ISHINOMAKI, Miyagi -- Ceremonies attended by bereaved relatives were held here and other areas to mark exactly 14 years since the tragedies of the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, which claimed the lives of more than 22,000 people.

A memorial was held at the former municipal Okawa Elementary School, where 74 children and 10 staff members lost their lives. Bereaved families observed a moment of silence at 2:46 p.m., the exact time the earthquake struck. The Okawa Elementary School Ruins have been preserved as a reminder of the tragedy.

Hiromu Chiba, a 16-year-old first-year high school student, prayed quietly with his hands pressed together on a nearby hill. He lost his cousins, first-year high school student Yusuke Sanjo and Yusuke's younger brother Kosei, then a third grader at Okawa Elementary. "I was only 2 years old at the time and have no memories of it, but as I imagine what they would be doing now if they had survived, my sadness grows year by year," he said.

Hiromu's mother, Mami Chiba, 51, choked back tears while saying how Hiromu is now 16, the same age Yusuke was when he passed away. "Inevitably, I overlap their images in my mind," she said, wiping her tears as she continued, "I usually don't have the chance to openly cry, so today is a day I can let it all out."

In Ishinomaki's Minamihama district, which was severely damaged in the tsunami, around 4,000 lanterns and LED lights equaling the number of city residents lost were lit in front of the "Ganbaro! Ishinomaki" ("Hang in there, Ishinomaki!") sign, which has encouraged residents since soon after the disaster.

That evening, 22-year-old Kazane Saijo read aloud a picture book titled "Futari no tenshi ni atta boku" (I met two angels), a work created by Saijo together with students and others. She lost her younger sister, Harune, who was then in her last year at Hiyori Kindergarten.

After the reading, Saijo said with tears in her eyes, "I read it with the feeling that I don't want the lessons to be forgotten, and I won't forget either, and suddenly I started to cry. No matter how many years pass, the feeling of wanting to meet her again remains the same. I'll always love you, Haru."

(Japanese original by Nobuyuki Hyakutake, Ishinomaki Local Bureau)