It's crazy - even now, 9 years after the tsunami, they're
still working hard to terraform the entire region. This is Minami Sanriku, one of the worst
affected places along the coastline. They are raising the entire town
10 meters above sea level. And the building we're standing on now,
which is completely destroyed, has been left here as a monument for the disaster. To remind people of the sheer destructive
force that this region witnessed. 400 kilometers of coastline were
wiped off the map in a single day, taking the lives of over 15,000 people. And with an estimated 235
billion dollars of destruction, the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami
remains the costliest natural disaster the world has ever seen. I've come to take a look at the past,
present and future of the region, to hear the incredible stories
of the people whose destinies were forever shaped by the tsunami. From a destroyed farm that went on to cultivate
Japan's most expensive and luxurious strawberries, to an inventor who redesigned one
of the world's most wasteful products. We'll meet the fishermen who lost everything, but went on to redefine their industry. And hear the inspiring
story of Ichiyo Kanno, the owner of an inn who lost
their home and her family, but refused to close her business. These are the extraordinary stories
of what happened after the tsunami. The Japanese coastline has
always been prone to tsunamis, but nothing could have
prepared Tohoku region for what it was going to face
on March 11th, 2011. The highest wave to hit Minami
Sanriku registered at 67 feet high, with over 800 people losing their lives. Almost 10% of the town's population. To help future generations appreciate
the sheer destructive power a tsunami can bring, this time, the town is leaving
behind a brutal reminder. The lone, five-storey building standing in the
wasteland was once a popular wedding venue. Today, as the diggers work around it on all
sides, it remains completely untouched - both as a time capsule,
and as a horror story. I'm meeting with Fumio Ito, who was
in Minami Sanriku on the day of the disaster, and he dedicates his time as a
'kataribe', literally a storyteller. As we make our way through the skeletal
remains of the building, he paints a bleak picture of how events unfolded for the 327
people who took refuge within its walls. He says that on the elevator shaft,
on the fifth floor of the building, there was over 40 people in here on the
day of the tsunami 'cause it was freezing cold. Don't forget it was March -
it was winter, it was freezing. This is where they came -
this is where they stayed. Just before the tsunami struck at 2:46pm, and two thirds of the structure
disappeared beneath the waves, panic and confusion quickly took hold,
as many considered fleeing the building. Fortunately, a tsunami
expert present on the day was able to warn most of the people
to stay inside on the upper levels. Tragically, not everyone
heeded the warming. Whilst the water from the
tsunami didn't reach this level, the waves that hit the building came over - they
sort of spilled over the building and reached this level. So, even though we're above
the level of the tsunami, you can still see on this photo just how
much water was on the roof of the building, which is unthinkable when you
think how high up we are now. So we're on the second level now, and this
floor- the water level came higher than this floor. And the most remarkable thing
is this shrine is completely intact. Not only was there a tsunami, there was the
massive earthquake - the magnitude 9.1 earthquake, and that caused untold destruction
before the tsunami even hit. And yet, look at the
condition of this shrine. There's barely a scratch on it. I think it was a really great idea
to keep this place here. I mean, looking at the photos of what
it looked like before the tsunami and now, it's- it's unrecognisable.
It really is. This is one of the only buildings remaining,
and it conveys that destruction in a way that just photos simply can't. Sea water didn't just wash
away people and homes. It also stole the livelihoods
of those that survived, particularly in the agricultural sector where the salt water destroyed the
fertile soil along the coastline. The town of Yamamoto, just
30 minutes south of Sendai city, lost its entire farming
industry overnight. But instead of giving up, the strawberry farmers
in the area teamed up to work together, and through their adversity,
their hard work paid off. as they ended up cultivating the most
luxurious variety of strawberry in all of Japan. So this is Ichigo World -
literally, strawberry world. And, in this greenhouse alone,
there's over 12 tons of strawberries. And now, I'm gonna go and eat them all. Mmm. In recent years, GRA, the
company that owns the farm, has received a great deal of international publicity
for selling Japan's most expensive strawberries. But just how much can you expect to pay for a box of
the biggest, juiciest, most decadent strawberries? So these are the most premium
strawberries that you can purchase here. They're literally called 'Migaki
Ichigo' - polished strawberries. And if you look at them... There we go, look at that! The absolute best
strawberries money can buy. 5000 yen for a box,
about 50 dollars, but, each and every one of these strawberries
has been cultivated to absolute perfection. Easily the most sophisticated premium
strawberries that I've ever seen. Takao Ono is the company's
undeniably lucky manager who's now gonna show us the best way
to unlock the flavor of each strawberry. So how many strawberries
do you eat in a week, Ono-san? Too many. - Too many! Hearing the story of how Yamamoto's strawberry
farms not only recovered but went on to thrive, reminded me of another industry that was
decimated and forced to rethink how they did business. Over 25,000 fishing vessels were
lost or damaged in the tsunami, and 319 fishing ports worth 80 billion
dollars completely wiped off the map. But if losing 90% of the
region's boats wasn't enough, after the recovery, many fishermen were
failing to attract young recruits to their fleets due to the sector being perceived
as uncool and old-fashioned. Two years ago, I heard the story of a group
of fishermen from the city of Ishinomaki, one of the worst affected cities, who had risen to the challenge
of trying to rebrand the sector. They'd started a company
called 'Fisherman Japan', and united experienced fishermen to
work together and support each other. One of their first moves was to launch a marketing
campaign that quickly went viral called 'Fisherman Call', where, instead of using your
usual phone alarm to wake up, you could go to their website,
choose the fisherman of your choice, and have them call you up in the morning instead. Almost overnight, the somewhat
unique campaign was a success and led to an influx of 10,000
members joining their fan club. Although brilliant marketing aside, I've
always wondered if it was a gimmick, or if they actually
went through with it. And having been invited to join the very
fisherman who launched the campaign, on one of their morning journeys out
into the Pacific to harvest seaweed, we're finally about to find out. CB: So it's just gone 5am, the sun's
coming up - beautiful conditions! Seriously - on a day like this, you can
really see the appeal of being a fisherman. We haven't come that far out,
actually - we sailed out for 10 minutes, and this whole area is
marked out with buoys, and they literally just pulled one of them up,
and a staggering amount of seaweed appeared. And the four of them are
now harvesting the seaweed, which is then going to be
shipped off to restaurants such as the one in Tokyo
that we're gonna visit later on. Y'know what, I have a lot
of respect for fishermen. While we're tucked up
in bed in the morning, they're out here,
often in brutal conditions, getting the food that we
eat and take for granted. I mean, I get up at 8 or 9 o'clock
in the morning - by that point, these guys have already been up like 5 or 6 hours. To be honest, I'm probably the
ideal person for Fisherman Call. CB: The essence of Fisherman Japan isn't
about ringing people up in the morning, though. Key to their success is putting a
face to the often anonymous fishermen who supply the freshly-sourced seafood
that diners enjoy hundreds of kilometers away. After building their team and
successfully launching their campaign, the next step was to set up a restaurant
in the middle of Tokyo, 400km south, where they can regularly visit,
meet the customers, and connect the dining experience
with the hard work and craftsmanship that goes into sourcing
the ingredients. CB: So we've harvested the seaweed -
well, I didn't, they did - they did a very good job. And here it is! Fresh out of the ocean. Even though we are in the
middle of nowhere right now, this is gonna be loaded onto
a truck and sent down to Tokyo to arrive on my plate. But before then, first thing's first, we're gonna go and take a look
at the future of chopsticks! In the days following the disaster, with
121,000 buildings completely demolished, and almost 700,000 damaged, people fled to evacuation
centres to seek shelter. Unsurprisingly, supplies
quickly began to run out, including eating utensils
such as chopsticks. One problem is that the most popular variety of
chopsticks in Japan are single-use chopsticks. In fact, every single year, a staggering
24 billion pairs are disposed of, equivalent to 200 pairs per person. As supplies began to run out,
one man took note and wondered if he could come up with reusable chopsticks
that weren't just more environmentally friendly but were also inspired by
the town's local delicacy. Japan goes through 250,000 tons
of scallop shells every single year and they are just thrown away -
they're just tossed away. But, perhaps, there is a
future for them after all, 'cause these chopsticks are
51% made of scallop shells. And it makes it not only durable and lasts
longer than plastic, but also heat resistant. And when they are eventually disposed of and
incinerated, they let off far less smoke than plastic. It's an amazing idea - an amazing example of
recycling something that's normally just tossed away. The western option -
fork and spoon. As Akio's factory gears
up for mass production, it won't be long before thousands
of scallop shell chopsticks are in the hands of people
across the country. And while we're on the subject of
chopsticks, it's time for me to head to Tokyo to try the freshly-caught
seafood and to meet Yuki Tsuda, one of the team from Fisherman Japan
who helped open the restaurant in Nakano. So this wakame seaweed is the seaweed
we caught just this morning up in Miyagi. It feels like a world away now. Juicy. Fatty - fatty. Mm! Oh yeah. So good. This is real wasabi root. The chef just harvested the wasabi
and literally grated it in front of us. It's not the fake horse radish you
normally get at sushi restaurants. Challenge. Mmp! Christ... Oh my god... Very good! Ah... Oh... What have I done? Of all the people I've met and stories I've heard
travelling around the tsunami-affected coastline, none of them has been quite as moving
or as inspirational as Ichio Kanno's. Ichio runs an inn in a peaceful fishing
town on the outskirts of Kesennuma city, and despite suffering great
personal loss, has a reputation for being the life and soul
of the local community. For the last stop on our journey,
I wanted to catch up with her, and see how her life has changed
in the years since we last met. Here we are! It's been about... two years
since I last visited Tsunakan, so... it's gonna be quite strange
seeing Ichio again for the first time. Here we go! Hello! Hello!
-- Hiii! Ah, Kanno-san! Ohhh!!! Chris!! Whoa! Wow! Oh my god! Umm...!! You're welcome! Thank you! One of the most noticeable differences since
my last visit is the gigantic concrete sea wall. 8 meters thick and 2 years in the making.
Just a few yards in front of Ichio's home. It's been built to protect the community from
the frequent tsunamis the coastline faces. Ichio is well-acquainted with the dangers
that come from living on Japan's Pacific coast. In 2011, the tsunami destroyed
her home, and her entire village. As the area began to
re-emerge from the rubble, Ichio and her husband were at
the heart of reviving the community when they decided to set up an inn that
quickly gained popularity with the locals. However, in 2017, just as her
life was getting back on track, her husband, eldest daughter
and son-in-law went out fishing and tragically lost their lives
when their boat overturned. After several months of mourning, Ichio took
the difficult decision to re-open her business, so she could continue
doing what she loved. I ask her how she feels about the ocean,
given how much pain it's inflicted upon her life. As life begins to return to normal
almost a decade after the disaster, and the 12 billion dollar sea walls that stretch
along Tohoku's coastline reach completion, I leave feeling inspired by the
resilient and optimistic spirit of each and every one of the
people whose stories we've heard. And though none of the people
in this documentary have ever met, all of them are connected - all of their
paths in life have been shaped by the events of March 11th, 2011. They've shown that even when
things seem to be at their very worst, it doesn't have to be the end. Hope lingers on.
Ayee, awesome to see an Abroad in Japan video here. Chris always deserves the support.
I remember the earthquake very well. I was working in a small town north of Tokyo when it hit. The quake started small but everyone quickly realized that it was unusual as it seemed to go on and on and on. Finally, after what seemed like minutes, it got rather violent as our books and chairs and desks flailed around but then stopped.
We calmly exited the building and waited in the yard for a period of time then eventually filtered back into our building. In the main office there was a live tv with a news feed. About 25 of us in all, we’re just chatting, trying to send emails and log on to the net with our phones which couldn’t connect. At one point, someone spoke loudly “what are those dots? Are those people?”
The room fell totally silent as we watched live the tsunami overtake a coast. It was a helicopter shot live and we all watched little black dots of people get overtaken by the waves. It was absolutely horrific.
I live Abroad in Japan, it’s one of my favorite YouTube channels.
Nice seeing Abroad in Japan here. Check out his documentary on Fukushima too. Definitely worth the watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDvKkG1FTbU
It sounds like a lot of money and then you realize it’s the US budget for Defense from Jan to Apr lol.
I'm a simple redditor, I see Abroad in Japan, and I upvote.
Best channel on YouTube.
Meanwhile here in the US still deliberating on how much we should offer healthcare to first responders of 9/11 suffering health issues..
It’s always interesting how when you take a look at some nations, you can see and know they don’t embarrass themselves the way we do here in the US. Very little whining or bitching, and don’t ask for much help either. They usually take care of their own problems without much of a peep relatively speaking.
Just unreal when you compare..
Dang now I want some of those $50 strawberries