Where once there was only debris and destruction, and then a year later a cleared but barren landscape, now there is fresh earth.

Tons of it, covering areas where roads and building foundations once stood, as if to obliterate the past.

A steady stream of trucks is bringing soil and construction materials to towns along Japan's northeast coast, destroyed by a tsunami of historic proportions on March 11, 2011. It is a massive undertaking to raise the ground level of entire neighborhoods, to better protect them from inundation, before rebuilding from scratch.

Five years after the disaster, construction work is clearly underway but far from done. Rebuilt roads stretch to the horizon between still largely vacant expanses.

Fishing is the lifeblood of many of these seaside communities, and there are signs of life as new piers and fish processing and refrigeration facilities go up. The progress seems slower in residential areas.

Five years ago, something caught my eye on the side of the road in the deserted city of Onagawa, amid the volunteers, soldiers, rescue workers and others searching and cleaning up: A Japanese flag, dingy and flapping in the wind, in the middle of the debris.

The debris is long gone, and with it, the flag. In their place, the flattened city is literally rising, as trucks arrive with more soil, leveled by bulldozers into a hoped-for foundation for the future.

Below are galleries with before and after photos of locations showing the destruction after the Tsunami hit in 2011, to the progression of reconstruction by 2016.

In this March 19, 2011 photo, residents of the tsunami- and earthquake-destroyed town of Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture in northeastern Japan walk down an empty street. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

In this Feb. 22, 2012 photo, two officials walk along a street in the tsunami and earthquake destroyed town of Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

In this Saturday, March 5, 2015 photo, trucks wait in queue to dump soils in the tsunami and earthquake destroyed town of Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan. Five years after the disaster, construction work is clearly underway but far from done. Rebuilt roads stretch to the horizon between still largely vacant expanses. It is a massive undertaking to raise the ground level of entire neighborhoods, to better protect them from inundation, before rebuilding from scratch. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

In this March 15, 2011 photo, vehicles pass through the ruins of the leveled city of Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

In this Feb. 23, 2012 photo, vehicles pass through the ruins of the leveled city of Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan, almost one year after the March 11, 2011 tsunami. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

In this Monday, March 7, 2016 photo, construction works go on in the leveled city of Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, almost five years after the March 11, 2011 tsunami. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

In this March 15, 2011 photo, a Japanese survivor of the earthquake and tsunami rides his bicycle through the leveled city of Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, four days after the disaster. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

In this Feb. 23, 2012 photo, a Japanese car drives through the leveled city of Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, almost one year after the March 11 tsunami. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

In this Saturday, March 5, 2016 photo, trucks and cars drive through the leveled city of Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan. Five years after the disaster, construction work is clearly underway but far from done. Rebuilt roads stretch to the horizon between still largely vacant expanses. It is a massive undertaking to raise the ground level of entire neighborhoods, to better protect them from inundation, before rebuilding from scratch. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

In this March 28, 2011 photo, a ship sits in a destroyed residential neighborhood in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, after a powerful tsunami hit the area on March 11. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

In this Feb. 23, 2012 photo, a ship sits in a destroyed residential neighborhood in Kesennuma, Japan. A year after an earthquake and tsunami ravaged the country's coastline and killed around 19,000 people, many of the boats carried inland by the wall of water have been removed. But some, like this one, remain - providing a stark reminder of nature's fearsome power. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

In this Sunday, March 6, 2016 photo, reconstruction process is seen at the 2011 tsunami destroyed residential neighborhood at Shishiori area in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan. Five years after the disaster, construction work is clearly underway but far from done. Rebuilt roads stretch to the horizon between still largely vacant expanses. It is a massive undertaking to raise the ground level of entire neighborhoods, to better protect them from inundation, before rebuilding from scratch. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

In this March 17, 2011 photo, Japanese residents of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, are seen from a destroyed pedestrian bridge, passing through a road that was cleared by a bulldozer through the ruins of the city, six days after the March 11 tsunami. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

In this Feb. 23, 2012 photo, Japanese residents of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan, are seen from a destroyed pedestrian bridge, crossing a road in the destroyed part of the city, almost one year after the March 11, 2011 tsunami hit the area. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

In this Monday, March 7, 2016 photo, a worker checks the construction site in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan. Five years after the disaster, construction work is clearly underway but far from done. Rebuilt roads stretch to the horizon between still largely vacant expanses. It is a massive undertaking to raise the ground level of entire neighborhoods, to better protect them from inundation, before rebuilding from scratch. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Text from the AP news story, Photo Gallery: Cities flattened by Japan tsunami literally rise, by Eugene Hoshiko.

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