If a picture paints a thousand words, the powerful images in three photo exhibitions of the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake at various venues must be worth more than a million words.
If a picture paints a thousand words, the powerful images in three photo exhibitions of the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake at various venues must be worth more than a million words.
In Tokyo, the Great East Japan Earthquake Exhibition will start at Yurakucho Mullion in the Yurakucho district in Chuo Ward from March 2 and run through March 14.
The exhibition, sponsored by The Asahi Shimbun in cooperation with Mitsubishi Corp., will have about 60 photos on display, mainly taken by Asahi Shimbun photographers and reporters.
It consists of four parts, including, “What happened then?” and “To mourn.”
The exhibition looks back on what occurred after the earthquake and tsunami and the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant accident.
The exhibition also shows the process of reconstruction through photos. A series of images at a stricken area shows the gradual process of recovery, from a temporary shop being built in the mud and the rubble, to the smiles that are gradually restored to the faces of the children.
A donation box will be on site during the exhibition, with contributions going to help people in the affected areas put their lives back together.
The first 200 contributors every day will receive a postcard illustrated by cartoonist Kotobuki Shiriagari, which was published in the Jan. 1 issue of The Asahi Shimbun.
The exhibition will also be held in Fukuoka, Thailand and Indonesia.
In Thailand, the exhibition is scheduled to run from March 5-14 on the first floor of Central World in Bangkok. For Indonesia, the event is to be held from March 10-18 at Plaza Senayan Atrium in Jakarta.
The current exhibition is the second event on the theme of the March 11 earthquake. Mitsubishi, which has sent its employees to the disaster areas as volunteers, will cooperate with the event.
The initial exhibition was held in Tokyo and traveled to about 50 cities in Japan last April. It was also held in the United States and Spain.
Hiromi Nagakura, known for his documentary photos, will also hold the exhibition “Kodomo-tachi no Genkibin, Shinsai kara no Shuppatsu” (Letters from sprightly young children--starting from the earthquake) at Konica Minolta Plaza in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
On display will be 47 photos of children Nagakura has taken in disaster-stricken Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures. Eight essays written by children in the region will also be exhibited.
“I hope viewers will feel the brightness and resilience of the children, who are overcoming sadness and wistful feeling,” Nagakura said.
His photo collection “Dakedo Kujikenai” (Yet, we will hang in there), will also be published by NHK Publishing Inc.
In the book, Sho, 12, writes, “I want to say ‘Stupid’ to tsunami, which deprived us of everything.”
“Adults say ‘Fukushima nuclear power plant,’ even though the electric power is used in Tokyo,” writes Erika, 12. “It is hard to hear this. It sounds as if Fukushima is doing wrong.”
The exhibition runs through March 22.
Another earthquake-themed exhibition by members of the Japan Professional Photographers Society is scheduled from March 2-15 at Fuji Photo Gallery in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Titled “Ikiru” (To live), the exhibition features 130 pictures, most focused on survivors of the earthquake and tsunami, who are moving forward amid the disaster.
“Some photographers took photos of the tsunami, while they were caught in it," said Hiroshi Suga, head of the organizing committee of the exhibition. "Most of the photos pose the question of what the earthquake was, as seen in the eyes of the victims.
“I hope viewers will feel lives of the people living in the disaster areas.”
The photo collection “Ikiru” will also be published by Shinchosha.