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Kirari Fukushima – Back on Track! Bringing Spirit to Fukushima Disaster Victims on a Steam Train

DC371210Documentary

ふくしまの大地に響け!SL福島復興号 [TUF]

|Length : 47min. |Year : 2012

In July 2012, a steam locomotive returned to the Tohoku Line in Fukushima Prefecture for the first time in 45 years. Billowing black smoke as it powered through the Fukushima countryside, the majestic train swept away memories of the Great East Japan Earthquake, a disaster which drastically changed the idyllic lives of the people of Fukushima.
The project, christened the Fukushima Smile Project, was put into motion by staff at East Japan Railway to give hope and strength to the disaster-stricken prefecture.
A C61 type steam locomotive that had formerly worked the Tohoku Line was revived for the project. Named the Fukushima Revival Express, the train was operated by local drivers from Aizu Wakamatsu. The documentary follows the drivers as they work on the project, showing their thoughts and feelings as they drive the steam train through their home prefecture.
Steam locomotives inspire awe in children and bring back memories for baby-boomers. Operating between Koriyama and Fukushima Stations, the Fukushima Revival Express carried the hopes of many and gave strength to the people of Fukushima as they grappled with the effects of the Great East Japan Earthquake. More than 30,000 people praying for Fukushima's recovery gathered along the tracks to wave as the train went by.
This program documents people's emotions as the steam locomotive is resurrected and follows the train as it makes its journey through the prefecture on a day which brings courage and emotion to disaster-stricken Fukushima.

Bouncing Back with Family Ties

DC371209Documentary

イチゴがつなぐ家族の絆 [OX]

|Length : 24min. |Year : 2012

Yamamoto in Miyagi Prefecture was Tohoku's biggest strawberry-growing region. Nearly all of the 130 strawberry farmers' holdings were destroyed in the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami. Takao Kanno has spent over 40 years growing strawberries. He lost both his home and greenhouses.
The four generations and eight members of the Kanno family all survived. But no big family can survive without an income. Takao quickly rented land from friends to begin growing strawberries again. Nine months after the disaster he reaps a harvest. Yet he cannot rely on borrowed land for future seasons. He hopes to rebuild a big greenhouse on the same spot as the old one and set up a strawberry farm for visitors. It will cost about 20 million yen. When added to the cost of rebuilding the family home the Kannos are looking at enormous debts.
Takao's son, Takaaki is focusing on construction work to earn money for the family. But a delay in rebuilding the greenhouse threatens next year's harvest. Takao insists that rebuilding is more important in the long term than earning money now. The two men also argue over the site of the new home. It isn't easy for the two to reach mutual agreement.
Meanwhile strawberry farmer Hiroyuki Suzuki is from the nearby town of Watari. He and his family have moved to Hokkaido to begin growing strawberries there. They chose the security of a daily wage and housing aid to help raise their two young children.
The second spring since the disaster dawns.
Takaaki's oldest son Shohei has Down syndrome. His dislike of strawberries meant he couldn't even tolerate their smell. Yet he starts to lend a hand in the greenhouse in order to help his family. Takaaki takes time off work to focus on rebuilding the greenhouses. Shohei's two little sisters have also begun to help out where they can. The Kanno family come together to rebuild greenhouses on the site of their old farm. Having weathered disaster, their family bond has grown even tighter.

Pass Down The Great Earthquake Experience

DC371208Documentary

ともにエピソード それぞれのありがとう [OX]

|Length : 33min. |Year : 2012

When the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami hit Higashi-Matsushima in Miyagi Prefecture, over 1,100 of the 40,000 residents lost their lives. A project began in the summer of 2011: the Higashi-Matsushima survivors would create a musical. The goal was to express their gratitude for the aid received after the disaster. In November 2011, a hundred people gathered to create a musical for the Tokyo stage.
The project was started by Yoriko Ando who lost her high-school daughter in the tsunami, and by Hiroshi Maetani and his wife, who lost their home. They were joined by Tokyo director Tateo Teramoto. Work began on the musical before the script was written. Teramoto asked the survivors about their experiences and based his script on what he heard. The cast practiced singing and dancing as Teramoto collected a wide variety of stories. One man bitterly regrets that all he could do for his parents' bodies was wash them in a bottleful of water. A high-school student watched helplessly as his house went up in flames. There were powerful, life-affirming stories as well. 100 different experiences of the disaster went into the musical script. But although Ando helped start the project, she cannot speak of her dead daughter to the others. Each survivor comes to terms with the tragedy through the musical.
After five months of work, the show is staged in March 2012 in Tokyo. The 2,000-strong audience make it a huge success. What was the finished musical like? How did this experience change the survivors? A hundred survivors make sense of the disaster and of their future.
When the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami hit Higashi-Matsushima in Miyagi Prefecture, over 1,100 of the 40,000 residents lost their lives. A project began in the summer of 2011: the Higashi-Matsushima survivors would create a musical. The goal was to express their gratitude for the aid received after the disaster. In November 2011, a hundred people gathered to create a musical for the Tokyo stage.
The project was started by Yoriko Ando who lost her high-school daughter in the tsunami, and by Hiroshi Maetani and his wife, who lost their home. They were joined by Tokyo director Tateo Teramoto. Work began on the musical before the script was written. Teramoto asked the survivors about their experiences and based his script on what he heard. The cast practiced singing and dancing as Teramoto collected a wide variety of stories. One man bitterly regrets that all he could do for his parents' bodies was wash them in a bottleful of water. A high-school student watched helplessly as his house went up in flames. There were powerful, life-affirming stories as well. 100 different experiences of the disaster went into the musical script. But although Ando helped start the project, she cannot speak of her dead daughter to the others. Each survivor comes to terms with the tragedy through the musical.
After five months of work, the show is staged in March 2012 in Tokyo. The 2,000-strong audience make it a huge success. What was the finished musical like? How did this experience change the survivors? A hundred survivors make sense of the disaster and of their future.

Great East Japan Disaster : Akiko’s First 30 Days

DC371207Documentary

NNNドキュメント‘11 津波にのまれた女将 [TVI]

|Length : 24min. |Year : 2012

Akiko Iwasaki (age 54) lives by the sea near Kamaishi City in Iwate Prefecture. The inn she owns and operates is hit by the tsunami, destroying the entire first floor. Just then, Ms. Iwasaki was running through the parking lot to escape up the hill but was overcome by the wave. She talks of how she was sucked under like a whirlpool, all went dark and she calmly thought about how she was going to die like this. But then she tried swimming, clambered up to the surface, and was saved by a hairsbreadth.
She opens her ruined inn to 20 plus refugees, supplying her own food stocks and working hard, turning her place into a private evacuation shelter. Next the ruined inn is deemed hazardous for refugee living, and she receives an official order to shut down by the end of March. Akiko Iwasaki, the innkeeper who was sucked under by the tsunami and barely escaped with her life, is now, beyond her will, forced into transience.

Tough It Out – The Survivors of The 2011 Great Sanriku Tsunami –

DC371106Documentary

生き抜く、人々 ~南三陸町 鎮魂と復旧の夏~ [MBS]

|Length : 30min. |Year : 2011

Minami Sanriku is a port town surrounded by the sea and mountains on the Sanriku coast in Miyagi Prefecture. On that fateful day on March 11, the giant tsunami washed away nearly the entire town. Over 550 people died and many are still unaccounted for.
Since the disaster, the highest priority in town has been the construction of temporary housing. The town's head of the construction section has worked nonstop to move the citizens out of evacuation centers like the school gym to temporary quarters of their own, and has moved into
his makeshift municipal office in order to oversee the work. He and his crew are striving to find housing for all of the roughly 1900 families in time for the O-Bon season in August.
In July, fishermen take to the seas once more to catch seasonal octopus. There are others who are considering giving up oyster farming due to the cost of finding a boat and starting up business all over again. In order to even out the differences in age and experience, the fishing cooperative is encouraging the fishermen to work in groups. Many voice loud opposition to this idea and the difficulties of reviving the town's key fishing industries become painfully clear.
After the disaster, out of concern for the future, many citizens expressed a strong desire to move the reconstruction site to higher ground. The survivors of the town organized early on to make this a reality. But with little cooperation from the government due to budget concerns, optimism has turned to resignation and dismay.
Overcoming sadness, the citizens of Minami Sanriku have moved on, one step at a time. But six months after the disaster, they are wrought with exhaustion and stress, and continue to face many problems.
In this special news program, the courage of the people of Minami Sanriku shines through as they struggle to find a home, a place to work, and hang on to their hopes of rebuilding their lives and their town.

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