<em>Asahi Shimbun</em>
13 March, 2011
A woman cries amidst the ruins of the town of Natori, on 13 March, two days after the tsunami that devastated much of Japan’s northeastern coast.
Toshiyuki Tsunenari
Toshiyuki Tsunenari is a photographer for Asahi Shimbun. He was born in Osaka, Japan in 1968 and joined Asahi Shimbun in 1987. Toshiyuki holds three Tokyo Press Photographers Ass...
Natori, Japan
A woman cries amidst the ruins of the town of Natori, on 13 March, two days after the tsunami that devastated much of Japan’s northeastern coast. Once a thriving farm town of about 74,000 people, Natori was virtually wiped from the map. The population had just 30 minutes’ warning between the offshore earthquake and the arrival of the tsunami. By 14 March, 2,475 deaths had been confirmed and over 15,000 people were still missing. The exact death toll may never be known. The destruction caused by the tsunami disrupted regional infrastructure to such an extent that rescue and recovery operations faced almost insurmountable difficulties. By the end of July, less than half of the rubble that engulfed the three worst-hit prefectures had been removed, and only a third of the local fishing industry had resumed.
