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    Kesennuma: Life After the Tsunami

    Photos from Japan

    There are [5] photos from Japan

    In the midst of all the tragedy, there seems such determination, such hope, such amazing resilience. I met people who had lost everything to the tsunami, but smiled and talked about the future in a truly humbling way. At Peace Jam the mothers can bring their children to work (saving on childcare costs) earn a decent income, and bond. I spoke to a few of the women, who told me they love working at Peace Jam because it is a healing environment to be in, gives them hope, friendship and a much-needed wage and that they are endlessly thankful for Mr. Sato’s help. Views[469] Around 80% of businesses were destroyed in Kesennuma, so the plight now remains: there is just no work. Enter Ken Sato, a man who is making a real difference. After the tsunami hit, he said he felt like it was the end of the world. He looked around and saw the plight of people all around him, particularly mothers with young babies. So he decided to do something about it. He began simply – by asking people what they needed (milk, diapers) and driving to other towns to find it for them. When demand increased and more people became interested, he began a blog where people could list what they needed and others could list what they had for offer, and he began distributing these regularly. Soon after he realized the biggest need was employment. So being the entrepreneur he is, he used his savings to start his own NGO called Peace Jam, a jam making factory and a small sewing factory, where he hires mothers with children. Views[461] I couldn’t believe the tragedy: whole towns were wiped out by the tsunami, flattened to the ground. With this photo, I wanted to capture the haunting, eeriness that came from seeing hundreds of foundations of buildings, like skeletons. Flowers are left huddles together where homes once stood, and in the ironically peaceful, beautiful backdrop, those houses that were lucky enough to withstand the tsunami look on. Views[307] Opposite one of the only remaining buildings still standing in this area (a 6 story hotel where nothing remains except an empty shell from the 5th story down, showing just how high the wave was) was a space where a baseball pitch used to be. It was very quiet here, very calm. A flock of birds flew by just after I took this photo and together with the still floodwater and rolling hills almost made the scene seem peaceful. The harsh reminder of reality comes in the form of four floodlights, standing like lonely sentinels, the only notable thing that pierces the now desolate horizon. Views[314] The March 2011 Pacific Coast Earthquake and Tsunami was truly devastating. I recently got to visit areas in the Miyagi province ruined by the disaster, like Kesennuma. When this ship loomed out of the dusk as we drove through the devastated city, I could do nothing but gasp and a cold feeling washed over me. Asking to stop the car, I got out and noticed the ship completely blocked off an entire side road, lying across it like an eerie blockade, surrounded by a makeshift shrine with flowers. I couldn’t grasp the sheer vastness of it but my Japanese colleague explained it had been one of many, many ships, some even bigger, that had been catapulted inland with the almighty tsunami. The rest were removed eventually, but this one remains as a memorial, a decision that has divided local residents: some feel it is a poignant reminder of all those that lost their lives, others feel it is too painful to see it everyday. Views[897]
     

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