Image Source: Christopher Furlong / Getty Images
March 11th, 2021 marks the ten-year anniversary of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in 2011, natural disasters which led to a series of explosions and meltdown at the nuclear plant in Fukushima. Formally referred to as the Great Eastern Japan Disaster (Higashi Nihon Daishinsai), it was one of the gravest crises in Japan’s post-World War II history. The displacement of over a hundred thousand residents and the invisible spread of radioactive contamination from this catastrophe shook Japan and the world.
Art With Purpose
"Fukushima Hero – Night & Day" by Booda Brand, 2011
'Fukushima Hero' pays homage to the unique strength and indomitable spirit of those (The Fukushima 50) who made the ultimate sacrifice to contain and clean up the aftermath despite the long-term ramifications.
"We felt like members of the Tokkotai [the kamikaze pilots of the second world war] in that we were prepared to sacrifice everything. The people lined up outside never said as much, but I could tell by their expressions that they didn't think we would return." ~ Atsufumi Yoshizawa [Fukushima 50], The Guardian, 2013