2017 3.11 Events in Boston

If you are aware of a 3.11 event that I have not listed, please post a comment with a link to the event or details if the info isn't on a public webpage. I will update this post if I learn of any other events.

This year is the sixth anniversary of the tsunami, earthquake, and nuclear disaster that happened in Japan on March 11, 2011. Fukushima continues to face challenges in the massive clean up at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant which "the Japanese government estimates will take four decades and cost 8 trillion yen ($70.6 billion)". Some people in Tohoku are still living in "temporary housing". Communities have shrunk due to people moving away for jobs and housing and the likelihood of being able to repopulate grows smaller with every passing year.

Although the world's attention has moved on to other disasters, some groups in Boston continue to be involved in educating the public and supporting Japan through this crisis. If you are interested in learning more, please consider attending one of these events. Events are listed in chronological order.

I'm sorry I didn't get this post up soon enough to help publicize The Japan Society of Boston's event, Research and Reflections on Fukushima Today: Recovery Progress Since the Triple Disaster of 03.11.11, which was held on February 21, 2017.

Update 3/1/17: I just learned that MIT Japanese Tea Ceremony will not hold their annual 3.11 Japan Memorial Charity remembrance and fundraising event this year.

3.11 Memorial Event

Tewassa, a Cambridge-based volunteer group that produces "message quilts" for schools and organizations in the Tōhoku region, will be holding a memorial event.

Date & Time
Saturday, March 4, 2017
4:00 - 6:00pm

Location
GrayMist Studio & Shop
364 Huron Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138

Public Transit & Parking
GrayMist is accessible by the 72 and 75 buses from Harvard Square. There is free on-street parking along Huron Ave. and neighboring streets.

Children of the Tsunami Screening & Fundraiser for Ashinaga

 

Children of the Tsunami (watch for free on vimeo)
Directed & written by Dan Reed
2012 | Japan | 59 mins | Documentary  

On March 11th 2011 Japan was hit by the greatest tsunami in a thousand years. Through compelling testimony from 7-10 year-old survivors, this film reveals how the deadly wave and the Fukushima nuclear accident have changed children's lives forever. The story unfolds at two key locations: a primary school where 74 children were killed by the tsunami; and a school close to the Fukushima nuclear plant, attended by children evacuated from the nuclear exclusion zone.

The Tufts Japanese Culture Club's event is a fundraiser to benefit Ashinaga, a Japan-based non-profit that provides financial, educational, and emotional support to children worldwide "who have lost one or both parents as a result of illness, accident/disaster, or suicide, as well as children who have a parent with a disability that prevents them from working". Since 2011, the Tufts JCC* has been very active in fundraising and educating the Tufts community on the ongoing post-3.11 challenges.

Snack Sale & Crane Folding

Stop by the Mayer Campus Center to purchase mochi, cookies and rice crackers! JCC* students will also be folding origami cranes for a senbazuru (one thousand origami cranes) which will be installed later in the Tisch Library.

Date & Time
Thursday, March 9, 2017
noon - 3:00pm

Location
Tufts University
Mayer Campus Center
44 Professors Row, Medford, MA 02155


Children of the Tsunami Film Screening

Date & Time
Thursday, March 9, 2017
8:00pm

Location
Tufts University
Aidekman Arts Center
Alumnae Lounge
40 Talbot Ave., Medford, MA 02155
Directions & Parking

Admission
Free, but donations for Ashinaga gratefully accepted.

Voices from the Waves (Nami no Koe) | Shinchimachi

Screening will be followed by Q&A with Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Film Director and Reischauer Institute Resident Fellow.

Moderator: Alexander Zahlten, Associate Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University

Voices from the Waves (Nami no Koe) | Shinchimachi
Directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi & Ko Sakai
2013 | Japan | 103 mins | Documentary

From 2011 to 2013, RYUSUKE HAMAGUCHI and Ko Sakai conducted a series of interviews with residents in the Tohoku region of northern Japan, an area heavily hit by both the earthquake and tsunami of March 2011. Their research resulted in three films which have since come to be known as the Tohoku Trilogy: The Sound of the Waves (Nami no oto 2011), Voices from the Waves (Nami no koe 2013), and Storytellers (Utau hito, 2013). In Voices from the Waves, residents from the region face the camera in close-up view to deliver recollections of the earthquake and tsunami. Centering on the rich regional folk tradition of storytelling, the film explores the experience of discovery in the encounter between speaker and listener. Through Hamaguchi’s lens, Voices from the Waves poignantly showcases how a single event may live a thousand lives through the act of telling and how different voices can render that one event into similar yet unique pieces of storytelling. This interaction between speaker and listener becomes an empowering and transformative process, an affirmation of human resilience, and provides hope for recovery and a return to normalcy in the region. (Screening time: 103 minutes, Japanese with English subtitles)

Reischauer Institute Japan Forum special film presentation

Date & Time
Friday, March 10, 2017
4:00 - 6:15pm

Location
Harvard University
Kang Room (S050), Japan Friends of Harvard Concourse, CGIS South Bldg., 1730 Cambridge St., Cambridge, MA 02138

トレイン トレイン 

TRAIN TRAIN

Students from Tohoku University of Art and Design are coming to Boston Children's Museum for the fifth year to mark the anniversary of 3.11. For the third year the students will have an art and friendship exhibit. The public is invited to attend the exhibit opening. The exhibit is open through Monday, September 30, 2017. Children can meet the artists from Japan and engage in a hands-on activity. See photos from 2014 (here and here) when they had fun making monsters. The exhibit is brought to the museum by artist Minatsu Ariga and her “ART THINKING” project team at the university.

Exploring trains as a symbol of determination and kindness carrying HOPE to our Future!

This art exhibition “トレイン トレイン TRAIN TRAIN” invites visitors on an imaginary adventure to our future.

Trains are not quitters. They just keep moving forward every day whether in the rain, in the wind, against the summer heat, or against the winter snow. Trains often remind us of the importance of hard work, patience, tenacity, and willpower.

Trains carry many things and people, and trains help them reach to their destinations. Trains remind us of the importance of kindness, generosity, and compassion for all humanities and the earth we live in.

In this art exhibition, artists use “trains” as their storytellers and welcome us to reflect our lives through exploring those stories. Where is your train going? Between a station and a station, trains connect us together and lead us to our tomorrow with hopes and dreams.... Please also tell us your train stories. What is your train story like? Is it romantic, dynamic, soulful, gentle...?

The artworks in this exhibition are created by the members of the “ART THINKING” project team at Tohoku University of Art & Design in Japan. After the devastating earthquake and tsunami in their hometown in March 2011, they decided to use the special power of ART to make the world a better place and connect with many friends like you! So they bought this exhibition to Boston as their fourth annual international friendship making project.

Our hope is that this exhibition also brings opportunities for the visitors to peek into today’s youth culture and children’s experience in Japan. Visitors are encouraged to make connections and share their own stories. Through this cross-cultural experience in this art exhibition “トレイン トレイン TRAIN TRAIN”, we hope to engage visitors in joyful discovery of learning and foster their appreciation of the world.

Date & Time
Friday, March 10, 2017
6:00 - 8:00pm

Saturday, March 11, 2017
12:00 - 3:00pm


Location
Boston Children's Museum, Japanese House Gallery 
308 Congress St., Boston, MA 02210

Admission
Please see the museum's website for admission details.
Please note that "Adults unaccompanied by children must leave proper photo identification at the Admissions Desk. Examples: State Driver’s License or Passport."

Cranes on the Square

Cranes on the Square 2016

This year is the fifth annual Cranes on the Square event organized by local Japanese language teacher Timothy Nagaoka. Volunteers will teach people how to fold origami cranes which will form a temporary public art piece in Copley Square then be collected and delivered to people in the disaster area. See photos from last year's event here.

Date & Time
Sunday, March 12, 2017
11:30am - 4:30pm

Location
Copley Square, Boston, MA 02116

2016 3.11 Events in Boston

If you're aware of a 3.11 event that I haven't listed, please post a comment with a link to the event or details if the info isn't on a public webpage. This page will be updated if I find out about more events.

This year is the fifth anniversary of the tsunami, earthquake, and nuclear disaster that happened in Japan on March 11, 2011. Although the world's attention has moved on to other disasters, some groups in Boston continue to be involved in supporting Japan through this crisis and educating the public. If you're interested in learning more, please consider attending one of these events. Events are listed in chronological order.

3.11 Japan Memorial Charity 2016: Remembrance of Earthquake and Tsunami

MIT Japanese Tea Ceremony will hold their annual remembrance and fundraising event at the Sanzashi-An Tea House on Showa Boston's campus. Each session is about 75 minutes, includes Japanese Tea Ceremony performance with Japanese confectionery and green tea. Children are welcome to join and babysitter available upon request.

This charity event is to commemorate the North-Eastern Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster that happened on March 11, 2011. We hope to support the survivors to improve their living conditions, rebuild the area, and for each of us to remember the tragedy.

The major part of the areas where struck by the earthquake and Tsunami started to recover and rebuild little by little, but is still suffering from the long-existing damages. Even with all the donations and funds collected by countless organizations, groups, and individuals from all over the world, they are still experiencing difficulty making improvements from the destructions. With a great help of our supporters, we hope to become a part to help Japan's retrieval of the losses from the affects.

We believe that we learned something important from this incident. Please do not forget what happened on March 11, 2011, and how the struggles have been made. Take this opportunity for memorials and to support.

"Peacefulness through a Bowl of Tea" is phrased by Sen Genshitsu, the Great Grandmaster of Urasenke Japanese Tea Ceremony. He has always been flying around the world to spread the Japanese Tea Ceremony along with peacefulness; to share one bowl of tea together with all. We, as a part of his family clan, attempt to succeed his expression in the United States as well.
As a extent of our effort, we try our best to support Japan to come together to successfully overcome the tragedy.

Date & Time
Sunday, February 21, 2016
10am/11:30am/1pm
Registration form must be received by Friday, February 19, 2016

Location
Showa Boston, Sanzashi-An Tea House 420 Pond St., Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

Admission
Free admission, with suggested donation from $20
*Donations without participation in Ceremony or at the door is also appreciated

All Proceeds from this event with be donated to Japan Earthquake Relief Fund, Japan Society of New York to support reconstruction of the disaster.

3/11: Five Years After the Triple Disaster in Northeastern Japan

Panelists Richard Samuels (MIT, Political Science), Tatsujiro Suzuki (Former Vice Chairman of Japan Atomic Energy Commission of the Cabinet Office), Kenneth Oye (MIT, Political Science & ESD), Miho Mazereeuw (MIT, Architecture) and Akinobu Murakami (University of Tsukuba) will speak on the current state of Northeastern Japan five years after the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown. This panel is part of the Starr Forum.

Sponsored by the MIT-Japan Program and the MIT Center for International Studies.

Update 3/10/16: Video will be available on the CIS website in 5 days.

Date & Time
Thursday, March 10, 2016
5:30 - 7:30pm

Location
MIT
Stata Center, 32 Vassar St., 32-123, Cambridge, MA 02139

3/11 Five Years After: Recovery and Resilience

Five years have passed since the devastating events of March 11, 2011, when the triple disaster of a magnitude 9.0 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown in Fukushima hit northeastern Japan. Nearly 16,000 lives were lost, and around 2,500 remain missing. Indeed, beyond the physical damage, emotional grief, and the immediate humanitarian response to these, the Great East Japan Earthquake has had an immeasurable impact on the country’s security relations, business and economic environment, energy policy, and domestic politics and institutions.

How has this disaster changed Japan's political and economic spheres? What policy-making lessons has Japan learned, and what lessons can other countries learn from it? Within five years, has Japan returned to how it was before 3/11, or has it even improved?

The Japan Club at The Fletcher School invites you to an interdisciplinary panel to assess reconstruction, recovery, and resilience since 3/11. The panel will examine closely developments in the U.S.-Japan security alliance, sustainable economic growth, challenges in energy policy, and reactions of domestic politics and institutions.

Opening Remarks: Fumi Tataki (MIB 2016)
Moderator: Prof. Shinsuke Tanaka (Fletcher School)
Panelists: Prof. Keiko Hirao (Harvard University/Sophia University) and Yoshikazu Watanabe (Eastern Army Commanding General, Ret., Japan Ground Self Defense Force)

Date & Time
Friday, March 11, 2016
12:30 - 2:00pm

Location
The Fletcher School at Tufts University
160 Packard Ave., Cabot 206, Medford, MA 02155

Panel: Five Years Later: Research and Fieldwork Borne from the March 2011 Disasters in Japan

Coastal Fisheries and Industrial Development in Fukushima
Satsuki Takahashi, Toyota Visiting Professor, Center for Japanese Studies, Univ. of Michigan and Assistant Professor of Anthropology, George Mason University

Network Crisis Archiving: From First Response to Remembrance
Kyle Parry, Postdoctoral Fellow, Visual and Cultural Studies and Digital Humanities Center, University of Rochester

Community Reconstruction in the Tohoku Region
Andrew Littlejohn, PhD candidate in Social Anthropology, Harvard University

Moderator: Theodore C. Bestor, Reischauer Institute Professor of Social Anthropology and Director, Reischauer Institute, Harvard University

This panel is part of the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies Forum and the Weatherhead Center Program on U.S.-Japan Relations Special Series on Post-Disaster Japan.

Date & Time
Friday, March 11, 2016
4:00 - 5:45pm

Location
Harvard University
Belfer Case Study Room S020, Japan Friends of Harvard Concourse, CGIS South Bldg., 1730 Cambridge St., Cambridge, MA 02138

Harvard has been doing a great job of hosting talks year-round about the problems Japan is still facing after 3.11 as part of their Reischauer Institute Japan Forum and Weatherhead Center Program on U.S.-Japan Relations Special Series on Post-Disaster Japan. There are other talks scheduled from February to April. Talks are open to the public, though inconveniently scheduled for people with 9-5 jobs. Some past talks are archived on the Program on U.S.-Japan Relations Vimeo page.

"Natural and Unnatural Disasters: 3/11, Asbestos, and the Unmaking of Japan's Modern World," the talk given by Brett L. Walker on January 29th will be given again at MIT on Friday, February 19th. The talk was very interesting and Professor Walker also talked a little about his research on 9/11 as an environmental disaster.

Trees Make Happiness

This will be the fourth year that Boston Children's Museum welcomes students from Tohoku University of Art and Design to mark the anniversary of 3.11. For the second year the students will have an art and friendship exhibit. The public is invited to attend the exhibit opening. Children can meet the artists from Japan and engage in a hands-on activity. See photos from last year (here and here) when they had fun making monsters. The exhibit is brought to the museum by artist Minatsu Ariga and her “ART THINKING” project team at the university.

Enjoy the special opening event of Art Exhibition in the Japanese House Gallery: Art as Ecology – Building the future by exploring the trees that make happiness grow!

Meet the artists from Tohoku, Japan.
This special art show and programs are brought to you by the members of the “ART THINKING” project team at Tohoku University of Art & Design in Japan. After the devastating earthquake and tsunami in their hometown in March 2011, they decided to use the special power of ART to make the world a better place and connect with many friends like you. Please stop by and say hi to the student artists from Tohoku, Japan and enjoy hands-on activities!

Date & Time
Friday, March 11, 2016
6:00 - 8:00pm

Saturday, March 12, 2016
12:00 - 3:00pm

Location
Boston Children's Museum, The Common and Japanese House Gallery 
308 Congress St., Boston, MA 02210

Admission
Please see the museum's website for admission details.
Please note that "Adults unaccompanied by children must leave proper photo identification at the Admissions Desk. Examples: State Driver’s License or Passport."

3.11 Memorial Event

Tewassa, a Cambridge-based volunteer group that produces "message quilts" for schools and organizations in the Tōhoku region, will be holding a memorial event.

"It has passed almost five years since Great East Japan Earthquake. However, it is still important to “never forget” about the incident. On the day, we will share information from Japan, introduce our activities, and an activity for those attending. We will also prepare free coffee and snacks, feel free to come and join us!"

Date & Time
Saturday, March 12, 2016
2:00 - 6:00pm

Location
GrayMist Studio & Shop
364 Huron Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138

Public Transit & Parking
GrayMist is accessible by the 72 and 75 buses from Harvard Square. There is free on-street parking along Huron Ave. and neighboring streets.

Cranes on the Square 2015
Photo courtesy of Timothy Nagaoka

Cranes on the Square

This year is the fourth annual Cranes on the Square event organized by local Japanese language teacher Timothy Nagaoka with support from the Boston Parks & Recreation Department, the Japanese Consulate, and the Japan Society of Boston. Volunteers will teach people how to fold origami cranes which will form a temporary public art piece in Copley Square then be collected and delivered to people in the disaster area.

Date & Time
Sunday, March 13, 2016
11:30am - 4:30pm

Location
Copley Square, Boston, MA 02116

5th Anniversary Commemoration for Tohoku: ~ Tohoku, 5 Years After ~ :: 東北は今 :: 

Date & Time
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
6:00 - 8:30pm

6:00 - 6:15pm: Registration & Opening Remarks
6:15 - 6:30pm: Keynote Speech by Mayor of Ofunato Kimiaki Toda
6:30 - 8:00pm: Speakers Presentations & Performance by TOMODACHI Suntory scholars at Berklee College of Music

Speakers:

• Laura Winthrop Abbot, Senior Vice President, U.S.-Japan Council, former Executive Director, TOMODACHI Initiative

•  Ken Buesseler, Marine Chemistry & Geochemistry Senior Scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
• Andrew Gordon, Lee and Juliet Folger Fund Professor of History, Harvard University

8:00 - 8:30pm: Reception

Location
Christian Science Center, Reflection Hall
235 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115

Admission
Free - tickets must be reserved

The Fukushima Youth Sinfonietta at Symphony Hall ~ American Debut

The Japan Society of Boston is soliciting donors to help fund the Fukushima Youth Sinfonietta's Boston trip. Please see their website for details. You can also donate to the trip on Kickstarter. Rewards start at £10 ($14).

This performance is a collaboration between The Japan Society of Boston, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Keys of Change, the U.S.-Japan Council's TOMODACHI Fund for Exchanges, the Embassy of the United States in Tokyo, and the Consulate General of Japan in Boston.

Born out of the natural disasters that devastated northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011, the FYS has quickly developed into one of Japan's finest youth orchestras. Led by conductor Tetsuji Honna, and featuring soloists Panos Karan (piano) and Zach Tarpagos (flute), the FYS will perform a program including concertos by Mozart and Rachmaninoff, as well as orchestral works by Glinka and Barber. This concert is part of a unique cultural exchange program, supported by the governments of Japan and the United States, and by the Tomodachi Program's Fund for Exchanges of the U.S.-Japan Council, in commemoration of the fifth anniversary of the disasters of 2011.

The Fukushima Youth Sinfonietta was created by students from four Fukushima high schools in the immediate aftermath of the earthquakes/tsunami/nuclear disasters of 2011. Determined to aid in the recovery of their devastated communities, the students found solace in music. They asked pianist Panos Karan and flute virtuoso Zach Tarpagos, two professional musicians visiting from Greece, to help them form an orchestra. Since 2011, Karan and Tarpagos have returned nearly twenty times to Fukushima to coach the orchestra and have invited other international musicians from Europe, the U.S., and India to join in working with the FYS. The orchestra has contributed significantly to the Japanese recovery, bringing confidence and hope to the devastated area, and it has been widely recognized as a leading symbol of communal cohesion during the period of rebuilding. In April 2014, the British charity Keys of Change invited the FYS to London for a highly successful performance at Queen Elizabeth Hall. In August 2015, the FYS made its Tokyo debut in a major concert at Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall, in the presence of the Empress of Japan.

Date & Time
Sunday, April 3, 2016
8:00pm

Location
Boston Symphony Hall
301 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, MA 02115

Admission
Tickets: $10, $25, $40 (+ fees) available on the BSO website

Origami @ MIT

Collier's Cranes

There's a lot of origami on display at MIT right now that you should check out if you have a chance. The most stunning is Collier's Cranes, which started out as a hack last year to honor Officer Sean Collier on the one year anniversary of his death. I asked around and found out that MIT liked it so much they decided to leave it up indefinitely. The cranes are installed in the Stata Center (Building 32) in the lobby at the corner of Vassar and Main Streets near the site of his permanent memorial which will be dedicated later this month. (More photos.)

The 2013 addition to the 1994 police car hack is still on display in the Stata Center's hack gallery. 

OrigaMIT (MIT's origami club) has a temporary installation of a Menger Sponge on the other side of the building. It is one face of a level 3 Menger Sponge and was made using 25,000 business cards! I contributed a very small piece of the model. The MIT Menger Sponge was made as part of the MegaMenger project. This video shows how it's made. It is located in the Dreyfoos Tower elevator lobby next to a bank of pay phones. I'm told it will be there until some time in May.

The 14th Annual Student OrigaMIT Competition is on display on the other side of campus in the Wiesner Student Art Gallery on the second floor of the Stratton Student Center (Building W20). The club is open to the public and meets most Sundays during the school year from 3-5pm. Check the calendar on their website to find out when the next meeting is. The exhibit will be up until some time next month. (More photos.)

Hanging Cranes by Lily Zhou '17 inspired by the Collier's Cranes installation won first place in the Composition category.

Star Festival, designed by Nobuko Okabe, folded by OrigaMIT co-president, Yongquan Lu. YQ taught this model at OrigaMIT's 2014 Convention in November. 

2015 3.11 Events in Boston

If you're aware of a 3.11 event that I haven't listed, please post a comment with a link to the event or details if the info isn't on a public webpage. This page will be updated if I find out about more events.

March 11, 2015 will be the fourth anniversary of the historic triple disaster that Japan experienced in Tōhoku on March 11, 2011. Although the world's attention has moved on to other disasters, some groups in Boston continue to be involved in supporting Japan through this crisis and educating the public. If you're interested in learning more, please consider attending one of these events. Events are listed in chronological order.

Film Screening: Live Your Dream: The Taylor Anderson Story

In conversation with Film Director Regge Life
Trailer

This remarkable documentary offers a glimpse into the life of Taylor Anderson (JET Program, Miyagi prefecture, 2008-11), a young American woman who dedicated herself to teaching Japanese children, through in-depth personal accounts from her loved ones. Laced with emotional recollections, moving photographs and home movies which are as many bits of the wonderful puzzle that was her incredible existence, the film walks the viewer through Taylor's 24 years on earth and untimely end caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011. In light of the tragedy, the film sends a message of hope for all to follow their hearts. [90 minutes. USA, 2012. BD.]

Regge Life has been making groundbreaking films for over two decades including the acclaimed Doubles: Japan and America’s Intercultural Children , and most recently Reason to Hope, which chronicles the events surrounding the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

Date & Time

Wednesday, February 25, 2015
6:00pm - 8:00 pm

Location

Harvard University

CGIS South Bldg., 1730 Cambridge St., Tsai Auditorium S010, Cambridge, MA 02138

Admission
Free

3.11 Japan Memorial Charity 2015: Remembrance of Earthquake and Tsunami

MIT Japanese Tea Ceremony will hold their annual remembrance and fundraising event at the Sanzashi-An Tea House on Showa Boston's campus. Each session is about 45 minutes, includes Japanese Tea Ceremony performance with Japanese confectionery and green tea. Children are welcome to join and babysitter available upon request.

Date & Time

Sunday, March 8, 2015
10am/11am/12pm/1pm/2pm
RSVP by Thursday, March 5, 2015

Location

Showa Boston, Sanzashi-An Tea House

420 Pond St., Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

Admission
Free admission, with suggested donation from $20
*Donations without participation in Ceremony or at the door is also appreciated

All Proceeds from this event with be donated to Japan Earthquake Relief Fund, Japan Society of New York to support reconstruction of the disaster.

Cranes on the Square

This year is the third annual Cranes on the Square event organized by local teacher Tim Nagaoka with support from the Boston Parks & Recreation Department, the Japanese Consulate, and the Japan Society of Boston. Volunteers will teach people how to fold origami cranes which will form a temporary public art piece in Copley Square then be collected and delivered to people in the disaster area.

Date & Time

Sunday, March 8, 2015

11:30am - 4:30pm

Location

Copley Square, Boston, MA

Survival and Recovery after the Great East Japan Earthquake

Survival rates and recovery rates from the Great East Japan Earthquake and resulting tsunami have varied tremendously across the coastal towns in Japan's Tohoku area. A few villages and towns have rebuilt all of their schools, repopulated homes, and reestablished businesses and infrastructure, while others struggle to do so.

Using quantitative data, Professor Daniel Aldrich of Purdue University will illuminate the factors responsible for these outcomes in a lecture, followed by a reception with light snacks.

Date & Time

Monday, March 9, 2015

8:30pm

Location

Tufts University, Olin Center, 180 Packard Ave., Room 012, Medford, MA 02155

Survival and Recovery from the Tohoku Disaster

Daniel Aldrich, Purdue University
Chiaki Moriguchi, Stanford University

Weatherhead Center Program on U.S.-Japan Relations Spring Seminar co-sponsored with the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies and the Harvard Kennedy School Program on Crisis Leadership

Date & Time

Tuesday, March 10, 2015
12:30pm - 2:00pm

Location

Harvard University

CGIS Knafel Building, 1737 Cambridge St., Bowie-Vernon Room (K262), Cambridge, MA 02138

Harvard has been doing a great job of hosting talks year-round about the problems Japan is still facing after 3.11. Talks are open to the public, though inconveniently scheduled for people with 9-5 jobs. Some of the talks are posted on the Program on U.S.-Japan Relations Vimeo page.

Meditation for Fukushima 

Tewassa, a Cambridge-based volunteer group that produces "message quilts" for schools and organizations in the Tōhoku region, will be holding a memorial event. 

Date & Time

Saturday, March 14, 2015

4pm - 6pm

Location
GrayMist Studio & Shop
364 Huron Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138

Public Transit & Parking
GrayMist is accessible by the 72 and 75 buses from Harvard Square. There is free on-street parking along Huron Ave.

Updates from Tohoku & A Night of Remembrance

The MIT 3.11 Initiative's Shun Kanda will be speaking at this event.

"Updates from Tohoku, a journey to new life," is a commemoration of the fourth anniversary of 3.11, the disaster that occurred on March 11, 2011 in the northeastern region of Japan and affected nearly 500,000 people, including 20,000 deaths and missing.

Hosted by the Consulate-General of Japan in Boston, Berklee College of Music, Fish Family Foundation, Japan Society of Boston, and the U.S.-Japan Council/TOMODACHI Initiative, the event will be held from 6pm to 8pm on Tuesday, March 31, 2015 at Berklee College of Music.

With the purpose to not let Tohoku be forgotten, the event will celebrate the friendship between Boston and Tohoku, and showcase individuals and projects working on the disaster ground, including Shun Kanda of the MIT Japan 3/11 Initiative, Anne Nishimura Morse of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Megumi Ishimoto of Women's Eyes. Two Berklee students, recipients of the TOMODACHI - Suntory scholarship program, will also perform short pieces as tributes to Tohoku.

Date & Time

Tuesday, March 31, 2015
6pm - 8 pm

Location

Berklee College of Music, The Red Room @ Cafe 939 
939 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02115

Admission
Free. Please register here.

In memory of Officer Sean Collier

Officer Sean Collier's temporary memorial

Today is the one year anniversary of Officer Sean Collier's death. I visited his temporary memorial today after someone had placed white origami cranes around the edge of the semi-circle in which the stone marker sits. MIT News got a picture of her placing them. I didn't see them at first because of all the white flowers but when I did I got teary.

Origami cranes, an international symbol of peace and hope

It's been one year since countless lives were shattered, but we're picking up the pieces and moving forward. There are exhibits all over town. I visited two yesterday.

Last year when I went down to Copley Square/Boylston Street for the first time after the Marathon bombings I was surprised to see origami cranes at the memorial and in a few places on Boylston Street. I had also seen some cranes at Sean Collier's makeshift memorial at MIT. Until last April I had never been to a makeshift memorial for a tragic event and I didn't know that origami cranes have become an international symbol of peace and hope. I assume this is because of the story of Sadako Sasaki and her peace cranes.

Peace cranes @ Old South Church

Recently, I was touched to learn the story of 1,000 cranes that were hand-delivered to the Old South Church (the church at the finish line of the Boston Marathon) by the Newtown Congregational Church which had received them from a church in Chardon, Ohio following the tragic December 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Pilgrim Christian Church had received the cranes following a shooting at their high school from the Saron United Church of Christ in Sheboygen Falls, Wisconsin, who had made the cranes for the 10th anniversary of 9/11. The cranes are currently being exhibited in the front hallway of Old South Church until Tuesday, April 22nd, the day after the marathon, after which they'll be delivered to a church in Fort Hood, Texas following the second mass shooting at the base in recent years. If you're in the neighborhood you should stop by and see them. They're beautifully displayed.

Apparently, these cranes were not the only post marathon bombing tribute. Someone organized an exhibit of 1,000 cranes at Anime Boston last year.

After visiting Old South Church I went across the street to the Boston Public Library to see Dear Boston: Messages from the Marathon Memorial where they also included a few origami cranes in the exhibit. One was a large photo of a crane at the memorial last year printed on a canvas.

It appears that they may have borrowed from the Japanese Tanabata tradition of writing wishes on strips of paper (tanzaku) and hanging them on bamboo. There were 4 trees on which you could hang wishes. There were daffodils at the base of each tree, which might be related to the Boston Strong Marathon Daffodils project. The exhibit runs through Sunday, May 11th. I highly recommend checking it out. It was beautifully and lovingly curated.

2014 3.11 Events in Boston

If you're aware of a 3.11 event that I haven't listed, please post a comment with a link to the event or details if the info isn't on a public webpage.

March 11, 2014 will be the third anniversary of the devastating triple disaster that Japan experienced in Tōhoku on March 11, 2011. Three years on, media interest in Japan and around the world has waned and the world's attention has moved on to more recent disasters.

Although they have made progress in the disaster area, some people are still living in temporary housing and it will take communities decades to rebuild and recover. Some people who lived in the nuclear exclusion zone will never be able to return home. It is still unclear what will happen to all the nuclear waste at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and all the contaminated soil that has been "cleaned up" from surrounding areas.

Some groups in Boston continue to be involved in supporting Japan through this crisis and educating the public. If you're interested in learning more, please consider attending one of these events.

Talks @ Harvard

Harvard has been doing a great job of hosting talks year-round about the problems Japan is still facing after 3.11. Talks are open to the public, though inconveniently scheduled for people with 9-5 jobs. Some of the talks are posted on the Program on U.S.-Japan Relations Vimeo page.

The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster and the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ): Leadership, Structures, and Information Challenges During the Crisis
Kenji Kushida, Takahashi Research Associate in Japanese Studies, Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, Stanford University
Reischauer Institute Japan Forum co-sponsored with the Weatherhead Center Program on U.S.-Japan Relations

Date & Time

Friday, March 7, 2014

4pm - 5:30pm

Location

Harvard University

CGIS South Bldg., 1730 Cambridge St., Porte Room S250, Cambridge, MA 02138

Three Years after the 3.11 Disasters: Lessons and Reflections

• Professor Andrew Gordon, History Department, Harvard University 
• Professor Miaki Ishii, Harvard Seismology Group, Harvard University
• Professor Hiro Saito, Department of Sociology,University of Hawai'i at Mānoa & Postdoctoral Fellow, Program on U.S.-Japan Relations

Weatherhead Center Program on U.S.-Japan Relations co-sponsored with the Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies and the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences

Date & Time

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

12:30pm - 2pm

Location

Harvard University

CGIS Knafel Building, 1737 Cambridge St., Bowie-Vernon Room (K262), Cambridge, MA 02138
Location changed to: CGIS South Bldg., 1730 Cambridge St., Tsai Auditorium S010, Cambridge, MA 02138

Tewassa 3.11 Memorial Candle Event @ GrayMist

Tewassa, a Cambridge-based volunteer group that produces "message quilts" for schools and organizations in the Tōhoku region, will be holding a memorial event. Candles may be purchased for $5. Attendees will hear about the current situation in Minamisōma.

Date & Time

Saturday, March 8, 2014

2pm - 6pm

Location
GrayMist Studio & Shop
364 Huron Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138

Public Transit & Parking
GrayMist is accessible by the 72 and 75 buses from Harvard Square. There is free on-street parking along Huron Ave.

Cranes on the Square @ Copley Square

This year is the second annual Cranes on the Square event organized by local teacher Tim Nagaoka with support from the Boston Parks & Recreation Department, the Japanese Consulate, and the Japan Society of Boston. Student volunteers will teach people how to fold origami cranes which will form a temporary public art piece in Copley Square then be collected and delivered to people in the disaster area.

Date & Time

Sunday, March 9, 2014

11am - 4pm

Location

Copley Square, Boston, MA

Children of the Tsunami Screening 

Sponsored by the Tufts University Japanese Culture Club 

I'm told that Tufts will be holding a 3.11 event but details have not been finalized. I will update this post when I have more information. The Tufts JCC has been very active in raising funds and awareness of the aftermath of 3.11.

The Tufts JCC will be screening Children of the Tsunami, a 2012 BBC documentary. Tewassa will also be on hand to talk about our work and attendees will have a chance to decorate a square for our next quilt.

Directed by Dan Reed
2012 | 60 mins | Documentary 

On March 11th 2011 Japan was hit by the greatest tsunami in a thousand years. Through compelling testimony from 7-10 year-old survivors, this film reveals how the deadly wave and the Fukushima nuclear accident have changed children's lives forever. The story unfolds at two key locations: a primary school where 74 children were killed by the tsunami; and a school close to the Fukushima nuclear plant, attended by children evacuated from the nuclear exclusion zone.

Date & Time

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

7pm

Location

Tufts University

Barnum Hall, Room 104
163 Packard Avenue, Medford, MA 02155

Parking

Visitors may park in faculty lots for free after 5pm. The closest parking lot is the Upper Campus Lot.

Arts, Friendship, and Tohoku @ Boston Children's Museum

Boston-based artist and art therapist, Minatsu, and students from Tohoku University of Art and Design will show art made by elementary and middle school students in Tohoku. There will also be hands-on activities.

Date & Time

Friday, March 14, 2014, 6pm - 8pm

Saturday, March 15, 2014 1pm - 4pm

Location

Boston Children's Museum, The Common and 2nd floor bridge

308 Congress St., Boston, MA 02210

Admission

I believe that you must pay admission to the museum to attend this event. Admission is sponsored by Target on Fridays from 5pm to 9pm and is $1 for ages 1 and up. On Saturday admission is $14 per person for ages 1 and up.

MIT

The MIT 3.11 Initiative is still active, unfortunately, I've been told that MIT is not holding any 3.11 events this year. (If this is incorrect, please let me know.) I was really hoping they would have a 3.11 event this year because last year's event was excellent. It included short talks from Professor Shun Kanda, Professor Richard Samuels, and Mio Yamamoto (a PhD candidate at the Sloan School who runs NPO World in Asia). I meant to write about it, but never got around to it.

Wellesley

Wellesley College is hosting a kabuki workshop and performance on March 11th and 12th, although it doesn't appear to be related to 3.11.

Life after 4/15

Cherry blossoms & flag at half-mast, Conway Park, Somerville

I've been mulling over a longer post for the past two weeks, but in the meantime, I thought I'd provide some links to articles and promote a few funds.

• Free counseling offered at various sites throughout city - Please note this article was written on 4/23 so some of the info may be out-of-date.
• Japanese speakers needing someone to talk to may want to contact JB Line. They've been tweeting about help available to the Japanese community.
• List of local Japanese Mental Health Professionals
• Sleep problems plaguing many in Boston after marathon bombing - If you're having trouble sleeping, you're not alone. If it continues, you might want to seek professional help.
• How Social Media After the Boston Bombing Can Be a Recipe for PTSD - If you've been spending a lot of time on social media or been glued to the TV, consider taking a break.
• Blood donations rise after tragedy - Please consider donating blood. There's always a need. List of donor centers, list of Red Cross donor centers, Red Cross blood drive finder.

Nearly 300 people were injured or lost their lives a few weeks ago. Even though Massachusetts residents are required to have health insurance, not all do (some choose to pay the tax penalty instead) and not all the victims were MA residents. Experts are saying that medical costs could be over $9m.  I'm unclear if that includes things like retrofitting homes for those who are disabled. Even if you have insurance, it may only cover a basic model artificial limb, which might not be sophisticated enough for your activities. One of the funds I gave to wrote up a list of the costs that they're faced with.

"Secondly, we have received many requests about where this money is going and if $100,000 is really necessary for a family with health insurance. Please be assured that 100% of the money raised is going directly to the Whalley family (note their son, Rich Whalley, is the beneficiary). Regarding the amount, the reality is that there are a huge number of financial burdens that come from a situation like this, beyond immediate expenses. Both Eric and Ann have already received and still need a number of highly specialized surgeries and treatments which may not be covered by insurance or have very high deductibles. The physical therapy, home care, extended hospital stays, post-trauma psychiatric counseling, and medical device assistance that they will need as a result of this incident will likely last for several years to come. From the people we've spoken with in the medical community and others who have been subjected to similar tragedies, $100K is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to long term medical expenses. So the short answer is that while insurance might cover some of it, the family is absolutely going to need long term financial support." 

- Ann + Eric Whalley Recovery Fund, April 18 Update II

Many funds have popped up to raise money. Sadly, tragedies also bring out scammers. If you don't have a direct connection to a fund, try to research where your money is going and when in doubt, only give to funds that are clearly official or that are associated with an established non-profit. 

The One Fund - Boston's official fund for marathon bombing victims. Tax deductible

Help Marc Fucarile - Fund for someone I know. Private donation; not tax deductible.

If you prefer to make donations by cash or check, please make checks payable to: The Marc Fucarile Fund and mail to or drop off at:
   The Marc Fucarile Fund
   c/o Stoneham ME Federal Credit Union
   40 Pine Street
   Stoneham, MA 02180
Read about Marc and his friends: Five childhood friends from Stoneham drawn closer by their Marathon wounds. The Globe headline doesn't mention that there were 7 of them - they didn't include Paul's girlfriend, Jacqui, in the count and didn't mention Steve at all.

Ann + Eric Whalley Recovery Fund - Fund for injured parents of an MIT alum. Private donation; not tax deductible.

Mikey's Run - High school students who are future MIT students (Class of 2017) raising money to "help provide assistance and prosthesis to those affected by the Boston Marathon bombings. Funds will go into the The Scott Rigsby Foundation, set aside specifically for this purpose." I just found their story really touching. Tax deductible.

MIT's 1994 police car hack festooned with origami cranes and origami and tissue paper flowers
in memory of Officer Sean Collier

MIT Sean A. Collier Memorial Fund - Tax deductible.

"Gifts to this fund will be used to establish a Collier Medal—to be awarded to individuals who demonstrate the values and character of Officer Collier—as well as other causes." 

   Per this page, if you prefer to donate by check, they can be mailed MIT at:
   Bonny Kellermann ‘72, Director of Memorial Gifts
   600 Memorial Drive, W98-500
   Cambridge, MA 02139
   Please include a note stating that your gift is in memory of Sean Collier.

Watch Sean's moving memorial service at MIT. Thousands of law enforcement officers from around the U.S. and Canada attended along with the MIT community.

Dana-Farber and Jimmy Fund Sean Collier Memorial Fund - Tax deductible

"The Dana-Farber and Jimmy Fund community is deeply saddened by the tragic events in Boston, and the loss of MIT Patrol Officer, Sean Collier. Sean displayed immense courage and a commitment to helping others, and we thank you for honoring his memory.

Inspired by the lifesaving work of Dana-Farber and the Jimmy Fund, Sean was a dedicated supporter of the Jimmy Fund since high school, setting up recurring gifts from his bank account." 

BU Lu Lingzi Scholarship Fund - Tax deductible.

"Lingzi was a beloved member of the BU community. An optimist with a powerful work ethic, she had just passed the first part of the master's comprehensive exam in statistics—an accomplishment that gave her great satisfaction. Along with her friends and family, we grieve at her passing. 

Boston University is determined to keep Lingzi's memory and example alive. Toward that end, and in conformance with the wishes of her family, the Trustees of the University have voted to establish the LU Lingzi Scholarship Fund." 

Read more about the fund. Read about and watch Lingzi's memorial service.