In the gray of early morning, plastic curtains are pulled back from the school gym's windows and 260 evacuees sleeping on blankets stir to life under basketball hoops. For 13-year-old Yuka Chiba, it's the first day of eighth grade. Yuka hasn't been at school since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami destroyed much of her neighborhood. Yesterday, with the new school year starting, she gets ready to go back. <img alt="" src="/imagedata/2011/apr/japan-girl.jpg" border="5" /> Back to school: Saya Otsuki poses at her residence moments before she goes to school, which was shut since March 11. Pic/AFP Yuka shuffles across the cold, hardwood floor in a flannel shirt she wears as pajamas to the large heaters near the door. There is no need to rush, she only has to walk next door to the main building of the Shishiori Junior High School for class. In the Japan's disaster zone, the school year that normally starts in early April is starting slightly later than usual, with many schools opening this week under an aura of tragedy. In Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate prefectures, which bore the brunt of the damage from the disasters, more than 1,000 students and teachers are dead or missing, out of an overall death toll that could top 25,000. With temporary housing still being built, many students are living in their own school's gymnasiums, while dealing with the loss of relatives, homes and classmates. Psychologists and school counsellors from around the country are being trained and sent to the hardest-hit areas to help students deal with the mental strain. Classrooms in the area will be crowded, with 200 schools requiring replacement or major renovations. Thousands more need repairs and hundreds are being used as shelters. 1,000 Number of teachers and students who have died

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In the gray of early morning, plastic curtains are pulled back from the school gym's windows and 260 evacuees sleeping on blankets stir to life under basketball hoops. 

Students return to school in Japan

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Students return to school in Japan

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