Japanese people pay respects to victims of the 1985 Japan Airlines jumbo jet crash. (Photo: Kyodo)

A ceremony was held in the village of Ueno at the foot of the Osutaka Ridge in Gunma Prefecture, northwest of Tokyo, where the plane went down, killing 520. The relatives offered silent prayers at 18:56, the time of the crash, after climbing the steep mountain trail to grave markers and a monument at the crash site to mourn their loved ones.

On August 12, 1985, JAL flight 123, a packed Boeing 747 en route from Tokyo to Osaka during Japan's Bon summer holiday season, crashed about 40 minutes after taking off. The crash claimed the lives of all but four of the 524 crew and passengers on board.