Now and then in Japan

Images taken just after the earthquake and tsunami struck, juxtaposed with scenes almost one year later.

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A wave (top) from the tsunami crashes over a seawall in Miyako, Iwate prefecture, northeastern Japan, after a magnitude-9.0 earthquake struck the area March 11, 2011. This picture was taken by a Miyako City employee on the day of the tsunami. At bottom, the view on Feb. 17, 2012.

/ (Top) Reuters/Miyako City Office/Handout, (bottom) Reutuers/Toru Hanai

This combination of two photos shows natural gas storage tanks on fire at the Cosmo oil refinery in Ichihara, Chiba prefecture, east of Tokyo, shortly after a devastating earthquake hit Japan's northeast on March 11, 2011 (top) and the same spot (bottom) taken on March 3, 2012.

/ AP

The tsunami- and earthquake-hit Iwaki city in Fukushima prefecture is seen in these images taken March 11, 2011 (top) and March 7, 2012 in this combination photo.

Kyodo / Reuters

This combination of pictures shows people evacuating with small boats down a road flooded by the tsunami in the city of Ishinomaki in Miyagi prefecture on March 12, 2011 (top) and the same area on Jan. 13, 2012 (bottom).

Jiji Press / AFP/Getty Images

A wave (top) from the tsunami flows over a street in Miyako, Iwate prefecture, northeastern Japan, on March 11, 2011. At bottom, the view on Feb. 17, 2012.

/ (Top) Reuters/Miyako City Office, (bottom) Reuters/Toru Hanai

A whirlpool caused by the March 11, 2011, tsunami is seen near Oarai City, Ibaraki prefecture, in this image taken March 11, 2011 (left), with the same area being shown on March 3, 2012 (right) in this combination photo.

Kyodo / Reuters

This combination of pictures shows a tsunami-hit area of Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture, on March 22, 2011 (top) and the same area on Jan. 15, 2012 (bottom).

Nicolas Asfouri / AFP/Getty Images

This combination shows a photo of Yuko Sugimoto wrapped with a blanket standing in front of debris looking for her son in the tsunami-hit town of Ishinomaki in Miyagi prefecture on March 13, 2011, (top) and the same housewife standing with her 5-year-old son, Raito, at the same place on Jan. 27, 2012 (bottom).

Toru Yamanaka / AFP/Getty Images

In this composite image, a man in Ishinomaki, Japan, walks past a car wedged into a boat on March 18, 2011 (top) and the same location (bottom) as seen on March 7, 2012.

Chris McGrath / Getty images

In this March 28, 2011 (top) photo, a ship sits in a destroyed residential neighborhood in Kesennuma, Japan. The tsunami that slammed into Japan's coastline last year flung boats onto roofs, washed away homes and left this major fishing port a shell of its former self. At bottom, a ship sits in a destroyed residential neighborhood in Kesennuma, Japan, on Feb. 23, 2012.

David Guttenfelder / AP

This combination of pictures shows residents crossing a bridge covered with debris in a tsunami-hit area of the city of Ishinomaki in Miyagi prefecture on March 15, 2011 (top) and the same area on Jan. 13, 2012 (bottom).

Kim Jae-Hwan / AFP/Getty Images

This combination of pictures shows residents walking past damaged cars on a street in a tsunami-hit area of Tagajo, Miyagi prefecture, on March 13, 2011 (top) and the same area on Jan. 12, 2012 (bottom).

Kim Jae-Hwan / AFP/Getty Images

Streets are flooded after the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and tsunami in Miyako, Iwate prefecture, northeastern Japan, on March 11, 2011 (top). At bottom, vehicles pass through an area hit by the earthquake and tsunami in Miyako on Feb. 17, 2012.

/ (Top) Reuters/Miyako City Office, (bottom) Reuters, Toru Hanai

In a March 19, 2011 photo (top), Tayo Kitamura, 40, kneels in the street to caress and talk to the wrapped body of her mother Kuniko Kitamura, 69, after Japanese firefighters discovered the dead woman inside the ruins of her home in Onagawa, Japan. In the days after the disaster, many survivors wandered amid the rubble, weeping as they searched for their missing loved ones. In a Feb. 22, 2012, photo (below), a newly built home sits at the site of the now-cleared but destroyed area of Onagawa, Japan.

David Guttenfelder / AP

This combination of pictures shows a catamaran sightseeing boat washed by the tsunami onto a two-story tourist home in Otsuchi, Iwate prefecture, on April 16, 2011 (top) and the same area on Jan. 16, 2012 (bottom).

Toru Yamanaka / AFP/Getty Images

In this composite image, a man climbs onto a boat wedged on a bridge in Ishinomaki, Japan, on March 18, 2011 (top). The same location is seen (bottom) on March 7, 2012.

Chris McGrath / Getty Images

This combination of pictures shows local residents walking in a flooded street in a tsunami-hit area of Tagajo, Miyagi prefecture, on March 13, 2011 (top) and the same area on Jan. 12, 2012 (bottom).

/ AFP/Getty Images

Survivors carry food found in a supermarket hit by the earthquake and tsunami in a residential area of the fishing town of Otsuchi in Iwate prefecture on March 15, 2011 (top). At bottom, a store that reopened on Dec. 22, 2011 after being hit by the earthquake and tsunami is seen in Otsuchi on Feb. 18, 2012.

/ (Top) Aly Song/Reuters, (bottom) Toru Hanai/Reuters

Streets are flooded (top) after the earthquake and tsunami in Miyako, Iwate Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on March 11, 2011. At bottom, vehicles pass through the area on Feb. 17, 2012.

/ (Top) Reuters/Miyako City Office, (bottom) Reuters/Toru Hanai

A general view (top) shows wrecked cars in an area hit by the earthquake and tsunami in Rikuzentakata, northern Japan, on Sept. 9, 2011. A general view shows the area on Feb. 19, 2012 (bottom).

/ Toru Hanai/Reuters

Emergency workers (top) search through debris around a Buddist temple's gate after the earthquake and tsunami near the seaside in Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture, on March 19, 2011. At bottom, the temple's gate is seen on Feb. 19, 2012.

/ (Top) Reuters/Aly Song, (bottom) Reuters/Toru Hanai

In this composite image, a replica of the Statue of Liberty (top) stands among rubble and debris on March 18, 2011. At bottom, the same location almost one year later.

Chris McGrath / Getty Images

Japanese Self Defense Forces (top) carry a body from the devastated area of Kesennuma City, Miyagi prefecture, on March 19, 2011. At bottom, Kesennuma is shown, after all the debris was removed, on Feb. 21, 2012.

Noriko Hayashi / For The Washington Post

A tsunami-devastated area in Higashimatsushima in Miyagi prefecture is seen in these images taken March 14, 2011 (top) and March 4, 2012 (bottom).

Kyodo / Reuters

In this March 17, 2011 photo (top), Japanese residents of Kesennuma, Japan, pass through a road that was cleared by bulldozer through the ruins of the city. Those charged with clearing the debris left by last year's earthquake and tsunami faced a monstrous task: towering piles of twisted metal and wood, boats perched atop roofs, mountains of family heirlooms, sodden furniture and children's toys. In a Feb. 23, 2012 photo (bottom), residents of Kesennuma cross a road in the destroyed part of the city.

David Guttenfelder / Reuters

A woman (top) who is living in an evacuation center after losing her home in the tsunami washes her dishes at a water pipe amid the rubble of the devastated town of Yamada town, Iwate prefecture, on March 28, 2011. A car (bottom) passes a temporary water facility that is still functioning nearly one year after the tsunami in Yamada on Feb. 4, 2012. The snow-covered terrain is where parts of the town of Yamada once stood.

Noriko Hayashi / For The Washington Post

This combination of pictures shows damage caused by the tsunami seen from a hill overlooking the city of Kesennuma, Japan, on March 16, 2011 (top) and the same area on Jan. 14, 2012 (bottom).

/ AFP/Getty Images

This combination of pictures shows the pavement ruptured by the earthquake in Urayasu, Chiba prefecture, on March 11, 2011 (top) and the same area on Jan. 21, 2012 (bottom).

Toshifumi Kitamura / AFP/Getty Images

A man (top) walks down a street through the devastated area of Kesennuma City, Miyagi prefecture, on March 31, 2011. At bottom, a street in Kesennuma City on Feb. 5, 2012.

Noriko Hayashi / For The Washington Post

A gym (top) is full of evacuees who lost their housing because of the earthquake and tsunami in Otsuchi town, Iwate prefecture, on March 16, 2011. At bottom, the gym, shown on Feb. 4, 2012, is now empty after the residents moved to temporary housing in Otsuchi town, Iwate prefecture.

Noriko Hayashi / For The Washington Post

In this composite image, people walk through rubble on March 18, 2011 (top) and the same location on March 7, 2012 (bottom) in Ishinomaki, Japan.

Chris McGrath / Getty Images

A man (top) looks at an area destroyed by the earthquake and tsunami in Ishinomaki, northern Japan, on April 4, 2011. At bottom, a man (bottom) looks at the area on Feb. 22, 2012.

/ (Top) Reuters/Carlos Barria, (bottom) Toru Hanai/Reuters

This combination of pictures shows a tsunami-hit area of Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture, on March 22, 2011 (top) and the same area on Jan. 15, 2012 (bottom).

Nicolas Asfouri / AFP/Getty Images

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