Six months after their lives were turned upside down by the most powerful earthquake to strike Japan in living memory, many people in the Tohoku region of northeast Japan are still struggling to come to terms with their new reality.
The earthquake and tsunami destroyed homes, schools and businesses, leaving more than 20,000 either dead or still missing. The destruction of the Fukushima No 1 nuclear plant means that vast tracts of land surrounding the facility will be uninhabitable for generations.
For many, marking the six-month anniversary of the disaster yesterday was with a sense of resignation rather than with any feeling that a landmark had passed.
'I met a lady of 83 who lived on the island of Oshima, off Kesennuma, where she made a living collecting and drying seaweed,' said Yuko Kusano, founder of the Miyagi-Jonet aid group. 'She was washed away by the tsunami and still has very vivid memories of what happened to her. She told me she can still hear the voices of people in the water around her, calling out for help.
'She has these dreams about what happened and when she wakes up, she says she has no hope for the future and wishes that she had either died in the tsunami or that she could die now.'
Kusano is able to relate to the survivors' feelings as her own family lost the off-licence liquor store they owned in Ishinomaki and her father-in-law was killed. She set up Miyagi-Jonet in May when she realised that the aid the people needed was not getting through in sufficient quantities to those who needed it most.
'About one month after the quake, the young people left the prefecture to find work elsewhere in Japan,' she said. 'That meant there were very few younger people left behind, especially after their wives and children moved to join them.