Intro for the Book

On 11 March 2011, The Great East Japan Earthquake tore through the
country's north-eastern coast, triggering a tsunami of up to an estimated
9 meters.
The disaster left the people of Eastern Japan with their loved ones missing,
homes destroyed and cities in rubbles.
For a nation known for its preparedness, the clean-up proved a mammoth
task. The affected areas had to be rebuilt from scratch, starting with the
clearing of debris and waste from the aftermath of the disaster. The total
material damage incurred from the Tsunami and Earthquake added up to
more than 25 trillion yen (US $300 billion). Buildings, vehicles, agriculture
nothing was spared.
With the valiant effort from the people of Japan as well as the gracious
help from Singaporeans Red Cross (SRC) and from people all around the
world, nearly all the debris and waste have been removed but
reconstruction is still lacking.
The SRC has raised a total of S$35.7 million from the generous
contributions of Singaporeans, of which S$500,000 comes from the
Singapore Government. These donations proved to be a huge help, aiding
the SRC in emergency reliefs, rehabilitation and the reconstruction of
Japan.
However, life still remains in a state of turmoil for many of the citizens,
with 330,000 still living in temporary housing groups and no place to call
their own.

Intro for Past

At 2:46pm on 11 March 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake took place 231
miles northeast of Tokyo, Japan, at a depth of 15.2 miles. It is the fourth
largest earthquake on record (since 1900) and the largest to hit Japan to
date. The earthquake triggered a tsunami with 9 meter waves that
damaged several nuclear reactors and destroyed housing and large
elements of social infrastructure like schools, clinics, nursing homes,
transportation systems, and hospitals in the area.
The confirmed death toll as of February 10, 2015 is 15,890. Fukushima,
Iwate and Miyagi prefectures suffered the most serious damage and the
highest number of loss in lives, with 15,872 citizens dead and 6,114
injured. On top of the death toll, a further 2,769 more were missing.
There was a shortage of food, water, shelter, fuel as well as medicine to
treat the ill. The impact left at least six million homes - 10 percent of
Japan's households - without electricity and a million without water.
It was no doubt that the earthquake had left Eastern Japan in widespread
despair.

Intro for Housing

The Great East Japan Earthquake did not just leave the people of Japan in
despair due to the loss of lives of their loved ones but it also robbed them
of their homes. 9 meter high tsunami completely washed away some
78,000 buildings, leaving thousands homeless and unsheltered.
The residents affected were then forced to live in the homes of their
friends or relatives or even in crammed community centre gymnasiums
along with other residents who were affected.
Four years after the earthquake and tsunami, about 230,000 people who
lost their homes are still living in temporary housing that have been built
to shelter the people affected by the disaster.
Closed to $1.5m has been disbursed by Singapore Red Cross (SRC) as
emergency relief, providing basic necessities to Japanese families placed
in temporary housing. SRC have also planned various activities for the
residents like Nordic walking to keep them healthy through their old age
as well as craft activities like flower arrangement and knitting to keep
them occupied.
Some residents have managed to secure permanent housing like the one
in Yoshidahama Dai-chiku in Miyagi Prefecture, Takadai Juutaku Danchi.
Takadai Juutaku Danchi is a permanent housing complex build in October
2014 to provide a safe place for the residents with stronger buildings and
higher grounds. This housing complex comprise of 15 (publicly available
and individually owned) 130-150 square meter houses, which is stark
difference from the tiny one-room temporary housing that these residents
were previously forced to live in.

Although much help is still needed as most residents have not found
permanent housing yet and the temporary housing does not compare to
their spacious homes prior to the earthquake, most of the residents in the
temporary housing have forged strong bonds over the aftermath.

Intro for Ishinomaki

Ishinomaki is a city located in Miyagi Prefecture and it was among the
cities that were most seriously affected by the 2011 earthquake and
tsunami. Several waves, up to about 9 metres high travelled inland up to
5 kilometres from the coast. The tsunami destroyed around 80% of the
700 houses in the coastal port and approximately 46% of the city was
inundated by the tsunami. The waves unforgivingly killed more than 3,000
people and completely destroyed 20,000 homes in the city. As of January
2014, around 430 residents are still missing.
In response to the disaster, the Singapore Red Cross also sent supplies
500 collapsible water bottles to Ishinomaki City.
Ishinomaki Red Cross hospital served to be the cities lifeline during the
crisis as it was the only functioning hospital that could treat the affected
residents in dire need of medical care. For the first few days after the
March 11 earthquake and tsunami, it treated 1,200 a day and treated
more than 10,000 patients by the first month after the disaster.
The main reason of Ishinomaki Red Cross hospital managed to serve so
well despite the circumstances was due to their preparedness as well as
the anti-seismic-built. The hospital may appear to be an ordinary building
however, beneath lies an enormous steel frame which rests on rubber
cushions that can absorb the shocks of even a 9.0 magnitude earthquake.
This feature prevented any serious damage to the hospital and kept it
operational.
The hospital made us of every available room and corridor, even the
outside car park and surrounding grounds to treat and care for the
wounded and sick. With patients pouring into the hospital, the staff
worked up to 20 hour shifts with little rest in order to save the lives of the
residents during those initial weeks.
Although four years on and other hospitals have been restored, the Red
Cross hospital in Ishinomaki remains one of the most indispensable
medical facilities in the city.

Intro for Future

Now, four years on from The Great East Japan Earthquake that left
widespread devastation and human casualties. Various prefectures in Japan
have plans move forward from the disaster to provide safety for the
people, improve the countrys economy and to prepare the future
generation.
In Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture, there are plans to revive tourism and
imrpove the economy in the city. Resident in charge of tourism, Mr
Takanori Obayashi says, The city is rich, not economically but the
relationships are rich. He hopes to the tap on the friendly culture to bring
in tourism and revenue for the city which suffered a drastic impact on its
economy due to the disaster.
The affected prefectures also plan on instilling the tendenko philosophy to
residents, especially to the younger generation who dont understand the
importance of tendenko. Tendenko prioritises individual action and selfpreservation however such thinking is anathema to Japanese culture as
in Japan, family bonds are very strong. This poses as a barrier to the
tendenko philosophy as the term means to go uphill independently at the
time of tsunami caring only for your own safety, not thinking of anyone
else, even your family. Various schools in Japan, like in Iwate prefecture
now instil this philosophy to their students and educate them on the
importance of tendenko for survival and safety.
Many areas in Japan are also taking preventive measures to counter the
Tsunami, like building higher ground. In Shichigahama, as part of disaster
planning, houses are being built on higher ground and various land areas
are being raised with the use of soil in order to prevent waves from
reaching the buildings during the event of another Tsunami.