• Tsunami survivors: As time goes on, the fragility of life remains

    Kuni Takahashi for msnbc.com

    Fumie Sato, 63, and her sister Hisae, 65, sit in front of a shrine to their younger sister, Yukie in Fumie's house in Minamisanriku, Japan on Feb 4, 2012.

    Kuni Takahashi

    Fumie Sato, 62, stands on remains the house where her mother and sister lived in MInamisanriku, Japan on March 31, 2011 after a massive earthquake and tsunami swept the house away.

    Kuni Takahashi reports:

    Fumie Sato, 63, and her sister Hisae, 65, still mourn their younger sister, Yukie who was killed when the tsunami swept over the Japanese coastal town of Minanisanriku on March 11, 2011, as she was trying to save her mother-in-law, who also died.

    “I can’t stop blaming myself for not going with her when Yukie went down the hill to help her mother-in-law," Fumie Sato said. "My regret will never disappear. I just want to say that I am sorry when I see her in heaven.”

    “I realized that there isn’t always a tomorrow. A few hours or even a few minutes from now, we could suddenly be gone. So I think we should live better but it’s hard…especially for the ones left behind in sorrow.”

    The Satos found Yukie’s body five days after the tsunami virtually erased Minamisanriku, population 17,666, from the map, leaving 565 townspeople dead and 310 missing (as of Feb. 22). Fumie's house was spared because it was located on a hill, but both of her sisters’ homes were washed away.

    “Yukie died in March in the snow, then spring came, then the summer,' she said. "Now it’s winter again. All buildings in town are gone and my family has changed but the seasons turn as usual as if nothing happened.”

    Her older sister Hisae added, “When I saw the rice crop turned yellow last fall, I realized that the time has passed. Until then, it was always March 11th inside of me.”

    Kuni Takahashi, a photojournalist based in Mumbai, returned to his native Japan in 2011 shortly after the earthquake and tsunami. He recently revisited some of the people he met there— as well as some of the people that msnbc.com profiled in its After the Wave series -- to find out how they were doing nearly a year after the devastating natural disaster.

    Kuni Takahashi for msnbc.com

    Photos of Yukie Sato at her sister's house in Minamisanriku, Japan on Feb 4, 2012. Yukie died after the tsunami struck the town on March 11, 2011 while she was trying to save her mother-in-law, who also died.

    Kuni Takahashi for msnbc.com

    A mountain of debris topped with snow in Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan on Feb 26, 2012.

     

  • Tsunami survivors: For a rice farmer, obstacles still ahead

    Kuni Takahashi for msnbc.com

    Katsushi Haga, 67, looks out window of his temporary house in Koizumi district of Kesennuma in Miyagi prefecture, Japan on Feb 27, 2012. The tsunami on March 11, 2011 flattened the district, destroying 266 of its 518 households and killed about 30 of its estimated 1,800 residents, including Haga's 87-year-old mother, Tomiko.

    Kuni Takahashi for msnbc.com

    Katsushi Haga relaxes in his temporary house as his wife, Eiko, cooks in the kitchen in the Koizumi district of Kesennuma in Miyagi prefecture, Japan on Feb 27, 2012.

    Kyle Drubek for msnbc.com

    Rice farmer Katsushi Haga looks at the wiped out town of Koizumi, Japan, from a nearby hillside on June 8, 2011.

    Kuni Takahashi reports:

    Rice farmer Katsushi Haga, 67, and his wife, Eiko, 61, live in a temporary house built by the local government in Koizumi, a district of Kesennuma in Miyagi prefecture.

    “We are settling down and slowly getting comfortable for now,” Eiko Haga said. “On the other hand, we began realizing that there are many obstacles still ahead. The biggest concern is how will we rebuild our houses? We can’t stay in this temporary house forever.”  

    “Also, recovering the rice paddy is another issue. The local government (Kesennuma city) announced that they will try to clean up certain districts, but it’s a lot of work. First, you have to get rid of debris, then remove sand and grass and, lastly, remove the salt from the soil. If they can do it by June, we may be able to plant rice, but there are serious shortages of machines and tractors. I ordered a used tractor but it’s taking forever to get it.”

    Last year, Katushi Haga was working with other leaders to move his community uphill, but that has not been progressing as he had hoped.

    “Younger people formed a group named ‘Thinking about tomorrow’ to move the community up the hill but it’s not going as fast as expected,” he said. “Our community was one of the first to take action after the tsunami and it’s a bit disappointing to see that things haven’t moved fast. I suppose that people have jobs and it’s not easy to put all your time and effort into one issue. I don’t know the details because I am retired now and I’m letting the young ones dealing with it,” he said, laughing.

    “There are a few problems under the local government (rebuilding) plan. They only allow a resident to have 100-tsubo (3,555 square feet) in the new plot. It’s enough for regular people but not for farmers like us. We need extra storage space for tools and tractors.  Because of this, many farmers are reluctant to move forward.

    Asked about the nuclear crisis in Fukushima, Eiko Haga said, “In a way, it’s far more serious in Fukushima. We are having tough time here but people in Fukushima are worse off. They can’t go back to their land for a long  time.”  

    Her husband  chimed in, “The government for such a long time kept telling us it’s safe, but look at what happened. There is always the possibility that another accident will happen again somewhere. What are they going to do? No one even took responsibility. It’s an issue of human lives.”

    When we spoke to Katsushi last year, he said that no longer wanted a view of the ocean. How does he feel about it now?  

    “I still have strange feeling about the ocean,” he said. “Before the tsunami, the ocean wasn’t visible from the bridge near my house because of all the building around. Now everything has gone, including the bridge and you see the ocean right there. It was soothing to see the ocean before, but no more. I feel like a tsunami may occur again.” 

    Eiko Haga added, “Some fishermen said that they hate earthquakes but not the ocean. The ocean is not guilty. But we are farmers and aren’t tied to the ocean like they are.”

    Katsuhi’s mother, Tomiko, 88, was killed in the tsunami, but her body wasn’t found until Jan. 18. It had been hidden under debris near a mountain. Katsushi said, “I often walked nearby. … It was a bit of surprise. We buried her on Feb. 12 and it was sort of a relief.”

     

    Kuni Takahashi, a photojournalist based in Mumbai, returned to his native Japan in 2011 shortly after the earthquake and tsunami. He recently revisited some of the people he met there— as well as some of the people that msnbc.com profiled in its After the Wave series -- to find out how they were doing nearly a year after the devastating natural disaster.

    Kuni Takahashi for msnbc.com

    A photo of Katsushi Haga's mother, Tomiko, is placed at a shrine in Katsushi's temporary house in the Koizumi district of Kesennuma in Miyagi prefecture, Japan on Feb 27, 2012. Haga's 87-year-old mother perished when the tsunami struck their village in 2011.
    Photo by Kuni Takahashi

    Kuni Takahashi for msnbc.com

    Katsushi Haga sips a cup of tea with his wife, Eiko at their temporary house in Koizumi district of Kesennuma in Miyagi prefecture, Japan on Feb 27, 2012.

  • Tsunami survivors: Starting a family and facing an uncertain future

    Kuni Takahashi for msnbc.com

    Koya Takahashi, left, and his wife, Megumi, play with their son, Nagato at their house in Minamisanriku, Miyagi prefecture, Japan, Feb 26, 2012. Nagato was born six days after the massive earthquake and tsunami hit northern Japan on March 11, 2011, sweeping away many coastal towns including Minamisanriku.

    Jim Seida / msnbc.com

    Koya Takahashi, his wife Megumi and their three-month-old baby, Nagato, on June 13, 2011.

    Kuni Takahashi for msnbc.com

    Megumi Takahashi, left, and her husband, Koya, and their son, Nagato on Feb 26, 2012.

    Kuni Takahashi reports:

    Koya Takahashi and his wife, Megumi, were expecting their first child in Minamisanriku, Japan, on March 11, 2011, the day the tsunami struck. Their son, Nagato, wasn’t born until five days later, after Megumi was flown to a Red Cross hospital in nearby Ishinomaki. Following his birth, they moved to Megumi’s parents’ house in Iriya, about 3 miles uphill from their house, which was not damaged but had no water or electricity for some time.

    “The difficulties we faced were the lack of water and electricity and that the hospital was more than an hour away by car,” Megumi said. “At night, I was using small solar-powered flashlight from an NGO to make milk and feed Nagato. Also, every day there were so many after-shocks and it was quite scary.”

    But in those early days, there was help. “There were many things that I didn’t know because it was my first baby,” said Megumi. “Volunteer nurses from all over Japan came to the area, providing assistance. It was very helpful -- materially and mentally.”

    Koya, who worked as a truck driver, lost his job after the tsunami because so many trucks were swept away. He eventually got a job at a construction site, but then broke his ankle.  Since his recovery, he has been working as a dump truck driver, hauling debris from towns affected by the disaster. In August, they were able to move back into their home after services were restored.

    “Too many things happened last year,” Koya said. “Having a baby is one big change, but the job situation has been tough. I was carrying debris out of my town and it slowly became very stressful. Especially when I found some children’s toys and clothes in debris. It was very difficult for me. I felt more sensitive to the things like that after becoming a father.”

    “Over the time, the stress built up and I became mentally unstable,” he said. “I often quarreled with my wife. It was getting harder so I quit that job and got another one driving in Ishinomaki (about 30 miles away). I still drive in the disaster-affected areas, but at least it’s not my hometown.”

    “As a father, my priority is to feed my family. No matter what, I have to keep working and earning,” he continued. “Since I commute a longer distance now, I have less time to see my son. I try to play with him as much as possible when I have time. We try to go shopping together every Sunday.”

    Looking to the future, Koya said, “I would like to raise my son here in Minamisanriku, but I have concerns as well. Because of the tsunami, communities are broken and lots of families have moved out.  The town’s population has been decreasing and the number of children in school is far less than before.  We are worried that whether there will be enough schools, teachers and friends for my son in five or 10 years.”

    “To be honest, sometimes I feel down, but I regain my energy when I see my son’s face. His smile makes me stronger and stronger. He is a strong kid because he was born in such a difficult time.”

    Kuni Takahashi for msnbc.com

    Koya Takahashi, his wife, Megumi and their son, Nagato, look out the window of their house in Minamisanriku, Feb 26, 2012.

     

  • Tsunami survivors: Struggling to live on, alone

    Kuni Takahashi for msnbc.com

    Shiro Yuyama is reflected in a photograph of his wife Tamako at his temporary housing in Onagawa, Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan on Feb 5, 2012. Tamako was killed in the massive tsunami that hit northern Japan on March 11, 2011. Mr. Yuyama, who was working on building a barn right outside his house, couldn't save Tamako who was inside their home.

    Kuni Takahashi

    Shiro Yuyama, 70, looks at photograph of his wife Tamako at his temporary housing in Onagawa on Feb 5, 2012.

    Kuni Takahashi reports:

    Kuni Takahashi

    Shiro Yuyama, 69, looks for his belongings where his house used to be in Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan on April 2, 2011 following the massive earthquake and tsunami. His wife, Tamako, was killed by the tsunami.

    Shiro Yuyama, 70, remembers with horrible clarity the day when the massive tsunami that hit northern Japan on March 11, 2011, took his wife Tamako. Yuyama, who was building a barn right outside his house in the Onagawa district of the coastal village of Minamisanriku, couldn’t save Tamako who was inside when it was swept away.

    “I used to work on a fishing vessel so I can cook for myself," he said. "But I often lose my appetite eating alone now. I remember what it was like to share meals with my wife.”

    After the tsunami, Yuyama said he started drinking heavily. “Sometimes by myself, sometimes with my friend, I drank a lot. I have a friend who lost his mother, wife and son by the tsunami. We drank together, sometimes saying that it would be much easier if we committed suicide."  

    Then he was diagnosed with stomach cancer in December.

    “I was trying to recover from my wife’s death and was slowly moving forward," he said. "The diagnosis was a huge blow. I feel like I've been pushed back to the starting point.”

    Yuyama stayed in an evacuation center for the first three months following the earthquake and tsunami, then moved into a one-room temporary home built by the government. His daughter and grandchildren, who used to visit him before the earthquake, rarely come now, as they are busy with school and their own lives and live about 18 miles to the south.

    “I wish I had another room to have my grandchildren sleep over," Yuyama said. "I can’t accommodate them when they come to visit.”

    His wife's body was recovered last year and she was buried on her birthday, Aug. 3. The place where their house used to be is only about a twenty minute walk from where he lives now, but he rarely visits. The land is empty, now that all the debris has been cleaned up.

    “One of my sons, who lives in Sendai, asked me to move to the city but I can’t," he said. "I don’t want to leave Onagawa. I can’t leave my wife behind here. I better live here until I die.”

    “My brother calls me sometimes asking if I need anything but I don’t need ‘things’ that I can buy. It’s just difficult to be alone in this temporary home.”

    Kuni Takahashi, a photojournalist based in Mumbai, returned to his native Japan in 2011 shortly after the earthquake and tsunami. He recently revisited some of the people he met there— as well as some of the people that msnbc.com profiled in its After the Wave series -- to find out how they were doing nearly a year after the devastating natural disaster.

    Kuni Takahashi for msnbc.com

    Toppled buildings in Minamisanriku on Feb 19, 2012.

    Kuni Takahashi for msnbc.com

    The remains of a destroyed cemetery in Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture on Feb 6, 2012.

     

  • Tsunami survivors: Waiting to rebuild on new land

    Kuni Takahashi for msnbc.com

    Masanori Sato, 34, looks at the empty land where his village used to be in Minamisanriku, Japan on Feb 4, 2012, near his half destroyed house. The 2011 tsunami swept away 34 houses in the village. Only three survived including Sato's house.

    Kuni Takahashi for msnbc.com

    The remains of the town hall stands in Minamisanriku, Japan on Feb 5, 2012. The March 11, 2011 tsunami swept away the entire town, killing over 800 including 20 who were in the building at the time it struck.

    Kuni Takahashi

    Masanori Sato plays a guitar in his debri-filled-house in MInamisanriku, Japan on March 31, 2011 following a massive earthquake and tsunami that hit northern Japan on March 11.

    Kuni Takahashi reports:

    Masanori Sato, 34, is the son of a Shinto priest from the village of Minamisanriku in Japan's Miyagi Prefecture. He has been thinking about the future of his community in the Nagashizu district since the tsunami on March 11, 2011 swept away 34 houses there -- leaving only his family’s house and two others standing.

    “At first I didn’t have a clue where to start, but I slowly began to see things clearly after moving out of the evacuation center into temporary housing," Sato said recently. "I felt myself settling down a bit. I want to put our village together again. The land has changed but the people are not all gone. We are talking about reviving our community just like it used to be – including both good things and bad things.”

    People from all over the country came to the disaster-hit area to help last year --providing food, medical services, cleaning up, etc. The townspeople were impressed by the volunteers' selfless attitude and Sato said they made enormous contributions during the first stage of the recovery. Though the number of volunteers had dwindled, there are still a few helping with the reconstruction and supporting seniors in temporary housing.

    Now the focus has shifted to long-term recovery. Sato and his neighbors are hoping that the government will allow them to rebuild their community on a nearby hill because Nagashizu is situated too low for rebuilding now. His family is still living in temporary housing about 2 miles away while they continue the renovations needed to make their house livable again. Even if the government approves the new site on the hill, they expect it to be three to five years before the community can resettle on new land.

    But Sato is willing to wait.

    “Being a tsunami survivor changed my way of thinking. I guess I learned from it. I realized how important the community is to help each other. I was too selfish before.”

    Kuni Takahashi, a photojournalist based in Mumbai, returned to his native Japan in 2011 shortly after the earthquake and tsunami. He recently revisited some of the people he met there— as well as some of the people that msnbc.com profiled in its After the Wave series -- to find out how they were doing nearly a year after the devastating natural disaster.

  • Tsunami survivors: Living in limbo with no savings

     

    Kuni Takahashi for msnbc.com

    Fukuko Hatakeyama, 81, poses at her temporary house in Kesennuma, Miyagi, Japan on Feb 6, 2012. The 2011 tsunami swept away her house and all her belongings, including all her cash savings.

    Kuni Takahashi reports:

    Fukuko Hatakeyama, 81, is living in temporary housing in Kesennuma, Miyagi prefecture. The tsunami that hit northern Japan on March 11, 2011 swept away her house and all her belongings, including her cash savings.

     “Since I was sick with cold and my legs were weak, my son told me not to go back to the house but I kept sneaking out (to look for the missing money)," said Hatakeyama, who ended up spending four months in the hospital after injuring her back while sifting through the debris. She never found any of the missing money.

    Kuni Takahashi

    Fukuko Hatakeyama weeps near the debris of her house in Kesennuma, Miyagi, Japan on March 29, 2011, following a massive earthquake and tsunami that hit northern Japan on March 11, sweeping away her house and all her belongings.

    The lot where her house once stood is in a zone where the city prohibited rebuilding because of the risk of another tsunami. In many coastal areas, the land sank as much as 3 to 6 feet, making it even more susceptible to flooding. Many residential plots will be converted to public and industrial spaces.

    Hatakeyama went to the Kesennuma city office to find out about her land.  “I complained to them that it’s my land and you can’t change it into park," she said. "But they even don’t know what’s happening and how long it’ll take to make a plan.”

    Many residents are living in temporary houses built by the government, including Fukuko Hatakeyama and her husband Kojiro Hatakeyama, 83, who had been living in a nursing home prior to the tsunami. The expectation is that they will be allowed to extend their  tenancy beyond the planned two to three years because many will not be able to find new land to build on or new homes to move to. Meanwhile, though they are not paying rent for their temporary home, there has been no compensation or plans for their land and nearly a year later, they are still living in limbo.

     “I don’t know anyone outside of my town," Hatakeyama said. "At this age, where can I go with my sick husband staying in bed?”

     “When I'm sleeping, sometimes I have to sing a song. Otherwise I feel like I'm going crazy. My husband liked to hear me singing but I can’t sing as well as I used to …”

     

    Kuni Takahashi, a photojournalist based in Mumbai, returned to his native Japan in 2011 shortly after the earthquake and tsunami. He recently revisited some of the people he met there— as well as some of the people that msnbc.com profiled in its After the Wave series -- to find out how they were doing nearly a year after the devastating natural disaster.

    Kuni Takahashi for msnbc.com

    Fukuko Hatakeyama, 81, front, lives with her bedridden husband in a temporary house in Kesennuma, Miyagi, Japan.

    Kuni Takahashi for msnbc.com

    A fishing ship remains on the ground among the foundations of homes in Kesennuma, Miyagi, Japan on Feb 6, 2012. A Massive earthquake and tsunami hit northern Japan on March 11, 2011, sweeping away many coastal towns like this, killing over 15,000 and 3,000 are still missing.

     

  • Tsunami survivors: Resuming life interrupted

    Kuni Takahashi

    A few walls of bathroom are all that remain of a house in a residential neighborhood in Sendai, Feb 18, 2012.

    Kuni Takahashi for msnbc.com

    Jun Hirayama, 20, and his grandmother, Akiyo, 70, at their apartment in Sendai, Japan on Feb 21, 2012. The 2011 tsunami swept their house away and overtook the car they were driving, Akiyo spent a night on the roof of the half-submerged vehicle while Jun hung onto a tire drifting in freezing waters.

    Kuni Takahashi reports: 

    Kuni Takahashi

    Jun Hirayama,19 and his grandmother Akiyo Hirayama, 70, stand in front of other family members in front of the remains of their house in Sendai, Japan on April 4, 2011.

    Jun Hirayama, 20 and his grandmother, Akiyo Hirayama, 70, lost their home in the Japanese city of Sendai when the tsunami swept it away on March 11, 2011. They nearly lost their lives when it overtook the car they were driving to escape the wall of water. Akiyo spent a night on the roof of the half-submerged vehicle while Jun hung onto a tire -- drifting in freezing waters all night.  Akiyo's husband, Shinetsu Hirayama, with some family members in another car, was able to make it out safely.

    Jun Hirayama, a college student, had performed as a part-time music DJ at a nightclub, but he lost everything including his clothes and music equipment to the tsunami.

    “After the tsunami, I became less materialistic," he said. "I loved fashion and music and used to spend money on clothes and CDs, but I hardly buy anything now except necessary things. Everything I bought and saved disappeared in seconds. I’m so afraid to see that happen again”

    “Even a year after, I still dream about the tsunami every month.”

    Akiyo Hirayama, who was rescued by a helicopter the morning after the tsunami hit, thought that she would die on the roof of the car, where she huddled overnight in freezing temperatures and snow. She was reunited with her husband at the hospital after her rescue.

    “For several months, I was too afraid to either go outside or to stay alone in the house," she said. "I was crying a lot. People kept saying ‘ganbaro’ (stay strong) but I didn't know what to do.”

    “Since the disaster, my husband has been working hard to revive the community. I was afraid to stay in the same area but I trust him and have to follow him. Although I am still nervous, there is no other choice but stay here.”

    The land where the Hirayamas' house used to stand does not have rebuilding restrictions, though the breakwaters and trees are gone, leaving the area exposed. It is unclear when the breakwaters will be rebuilt.

    After Akiyo was rescued, she stayed with her sister. Jun, who drifted close enough to land to make it to shore after a frigid night spent clinging to the floating tire, was reunited with his grandparents a couple of weeks later.

    “Being able to see his Seijin-shiki (coming of age ceremony) was the best thing that happened in my life after the tsunami," said Akiyo Hirayama. "I was crying again but that time for joy.”

    The younger Hirayama is back in college now and slowly resumed working as a DJ. “Right after the tsunami, I didn’t think I would be able to go back to perform as a DJ," he said.  "But at the same time I realized how important the music is to my life. I cried when I went back to the club for first time after the tsunami. The audience was warm and very supportive. It was great.”

    “Survivors are going through tough recovery time and some people may think it’s not the time for recreation, but to me, the music is something to live for. Because of the disaster, I feel like putting more energy and doing my best music ever. It’s like the second chapter of my life just began.”

     

    Kuni Takahashi, a photojournalist based in Mumbai, returned to his native Japan in 2011 shortly after the earthquake and tsunami. He recently revisited some of the people he met there— as well as some of the people that msnbc.com profiled in its After the Wave series -- to find out how they were doing nearly a year after the devastating natural disaster.

    Buddhist tombstones stand in the empty land which was once a crowded residential area in Sendai, Feb 18, 2012.