Kesennuma: Life After the Tsunami

JAPAN | Friday, 11 January 2013 | Views [347] | View Smaller Image

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.

Tags: japan, kesennuma, tsunami

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.

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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.

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Kesennuma: Life After the Tsunami

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