With mops, cranes and immense courage, Japan picks up the pieces and begins the long, slow process of rebuilding

For days after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami which obliterated the north-east Japanese coast, the people were simply shellshocked.

There followed a lot of suffering, bereavement in horrific measures and the realisation that for the lucky survivors life would never be the same again.

But slowly - despite thousands of refugees living out of cardboard boxes and with fears of radiation ever-present - the Japanese are beginning to swing into action.

Firstly, there is an enormous amount of mopping and cleaning to be done, and how some of the ships, cars, houses, mangled steel and general detritus will be removed is anyone's guess, but construction is occurring if only on a small scale.

The stoic Japanese have got a mammoth job in front of them, but some of them can glimpse the light at the end of the tunnel, even if it appears very dim to the rest of us.

 Volunteer workers clear the mud on in Matsushima, Miyagi

 The lights are on and there's someone home: Lights from vehicles are caught in a long exposure in Yamada where a bedroom window light shows signs of life

The buildings represent a new beginning for the local people

A set of 36 houses are being built in the grounds of a junior high school Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture

People shift mud and debris from a boutique at Kamaishi in Iwate prefecture

Sailors from Navy Misawa sailors are assisting with clean up in the tsunami-damaged city of Hachinohe

Students and U.S. soldiers mop up in a high school gymnasium in Ishinomaki

A U.S. Marine teams up with Japanese soldiers in cleaning up the mud-covered floor of a classroom at the devastated city of Ishinomaki

Marines team up with Japanese soldiers and a school official in cleaning up the mud-covered floor of an auditorium

 A man works in mud in front of his house in Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture

 A worker operates the excavator during a clean-up operation in Tarou, north of Morika

 An aerial picture shows a view of Sendai airport after clean-up operations

 A worker cleans up at Sendai airport

 A set of 36 houses are being built in the grounds of a junior high school Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture

 Workers build temporary accommodation and shelters for local residents in Miyagi

 Akiko Hatareyama digs mud out of what is left of her house in front of a grounded ship in Kesennuma

 A woman helps to clean up a sporting goods store in downtown Kesennuma

 A worker grabs a destroyed car during clean-up operations in Sendai, Miyagi

 Volunteers return a tatami mat to a resident's house in Higashi-Matsushima, in Miyagi prefecture

 Workers shift a damaged car during clean-up operations in Sendai

 A man retrieves belongings from his house in Miyako, Iwate prefecture

 Workers clear mud and sludge from the streets in Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture