Karin Michigami was just 10 years old when her colourful pattern, called "Meika", was selected out of the entries submitted by school children to light up the world’s second tallest structure in 2014.

Since then, Michigami’s design has been used to illuminate the tower ever year on March 11 to express sympathy with recovery efforts in areas hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake.

This year marks the 10th anniversary since the earthquake and tsumani which resulted in the death of around 16,000 people.

Recovery from the disaster has been incorporated by Tokyo 2020 as one of the major principles underpinning the hosts of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Michigami, now 18, believes it is important for people to remember what happened on March 11, 2011 and hopes her illumination design keeps the memory alive.

"I think it's an honour that it has been displayed from the first time when I was an elementary school fifth grader until now," said Michigami.

"The Tokyo Skytree is the tallest tower in Japan, and it really catches the eye.

"I hope that all kinds of people will see the lighting that I designed and think about how many years have passed (since the earthquake), and in that way, keep the memory of that time from fading away.

"I go to an integrated junior and senior high school, so I often interact with junior high school students even since I've been in high school.

"The situation now is that first-year junior high kids were infants at the time of the earthquake, so they have no memory of the experience.

"Talking to those junior high students really gives me a sense of how much time has passed since the earthquake.

"Having actually experienced the earthquake, I thought how alarming it is to forget things like how frightening it was, and the things you have to do when that kind of time comes.

"It's a frightening thought that I myself might gradually lose that sense of how terrifying it was, and for lots of other people to forget about earthquakes as well."

Composed of five lighting patterns, the design bids to evoke feelings of recovery by likening disaster-stricken Japan to a flower which withers but leaves behind seeds so it may blossom again.

Michigame also fastened a ribbon covered in written wishes onto the W1SH RIBBON monument installed on the Tokyo Skytree deck.

"I see [the Tokyo Skytree] simply because it's so close by, and when I see it lit up in different ways, I wonder about what meaning that must have," added Michigami.

"It's hard to put this in words, but even though it's such a familiar presence, it makes me think of societal conditions like coronavirus or earthquakes.

"I think it's close and familiar yet gives a sense of things that are on a grand scale."