Tomorrow: Beyond 3.11

As local communities weaken due to aging and depopulation, the presence of volunteer fire brigades organized by each district is becoming ever more essential for disaster prevention. During the 3.11 disaster, members of volunteer fire brigades in the three prefectures of the Tohoku region bravely committed themselves to shutting floodgates and guiding people to safety in the face of the imminent onslaught by the huge tsunami. While saving many residents' lives, 254 volunteer firefighters lost their lives. Why did so many of them have to die? Three years on, the program investigates the new “regional disaster prevention” initiatives appearing in disaster-prone Japan.

When Kesennuma City Hospital was cut off from critical services and food supplies following the 3.11 tsunami, it managed to protect the lives of both its inpatients and other citizens. Since then, the hospital has developed various new measures to provide better medical treatment in future disasters, such as the introduction of telemedicine, multipurpose helicopters, and networks of local home nursing teams. What did the hospital’s medical staff learn from their experience during the disaster? An American journalist reports on the situation at the hospital as it faces the challenge of providing new types of medical care.

Movies have provided great support to people in the Tohoku region. From two months after the disaster, the “Cinema Yell Tohoku” project has held more than 500 free-of-charge screenings of popular movies in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures. With the help of people in the movie industry, screenings have been held at elementary schools and temporary housing complexes. People are once again enjoying watching movies together with others, and movies are starting to become a new focus for community-building. The program investigates the spirit of people connected by movies and the regeneration of communities

The 3.11 tsunami devastated Rikuzentakata in Iwate Prefecture. Hundreds of residents flocked to Kojuen, a special nursing home for the elderly on elevated ground. Although not a designated evacuation site, it unexpectedly served as a shelter for more than 1,000 people. Based on the reports of nutritionists, who had to do their best in an environment with food shortages and no utilities, and staff members who struggled to maintain order, the program reviews how people survived evacuation life in an extreme situation and what is needed at such times.

The 3.11 tsunami wiped out the small port town of Onagawa in Miyagi Prefecture. One month later, the town’s junior high school resumed classes earlier than any other school in the disaster-stricken areas. Soon, they started unique classes in which students confront the reality of the disaster. They wrote haiku, a very succinct form of poetry, and expressed their inner feelings. We take a close look at how their haiku composition served as psychological care after the disaster.

More than 700 nurseries were damaged in the Great East Japan Earthquake, but there were few infant fatalities. Even so, lawsuits have laid the blame for them on the nurseries. Reviewing the case of the one known as the “Miracle Nursery” because all 54 of the children in its care survived from the tsunami, the program reveals it had been implementing regular safety measures, including monthly evacuation drills and disaster manual updates. We see its new manual being prepared based on lessons learned from 3.11 and hear about regional initiatives to protect children.

Babies' diapers and powdered milk went to facilities for the elderly, rice and vegetables arrived at places with no means of cooking... There was great confusion and congestion in the transportation and distribution of emergency supplies right after the Great East Japan Earthquake. Evacuees who were drivers for home-delivery companies used their experience and local knowledge to help solve the problems, and in Iwate Prefecture truck association experts provided invaluable logistic solutions. This program reviews cases of successful cooperation that provide tips for the future.

In the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake, many local authorities were unable to handle the huge influx of volunteers eager to help. However, in Tono City in Iwate Prefecture, which suffered relatively little damage, a volunteer group called “Magokoro Net” provided the coastal areas with logistic support. It handled 100,000 volunteers, allocating work and organizing transport and accommodations. The program investigates the logistic support system provided by the city of Tono that managed massive numbers of volunteers in the post-quake chaos.

Right after the 3.11 disaster, there was a sudden increase in pneumonia cases in Kesennuma, especially amongst elderly evacuees. Recovered medical records revealed a 240% increase from 2010, and a 710% increase at evacuation sites. Why? Clinicians suspected oral bacteria to be the cause, and dentists began promoting better oral health conditions. By June 2011, the pneumonia symptoms had been eradicated. Study meetings and practical training sessions are now being held based on the lessons learned.

For the past three years, local fishermen and more than 3,000 volunteer divers have continued working hand in hand to remove underwater debris. Their efforts have helped to revive the seaweed essential for marine life, and largely restore the former ocean ecosystem so that fish and shellfish can return. The program includes photos and video footage taken during these underwater recovery activities and looks at the vital mechanism of eelgrass in the fish feeding grounds.

The firemen of Kesennuma City in Miyagi Prefecture faced serious problems when the Great East Japan Earthquake cut off communication tools, including mobile phones. They couldn’t transmit on-site reports because their radios functioned only for reception. Local taxi drivers came to their rescue with their analog radios, providing support at the disaster HQ, evacuation sites and mortuaries. Learning from this, Kesennuma has been developing a multiplex information communication system. The program looks at ways to improve communications when a disaster strikes.

In the fourth year since the 3.11 earthquake, the number of volunteers to the Tohoku region is rapidly decreasing. At the same time, there’s a change in the corporate volunteerism that has continued since right after the disaster, with a growing focus on corporate specialization to meet actual needs. For example, Ajinomoto provides cooking classes at temporary housing sites, and Fuji Xerox now includes document cleaning as part of staff training, has cleaned and digitized 4,500 official documents, and has developed a system for clinics to check medical records on tablet terminals. The program investigates sustainable support using corporate specialization.

Many convenience stores in the Tohoku region suffered damage and casualties at the time of the 3.11 disaster. However, those that reopened shortly after played an important role as a lifeline for people in the stricken areas, selling food and carrying out administrative activities. Japan’s unique convenience stores, renowned for their careful and versatile service have evolved further since the disaster. They are now perfecting disaster prevention manuals, installing earthquake and tsunami alarms, and storing food, fuel, and backup resources in cooperation with local governments. Daniel Kahl reports on the way convenience stores are preparing themselves to be ‘disaster stations’ supporting the local community.

After the tsunami had washed away most patient’s prescriptions, pharmacists in Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture, received special permission to distribute the stocks left at pharmacies, especially drugs for evacuees with chronic diseases. Confusion was avoided through the cooperation of various pharmacies. They also helped sort out the chaos at evacuation centers in Otsuchi by gathering prescriptions every day and delivering the drugs the following day. This reduced the waiting time for treatment and medicine preparation, and also facilitated inventory control. The program reviews the vital support role of pharmacists at the time of a major disaster.

The opening of the OECD Tohoku School in March 2012 launched a 30-month project in which 100 teenagers from three disaster-stricken Tohoku prefectures would think up ways to promote their regions at a presentation in France in summer 2014. Although many of the students had lost relatives in the disaster and still live at evacuation sites, they put great effort into planning ideas and promoting them, and the Paris event was a great success. Focusing on students from Okuma-machi, Fukushima prefecture, and Otsuchi-cho, Iwate prefecture, preparing photo exhibits, the program shows how children from the stricken areas have matured through the school’s activities.

Miyako, Iwate Prefecture, is an important crossroads where Routes 106 from Morioka and the coastal 45 meet. Local construction workers took just two days to clear the roads of tsunami debris: first opening up the area within 800 yards of the junction, and then the route south to Yamada-machi. Bonnie Waycott reports on the men who overcame many difficulties in the chaos right after the disaster, including seismic wave warnings and a lack of communication means, fuel and food.

Many of the elderly people forced to live as an evacuee or in temporary housing ever since the 3.11 disaster lead inactive lives with nothing special to do. This can result in hypofunction of the whole body, making them susceptible to ‘disuse syndrome’. Dr. Yayoi Okawa identified many such cases after the 2007 Chuetsu Offshore Earthquake, and since then she has been supporting sufferers in various ways. The program interviews people who have managed to overcome the syndrome by getting involved in the revival of tangle-net fishing and seaweed farming, which has reenergized them and rejuvenated their sense of confidence. It also looks at ways to avoid the syndrome and how it can be treated with the support of families and friends.

The Japan Self-Defense Forces have carried out a variety of lifesaving and support activities since the 3.11 disaster. Not many people know that they provided bathing facilities for people who were experiencing a protracted evacuee life. The JSDF set up its temporary bathing equipment called ‘Field Bathing Set Mk.2’ at 42 different locations. A tank car pumps up water from the river, filters it, and then heats it for 45 minutes to provide 5.4 tons of hot water per hour. It allows 30 people to shower at the same time and 1,200 people to take a bath per day. The baths had a great healing effect on those forced to escape from the tsunami and the nuclear accident with just the clothes they were wearing. This mobile bathing service is unique to Japan with its traditional bathing culture.

More than half of the 1,000 evacuees were foreigners at an evacuation site in the Sanjo district of Sendai. This happened because many overseas students lived in the area and widely circulated e-mails reported that the Sanjo evacuation site was safe. However, the foreigners who escaped there were soon at a loss. Few of the Japanese evacuees could speak English and they were unable to explain the rules of the site well. Cultural and behavior differences stood out in relief and led to friction. Since then, the Sanjo district has been trying to make improvements in various ways based on the lessons learned. There will be more and more foreign residents in Japan in the future. The program presents hints on surviving disasters through mutual assistance.

More than 700 schoolchildren perished in the 3.11 disaster. As new types of disaster education are being considered nationwide, the “Disaster moral education” developed by students of Shizuoka University Faculty of Education is drawing attention. The students conducted a survey on the behavior of children during the disaster in Kesennuma, where many schoolchildren lost their lives. Everyone was faced with a crucial decision before the tsunami arrived: to escape or to check out the safety of their family? The program covers an actual “disaster moral education” lesson for 6th graders at an elementary school near Suruga Bay. It clearly shows how the children’s disaster prevention awareness changes: “Every man for himself”.

About 450,000 Japanese schoolchildren at all three levels (elementary, junior high and high schools) suffer from some kind of food allergy. However, local government disaster prevention plans pay insufficient consideration to the needs of allergy sufferers. The program introduces various efforts to provide countermeasures for allergy sufferers during a disaster, based on lessons learned in 2011. Allergy sufferers have also fully realized the importance of reporting that they are allergic to certain items. A group of mothers has developed “Cards to prevent food allergy” which can be carried even by babies and small children.

The local ‘idol group’ SCK GIRLS was formed in 2011 to back up the recovery of the disaster-stricken town of Kesennuma. The way they enthusiastically practice their dancing and singing in the community space at Minamimachi Murasaki Market, a temporary shopping district, has provided great mental support to local people. Many fans began visiting Murasaki Market. But as they enhanced their name recognition holding concerts in various cities, they felt their bonding with their hometown was weakening. Now the girls’ desire to deepen the bonds with local people is strengthening again. They plan to hold a ‘Thanking Local People’ 4th anniversary concert in the area.

Children’s physical strength tests conducted in 2013 have showed poor results compared with those for 2010, the year before the 3.11 disaster, especially in the coastal areas. The reasons include the fact that many temporary housing complexes were erected in parks and school playgrounds, an increase in the number of students going to school by bus because of the closing and mergers of schools, and self-restraint regarding outdoor activities due to radioactive contamination. Various efforts to solve this issue are underway, including the ‘Two-minute jump exercise’ (Kamaishi, Iwate Pref.), and the large-scale indoor playground called ‘Pep Kids Koriyama’ which is attracting many family groups. The reporter is Bobby Ologun, a TV personality popular with children.

A famous Taiwanese actress revisits a children’s theater troupe that she supported after the Great East Japan earthquake of 2011. After the quake, the children in Miyagi Prefecture, one of the hardest-hit areas, banded together to re-enact their version of the disaster. Taiwanese actress Lin Chiling coached them on how to express their feelings. Almost four years since the disaster, some troupe members now worry that memories of their experiences are fading, and may soon be forgotten. We go back with Lin to visit and talk with them.

When the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred, no passengers lost their lives while riding on trains. Thanks to the Urgent Earthquake Detection and Alarm System, in which seismometers automatically halt trains when they sense abnormal vibrations, all the Shinkansen bullet trains started braking before the quake struck. We look at the ongoing reinforcement of the elevated tracks and improvements to the cars and verify the legendary safety of the Shinkansen by observing simulations of how safety is ensured at the time of an earthquake. The program also reports on a case where human wisdom saved lives. Nobiru Station on the Senseki Line connecting Sendai and Ishinomaki was badly damaged. A train that left the station a few minutes earlier stopped on a hillside; following the advice of local residents, the conductor instructed all the passengers to stay on the train instead of following the manual, and they were safe. The program covers the preparations and countermeasures being implemente

Many items imbued with personal memories that were carried out to sea by the tsunami in 2011 have been found on the west coast of North America and returned to their owners. In previous TOMORROW programs, we have reported on the memories evoked by the return of nostalgic items, and how their owners have made a new step forward driven by them. Through those programs, a Japanese NPO called ‘Kids Now’ and Kevin Easley, an American dentist living in Alaska, got connected and the owner search movement has been steadily expanding. Encouraged by the return of his football, 13-year-old Rin Goto in Minamisanriki, Miyagi Prefecture, wrote in an essay: "Whenever I get discouraged, I will hold this football and remember the many people who have supported me. I’m sure that will give me the courage to move on..." His essay won the top award among 22,000 entries at a junior high school essay contest in the Tohoku region.