Survivors of 2011 Japanese quake and tsunami struggle to rebuild their lives

Along the wide beaches and in the narrow inlets that make up the spectacular coastline of northeast Japan, the search teams were out again at the weekend.

Armed with long wooden staves that are used to pry beneath debris from a massive earthquake and tsunami that the Pacific returns with monotonous regularity or to keep their balance as they re-examine rocky coves, the searchers have become a frequent sight in Tohoku.

And as Japan today marks the second anniversary of the worst natural disaster to befall the nation in living memory, there is a fresh impetus to find the 2,676 people whose bodies have never been recovered.

Made up of volunteers from communities that were rattled when the magnitude-9 quake struck offshore on March 11, 2011, then laid waste when the tsunami roared in from the ocean, the search teams take short breaks for coffee and rice balls. In luminous waterproofs, they perch on rocks to catch their breath. And then they start again.

There is a sense among many people that efforts to rebuild the lives of the survivors cannot fully go ahead until the lost have been accounted for and mourned.

As the weeks turn into months and years, however, that is becoming more difficult to achieve.

Even when remains are finally recovered, Mother Nature has taken her toll and putting a name to a body can be torturous, even with the application of DNA tests, dental records and composite sketches of the victims.