Searchers have found 2,000 bodies in Japan's quake-hit Miyagi region, public broadcaster NHK and other media quoted officials as saying.
About 1,000 bodies were found on beaches on the Ojika peninsula, the reports quoted police officials as saying.
Another 1,000 bodies have been found in Minamisanriku, a town devastated by Friday's earthquake and the tsunami which hit the Pacific coast, NHK quoted a prefectural government official as saying.
The national police agency's official death toll stood at 1,647 as of Monday afternoon.
But the Miyagi police chief said Sunday the death toll was certain to exceed 10,000 in his prefecture alone.
**If you're having a problem contacting friends or relatives who you believe may be in affected areas, call the Department of Foreign Affairs 24-hour hotline on 1300 555 135.
