hello, john vause at the cnn center. our coverage of the first anniversary of the japanese earthquake and tsunami begins in just a moment, but first a look at the other headlines. this video shows a rebel sniper taking aim at a syrian armored vehicle. cnn cannot confirm the video's authenticity. activists say at least 63 were killed across syria on saturday. a special envoy plans more talks today with syrian president assad. he rejected the call for a cease-fire on saturday. palestinian medical sources say one person was killed by another israeli air strike in gaza early sunday. the armed wing of hamas vows it to retaliate for the bombings that killed 16 people since

friday. they blame hamas for dozens of roktd attacks over the weekend. police in kenya say an apparent grenade attack left three people dead and wounded 40 others. authorities say they expect the terror group is behind the blast. so far, though, no claim of responsibility. chalk up another victory for rick santorum. the u.s. republican presidential candidate easily won saturday's nominating contest in kansas, not that there was much competition. both rivals mitt romney and newt gingrich bypassed the midwestern state to focus on tuesday's votes in mississippi and alabama. i'm john vause. those are the headlines. cnn's special coverage of japan one year on starts now.

be. oh, my god. that is the biggest earthquake to date. it is still going. oh, my god. the building's going to fall. >> an earthquake so strong it literally shifted the earth's axis. one year on since the quake's shock waves gave birth to a massive tsunami, a wall of water sweeping away lives, homes and towns. and one year on since a nuclear meltdown, the biggest nuclear crisis the world has seen in 25 years, one year on a nation remembers. the thousands who lost their lives as they look to the future. >> translator: the japanese people are united and working with the government to put all our might towards working on the reconstruction. >> one year on and japan is

still struggling with its biggest challenge since the end of world war ii. and you're wauchling cnn special coverage of japan one your on. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm john vause aalong with my colleagues in ishinom aaki, japan. a national ceremony to mark and the thousands of lives lost is expected to begin 30 minutes from now in the national theater in tokyo. both the japanese emperor and prime minister is expected to speak, and all across japan other ceremonies and protests will be taking place. the monks you see here are chanting and a praying at a school that lost more than 70 students in the tsunami. this hour a look at the efforts to rebuild and the struggle many japanese are facing one year on. it was 2:46 in the afternoon one

year ago when the 9.0 earthquake struck off japan's coast setting a chain of events into motion. what followed was watched by millions of people around the world and the first time a disaster on this scale had been broadcast. most could do very little except watch in disbelief. here's how the first moments and day unfolded. >> we are getting world of a powerful earthquake that has hit japan. >> i can tell you pretty much what we've experienced. i'm actually in a subway, and just a few minutes ago we experienced, you know, the -- somewhere -- the epicenter clearly was offshore. this is not a direct hit on the island, which is the island that tokyo is on. we felt a very significant earthquake. >> you can see how far the mangled mess of these cars has

actually been flung. you can feel the weight and force of the water. >> earlier on saturday they took to the air to inspect the damage caused by the massive earthquake in northeastern japan. >> translator: we will do our best to try to rescue all survivors and people isolated, especially today because every minute counts. ♪ >> there are 13 people buried alive. there are children among the missing. the hope is from these rescuers is they may be in their houses, may be trapped in a void. as you can see there, that mud and dirt is heavy. it is wet. this is a massive challenge.

>> this is the situation that has the potential for a nuclear catastrophe, and it's basically a race against time. >> one year on it can still be difficult to watch those pictures, people just simply swept away. more than 15,000 men, women and children lost their lives in the earthquake and the tsunami. several thousand are still missing. kyong lai was there on that day. she joins us from the city of ishinomaki in japan there. this is a city where 3,000 people were killed and thousands are still living in temporary housing. >> reporter: and it still does

defy the imagination. i'm standing on the ground, and what used to be downtown ishinomaki. this is a port city, fishing community that really thrived off the ocean, but it was the ocean that came roaring ashore in the form of a tsunami. you can still see that there are still building that are here. this is a dormitory where some nurses used it to live for the community hospital. you can see the first two floors are gutted. that's how high the tsunami came. anything below that was crushed. it take a look over this way, over my right-hand shoulder. everything you see over behind me, this used to be houses, hundreds upon hundreds of people used to live here. thousands died as you said, john, and this is a town that is looking now at a seven-year rebuilding plan. there's still in the midst of trying to clear out of rubble. remember, this tsunami didn't just hit this town. it hit multiple cities all along

northeastern japan. 350 square miles of japanese land was devastated by the tsunami not just this town but a town to the north of me. the survivors say, yes, it's been one year, but that's hard any any time at all to pick up the pieces and deal with grief. >> reporter: this man is still getting used to driving his two kids to school, not knowing what to really say to them. his wife did all of this before she died in the tsunami turning not only his world upside-down but the city he governs as mayor. >> how challenging is it juggling being a father and mayor of this place? to be honest, he says, i haven't done enough for my boys as a father, but i try to be with them when i have time.

time in in short supply for mayor toba. the work is overwhelming, getting funding with an eight-year reconstruction plan dealing with all the wounded neighbors and still clearing the rubble in a city gutted by the tsunami at a cost of $1.6 billion. one out of ten people died in the tsunami, then more than 1,000 survivors left here sees little hope for the future. this is the one of the main roads. a year later there is still nothing here. rebuilding will only work if survivors refuse to give up says the nurse. we met her last year after the tsunami hit. she was in shock after losing everything including her bed-ridden patients, a dozen who drowned as she made gut hifl wrenching decision to save her own life and run to the roof. are you still in the process of healing?

one year isn't enough to heal, she says. my job is to be with people and share their pain. it's why she won't leave her job or her town. when you look at the city hall, do you ever get used to this site? i don't like to come down here says mayor toba. he only came here for this interview. he tries to keep his mind on the future, because the past is too painful. dpu mi do you miss your wife? of course. it's so hard for me to live without the person who was supposed to always be with me. i feel her telling me to work hard for this town. someday soon my sons will look at this town and understand why i wasn't around more. they're still getting used to the new reality, rebuilding their town while rebuilding their lives. the mayor does say it's a blessing he's too busy to grieve

because he isn't sure how he would manage to deal with all the imotions still overwhelming to this day. we still see people here in this town dealing with those emotions. a lot of people come to the foundations of houses behind me and putting flowers and pausing to remember people that died one year ago today. john. >> as they remember this one of the big problems we often here is this reconstruction seems to taking way longer than many people expected simply because there's a lack of consensus about some kind of master plan. >> reporter: yeah. as you know japanese people really thrive on consensus, but when you talk about entire cities needing to be rebuilt, you have to get the federal government and local government and people to agree. a lot of people don't want to live here. i can see the ocean p if i step over a few feet, and a lot of people aren't comfortable with the idea of being that close. a lot of city leaders now are

looking to move some of these communities, a lot of these downtowns to higher ground. that is a huge project, and when you total the number of people, the number of cities involved, that is a lot of work to be done trying to deal with all of the governments and the people. >> okay. we're live in ishinomaki in japan. we will talk to her throughout the hour and the coming hours for this special. here's an idea of what we expect over the next hour. an official memorial event gets under way at the national theater in tokyo about 30 minutes from now. we'll have opening remarks as well as the national anthem. at 2:46 p.m. local time the exact time of the earthquake, there will be one minute of silent prayer. after that the prime minister is expected to speak. we're also expecting to hear from japan's emperor. you're watching cnn special coverage of "japan one year on."

up ahead the story of an merge teenager who traveled there to help. >> i had to do something. my name is richard zadrik, i'm a senior in high school and i'm concerned about the future of our planet, our people and our resources. so i traveled to japan to see what i could do, how i could help, and if i can encourage others to do something as well. need any help?

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mountains of debris over the last year. i'm john vause. a national ceremony is expected to begin in tokyo in about 20 minutes. the earthquake and tsunami led to a nuclear meltdown and the world's worst nuclear disaster since chernobyl a quarter of a century earlier. you may remember these pictures was fukushima daiichi plant, one of many explosions there in the days after the tsunami struck it and knocked out power. no one was quite sure how bad it would get. >> information is coming in every few minutes in bits and pieces. we need to tell you about those nuclear power plants we talked about. word tonight about a second damaged radiation venting into the atmosphere and fears of a radioactive meltdown akin to the three mile island. most experts say it's unlikely but they're watching it closely. the evacuation zone is expanded

six miles outside the first damaged plant. >> a reflirminder there from la year. what's happening now to the tense of thousands of people who were forced from their homes? a year on surely they must be asking when can they go home? >> reporter: there's no answer about when they can go home, john. a year on 78,000 people were evacuated out of those communities right around that nuclear plant. a total of about 100,000 people, because the evacuation area, voluntary evacuation area was actually expanded. so we're talking about many, many people, and in some cases they are in a far-off worse situation than the tsunami region down here. one of the big challenges here is trying to clear out some of the rubble. you can see the rubble behind me. there's about 22 million tons of that rubble that has to be cleared out, and only 6% of that

has been cleared out. but you can see that the work is being progressed in the fukushima region, those residents still have no answers. they still have no idea when to go home. you really start to understand the challenge when you go to the nuclear plant, something cnn was able to do to get an up-close look at one of the world's worst nuclear disaster in history. >> a year after these reactors at the fukushima nuclear plant exploded in a triple meltdown, reporters were reminded this is still one of the most hazardous places on the planet. we wore head-to-toe protective gear, full facial respirators and hazmat suits and drove up to the world's worst nuclear accident in 25 years. this is our first look on the ground at the reactors. this is the heart of the nuclear problem in japan. what you see over my shoulder are the reactors.

these are the two reactors that explod exploded. you can see the reactors have a long way to go. this is a year after the disaster, and you can see that the force of the explosion crippled those buildings. you can understand how so much radiation spewed from this point when you stand here. an army of 3,000 workers are now here daily in shifts to control the melted nuclear fuel and contain the further spread of the radiation. inside the on-sight crisis management building aat the plant, a control center monitors the progress and safety 24 hours a day. the highest risk we see is if something goes wrong with the reactors says the plant manager. the plant is in cold shutdown, but the nuclear fuel needs con tant cooling and the situation is far from over. tepco says the plant won't be decommissioned for at least 30 to 40 years. the challenge is evident.

debris still mangled from the tsunami sits untouched because of radiation concerns. these blue tanks and larger gray ones hold water contaminated with radiation. tepco is continually challenged with finding more places for the water. work safety is a constant concern. this woman used to give tours to the public at the fukushima nuclear plant. before the accident i explained to many people that the nuclear power plant is safe, she says. now that this has happened, i feel very sorry i ever said that. she also lived here, and sthees n she's now an evacuee, uncertainly if she can return home. a year later she and 78,000 others are the legacy of it this accident, paying the price when nuclear energy goes wrong. >> we'll talk to a young man in a moment from the united states.

he was struck by this disaster. now, first this is his story in his own words. >> i've always been interested in japan, their culture, their people, their electronics, cars, technology. i was shocked when in one day the entire eastern coast of japan was devastated by an 8.9 magnitude earthquake which created a deadly 30-foot tsunami. this caused meltdowns at a funur plant. the japanese will be affected for years. i had to do something. my name is richard zadrik, i'm a senior in high school and i'm very concerned about future of our planet, our people and our resources. so i traveled to japan to see what i could do, how i could help, and if i could encourage others to do something as well. richard joins us now live from tokyo.

richard, first question for you. you said you wanted to help and do something. why do it with film? >> well, i felt that film was really the best way to get the message out. there are a lot of challenges and a lot of things that many people don't know and still don't know surrounding this issue. >> this was probably the most documented disaster in history. so what is it that you think you brought light to with your film that you hope to release soon? >> well, first and foremost, one of the biggest challenges that we found were the evacuation zones. there's this 25-kilometer evacuation zone and 50-kilometer voluntary evacuation zone and beyond that it's purported to be safe. what we found was there are actually radioactive hotspots outside of both of these areas. as an example there's a town 60 kilometers from the plant. we took some radiation

measurement there is and found that in many ways it was unsafe. that was one of the issues that we're bringing light to in the film. >> when you talk about the radiation levels at fukushima, you look at the impact on people's health, on wildlife, on sea life, but you also look at the impact that this radiation has on social stigma. what were people telling you? >> well, i spoke to a mother of two sons in that town, koriyama. she's worried they cannot find jobs or spouses because of the stigma associated with being affected by radiation. there's a word in japanese that means bomb-affected people or radiation-affected people. it came into being after the hiroshima and nagasaki attacks, and it's being used again for fukushima.

it's worrisome for them and it's worrisome for me, because i don't know what their future is going fob in a lot of this. >> you're just 18 years of age. still fairly young. i guess over the past few months is there one moment which you'll never forget? >> oh, gosh. that's a good question. i think the one moment i'll never forget in the past month was when i sat with three high school boys my age, and they said why did you come here to such a dangerous place? people in our own country aren't even willing to come here? >> a very young filmmaker bringing to it light and keeping this story up there in people's minds. that's very important work. thank you, richard. >> this is a live picture of where this national ceremony will be held in the national cathedral. 1,000 guests are expected to attend and leading the proceedings is prime minister noda, who also we are expecting

the emperor to attend as well. whether he speaks or not is still unclear at this stage. he is recovering from heart surgery just a few weeks ago. there it is. a live picture of where this national ceremony will be held in tokyo. for now we'll take a short break as we continue with our special coverage of "japan one year on." >> announcer: this is the day. the day that we say to the world of identity thieves "enough." we're lifelock, and we believe you have the right to live free from the fear of identity theft. our pledge to you? as long as there are identity thieves, we'll be there. we're lifelock. and we offer the most comprehensive identity theft protection ever created. lifelock: relentlessly protecting your identity.

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this is in just the past year. you're watching "japan one year on." you may up want to look at this. this is where the national memorial will be taking place at the national cathedral there in tokyo. this is a live picture. we are expecting the prime minister to lead the service. there will also be a minute prayer of silence for the almost 16,000 people who lost their lives in the earthquake and the tsunami which followed, and it's important to remember that as of now there are still more than 3,000 people listed as missing. as soon as this service gets under way, you will see it hire live on cnn. in the meantime you may remember these images near the japanese city of sendai. the airport overcome with water and debris. remarkably the airport re-opened a month later, and the city of

sendai is now booming. we'll explain why. >> reporter: the guests come one after another to economic into this hotel in sendai, northern japan's largest city. we're happy to tell you our rooms are fully booked today said the manager. he has twice as many customers now compared to a year ago before the devastates earthquake and tsunami struck the region. with sendai fast becoming the center for the rebuilding effort, there is no shortage of men building to pay $45 for the use of the baths and a smal capsule for the fight. in saturday night in sendai, and it's busy a sign of the economic resurgence under way. recovery work as government compensation checks and families relocating from disaster zones are bringing added life to this city. construction workers are coming from as far away as kobe, and still they need more. this carpenter says he gets

nonstop calls from people who want to rebuild their homes. honestly speaking, i developed a heart problem in the beginning because i got so many calls my phone didn't stop ringing. they all needed me to work. before the earthquake many of his competitors left the industry, but now builders say there's enough work to last them ten years. sendai retailers have seen sluggish sales turn to a brisk business. last quarter sales in big department stores were up 10% on the year before, especially benefitting the luxury sector as consumers take on a new attitude after the trauma of march 2011. we used to think let's wait, even though we wanted to buy, says this shopper. after such experience we learned that such an idea was no use. the director of the local department store says in the initial months after the quake, customers were looking to replace lost goods. now, the high-end brands and

jewelry are the best sellers. some people buy things to treat themselves after experiencing a hard time, or they buy expensive stuff to prove to themselves they are still alive. but sendai's bounce-back is the exception, not the rule, for japan. in cities like ishinomaki, there are still piles of abandoned cars and debris and rebuilding plans are only just beginning to come together. japan's national economy is still struggling to grow with hampered supply lines and declined exports and the hampering debt burden in the whole world. only a structural overhaul leads to a real and lasting boom for japan. for now sendai is a surging city amid the ruins of japan's coastline. anna corrin, cnn, sendai. >> you're watching special coverage of "japan one year on."

i'm john vause along with my colleague kuhng lah in japan. this is set to get under way at the national theater any moment now. both the japanese emperor and prime minister will be there. the prime minister is expected to speak as well. one year on japan is a country that is still rebuilding especially along the northeast coast where life is still far from normal. that will be many years to come. as we look at these mimages and prepare for this national ceremony, you have a good sense how important this day is to so many survivors and families and relatives of those that died. what will this mean to them, and what can we expect in the coming hours? >> reporter: well, what the

survivors will tell you is this this is a very important day. for many of them they want to look at it as closing a chapter, ending this first traumatic year. these are the words that i hear from people that lost children or parents, and they are really hoping to just make it through today. to mark the day and move on, because there's so much work to be done. we're expecting to see in the national ceremony a very solemn ceremony. people are going to start filing in. at 2:46 the moment that the quake struck a year ago, the 9.0 earthquake is marked by a one-minute moment of silence. it won't be marked in this hall in tokyo, but across this entire tsunami region. in this tsunami region, we're expecting a second moment of silence about 30 to 40 minutes later when the tsunami came roaring across this region. remember, 350 square miles were affected, hundreds of thousands of people impacted as well.

and then in the national ceremony we're expecting to hear symptom wo some words from the prime minister. what all eyes are looking for and anticipating in japan is what the emperor says, if he's able to speak. the emperor had open heart surgery two weeks ago. he has been ill. he had some fluid removed from his chest after that surgery. he is a spiritual leader of japan. he is in many words of the people and the survivors the heart of japan. so people are really hoping he's going to be able to say something. he has in many ways symbolized the strength of japan. after an open heart surgery, able to show up such a short time later. certainly if he's able it to speak or at least appear, it will be something that will be quite inspirational to a lot of people looking for inspiration. shortly after that, john, at the end of this, a lot of people couldn't fit into the hall. so people are going to be lining up and trying to lay flowers. everyone wants to be there, but they didn't have space.

the people that couldn't get in, they're going to lay flowers and taking a moment throughout the day today to just mourn and remember what happened to this country a year ago. john. >> i think what resonates for so many people understand not just in japan but around the world, of course, were the images we saw not just in the first hours but the remarkable video that emerged in the hours, days and weeks that followed. in so many ways this disaster has been described as the world's first youtube disaster. how has that changed the perception there and essentially how this disaster was viewed? >> reporter: what it really showed us was the power of citizen video again. we've seen this throughout the middle east and the arab spring, but here in japan the way it was used was that around the world video was uploaded instantaneously. this was a live disaster, and it

made what happened here on this island impact people all the way around the globe. it engaged people from their laptops to their televisions to want to assist and to be in some way engaged to this disaster so many miles away, john. >> of course, we have a closer look now at just who those people were who documented this disaster and spread those images around the world. >> the very instant the tsunami struck ishinomaki, a young man trapped in the frigid, rushing waters clinging to a telephone wire. you're watching this entire neighborhood as its ripped apart from the victim trapped in the middle of it. captures it all on his camera. more than 2 million people views this clip since it hit u tube right after the disaster. the teenager shooting the video

is this 16-year-old from his balcony. he kept recording. it was right here? when you were taping that, did you know that you were recording history? i never thought about it, he says. i was simply panicking. his video is just one of thousands on the web showing the tsunami as it happened, making it one of the most recorded disaster in history. japan is one of the most wired countries in the world. mobile phone data shows that every single person has at least one mobile phone and in some cases two, so when the tsunami came roaring ashore, thousands upon thousands captured it on personal devices. is that the real power of the personal recording device in a hand, being able to transmit that video around the world instantaneously? >> to do this in near real-time and to do it to audiences across the globe is unprecedented in

how much power it gives the individuals. because, you know, you had all of this very real footage, it made the incident much more real in people's minds. they no longer have to imagine what a tsunami is. they saw it live. >> making japan's disaster a shared worldwide experience. he believes that the amount of citizen video helped engage governments, aid groups and individuals to help and showed humanity at its best in the face of disaster. in his case, what you can't see is the most important part of his story. his video ends suddenly. he stopped recording. the man clinging to the telephone wire? he waded out to him in the tsunami water and saved his life. >> those images, of course, made for a shared experience around the world. kuhng there in ishinomaki right

now we can't share are the private moments of grief, and we can see what appears to be a ceremony behind you there. what's happening right now? >> reporter: this is actually a place that was the temple here in downtown ishinomaki, and to give you an idea what the survivors had to deal with. they rebuilt this temple here out of parts they could find all through the downtown. there are sections of tubing and buildings that now make up the shrine. milk crates, some stones from different houses. people have collected various items from their house and laid it here. it's something that's repeated throughout this region. people who want a place to grieve. a lot of folks in this community are pausing, but only for a couple of minutes at the

foundations of what were their homes and then going to larger ceremonial gatherings like the one in tokyo. those live images that are coming out of the national theater, and we are expecting to hear a lot of dignitaries speaking. some of the things i want to point out, though, happening in tokyo, we're also expecting to hear some of the survivors, the victim representatives, and they're going to share their stories about how they're trying to recover, how they're getting back on their feet. it's really extraordinary if you talk to these people. they're extraordinarily brave. they want to put on this very strong face for the public to say we're going to keep moving. we have to keep moving. there's really no choice. it does cover some of that pain. >> if i may interrupt you briefly. we see the emperor arriving now for this national ceremony th e there. a lot of speculation about his health. he recently underwent heart bypass surgery, and there is a great deal of anticipation that

the emperor may be speaking today. of course, he made a dramatic television appearance in the days after the earthquake and tsunami, and there will be many people waiting to hear if he has something to say as well once again today as he arrives at this national ceremony in tokyo. "trojan rewind" >> when we go back to when the emperor spoke in the days after the earthquake, what cathtic effect did that have on the nation? one more time. when we heard the emperor speak in the days after the earthquake, what did that mean for the people of japan? what effect did it have? >> reporter: it was an

extraordinary moment that the emperor took to the air waves, because it is a very, very rare event for the emperor to talk to the people directly, especially from something that's not ceremonial like a new year's eve address. that is extraordinarily rare, and it really signaled to people that this is historic. this is a national emergency. this is a national tragedy. what the emperor did make sure to say is that this was something that people needed to mark then try to move on. >> kyung, we need to listen to the ceremony now. so i'll ask you it to stand by, please.

>> translator: we will sing the national anthem. please sing after the introduction. please stand up.

♪

of the sign indicating 1446, we're going to have a moment of silen silence. it will be a year at 12:14.46 since when the earthquake disaster happened. it robbed a lot of lives, and it impacted the lives of people in japan. it was unprecedented. to have a moment of silence,

people from iwate pre effefectud chiba prefecture and many cities and towns in these prefectures and their towns are having the similar ceremonies. to share the mourning with these people at -- over 70 cities and towns we are broadcasting this ceremony. then for the victims of the earthquake and disaster to mourn

we are going to have one more -- one more minute of silence. silence.

>> translator: we will finish the silent prayer. please be seated. mr. noda will go over the agenda.

>> translator: today with the emperor and empress present with us, the earthquake disaster one year anniversary is held. i am humbly dedicating my words of condolences. a the lot of lives were lost, and there was a lot of disaster in the country. it has been a year since then. all the lives were lost, and i

feel their pain and i feel the grieving families' pain. i cannot express my sorrow enough. i express my feelings of mourning. there still are people missing, and the families of these missing people and everybody who were affected, i'd like to dedicate my words to them to console their spirits of the people who died and it to carry on for them, i'd like to swear three things. one is to restore the town's affected as soon as possible. right now there are many people

who are enduring the pain and inconvenien inconvenience. we need to restore their lives, and we need to restore and develop these towns so they have happy hometowns again. we will support those efforts as much as possible. we are still fighting the nuclear disaster. fukushima prefecture will be restored, and to have the beautiful hometown back, we will -- i will do my best. the second thing i swear is to remember this. we have a lot of natural disasters in this country, and the lessons and knowledge we

have learned through earthquakes need to be carried on. so these lessons need to be used to prepare ourselves for emergencies in the future. the third thing is to remember the feeling of helping each other and appreciation. these -- the support of people in the towns affected and in the towns that were not affected is necessa necessary, and we will also want to extend our support to the countries outside japan. our forerunners that gave us

this wonderful country were able to overcome their hardships to restore japan. we will have the mission of rebuilding the country by holding hands together. may your -- may the spirits of the deceased rest peacefully, and i'd like to extend my feelings to the grieving families. march 11th, chief cabinet secretary yoshiko noda.

>> translator: next we'll have words from emperor.

>> translator: it's been a year since the disaster. i'd like to express my mourning

for the people that passed away one year ago. we were attacked by an unprecedented earthquake and tsunami and almost 20,000 people died. many people were missing. many of them were firefighters and people who tried to help peop people. the lost of their own people, we should never forget them moreover because of this earthquake, there was a nuclear power plant accident and people in the evacuation and dangerous

are areas needed to leave the place where they lived to be able to live there safely again, we need to overcome the problem of radiati radiation, that it's another hardship that we endure. this disaster, many public agencies and government officials visited the towns affected and have been conducting activities to support affect

affected. these activities consoled the -- i am sure these activities consoled the hearts of the affected and the evacuees. i want to express my appreciation and gratitude to the people who helped the affected and the people who live in the affected areas and people who worked on nuclear power plant disasters. there were many people who expressed their support, many from foreign countries expressed their support.

and we were -- i'm in deep gratitude for the support we received internationally. there will be a lot of hardships for the restoration of the areas affected. i sincerely hope that we will work towards restoring the affected areas, and i sincerely hope that we will remember this disaster and carry that lesson

on for the future disaster management in the future. i sincerely hope with all of you to restore this -- the safety of this country and the restoration of the affected areas. i expressed my condolences it to the souls of the people who passed away through this disaster.