ISHINOMAKI, Japan -- If it is true that time heals all wounds, the people of this coastal community have begun to sense some normalcy more than four years after a 9.0 earthquake and ensuing tsunami wiped out nearly 15 percent of its population. But the signs of devastation are still omnipresent throughout the Tohoku region, which is why the D-backs and Major League Baseball returned on Monday for an MLB Road Show that had hundreds of kids smiling despite a steady rain throughout the afternoon.
"To see the progress that the community has made is unbelievable," said D-backs legend Luis Gonzalez, who was part of the team's 2012 visit to the affected areas.