With constant news rushing through our lives, earth-shattering disasters, such as the Tsunami on 11 March 2011, somehow get swept under the daily news flood.
But as the anniversary is drawing near, more documentation surfaces. When I noticed the length of the film (58 minutes), I decided to only have a 10-minute peek at it. But I could not stop watching it.
BBC’s documentary film Japan’s Children of the Tsunami features children telling their side of the story. A very sober, yet also heart-wrenching documentation about how life goes on for the 80,000 residents, the ones who had to evacuate to emergency housing outside the exclusion zone.
Children narrate their experience during the Tsunami, how they live today, and what their hopes and dreams are for the future.
Personally, I don’t think there is a chance to move back any time in the near future.
One month from today, I will be in Japan once more. We will be touring the island of Kyushu and this will be my first time to travel as a backpacker via JR Railway Pass.
Kyushu is quite far away from Fukushima (966 km/600 miles), but after watching this documentary, I know the aftermath is far from over.
[youtube D_AxnoNrr_8]
Maria, I watched the entire documentary and cried. You are correct in saying that the aftermath is far from over….making me afraid that the worst is still to come ?
The pain of the parents looking for the bodies of their children is un imaginable…the anger of the people …and the children’s expressions and descriptions of their experience make me so sad.
Thank you for posting it !
Initially, I only wanted to watch a bit, but I stayed glued to the screen. My husband came looking for me, and after a few minutes, he sat down as well.
We both watched it to the end in silence.
All too well do we know. We lived in Japan during the Kobe Earthquake (Jan 1995) and daily life resumed, but not without constant reminders… the neighbor’s uncle had perished in the quake, the green grocer’s sister’s family had lost their home, etc.
Next to having lost everything, add nuclear radiation for years to come.
Published 05 March 2012:
Children Wait for UN Radiation Study After Fukushima Crisis on http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-03-05/children-of-fukushima-wait-for-un-radiation-study