Why I Made a Documentary on the 2011 Tsunami

Hey guys,

So today marks the 8th anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake & Tsunami which devastated Tohoku, washing away entire towns and taking the lives of over 15,000 people.

Whilst I wasn’t in Japan during the disaster, even two years later I witnessed the destruction first-hand, when driving along the coastline to find overturned cars still lingering in the fields and the faded debris of shattered homes, which had been swept away by the sea.

At least once a year for the next 6 years I would find myself revisiting the east coastline, and year on year, I would find roads re-built, overturned cars vanished and new homes springing up in what had previously been a wasteland for the past half decade.

Sometime in 2017, Ryotaro and I took a trip to the town of Onagawa - one of the worst affected towns - where he was teaching an English language seminar. In the afternoon we found ourselves strolling down the newly constructed high street, which had recently re-opened to great fanfare - the Emperor himself had even dropped by to pay his respects.

But talking to the local entrepreneurs who'd relocated to the town or started new businesses, inspired the hell out of me. Seeing how the locals had taken something so destructive and turned it on its head to rebuild their communities and reinvigorate the local economy created an exciting atmosphere that seemed at odds with the setting of the disaster.

When I was at University I majored in Business and worked part time in the student enterprise department, which had instilled a love of entrepreneurship in me and a fascination of the effect it can have upon local areas. Seeing how it had unfolded in Onagawa and along the east coastline was a genuinely inspiring story that resonated with me deeply, and there was no doubt in my mind that it was one that needed to be told.

So with the help of Ryotaro the Wise, we interviewed half a dozen locals who'd started businesses in Onagawa, Ishinomaki and Kesennuma and produced a short documentary last year called “What Happened in Japan After the Tsunami”. (We even tried to interview Ken Watanabe who owns a cafe in Kesennuma, but our organiser screwed up the dates and we missed him by a week. Sausages).

The end result is probably the most serious video I’ve made until now, and quite honestly, I was worried it’d perform really badly because of the tone I'd adopted for it. But to my relief, upon releasing the video the feedback from viewers was incredibly encouraging, with far more positive comments than usual.

The experience made me proud to be able to use the Abroad in Japan channel as more than just mere sarcastic entertainment, but as a force for good, spreading the stories of people from a remote corner of Japan to half a million people around the world. It's a direction I hope to head in more this year with the videos we produce. Equally though guys, I hope you feel a sense of satisfaction for being a part of its production through your support on Patreon.

Here’s a little behind the scenes fun fact though: Ryotaro was actually there the entire time, lurking in the background! But I figured our usual buddy cop routine wouldn’t work this time around - hell, I even tried to cut myself out of most of the video. The result was definitely worth it though.

For those of you who haven’t yet watched it, or those of you looking to remind yourself of it, you can watch the episode here:

► What Happened in Japan After the Tsunami: https://youtu.be/ObSo4VxCFzs
 

For now though guys, wishing you all a great start to the week!

Chris