JAPAN FOUR YEARS LATTER by Earnie Grafton/ZUMA :
zReportage.com STORY OF THE WEEK # 571 • Launched April 7, 2015 : JAPAN FOUR YEARS LATTER by Earnie Grafton/ZUMA :
Four years after the 2011 tsunami, Japanese are still on the path to recovery. On March 11, 2011, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck northeast Japan, triggering a massive tsunami and a crippling nuclear crisis. Nearly 19,000 people lost their lives in the disaster, the country's worst since World War II. In the temporary housing near Kamaishi, Japan, about half the former residents are gone now. The government has offered some subsidies to help rebuild homes, but not nearly enough. Some residents have moved in with relatives; others moved into permanent apartments and many have simply left the area for good. Despite efforts by Tokyo to raise the ground level and repair the sea walls, many people in the area are losing hope of having their lives back.
© zReportage.com STORY OF THE WEEK # 571 • Launched April 7, 2015 : JAPAN FOUR YEARS LATTER by Earnie Grafton/ZUMA :
zReportage.com STORY OF THE WEEK # 571 • Launched April 7, 2015 : JAPAN FOUR YEARS LATTER by Earnie Grafton/ZUMA :
Four years after the 2011 tsunami, Japanese are still on the path to recovery. On March 11, 2011, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck northeast Japan, triggering a massive tsunami and a crippling nuclear crisis. Nearly 19,000 people lost their lives in the disaster, the country's worst since World War II. In the temporary housing near Kamaishi, Japan, about half the former residents are gone now. The government has offered some subsidies to help rebuild homes, but not nearly enough. Some residents have moved in with relatives; others moved into permanent apartments and many have simply left the area for good. Despite efforts by Tokyo to raise the ground level and repair the sea walls, many people in the area are losing hope of having their lives back.
(Credit Image: © Earnie Grafton/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
46 pm, the moment the earthquake struck the region four years ago. Kamaishi suffered great loss of life and damage from the tsunami resulting from the earthquake.
© Earnie Grafton/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 11, 2015 - Otsuchi, Japan - The train tracks end at the now abandoned Namiitakaigan train station in Otsuchi after the tsunami of 2011 wiped away the bridge the trains used. Four years after the tsunami, train service still hasn't been fully restored.
© Earnie Grafton/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 7, 2015 - Kamaishi, Japan - TOSHIKO MIYAZAKI hops down from a wall at the Kamaishi port by large concrete blocks destined to be used to try and rebuild the seawall to shelter Kamaishi. The previous seawall, built over decades at a cost of about .6 billion dollars, was a massive failure in the tsunami of 2011.
© Earnie Grafton/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 10, 2015 - Otsuchi, Japan - A procession of Buddhists march past the ruins of the former Otsuchi Town Hall that was destroyed during the tsunami of March 11, 2011. The ceremony was in honor of the victims of the disaster on the fourth anniversary. Otsuchi was nearly wiped out and suffered severe damage and great loss of life during the tsunami.
© Earnie Grafton/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 11, 2015 - Kamaishi, Japan - SHINPEI KIKUCHI, a photographer living in Kamaishi, holds a photo he shot from the spot he is standing of the oncoming water from the tsunami of 2011. The tsunami claimed more than 1,100 people from the city of Kamaishi.
© Earnie Grafton/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 7, 2015 - Kamaishi, Japan - A metal guard rail lies crumpled from the force of the tsunami 2011.
© Earnie Grafton/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 7, 2015 - Rikuzentakata, Japan - The 'Miracle Pine' statue towers over the leveled Rikuzentakata. The statue is an exact replica of the only surviving pine tree of the tsunami of 2011 from the tens of thousands at the former scenic Takata-Matsubara forest. Today, it serves as a memorial for the area that was devastated by the tsunami.
© Earnie Grafton/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 7, 2015 - Kamaishi, Japan - FUMAIAKI KITAYAMA, a resident of Kamaishi, shows a photo of the destruction in Kamaishi shortly after the tsunami in 2011. Kamaishi lost more than 1,100 of its residents to the tsunami on March 11, 2011.
© Earnie Grafton/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 7, 2015 - Kamaishi, Japan - The view of Kamaishi and its port from the vantage point of the survivors who made it to high ground on March 11, 2015. While the port is functioning, and the rubble cleared, most of the structures and homes are gone.
© Earnie Grafton/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 7, 2015 - Kamaishi, Japan - TOSHIKO MIYAZAKI in front of her home at one of temporary housing complexes constructed by the Japanese government. An estimated 250,000 people along the northeastern coast of Japan were forced to live in temporary housing after the tsunami of 2011. The government is now building permanent apartment buildings for those whose homes can or won't be rebuilt. About half of the residents of this complex has either moved in with relatives, moved into permanent apartments or simply left the area.
© Earnie Grafton/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 8, 2015 - Kamaishi, Japan - KENJI SANO, 83, lost his liquor business during the tsunami of 2011. Now, he operates a small liquor store in a temporary building.
© Earnie Grafton/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 9, 2015 - Tono, Japan - A dancer performs at the Tonogou Hachiman Shrine on the eve of the 4th anniversary of the 2011 tsunami and earthquake.
© Earnie Grafton/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 9, 2015 - Kamaishi, Japan - SAEKO FUJI stands on the porch of her restaurant that overlooks the Cosmos Community Park. She and her husband turned their former farmland into a community park since much of nearby Kamaishi was destroyed by the tsunami of 2011, leaving little space available for children. Located near several temporary housing areas, the park was built by volunteers and decorated with a huge mural called 'Wall of Hope' by artist Kyoko Abe.
© Earnie Grafton/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 9, 2015 - Tono, Japan - A dancer performs during a memorial service at the Tonogou Hachiman Shrine on the eve of the fourth anniversary of the 2011 tsunami.
© Earnie Grafton/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 10, 2015 - Kamaishi, Japan - Residents of Kamaishi pray for their lost loved ones on the fourth anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that hit Kamaishi at a memorial service held at the Senjuin Temple. The city lost more than 1100 people killed or missing and suffered significant damage.
© Earnie Grafton/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 7, 2015 - Rikuzentakata, Japan - Huge conveyor belts nearly 3 kilometers long move clay and dirt from a nearby mountain to the devastated town of Rikuzentakata along the northeastern coast. The conveyor moves about 20,000 cubic yards of clay per day. The Japanese government plans to raise the level of the ground by more than 15 feet prior to rebuilding the town. Rikuzentakata was nearly wiped out by the tsunami of 2011 and lost about 2,000 of its 23,000 citizens.
© Earnie Grafton/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 10, 2015 - Kamaishi, Japan - CHIKANO FIJIMA (aka TSUYAKO ITO) (right), 89, the oldest geisha of Kamaishi and a teacher of traditional Japanese dance, holds a photo of herself as a 28 year-old geisha. Ms. Fujima escaped the tsunami, but lost her home and now has lived in temporary housing for the past four years. Long-time friend TOSHIKO MIYAZAKI is sitting behind her.
© Earnie Grafton/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 10, 2015 - Otsuchi, Japan - A procession of Buddhists march past the ruins of the former Otsuchi Town Hall that was destroyed during the tsunami of March 11, 2011, killing the town's mayor and other staff. The ceremony was in honor of the victims of the disaster on the fourth anniversary. Otsuchi was nearly wiped out and suffered severe damage and great loss of life during the tsunami.
© Earnie Grafton/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 7, 2015 - Kamaishi, Japan - RENKO OGAWA lost her home in the tsunami of 2011. She has been living in this temporary housing complex under recently moving in with her son in Kamaishi.
© Earnie Grafton/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 7, 2015 - Rikuzentakata, Japan - The ruins of a building near the ocean is one of the few remaining there. The Japanese government plans to raise the level of the ground by more than 15 feet prior to rebuilding the town. Rikuzentakata was nearly wiped out by the tsunami of 2011 and lost about 2,000 of its 23,000 citizens.
© Earnie Grafton/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 11, 2015 - Otsuchi, Japan - A floating crane helps construct a sea wall near the town of Otsuchi which was almost totally destroyed by the tsunami of 2011.
© Earnie Grafton/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 11, 2015 - Kamaishi, Japan - Portions of the failed sea wall can be seen off the coast under the Kamaishi Dai-Kannon statue. The sea wall was built at a cost of about .6 billion and completed four years before the tsunami of 2011. The sea wall collapsed under the waves.
© Earnie Grafton/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
