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March 16, 2011
Hope and loss in Japan's search for the missing
NATORI, Japan (AP) -- Line after line, a list on the wall of city hall reveals the dead. Some are named. Others are identified only by a short description.
Female. About 50. Peanuts in left chest pocket. Large mole. Seiko watch.
Male. 70-80 years old. Wearing an apron that says "Rentacom."
One set catches the eye of Hideki Kano, a man who appears to be in his 30s.
"I think that's my mom!" he says. He rushes out into the snow, headed for a makeshift morgue.
The list in Natori, and others along Japan's northeast coast, will only get longer.
Five days after the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami, the official death toll is more than 4,300. More than 8,000 people are still missing, and hundreds of national and international rescue teams are looking for them. In the industrial town of Kamaishi, 70 British firefighters in bright orange uniforms clamber over piles of upturned cars to search a narrow row of pulverized homes. They wear personal radiation detectors amid fears of leaks from damaged nuclear plants far to the south.(36 images)

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Vehicle headlamps illuminate a disaster area in Yamada town in Iwate prefecture on March 16, 2011. Str / AFP/ Getty Images


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A youngster rests in a school gymnasium being used as a center for people to stay at whose homes were damaged by the tsunami in Ofunato, Japan, Wednesday, March 16, 2011. Matt Dunham / AP



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A boy (R) waits for boiled water to cook instant noodle outside a shelter in Sendai, in Miyagi prefecture on March 16, 2011. Str / AFP/ Getty Images



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People look on as they wait to be scanned for radiation at a temporary scanning center for residents living close to the quake-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant Wednesday, March 16, 2011, in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. ( Gregory Bull / AP



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A woman holds her dog as they are scanned for radiation at a temporary scanning center for residents living close to the quake-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant Wednesday, March 16, 2011, in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. Gregory Bull / AP



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Tsunami survivors' notes seeking information about their missing relatives and friends put up on the entrance of Natori City Hall in Natori, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan, Wednesday, March 16, 2011 five days after the disaster. Koji Sasahara / AP



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People stay close to the heater at a shelter at Yamada town in Iwate prefecture on March 16, 2011. Str / AFP/ Getty Images



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People queue up in front of a gas station in Mito, north of Tokyo Wednesday morning, March 16, 2011, following Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami. Kyodo News / AP



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Young men carry a woman from a shelter in Miyako, northern Japan Wednesday, March 16, 2011. Naoya Masuda / AP



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Police officers carry the body of a victim at Friday's earthquake and tsunami devastated area Wednesday March 16, 2011, in Rikuzentakata, Miyagi, northern Japan. Kyodo News / AP



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Debris left from the tsunami covers the entire seaside area of the devastated city of Ofunato, Iwate prefecture on March 15, 2011 as the country struggles to cope following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disasters. Toshifumi Kitamura / AFP/ Getty Images



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Japan Self-Defense Force's members clear debris in Ofunato, Iwate, northern Japan Wednesday, March 16, 2011 after Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami. Kyodo News / AP



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This handout picture released from Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) and given to AFP via JIJI Press on March 16, 2011 shows the damaged number three (L) and four reactors of the TEPCO Fukushima No.1 power plant in Fukushima, north of Tokyo. TEPCO / AFP/ Getty Images



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Ships are left aground among destroyed houses in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, Wednesday, March 16, 2011, five days after an earthquake-triggered tsunami devastated northeastern Japan. KYDPL / AP



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Members of a British search and rescue team climb over debris from the tsunami, while searching for trapped people as snow falls in Kamaishi, Japan, Wednesday, March 16, 2011. Matt Dunham / AP



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A member of a British search and rescue team climbs on the roof of a building damaged by the tsunami, while searching for trapped people as snow falls in Kamaishi, Japan, Wednesday, March 16, 2011. Matt Dunham / AP



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A member of the US Fairfax County search and rescue team from Virginia helps a colleague slide into a crawl space in a destroyed house to look for survivors in Kamaishi on March 16, 2011, four days after the devasting earthquake and ensuing tsunami on March 11. Nicholas Kamm / AFP/ Getty Images



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Chieko Chiba walks through the rubble after going to see her destroyed home March 16, 2011 in Kesennuma, Miyagi province, Japan. Paula Bronstein / Getty Images



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A construction laborer controls the traffic at a devastated area in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan, Wednesday, March 16, 2011. Shizuo Kambayashi / AP



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The 4,724-ton freighter "M.V. Asia Symphony" lies on a pier after being hit by the tsunami, at the port in Kamaishi city, Iwate prefecture on March 16, 2011. Toshifumi Kitamura / AFP/ Getty Images



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Self-Defense Force members put a tarp over bodies in Minamisanriku, northern Japan, Wednesday, March 16, 2011. Tsuyoshi Matsumoto / AP



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Neena Sasaki, 5, carries some of the family belongings from her home that was destroyed after the devastating earthquake and tsunami on March 15, 2011 in Rikuzentakata, Miyagi province, Japan. Paula Bronstein / Getty Images



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A young Japanese survivor of the earthquake and tsunami searches her family home for any belongings she can find in the leveled city of Minamisanriku, in northeastern Japan, Tuesday March 15, 2011. David Guttenfelder / AP



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Keijo Nakamura, right, and his wife Haruka react as they stand on the remains of a dead relative's home after the house was washed away by the tsunami in Ofunato, Japan, Tuesday, March 15, 2011. Matt Dunham / AP



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Japanese survivors of Friday's earthquake and tsunami walk under umbrellas through the leveled city of Minamisanriku, in northeastern Japan, Tuesday, March 15, 2011. David Guttenfelder / AP



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Richi Shida, right, and younger brother Kento try to open their chest of drawers at Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan, Tuesday, March 15, 2011. Shizuo Kambayashi / AP



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Local men try to break open a safe they said washed away from their restaurant in Ofunato, Japan, Tuesday, March 15, 2011. Matt Dunham / AP



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British search and rescue workers search under a roof removed from a house for survivors of the tsunami in Ofunato, Japan, Tuesday, March 15, 2011. Matt Dunham / AP



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A man shops in a convenience store where shelves on food aisles are empty in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan, Tuesday, March 15, 2011. Shizuo Kambayashi / AP



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Women cry together after hearing the death of family members at an evacuation center in Kesennuma in Miyagi prefecture (state) Tuesday, March 15, 2011. Kyodo News / AP



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A woman wears layers of blankets and gloves to stay warm at a makeshift shelter at Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan, Tuesday, March 15, 2011. Shizuo Kambayashi / AP



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A girl sits and curls up on chairs while staying at a makeshift shelter in Rikuzentakata, northern Japan, Tuesday, March 15, 2011. Kyodo News / AP



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Tsunami survivors cook and eat in front of their damaged house Tuesday, March 15, 2011 in Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture (state) after the area was badly damaged by Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami. Kyodo News / AP



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A boat lies in a street after being washed ashore by the recent tsunami in Hishonomaki, Miyagi prefecture on March 15, 2011. Phillipe Lopez / AFP/ Getty Images



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A boy waits in a line in front of a gas station in Kamaishi, northern Japan Monday, March 14, 2011 following Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami. Naoko Kawamura / AP



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Rescuers searches for the victims of Friday's tsunami at Noda village, Iwate Prefecture, northern Japan, Monday, March 14, 2011. Kyodo News / AP



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