Tomorrow: Beyond 3.11

War correspondent and Beijing bureau chief for Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV, Luqiu Luwei, resumes her coverage of Japan’s disaster, reporting on the progress of the offshore wind energy plant in Fukushima.

Paris-based journalist Elin Lindqvist investigates the role of local media in the city of Ishinomaki, Miyagi prefecture, at the time of the disaster and during the rebuilding.

75-year-old Swedish glass designer Ulrica Hydman Vallien seeks out the power of Japanese design to lift the human spirit and add value to goods produced in the rebuilding effort in Iwate and Miyagi.

Stone memorials inscribed with the lessons of natural disasters since ancient times can be found across Japan. Japanese also learn about disaster preparedness at school. But how useful were these practices when the last disaster hit? How can preparation and response be improved? These are the questions American journalist Lucy Birmingham seeks answers to in her report on disaster education.

Seeing Tokyo’s lights dimmed by the loss of power from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant 200 km away made photojournalist Kwon Choul realize how interdependent the world is. He returned to Tohoku to capture in pictures the ties that bind us post 3.11.

Keiko Courdy’s 2012 interactive Web documentary Au-Dela Du Nuage (Beyond the Cloud - Yonaoshi 3.11) examines Japan post-Fukushima and the triple disaster of 3.11. As she returns to the Tohoku region she discovers that groups of young people are making headway in the recovery by moving past the crisis and focusing on the future.

Danish journalist Asger Christensen reports on forestry-related rebuilding projects in Miyagi, including the "forest school" in Higashi-Matsushima aimed at nurturing in the next generation an understanding about co-existing with nature.

After first hand experience of the tragedy of the Christchurch earthquake, New Zealand journalist David Killick investigates possibilities of community recovery in Tohoku and finds communities uniting to take action to relocate or rebuild by overcoming complicated difficulties.

David Killick reports on Japan’s traditional and modern earthquake construction techniques including quake-resistant building methods, the latest ground reinforcement technology to repair liquefaction damage and a 3D base isolation system that absorbs both vertical and horizontal tremors.

In the two years since the 3.11 disaster, singer and actress Jane Birkin has been touring the world to rally support for Japan, despite a heart condition. She visits the severely damaged city of Ishinomaki where she gives a charity concert and meets locals gradually recovering from the effects of the disaster. Jane returns home with a gift of courage and resilience from the people she meets.

Japanese-American writer Marie Mutsuki Mockett has family roots in Iwaki Fukushima Prefecture. Marie was interested in how survivors are dealing with the loss of loved ones in the aftermath of the 311 disasters. Marie discovers people’s relationship with the departed, in order to soothe their psychological pains and give comfort to the survivors.

Finnish TV news presenter Jussi-Pekka Rantanen says that the images of the tsunami engulfing Natori in Miyagi were amongst the most shocking he has had to cover in his whole career. Visiting Natori for the first time, Rantanen directs his attention to the recovery of farming in the disaster-stricken areas and investigates the role that new technologies could play in the future of agriculture and their potential.

French TV journalist David Zavaglia reports on initiatives of the new bioenergy research projects for the Tohoku recovery, including biofuel extraction from rapeseed grown in areas harmed by seawater, and a scheme to produce biomass fuel from algae specially cultivated to purify contaminated reservoirs.

American journalist Jed Horne, who has chronicled the recovery efforts of the city of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, visits Tohoku to cover reconstruction plans driven by local people. Jed closely observes various activities being carried out by those who are seriously considering the future of the area they live in.

Over two years since the 3.11 disaster, the volunteers supporting the Tohoku region are now at a turning point. Some groups have reached a dead end and have been driven to break up. Others aim at providing long-term support. Argentinian journalist Diego Laje covers the current situation of volunteers in the region and observes their efforts.

Debris from the 3.11 tsunami continues to be washed ashore on the west coast of North America. Items found on beaches are being returned to their rightful owners. Canadian documentary filmmaker Nicolina Lanni, currently working on a piece following the journey of these items back to Japan, visits Tohoku to discover what they mean to the owners.

British photographer Tony McNicol visits the Tohoku region to observe long-cherished traditional events including the Soma Nomaoi equestrian festival. When he sees the love people have for their hometowns, he discovers the power of festivals to revitalize those devastated by disaster.

“Dark tourism” is defined as travelling to sites associated with tragedy, and it is on the rise in the Tohoku region post-3.11. Belarussian journalist Aliaksei Mikhalchanka investigates split opinion on preservation a marooned fishing boat in Kesennuma, and why locals are guiding tours of areas affected by the nuclear accident in Fukushima.

Italian journalist Alessia Cerantola reports on the state of temporary housing in the Tohoku region, comparing it with that in her own country. She discovers the strength of Japanese survivors as they adjust to adverse circumstances and find ways to ease inconveniences.

Italian Journalist Alessia Cerantola reports on “disaster recovery housing” for 3.11 survivors after leaving temporary accommodation. She covers the efforts of the local community trying to maintain their neighborhood bonds by designing recovery housing together with residents.

Food journalist Harris Salat, an expert on Japanese home cooking, reports on the Tohoku region’s recovery from the perspective of food. He meets people in Iwate Prefecture pinning their hopes on the revival of the salmon industry and women creating a new business producing fishermen’s dishes.

Erin Ellis, a veteran health journalist for a Canadian newspaper, visits Kesennuma to report on disaster medicine. How did the city’s medical staff deal with tsunami victims when critical services were cut? She discovers lessons in the stories of those who experienced the unprecedented.

American journalist Doug Meigs reports on post-disaster initiatives in Ishinomaki, Miyagi, where fishing rights can now be granted to private businesses. He meets elderly fishermen looking to attract the next generation to the port.

Swedish environmentalist Helena Norberg-Hodge, expert on local economics, visits a company in Iwate Prefecture that is striving to foster small-scale businesses as a driving force for recovery and meets the entrepreneurs being supported.

The situation of pets that many evacuees had to leave behind in their homes near the damaged nuclear power plant nearly three years ago has become very complicated. Iranian Journalist Afshin Valinejad interviews pet owners and meets a vet dedicated to animal relief activities as he looks for hints on how people and animals can live together at times of disaster.

Three years since the 3.11 disaster, many people have been forced to relocate due to the tsunami, and those who evacuated because of the nuclear disaster are unaware when they can return home. There is a desire among evacuees to keep a connection with their hometown through music.

Sarah Carr, who has focused on families and education to report on how disaster recovery efforts should be carried out, meets Japanese mothers and midwives who survived the 3.11 disaster and have displayed tremendous power to move forward by creating close bonds and networks.

Seven months after the earthquake and tsunami of March 2011, a symbol of hope emerged in the devastated city of Kesennuma with the formation of pop idol group, ‘SCK Girls.’ Two years on, the group faced a big turning point with the passing of their founder, Kenichi Abe. Now the girls must take their career into their own hands to continue their journey.

Swiss fashion designer Kazu Huggler teams up with a group of elderly women living in temporary housing in Rikuzentakata to launch a project for recovery. The “Tohoku Grandmas” produced bags, purses and other items, even winning an order from Switzerland to produce pin cushions. This program follows their efforts as they take their activities to the world stage.

Nearly three years after the disaster, the debris that drifted across the Pacific Ocean is producing new ties between the people in disaster zones in Tohoku and on the west coast of North America. Some have sculpted debris into works of art, while others are determined to collect these memories of the tsunami and reunite them with their owners in Japan.

100 children are participating in a project backed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to produce a promotional event in Paris for the recovery of northeastern Japan. Many of these children have lost family members or are living in temporary housing. This program follows them as they pool their ideas and enthusiasm to prepare for this international event.

The song “Flowers Will Bloom (Hana wa Saku)” was produced by NHK in the wake of the March 2011 disaster to support recovery in northeastern Japan. This edition of TOMORROW tours Spain, France and Australia to report on the One Million People’s Flowers Will Bloom project to discover how the song continues to create personal bonds between Japan and the rest of the world.