Captions by Faith Hamblyn. www.able.co.nz Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2015 INSPIRATIONAL MUSIC TRADITIONAL JAPANESE MUSIC Japan is the most earthquake-prone country in the world, and in 2011, the world watched as a magnitude-nine earthquake struck off the north-east coast of Japan. The fourth-largest earthquake ever recorded in the world produced a massive tsunami. It shortened the length of a day by a microsecond and changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Japanese forever, But the Japanese lesson to the world is resilience. So, as someone with a disability myself, um, I have faced many challenges ` physical; uh, psychological. But for me, I've always lived with my disability ` there was no one traumatic event. So while I can relate on some levels, there are many levels I don't relate on, and, uh, I would like to ask people about how after one event in their life ` how they move forward from that. RELAXED MUSIC I'm travelling the length of the Tohoku coastline to meet people, who are opening their homes to me to share lessons of survival. MUSIC CONTINUES My first stop is Nihonmatsu, where the Japanese government has helped tsunami survivors to create new lives. (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) Oh, konichiwa. Konichiwa. Konichiwa. Robbie. Kazuo? Nice to meet you, Kazuo. (SPEAKS JAPANESE) Obori Soma-yaki pottery is a more-than-300-year-old tradition. It was essential that potters like Kazuo Matsunaga could start again. (SPEAKS JAPANESE) Yeah. What does this represent? (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) What does this mean? (SPEAKS JAPANESE) What does this mean? I think, uh, it's waves. The waves? The waves? Yeah, because, uh,... this, uh, Soma area... is near the ocean. is near the ocean. Near the ocean. is near the ocean. Near the ocean. Yes. Kazuo's son Takeshi moved home, becoming a fourth generation of this family business. Soma-yaki pottery has a distinctive galloping horse, reflecting the history of the samurai warrior in the Soma region. Kazuo's pottery studio was in the town of Namie. His studio was destroyed by the earthquake, and the entire town was evacuated. Like so many newcomers to this town, Kazuo needed to reconnect with his old life. POTTERY TINKLES OK. (CHUCKLES) POTTERY TINKLES (SPEAKS JAPANESE) I can hear it. POTTERY TINKLES Can see cracks? Can see cracks? Yeah. Yeah. So the noise... Mm. Mm. ...is when it cracks? Mm. ...is when it cracks? Yes. Ah. OK. It's like bells. Yes. Ah. OK. It's like bells. Yes. It's bells. Yes. < POTTERY TINKLES Takashi had his own promising career overseas, but when the tsunami happened, he too feared that the long tradition of Soma-yaki might be lost. He returned home to help his father restart his career. (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) > (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) They could no longer use the Fukushima clay, due to contamination. They had to experiment with glazes to recapture the traditional look. It was three years before they were ready to reopen. (SPEAKS JAPANESE) POIGNANT MUSIC (SPEAKS JAPANESE) MUSIC CONTINUES (SPEAKS JAPANESE) Tradition dictates the horses are always painted running right to left ` symbolically a father horse taking care of his son, a poignant link to Kazuo and his son. They're going slow. (CHUCKLES) Yeah. POIGNANT MUSIC (SPEAKS JAPANESE) As we nodded niceties, I knew I'd barely scratched the surface of Kazuo's story and a tradition hundreds of years old. But I recognised a common attitude to adversity. Very good. Very good. Thank you. UPBEAT MUSIC I was born with a condition called phocomelia, which meant that the bones in the lower half of my body didn't develop properly before birth. I learned to walk on a prosthetic leg, which became known as Lucy Leg. When I was 12 years old, they amputated my leg even further, and they'll also probably have to amputate my other leg in the future. I had trouble believing that... I would ever succeed like the rest of my friends and brothers. It wasn't until I was about 16 years old that I decided to just believe in who I was and turn what I saw as my weakness ` my leg, Lucy Leg ` into a strength. I think everyone in the world has their own Lucy Leg or their own thing that they have to deal with. Just because you can see my disability doesn't make me different from anyone else in the world. CONTEMPLATIVE MUSIC Most of those left homeless by the earthquake and tsunami moved to temporary developments, like this one near Minamisoma City. MUSIC CONTINUES (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) Chouhachi Kanno is surrounded by family photographs, but now lives alone. He lost 12 members of his family, including his mother, his wife, his only son and his only daughter. (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) < And in those moments, what do you do to get through the night? (SPEAKS JAPANESE) Following the tsunami,... were you able to... access any counselling or, um, professional people to talk to about what happened? (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) CONTEMPLATIVE MUSIC Is this you? (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) It was Kanno's father who taught him the ancient traditions of the samurai. For 40 years he took part in the Soma-Nomaoi festival, which has its origins in the military exercises of samurai warriors more than 1000 years ago. Its continuance is a symbol of the regeneration of the Fukushima area. TRADITIONAL JAPANESE MUSIC Kanno's son died trying to save their horses. (SPEAKS JAPANESE) His lifelong connection to horses is the reason he can carry on. Like other survivors, he knew that re-establishing traditions was important to healing. (SPEAKS JAPANESE) He's like your family. He's like your family. (SPEAKS JAPANESE) UPBEAT MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUES BIRDS CHIRP My journey out of town takes us past Kanno's old house, where he once enjoyed views of the beach. His old neighbourhood is now barren. There is a giant sea wall blocking views of the ocean that took so many lives. SOULFUL MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUES < WAVES CRASH (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) CONTEMPLATIVE MUSIC Japan sits at the juncture of four major tectonic plates. People grow up knowing they're at risk. Some 40% of the coastline has been protected by sea walls and wave breaks, but they provided no protection against what was the largest earthquake in Japanese history. Yoshiaki and Chieko Miura... run a traditional Japanese inn inside their ancestral home in Minamisanriku. Konichiwa. > (SPEAKS JAPANESE) < So, can tell me what happened on... < the 11th of March in 2011? < (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) POIGNANT MUSIC Not only did the fishermen lose their homes, but also their equipment and their boats. Yoshiaki comes from several generations of fishermen. Refusing to give up, he still fishes every day. Fish farms were a key part of a buoyant fishing industry until the tsunami. With the boats gone, the farms destroyed and an ageing population, it hasn't been easy to restore the way of life here. (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) DRIVING MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUES 60km north is Rikuzentakata. 75% of the houses were destroyed when a 13m-high wave broke through the sea walls. A massive conveyer belt is carrying rock across a river to raise the city centre by 10m. The raised land is just for shops, offices and factories. Housing is being built on the hillside. The shoreline here was home to 70,000 pine trees. After the tsunami, a single 27m 170-year-old tree miraculously remained standing. It was a symbol of encouragement for the survivors, but the land subsided and the tree died. This miracle pine which captured the hearts of so many will continue to watch over us. The whole tree was taken away, hollowed out, reconstructed, then returned to the site, where it's known as the miracle pine. Everyone, kind of, has this symbol of hope. For me it's Lucy Leg and the representation of resilience and strength and taking something that's a weakness and turning it into something that's empowering. And I guess in this area, this is that thing. CONTEMPLATIVE MUSIC All along the coast, people have built other symbols of hope to keep alive the memories of the thousands of Japanese people who lost their lives in just a few minutes on March 11 2011. The Tohoku earthquake has been recorded as the most expensive natural disaster in history. The Japanese government has allocated hundreds of billions to ensure, wherever possible, the landscape and lives are restored. The population in this rural area of Japan has been steadily declining, yet those who stay believe the region will attract a new generation in the future. That's inspired the Horai-kan Hotel in Kamaishi to invest in a new wing. Akiko Iwasaki, owner of the hotel, tells her remarkable story of survival to every new guest. (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) Arigato. The woman with the broad smile became known throughout Japan after employees and guests watched her being sucked into a whirlpool. Her hotel manager captured the scene on his phone. (SPEAKS JAPANESE) There's you. There's you. (SPEAKS JAPANESE) SCREAMING, YELLING SCREAMING, YELLING (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) SCREAMING MAN YELLS IN JAPANESE (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) Akiko took me up the mountain behind the hotel. In a state of panic and with only minutes to outrun the tsunami, guests and villagers had run up the steep path. (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) SEAGULLS SQUAWK (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) You're laughing and you're smiling, and you make everyone around you smile and feel happy. How do you do this? Why? (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) POIGNANT MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUES (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) Every month there is a musical performance at the hotel by local women commemorating the tsunami, the birth of a new tradition. (SINGS IN JAPANESE) (SINGS IN JAPANESE) # Tsunami... (SINGS IN JAPANESE) SINGING CONTINUES 1 1 There's a quietness about this north-eastern coastline. Young people have been leaving for better opportunities in the city, but like all cities and towns, a new generation will make this land home. PEOPLE CHATTERING IN JAPANESE PEOPLE SING IN JAPANESE On the train, the woman selling refreshments breaks into song, and the whole carriage joins her. These people have been through so much, it's as if they recognise the sense of living in the moment, to enjoy what they still have. PEOPLE SING IN JAPANESE There is a Japanese proverb which says, 'Fall down seven times, get up eight.' PEOPLE SING IN JAPANESE LAUGHTER PEOPLE SING IN JAPANESE LAUGHTER PEOPLE SING IN JAPANESE LAUGHTER PEOPLE SING IN JAPANESE LAUGHTER PEOPLE CHATTER IN JAPANESE HELICOPTER ROTORS WHIRR CONTEMPLATIVE MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUES The goal was to reach this beautiful beach, which the locals call Heaven's Beach. Meeting people along the coastline, they're filled with such hope. Every person I met along the way really touched my heart in one way or another. Each of them had a different story to tell, but a shared experience. And they were all coping with it and dealing with it in different ways, but they were dealing with it and turning those weaknesses into strengths. Everyone had a different idea about how to achieve it, but for each of them, the goal was hope. I know from my own personal journey that, um... that you never forget these traumas,... that the scars will always be there,... but with the right support... and community and coming together, they don't necessarily define the future. THOUGHTFUL MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUES Captions by Faith Hamblyn. www.able.co.nz Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2015 JAPANESE ROCK MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUES We're back with a new season in April. Here's a sneak peek of what we've got coming up. They call me Meat Train for a reason,... I've got a pretty fierce reputation, but I wanna share with you what's really going on. INDISTINCT YELLING We're two months out from selection of the final 20, so at these trainings, we're all trying to become friendly and work together, but we're also trying to expose to the coach, 'Look, she's weak and I did that to her.' INDISTINCT YELLING GENTLE MUSIC He is adopting that typical 9-, 10-year-old attitude, as opposed to when he was 5 and he just accepted everything. 'I've been learning to use the cane for several months.' There's tactiles down here. I don't like using the cane, and I've had enough of it. (SIGHS) Surprise! GRUFFLY: Today we are here to talk about Special Olympics. GRUFFLY: And if you train hard, one day you might get to be a Global Messenger. Hey, isn't Phillip a global messenger? GRUFFLY: Yip. Mia is among the best females in wheelchair rugby in the whole world. Representing NZ, it's a pretty cool feeling. (CHUCKLES)