NICOLAS ASFOURI/TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis combination of pictures shows a tsunami hit area of Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture on March 22, 2011 (top) and the same area on January 15, 2012 (bottom).
TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis combination of pictures shows the view of a tsunami hit area of Ofunato, Iwate prefecture on March 14, 2011 (top) and the same scene as it appears on January 15, 2012 (bottom).
TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis combination of pictures shows the view of a tsunami hit street in Ofunato, Iwate prefecture on March 14, 2011 (top) and the same scene as it appears on January 15, 2012 (bottom).
TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis combination of pictures shows the view of a tsunami hit area of Ofunato, Iwate prefecture on March 14, 2011 (L) and on January 15, 2012 (R).
ASFOURI/TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis combination of pictures shows a tsunami hit area of Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture on March 22, 2011 (top) and the same area on January 15, 2012 (bottom).
KAZUHIRO NOGI/TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis 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 January 12, 2012 (bottom).
TORU YAMANAKA/TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis combination of pictures shows a catamaran sightseeing boat washed by the tsunami onto a two-storey tourist home in Otsuchi, Iwate prefecture on April 16, 2011 (top) and the same area on January 16, 2012 (bottom).
ROSLAN RAHMAN/TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis combination of pictures shows a ship called Asia Sympathy run aground by the March 11 tsunami in Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture, on March 18, 2011 (top) and the same area on January 16, 2012 (bottom).
TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis combination of pictures shows a 10-metre high pine tree in Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture on March 29, 2011 (top) and the scene as it appears on January 15, 2012 (bottom). It is the only tree to have survived the tsunami among some 70,000 trees located by the seashore to protect from salt, sand and wind damage.
TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis combination of pictures shows the pavement ruptured by the earthquake in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture on March 11, 2011 (top) and the same area on January 21, 2012 (bottom).
TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis combination of pictures shows the view of a tsunami hit area of Ofunato, Iwate prefecture on March 14, 2011 (top) and as the scene appears on January 15, 2012 (bottom).
TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis combination of pictures shows a 10-metre high pine tree in Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture on March 29, 2011 (top) and the same scene as it appears on January 15, 2012 (bottom).
TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis combination of pictures shows the view of a tsunami hit street in Ofunato, Iwate prefecture on March 14, 2011 (top) and on January 15, 2012 (bottom).
NICOLAS ASFOURI/TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis combination of pictures shows a tsunami hit area of Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture on March 22, 2011 (top) and the same area on January 15, 2012 (bottom).
TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis combination of pictures shows a fishing boat lying amongst the tsunami rubble in Otsuchi, Iwate prefecture on March 31, 2011 (top) and the same area on January 16, 2012 (bottom).
YASUYOSHI CHIBA/TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis combination of pictures shows a catamaran sightseeing boat washed by the tsunami onto a two-storey tourist home in Otsuchi, Iwate prefecture on April 16, 2011 (top) and the same area on January 16, 2012 (bottom).
KAZUHIRO NOGI/TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis combination of pictures shows people walking on a road covered with vehicles and debris in a tsunami hit area of Tagajo, Miyagi prefecture on March 13, 2011 (L) and the same area on January 12, 2012 (R).
TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis combination of pictures shows people walking on train tracks littered with cars in Tagajo, Miyagi prefecture on March 13, 2011 (top), following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and the same area on January 12, 2012 (bottom).
YASUYOSHI CHIBA/TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis combination of pictures shows a cherry blossom tree amongst tsunami devastation in the city of Kamaishi, Iwate prefecture on April 20, 2011 (top) and the same area on January 16, 2012 (bottom).
KIM JAE-HWAN/TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis combination of pictures shows local 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 January 12, 2012 (bottom).
KIM JAE-HWAN/TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis 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 January 13, 2012 (bottom).
PHILIPPE LOPEZ/TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis combination of pictures shows people walking on a bridge upon which a boat lies washed up by the tsunami in Hishonomaki, Miyagi prefecture on March 15, 2011 (top) and the same area on January 13, 2012 (bottom).
JIJI PRESS/TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis 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 January 13, 2012 (bottom).
FRED DUFOUR/TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis combination of pictures shows debris and damage in the tsunami hit area of Minamisanriku, Miyagi prefecture on March 18, 2011 (top) and the same area on January 14, 2012 (bottom).
PHILIPPE LOPEZ/TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis combination of pictures shows a boat washed on to a street by the March 11 tsunami in Ishonomaki, Miyagi prefecture on March 15, 2011 (top) and the same area on January 13, 2012 (bottom).
PHILIPPE LOPEZ/TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis combination of pictures shows damage caused by the March 11, 2011 tsunami seen from a hill overlooking the city of Kesennuma on March 16, 2011 (top) and the same area on Janury 14, 2012 (bottom).
MIKE CLARKE/TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis combination of pictures shows a rescue worker walking through rubble in the tsunami hit area of Minamisanriku, Miyagi prefecture on March 18, 2011 (top) and the same area on January 14, 2012 (bottom).
PHILIPPE LOPEZ/TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis combination of pictures shows a survivor walking past rubble and collapsed buildings in Kesennuma in Miyagi prefecture on March 18, 2011 (top) following the March 11, 2011 tsunami and the same area on January 14, 2012 (bottom).
KIM JAE-HWAN/TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis combination of pictures shows a fishing boat washed up by the March 11, 2011 tsunami onto on a road in the city of Kesennuma in Miyagi prefecture on March 16, 2011 (top) and the same area on January 14, 2012 (bottom).
PHILIPPE LOPEZ/TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis combination of pictures shows damage caused by the March 11, 2011 tsunami seen from a hill overlooking the city of Kesennuma on March 16, 2011 (top) and the same area on Janury 14, 2012 (bottom).
MIKE CLARKE/TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis combination of pictures shows a private plane, cars and debris outside Sendai Airport in Natori, Miyagi prefecture on March 13, 2011 (top) two days after a tsunami hit the region on March 11, 2011 and the same area on January 12, 2012 (bottom).
PHILIPPE LOPEZ/TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis combination of pictures shows cars piled up in front of the airport control tower in Sendai on March 14, 2011 (L) after a tsunami hit the region on March 11, 2011 and the same area on January 12, 2012 (R).
KAZUHIRO NOGI/TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis combination of pictures shows local residents looking at a tsunami hit area of Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture on March 12, 2011 (top) and the same area on January 11, 2012 (bottom).
JIJI PRESSTORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis combination of pictures shows people queueing up to buy food at a supermarket in Sendai, Miyagi prefecture on March 14, 2011 (top) and the same area on January 13, 2012 (bottom).
TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty ImagesThis combination of pictures shows residents walking on roads covered with mud and debris in a tsunami hit area of Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, on March 14, 2011 (top) and the same area on January 13, 2012 (bottom). March 11, 2012 will mark the first anniversary of the massive tsunami that pummelled Japan, claiming more than 19,000 lives. FRANCE OUT AFP PHOTO / TORU YAMANAKA (Photo credit should read TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty Images)
