Miyagi's life in photos

November 23, 2012

Archive captures life in Miyagi 1 year after disaster

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T121122003742.htm

The Yomiuri Shimbun

SENDAI--Tohoku University has launched a website to archive 13,760 images taken by local residents that capture how areas in Miyagi Prefecture have recovered one year after the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami.

Some of the photos show areas still covered in piles of debris, while others show areas currently undergoing restoration work. The national university plans to add more photos to the archive to show the public how the areas are recovering from the disaster.

The site was created by a group led by Prof. Fumihiko Imamura of the university's International Research Institute of Disaster Science.

The group called on residents living along the prefecture's coast to join a team called "Michinoku Ima no Tsutae-tai" (Team to report on the current Michinoku). Michinoku is another term for the Tohoku region. Members took photos of their areas from February to March.

One such picture shows a pile of debris sitting on the shore, while another shows a sign set up at a farm indicating work was being conducted to remove salt from a tsunami-engulfed area. Yet another picture focuses on a poster for a concert to cheer up residents living in temporary housing.

Creating the digital archive is part of the institute's project, "Michinoku Shin-Roku-Den" (Recording and sharing about quake-stricken Michinoku). The project aims to record and archive a variety of information--from life in the affected areas to residents' experiences--so lessons learned from the disaster can be utilized in future disaster management measures.

"We hope people nationwide will look at how the disaster-stricken areas are recovering," said Associate Prof. Akihiro Shibayama, who is in charge of the project.

The photos are available online at http://michinoku.irides.tohoku.ac.jp/tsutaetai/MichinokuInfo.html.