by Faith Ote Uchara.
Rukuzen-Takata, Japan is located 300 miles north of Tokyo. On the 11th of March, celebrated the 10th anniversary of the devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear plant accident that left more than 22,000 people dead, while others were missing along the country’s north east coast.
This land which bubbled with life now stood a barren land.
According to Fumiaki Konno, life as he knew ended as the family homes were swept away by a massive tsunami unleashed by the monstrous, Magnitude-9 earthquake off Japan’s coast. His entire community was wiped away in just minutes.
Konno recounted how they lost everything during the tsunami. He went further to state that the tsunami came directly from the city bay and swept the city.
Although the city has been rebuilt with sophisticated infrastructure with over $1billion of Japanese taxpayers money, which was controversial, and the country is moving from the earthquake, Tsunami accident of 2011, Rikuzen-Takata’s residents continue to mourn, and there is no relief in sight because the scars still bleed.