tsunami

As previously posted on GR, I made several trips to the northern countryside of Japan in the days and weeks following the disaster of 3/11. And, though the intent of these ragtag “missions,” was primarily humanitarian, I took many photos along the way, posting them with my reports on these pages.

I recently culled the most evocative of those shots for display at the 12th incarnation of the always delightful Nippon Connection Japanese Film Festival, held last week in Frankfurt. Going through these images was difficult and, needless to say, brought back some very sad memories. What a year.

GR readers will have seen many of these images before, but here they are (again) as collected for their recent showing at the festival. I know many among you are probably experiencing disaster burnout, but I think it’s worth having another look, and pausing to contemplate the awesome power of nature and, indeed, the transience of our own existence.

From Tokyo,

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All photos copyright © 2012 Michael Arias. All rights reserved.

There will be more of these washing up. Most everything will be completely thrashed from a year of being in the ocean. If this catches more eyes, they’ll most likely track down the owner and someone will step in and restore the bike for him or her – provided the person is alive. We wrote the script ahead of time. We’ll see what unfolds. (Jalopnik – Harley)

How much fun would this be? In these dramatic photos, it shows how the ghost ship from Japan was destroyed. The Coast Guard who had the task must have had fun shooting holes in the ship. This signals more debris coming soon. How many more ships are there?

The Coast Guard will sink the ghost ship, Ryou-un Maru. It’s 150-200 feet of future living quarters for sealife. Hopefully, it’s not filled with toxic chemicals or fuel – which surely exists on board. (CBS – ship sink)

Tsunami story that we missed. It’s interesting that a 1000 year old village “folk take” which turns out to be quite real saved tons of folks when the tsunami came. There’s a hill in Murohama which is the closest relief spot, but 1000 years ago a tsunami came and the hill turned out to be an unfortunately spot where the rushing waters collided and killed the people on the hill. It happened again on 3.11.11 and most people knew not to go to the hill. There’s a roadside shrine (this link is an addendum to the story with a photo) dedicated to the ancient story. It’s a great tale. (LA Times – Murohama)

The boat from a Japanese fishing village hit by the tsunami was found 150 miles from Canada after a year adrift. It has rust marks everywhere and for now, no one is doing a thing with it. Surely there are plenty of other boats adrift and you’d think by now a law would force them to have some type of GPS aboard to prevent accidents or to just find them if they ever get lost. It’s sort of like tracking space debris but in the water.

The best quote from Mikuni Fumitaka:

What can we learn from this disaster?
The most important thing is the connections and bonds between people.

It’s also interesting that not having a TV kept him more calm.

(Huffington Post – Survivor Story)

Sometimes you have to hang it up. If your business got ruined by a tsunami, is it worth reopening? Will you have the same amount of business or will it be a struggle? Is there a need remaining from the affected people? (Dispatch – 22%)

Also check out this video out. It’s about Japanese homeless who can’t go home.

This is new and is a haunting film that’s leading up to 3.11, one year later.

Watch Inside Japan’s Nuclear Meltdown on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

This isn’t a Top Ten list like “Best Concert, Best Movie, or Best Toy”. It’s a list that’s as important and there are highlights in them all, but by no means is it a Top Ten of anything. They’re just important as everything else – family, friends, and so on. Maybe I’ll try and turn out a list that’s more like that…

 We painted the mural on the wall. That alone was an 11 hour project. 

Zen Garage – The year started off great with the Zen Garage art opening just a few days before the new year. Yet, the actual New Year’s Day kicked off with the Oshogatsu program at JANM. It was motor vehicles including the Giant Robot Scion Car I designed but also custom motorcycles and the now vintage David Choe Scion. Thanks to Len Higa and Shinya Kimura for jumping on board. The year began with a GR show in a museum – it’s a great start with you get to do a project with friends, new friends, and a place like JANM. Collaboration can be more fun than doing something alone.

 It’s great when artists install their own work. 

James Jean Art Show – Aside from it being one of the greater or even greatest art shows of the year, it also indelibly marked the night that the earthquake struck Japan. I recall, it was at the after party, the twitter messages were beginning. An 8.9 quake? The thought of a giant quake was one thing, yes there would be lives lost and yes a lot of damage, but less than an hour later, the Tsunami hit the shores and that’s when the things got real, it became internet news for days straight.

(more…)

Satomi Ono’s story about her town, Kesennuma which is a name you often hear about when the Japanese disaster is brought up. It was destroyed. This is sort of like journal entries and her tale isn’t the worst since she wasn’t there, but it’s well told and talk about her friends and family and what they went through. It’s well written and she’s just trying to get the word out. (Statemanjournal – Satomi Ono)

Could it be washing up in Torfino? Some signs look like it, and the fella who’s been seeing these pieces speaks with great restraint and is open to any answer. The pieces of wood seem too clean and new, and containers from China don’t quite support the story, but who knows. It’ll wash up eventually.

Chizuru Nakagawa is a volunteer who packed her things from Tokyo and went to a town she’d never heard of to help. Months and months later as the town is slowly picking up where it all went wrong, she’s still there and is part of the fabric of the rebuilding. It sounds typical in a way, since there are always human interest stories of a person doing something straight out of a hero book. This is just another one of them. (Stripes – Chizuru Nakagawa)

Google Maps show you the disaster area. Literally scroll through areas. It’s odd but at the same time, this is as close as most will experience.

View Larger Map

Whaling continues, but now they’re using earthquake funds at the sum of $29 million. Sure some of the whalers were affected, and we suppose they deserve to have some compensation, but there are plenty of folks who probably haven’t received a cent yet, and whaling comes first? The stories just continue. (USA Today – Whaling)

There’s not much more to say except policing the applicants might be better. Not all will return found safes and money. It was in the amount of $200,0o0. Imagine the applicant who is a yakuza and gets to the “are you a yakuza?” Question? (LA Times – Yakuza)

Ganbaro Nippon! “Pray for Japan” is number 13. There’s plenty of words that relate to the tsunami and earthquake. It’s a great list and fascinating. Imagine that there’s new words being used in all countries every year. Most of it relates to technology or science, but this one is about a disaster that was so huge to one place that it changes and added to the vocabulary. We’re sure it’s happening in Thailand from flooding and elsewhere. (Gakuranman – 60 words)

Sad story of Mitsuru Oikawa, 30 who lost his wife and two kids in the Tsunami aftermath keeps on searching even though there was a memorial ceremony and a bad injury he sustained during his search that kept him out of commission for a month. There’s no end to stories like these. (LA Times – Japan Quake Story)

It’s not that some might reach in a few days, it’s that it can increase tourism from Japan. The article from the National Post mentions, “The Japanese have immense respect for belongings such as fishing boats, said Mr. Ebbesmeyer, predicting an influx of Japanese tourists coming to B.C. to see the washed-up debris.” We’re not sure if that’s true at all, but for those who’ve lost, sure, but it’s hardly fun tourism. It’s more of a memorial as is the WTC site. (National Post – Tsunami Debris)

More on the Debris. A photo photos and a video at the link. Yes the crew pulled up a Fishing boat that mentioned Fukushima on it, so it’s exactly from one of the disaster areas. Three years until it hits Hawaii. (Yahoo – Tsunami Debris)