On March 11th 2011 at 14:46 (Japan time) the Great East Japan Earthquake hit the Tohoku region of Japan and caused a tsunami that wrecked thousands of lives.

Two years later, those lives are slowly being pieced back together.

If you have the time, here are a collection of links and stories that sum up where Tohoku is at today.

A survey of Tohoku ( Read more... )

When I volunteered in Tohoku last March, there was a wonderful lady there who cooked the most wonderful meals for the volunteers. By that time she was just inviting groups over to her house occasionally for dinner and dropping off odd things at the volunteer house, but in the immediate aftermath of 3/11 (and for the next six months) she was ( Read more... )

A few hundred yards from the seashore, on top of a small mound of earth, Japanese flags flutter in the brisk, chill breeze. There is a giant fir tree that is twisted and mangled but still alive, an ancient standing stone and some wooden stakes inscribed with prayers.

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This short documentary was filmed in Ishinomaki, Miyagi, in November. There are interviews with survivors and those working to rebuild the city after it was devastated by the tsunami.

It's only fifteen minutes long, and I can't recommend watching this enough. It's such a real view of what is still happening there.


Then and Now from Paul ( Read more... )

Eight months after the earthquake and tsunami that devastated eastern Japan, many people who lost their homes are still living in temporary houses ( Read more... )

I discovered these videos some time ago, and they aren't new, but still up to date in many places. If you look for videos, you'll easily find some, partly recorded by volunteer workers.
In this post I'd like to share three of the videos I've come across.

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It's been over two months since the earthquake and tsunami hit, and things don't seem to be getting any better for the survivors.

Forced into communal living / 360 people crowd into 20 homes in devastated fishing communityISHINOMAKI, Miyagi--Two months after the March 11 tsunami swept away houses and the designated evacuation center, about 360 ( Read more... )

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As I have been working on flyers for an upcoming street fundraiser at my place, I tried to gather information in order to stay up to date. The first Activity Report by the Japanese Red Cross Society can be found here. (pdf) Futhermore, you can see photos that document their activities on flickr. Even more info can be found on the website of the ( Read more... )