Japanese director Hideo Nakata has created a documentary film, Living in the Wake of 3/11, about the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami which opens in Japan today, a few weeks before the second year anniversary of the disaster which happened on March 11, 2011. Filmed in July through October following the disaster, it explores the lives of people impacted by the tsunami. It may be released in the US later this year and I will see the movie if I can, although with mixed emotions. I followed the unfolding of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami and looked at many of the videos that appeared on Youtube, as well as read what I could afterwards. The knowledge that this event was a good example of what will happen to the Oregon coast when a Cascadia earthquake strikes provided an emotional wallop that was difficult to escape.
Last year, the Center for Public Policy at PSU and the Tokoyo Foundation comemm0rated the Tohoku with an event called Waves of Despair, Tides of Hope, where Japanese public officials who helped with relief and recovery efforts told their stories. Emotional for both the presenters and the audience. We have learned much from their experience. Yet it is this direct connection that is important and gives meaning to the efforts to reduce the suffering these events cause.
A scene from the new documentary “Living in The Wake of 3.11” (Hideo Nakata & Twins Japan Inc.)