Tsunami Documentary Reflection

Emmett Moore

In the documentary we watched concerning the tsunami in Japan, I was really taken back by how people reacted in the aftermath of the storm and how they came together; however, many found it difficult to rebuild their lives and were suffering some trauma from the tsunami. An example of this would be the chef  who was staying at a shelter and heard that they needed a someone of his profession while he was in the gym. He was unsure if he could help all these people, especially without his own kitchen in his restaurant which was lost in the tsunami.  His son then convinced him to give it a try and he ended up being able to serve thousands of people everyday from a  junior science room that they converted into a makeshift kitchen. This example speaks to the efforts of the Japanese people and their ability to come together in this time of need and make do with what they have right in the moment and finding a way to continue on.

I also noticed how many people were traumatized by this experience and how many of them are trying to deal with the loss and destruction that has become part of their lives now. The swim instructor who lost many of her younger co-workers deals with her new found fear of the water and even has trouble when washing her face shows how much psychological damage resulted from this storm to the people of japan. Since the Japanese are such a stoic people, I think it was hard for them to show how much they were affected emotionally by this storm to the international community.  

Furthermore, I didn't realize the amount of damage to homes and the option of either staying in a shelter or finding new housing like the one family did in order for their daughter’s high school career to stay on track. Just how the simple comforts of home were overwhelming for them.  The film also talks about the gaps that appeared in wealth between certain groups and how this storm has really stressed and fractured the social structure  in Japan.

Another thing I learned about through watching this documentary is the struggle that some Japanese are having facing the reality of what they lost in the tsunami and what it is taking place  in order to actually rebuild. The scene in  the car dump was really what drove this home to me. Also, I was affected by the fact that they did not really know what has happened to many of their material positions and how they struggled with dealing with that fact and it made moving on even harder, especially since the Japanese are very sentimental and see the soul in all objects, which makes theses losses even harder for them. This makes it much harder for them to face reality and start the process of rebuilding that has to occur. The dramatic damage done to the high school was really shocking and just the overall level destruction to the infrastructure most buildings; some suffered severe damage while others were completely blown away and it's going to take a large scale work-force to rebuild Japan which it does not have at the moment, only making this process harder.  Also, the process by which they must tear down many of the structures in order to rebuild leaving many painful memories in the process since there are so few reminders of how the are looked before the tsunami.  

It seemed as though the main idea of this movie was to bring to attention the overall lack of preparedness for handling such a large level of disaster and the need to learn from this mistake in order to properly be prepared next time. Improved disaster management reporting on lost family and orphans is the proper direction to head in while facing reality and remembering what it was like before and how this disaster happened and was handled afterwards. They also talk about the difficulty to convey the feelings of loss to others, which is why it is hard to express the loss the country feels as a whole right now.