On the seventh anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, a BBC News report: Fukushima's long road to recovery. Excerpt:
It was supposed to be a day of celebration. But Rio Watanabe's graduation ceremony became memorable for all the wrong reasons.
Mr Watanabe, who was just 23 years old at the time, was in Tokyo when the ground started to shake. Japan is used to earthquakes. It experiences more than 100,000 of them every year, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
But the tremors on 11 March 2011 were so violent that Mr Watanabe thought Tokyo was at its epicentre.
When he realised that they originated 200 miles north of the capital, his thoughts quickly turned to his family in Fukushima, and the Sansuiso Inn run by his father.
The hot spring's location in the mountains meant it escaped the devastation wrought by the magnitude seven earthquake and tsunami which followed.
However, a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant sparked fears of contamination, and the spa resort quickly emptied.
Mr Watanabe still remembers how suddenly things changed. "We suffered heavily after the nuclear blast, and all of our bookings were cancelled."
Seven years on and the hotel's operating profits have not recovered to levels seen before the disaster struck.
Mr Watanabe says: "Some guests still talk about the nuclear disaster. There is still a negative image about Fukushima, and it's been painful for all of us in this community."
The tsunami killed almost 16,000 people and forced the country to rethink its energy policy.
Seven years on and the scars of the 2011 disaster remain. Abandoned houses are obscured by unruly branches and overgrown hedges. Even the vending machines are ignored. But there are also tales of resilience.
Mr Watanabe had always planned to return to the Sansuiso Inn in Fukushima to help run the hotel with his father.
He says: "My future was suddenly destroyed and cut off, and I felt so disappointed. It was such as shock."
But the disaster also brought the community together. Mr Watanabe joined forces with other hot spring owners in the area to form Genki Up Tsuchiyu. "Re-energizing Tsuchiyu" is designed to promote activities in the area and bring the community together.
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