Atop the rubble was a stuffed animal, its head long gone--a teddy bear perhaps? A child must have held it in a loving embrace until the final moment.
Atop the rubble was a stuffed animal, its head long gone--a teddy bear perhaps? A child must have held it in a loving embrace until the final moment.
This heart-wrenching photo was one of many snapped by Satoshi Ueda, 36, a photographer who lives in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward, when he visited his disaster-stricken hometown of Rikuzentakata in Iwate Prefecture on March 15. This was the spot where his mother Miyoko, 57 at the time, is believed to have been swept away by tsunami following the Great East Japan Earthquake that struck four days earlier.
Here and there amidst the mounds of rubble were stuffed animals--even photos, with the mud wiped from them.
"I guess the Self-Defense Forces and the fire brigade lined them up because they contain somebody's memories," Ueda said to himself as he clicked the shutter.
These days, Ueda is busy organizing exhibits of his photos in Japan and overseas charting that disastrous day.
Ueda is keen for people to understand the magnitude of the calamity and to explain how recovery efforts are progressing. He hopes it will lead to more offers of assistance for the Tohoku region in northeastern Japan.
"I do this because if my mother were still alive, she would be doing something for our hometown," Ueda said.
His mother divorced when he and his brother, six years younger, were children. She raised her sons alone and worked hard as a home caregiver. Even so, she fretted about her children, asking them about their school and homework when she returned home each day.
"It was awkward. Plus, there was nothing in the countryside, so I wanted to get out of there fast."
Ueda yearned for Tokyo more than anything, with its trendy fashion and music.
After dropping out of high school and saving up money from part-time work, Ueda moved to the capital. A part-time job at an event production company was his chance to build up a wide range of skills: fashion show organization as well as filming and photography.
About five years ago, he started taking photos for CD jackets and fashion magazines, a livelihood that produced pictures unrelated to topics covered in the news
Ueda's mother did not take kindly to his Bohemian ways. During occasional chats on the telephone she would ask if his job was a steady one. They argued over trivial matters.
But eventually, Ueda felt he should spend more time with his mother.
He was around 30 at the time and his lifestyle gave him time to reflect on his life.
When he went to see his mother he would take her out for dinner or shopping.
He suggested they take a family trip together, but his mother, feeling bashful, said, "No thanks. I don't have the energy."
Before Ueda could get her to agree to his idea, 3/11 hit.
It wasn't until two full days after the earthquake that Ueda was able to reach Rikuzentakata from Tokyo. He heard from an acquaintance that his mother's car was stuck in a traffic jam when the tsunami pounded the town. The drivers of two vehicles behind her barely managed to escape.
Her body was found seven kilometers from where the teddy bear came to rest.
His mother always told him, "Be of help to people."
In death, her face appeared as if she were resting in peace.
Last year, he put down his work in commercial photography and delved into his savings to continue photographing his hometown.
Ueda tried to visit Rikuzentakata every month, eventually building up a portfolio that allowed him to mount an exhibition of his work. He started in Rome, with the help of an Italian colleague, then moved on to Tokyo, Macao, Moscow, London and Dusseldorf. So far, Ueda has toured 30 cities overseas.
He gets numerous requests from abroad, where there is little information on the earthquake these days.
Typically, he hears comments like, "Other than the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, I thought it was OK already," or, "It's still pretty bad, isn't it?"
Ueda is working to build bridges between those offering aid and the organizations working in the disaster area.
Ueda was asked to give a lecture.
From the stage he said: "Imagine that the people who are dear to you are going to be gone tomorrow. That is what many people are facing in the disaster area."
Most recently he has been organizing photos at his office in Minato Ward to distribute to schools and libraries in the disaster area so that future generations will know how fearsome the tsunami was.
At some point, Ueda hopes to hold a photo exhibition filled with smiling faces to show the world that his hometown has recovered.
"I want to keep doing what I can, even if it's just a little, so that no matter what happens in the future, I'll have no regrets."