Kizuna: Nikkei Stories from the 2011 Japan Earthquake & Tsunami

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GOING BEYOND DEREK’S TOHOKU WORK

Your work at The Hidden Japan has expanded to include creating events in Japan and America that celebrate our cultures and help provide cross-cultural understanding. What drove you to that mission for your business?

As a Japanese American growing up in the Japanese American (JA) community, I have been able to see that the Japanese culture we are able to see in LA is only a small window into Japan. Even after living here in Japan for 6 years, I am still constantly amazed by the things I see and experience …

Since 2011, March 11 has become a day of remembrance for the hundreds of thousands of Japanese lives that were changed forever by the devastating Great Tohoku Kanto earthquake. Many lives were lost due to the earthquake and subsequent tsunami. It caused numerous problems that affected the people and region in the weeks that followed, and continued for months and years to come. From the failure of the nuclear power plant in Fukushima to saltwater contamination of the soil to extensive water damage to buildings, homes, and cars—the residents of the area had an almost insurmountable obstacle to climb before …

This past Feb. 13th, there was a magnitude 7.1 earthquake in Fukushima. I froze. Cold sweat and a familiar sense of panic came raging back.

Flashback: March 11, 2011. 

I clearly recall waking up for school and getting an odd, frantic phone call from CBC radio asking for a comment about the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. What the hell was going on? I wondered, annoyed by the early morning disruption. All morning at school, I was preoccupied by finding moments to check on the news out of Japan, specifically Tohoku and seeing terrifying images of black waves and …

We are fast approaching the tenth anniversary of the horrific earthquake and tsunami disaster that was unleased upon Japan on March 11, 2011. The magnitude 9.0 earthquake that hit Japan created a tsunami that flattened a 200-mile stretch (518 km) of coastline, and traveled in some areas as far as six miles inland. The tsunami then caused a triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima. The fury of mother nature that killed over 18,000 people must never be forgotten. Nor should we forget the animals left behind.

My passion for animals led me to fly to …

It was early in the morning of March 11, 2011, and Midori Suzuki was having trouble sleeping. That same day, the Japanese Mexican Association was to inaugurate an art exhibit called Flor de Maguey that she had organized with some of her fellow painters. After Midori was finally able to fall asleep, a friend called to tell her there had been a massive earthquake in Japan. Still not totally awake, she answered quickly:

“Don’t worry! It’s probably just one of those earthquakes that always happen in Japan,” she said and hung up.

But her daughter woke Midori up early and …