This Sunday is the first anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the coastline of northeastern Japan and killed more than 15,000 people.

In January, the central government announced that it would hold a memorial service on March 11 at the National Theater, which faces the Imperial Palace grounds in Tokyo. The ceremony will be attended by the prime minister and "bereaved family members." Normally, the Emperor and Empress would attend a ceremony of such significance, but in view of the Emperor's continued health problems since his recent heart surgery it now seems unlikely that he will be present. Some foreign ambassadors may also be in the auditorium, which can hold around 1,500 people.

The hall, which normally presents traditional theater performances, is not big enough to hold everyone who would like to participate. For that the government would need something the size of Tokyo Dome, but the ceremony, or at least parts of it, will be broadcast live on NHK. According to Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura, the Cabinet Ministry originally thought of holding it in the stricken region but decided against doing so because the governments in that area are planning to have their own "official" memorial services, and a number of localities in the region held their own services last Sunday. In any case, there are plans to set up a video link on March 11 in the National Theater with the official ceremonies to be held simultaneously in the three prefectures that were most affected by the disaster — Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate.