Just three months ago Japan was plunged into chaos after a cataclysmic earthquake sent a merciless tsunami crashing through towns and cities up and down the east coast.

The unforgiving tide of water obliterated tens of thousands of buildings, devouring almost anything in its path. Thousands of people died and hundreds of bodies have never been recovered.

The heart-breaking images of families desperately searching for loved ones amid the rubble of their homes sent shockwaves around the world.

Now, three months on, these images show the Japanese people remain undaunted by the havoc nature has wreaked on their homeland as step by step they rebuild their nation.

The pleasure boat ''Hamayuri'' washed up on the rooftop of an inn by tsunami and a building have so far been removed in the town of Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, on April 6, top, and on June 3, bottom.

A Shinto shrine gate and surroundings in the town of Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture three days after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and the same spot on June 3

But despite their progress, stark reminders of the work left to do means the resilience of this Asian country is still being tested.

Headway in the clean-up has been made in the town of Otsuchi in Iwate Prefecture where the pleasure boat ''Hamayuri'', which was remarkably washed up on the rooftop of an inn, has been removed, along with a building shattered by the the wall of water.

Further down is an image of a Shinto shrine gate in the town three days after the March 11 disaster.

The same spot on June 3 which shows thousands of tonnes of rubbish, which had lay smouldering in an almost post-apolcalyptic landscape, has been cleared, roads re-laid and power lines restored.

Civilisation appears to have returned in Natori in Miyagi prefecture too. The first image shows a towering wall of ocean crashing through trees devastating homes and businesses lining the coast, tearing down power lines and drowning anything in its path.

A residential area being hit by the tsunami in Natori, Miyagi prefecture, top, and the same area, with only one house remaining on June 3, bottom