Bradcat's Japanese Culture Focus... Japan Earthquake & Tsunami of 2011

On March 11th 2011, a magnitude 9 earthquake struck the north east coast of Japan. As if the damaged caused by the Pacific tectonic plate moving under the North American plate wasn't bad enough, the country was hit by something even more devastating; a tsunami.

Due to a gross underestimation of the tsunami, no one was fully prepared. The only previous experience the Japanese people had of tsunamis were of ones no more than a few feet high. Even though Japan had invested a lot of money into coastal protection and evacuation centres, they were not designed to withstand a tsunami of this size. Many people who took refuge in the evacuation centres were lead to a false sense of security and lost their lives to the tsunami.

I've already covered the effects of the tsunami at Fukushima on a previous blog. But I wanted to dedicate this post to how the people of Japan feel almost 3 years on. Even now, there are roughly 300,000 Japanese citizens living in temporary housing with a large amount of the £92bn relief money being misspent, the Japanese government have said. 

With much hype surrounding the 2020 olympic games being hosted in Japan, we have to ask, is this the right time? Should the government be putting money into the olympics while so many families require assistance getting their lives back? Will the olympics generate more money for Japan, which they can then use to help support the victims? Or will that be a case of too little, too late?

I have had the chance to get the opinions and accounts from some of my friends who live in Japan which I can share with you here.

"It was 2011, almost 3 years have passed since then. It was the biggest earthquake I've ever felt. I had just graduated from high school and I was 18 at the time. That day, I had a graduation party with my friends, and I was heading there on foot, when the earthquake hit. It was so scary and lasted a long time, but once the shaking had stopped, I thought nothing more of it and had fun at the party.

Then when I got back home, I saw the news bout the tsunami. I had no idea how much damage had been caused. My friends also thought that earthquake was just an earthquake. I could not believe what I saw on TV I was so surprised, and upset, that I began to cry. I thought to myself "What can I do for them? What can I do to help the relief effort?" I prayed for them everyday. I never thought I'd forget about the disaster. 

Talking about it now has made me realise that the events of the disaster had receded in my memory. I can't relate to the families affected by the tsunami as I wasn't there at the time, and I didn't lose any of my loved ones. I can only imagine the experience they went through." 

- Riho Adachi, Yokohama

"Unfortunately I do not know a lot about politics and news. The government may plan to use the profit made from the Olympics to help the revival, but 2020's a long time to wait. I think that they should help the victims as soon as possible!" 

- Natsumi Maekawa, Hirosaki

"That's really nice of you that you'll work on a blog about this subject. I was a bit excited to hear about the Tokyo Olympics but myself and many people didn't know that Japan was even nominated as one of the Olympic nominees! The government and media say that the Olympics will help rebuild the areas affected by the tsunami disaster. Perhaps the sponsor money from huge companies will help generate money for the people of the north east.

I didn't know 300,000 people are still homeless, I feel bad for not knowing that. It's been 3 years since the tsunami and some areas are back to normal, which often makes me forget about the disaster. However I must never forget, and I will have to visit the north east again soon."
- Nami Inoue, Osaka

"That's an awful fact. The misspent money could've helped the victims of the tsunami for years to come. As for the Olympics, we can expect economic effects and the government should have more money to help the victims. However, that's a long way off, and it's a fact that many people are suffering right now from the aftermath. So I want the government to use the money effectively for helping those people."
- Naoko Okamoto, Osaka

"Sean! First of all, thank you very much for sending your love to Japan. We really appreciate you and your encouragement from all over the world! I also would like to research how the situation has been changing in Fukushima after the tsunami."
- Yasuko Ohashi, Tokyo

You can watch the breathtaking documentary called "Japan's Tsunami: Caught on Camera" which inspired this blog post, right here:

Japan's Tsunami: Caught on Camera on 4OD

Japan's Tsunami: Caught on Camera captures the impact of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan in March 2011, using amateur footage filmed by those caught up in the disaster.

What are your thoughts on the disaster? What actions would you like the Japanese government to take? Do you think the 2020 Olympics will help Japan? Please leave your comments below, I'd love to hear all of your opinions.

A huge thank you to my Japanese friends for sharing their experiences of the tsunami with me, and allowing me to share them with you all.