March 11th, 2026, at 2:46 p.m., Japan marked 15 years since the 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear accident. People across the country stopped and were silent for a short time. In towns near the sea, some people went there early in the morning to pray for family members and for people who are still missing.

The 9.0 earthquake and tsunami took the lives of over 22,000 people and forced nearly 500,000 to leave their homes. Most left because of tsunami damage. In Fukushima, about 160,000 left after dangerous nuclear energy came from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. About 26,000 have not returned. Some started new lives in other places, some hometowns are still closed due to the damage, and some people still worry about the danger.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in Fukushima that the government would work faster to help the area recover by 2031 and learn from the disaster. At the same time, her government is using more nuclear energy. Roads and other important public services have been rebuilt, but many towns and local businesses are still going through a hard time.