Illuminating the Tokyo night in a glow that made onlookers pause in reflection, candles were lit by college students bearing messages from the stricken people of northeastern Japan still reeling from last year's quake, tsunami and nuclear plant accident.
Illuminating the Tokyo night in a glow that made onlookers pause in reflection, candles were lit by college students bearing messages from the stricken people of northeastern Japan still reeling from last year's quake, tsunami and nuclear plant accident.A large number of candles covered in traditional “washi” paper bearing messages were lit at the event held at Tokyo Midtown, an upscale commercial complex in Minato Ward, to drive home the suffering of the victims.One message said, “Rebuilding work will not move forward unless the rubble is removed." Other sentiments expressed included, “Thank you,” “Dream,” “Ties” and “Let’s move on.”The event is the brainchild of the students who are involved in activities to pass down Japanese traditional culture at Tama University, located on the outskirts of Tokyo.The students handcrafted washi paper and asked residents of 37 cities, towns and villages in the prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, and subsequent nuclear plant disaster, to write their feelings on each strip of paper.