten years after the disaster, some of new buildings stand sparsely are seen in the tsunami and earthquake destroyed town of Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan. Thursday, March 4, 2021. (AP PhotoEugene Hoshiko)
In this March 28, 2011, file photo, a ship sits in a destroyed residential neighborhood in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, after a powerful tsunami hit the area on March 11. (AP PhotoDavid Guttenfelder, File)
In this Feb. 23, 2012, file photo, a ship sits in a destroyed residential neighborhood in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, almost a year after an earthquake and tsunami ravaged the country's coastline. (AP PhotoDavid Guttenfelder, File)
In this March 6, 2016, file photo, reconstruction process is seen at the 2011 tsunami destroyed residential neighborhood in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan. (AP PhotoEugene Hoshiko, File)
Tsunami destroyed residential neighborhood in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan is seen on Friday, March 5, 2021. (AP PhotoEugene Hoshiko)
In this March 17, 2011, file photo, residents pass through a road that was cleared by bulldozer through the ruins of the city of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, six days after the March 11 tsunami. (AP PhotoDavid Guttenfelder, File)
In this Feb. 23, 2012, file photo, Japanese Residents are seen on a road in the destroyed part of the city of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan, on Feb. 23, 2012, almost one year after the March 11, 2011 tsunami. (AP PhotoDavid Guttenfelder, File)
In this March 7, 2016, file photo, a worker checks the construction site in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan. (AP PhotoEugene Hoshiko)
Nearly 10 years after the 2011 tsunami disaster, recovered streets are seen in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan Friday, March 5, 2021. (AP PhotoEugene Hoshiko)