Lone pine tree, Symbol of hope in Japan tsunami city
Lone pine tree, Symbol of hope in Japan tsunami city and Serbian old folk song Grow, grow my green pine tree.
A single pine tree stands among the wreckage of Rikuzentakata city. Its survival is being hailed a miracle, and people want to preserve it as a symbol of hope:
About 70,000 pine trees once stood along the beach in that area. The tsunami knocked them all down, except for that one tree.
Pine trees planted in tsunami hit Iwate coast
People in Iwate Prefecture, northeastern Japan, have planted seedlings as part of efforts to recreate a pine wood that was washed away in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
The wood had stood on a 2-kilometer stretch of shoreline in Rikuzentakata City. Only one tree, later named the miracle lone pine, survived the disaster.
Prefectural officials plan to plant 40,000 trees to recreate the coastal wood.
On Tuesday, the officials began planting seedlings on a trial basis to see what type of soil best suits the trees.
Members of a civic group working to recreate the wood participated in the work of planting 150 seedlings on mounds near a seawall under construction.
The head of the group, Yoshihisa Suzuki, says it's a big step forward in reviving the wood.
the miracle pine
rikuzentakata
Lone pine tree symbol of hope in Japan tsunami city
A lone pine tree stands on the shore of a tsunami-wrecked Japanese city, a symbol of hope and defiance for people who have lost everything.Duration:00:37
Lone pines symbolise Japan hopes
When Japan's massive tsunami last march swept through the coastal city of Rikuzentakata, in addition to the damage caused to buildings and human life, it also wiped out the town's famous pine forest. -- Video by Reuters
The Miracle Tree
A single lone pine tree survives the devastation of the tsunami near Fukushima Japan
A Pine Tree of hope in Rikuzentakata (Mar. 24, 2011)
One pine tree that survives from tsunami. Rikuzentakata, Iwate Japan. - Japanese News on march 24, 2011 (Japanese/English Bilingual)
Rikuzentakata marks tsunami anniversary
(11 Mar 2016) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: AP CLIENTS ONLY
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Rikuzentakata, Japan – 11 March 2016
1. Various of people praying and observing a minute of silence at one of the landmarks of the disaster
2. Various of Buddhist memorial ceremony and monk chanting prayers
3. Various of surviving families and relatives visiting graves of the lost ones
4. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Ryoko Iwabe, 84, Rikuzentakata resident:
It felt long and short at the same time, but the time went by in a flash. Five of my friends, whom I had tea with everyday, died. I felt so stressed that I ended up suffering with stomach troubles, and I'm still ill. But people tell me that if I move into a new house, I'd get better, so that's what I hope for.
5. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Tadayuki Kumagai, 37, Rikuzentakata resident:
The best thing would be for things to go back to as they were before (the earthquake) – but of course that's not how the world works. Even if it's impossible to go back to the way things were before the disaster, everyone hopes that living standards would at least come closer to what it was – I think that's what rebuilding means.
6. Wide of Jodoji temple
7. Zuishu Sugawara, chief Buddhist monk at Jodoji temple
8. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Zuishu Sugawara, Chief Buddhist monk at Jodoji temple:
Perhaps reconstruction might happen (when people can move into their own homes), but in terms of recovering from the scars of the heart…I think there are some who might never heal. Even at our temple, there are 47 parishioners who are missing, and nothing is moving forward (in finding them.)
9. Various of people praying at the coastline
STORYLINE:
In the tsunami-ravaged city of Rikuzentakata, people gathered on Friday to observe a moment of silence to mark the fifth anniversary of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 18,000 people.
The sound of the siren echoed across the city as dozens of residents and visitors put their hands together to pray in silence at one of the iconic landmark of the disaster – the Miracle Pine.
It happened at 2:46pm (0546GMT) local time - exactly five years after the magnitude 9.0-earthquake struck offshore and triggered a devastating tsunami.
They prayed in front of a lone tree that stood upright despite the force of the tsunami and has turned into a symbol of hope and survival.
At a local Buddhist temple nearby, memorial prayers were offered for those that perished and for more than 200 city residents who remain missing.
Zuishu Sugawara, who has been serving as chief monk at Jodoji temple over the last 24 years, says housing is an acute problem for people in the city, with some still living in makeshift temporary housing.
But even that, he admits, won't be enough.
84-year-old Ryoko Iwabe remembers escaping to the hills when the tsunami struck.
Her family was safe, but she lost five of her friends on that fateful day.
For Tadayuki Kumagai, his family-run restaurant is a reminder of his lost mother and father.
He says he was among the fortunate as he found the bodies of his parents not long after the quake.
The 37-year-old says he has been too busy over the last five years, trying to rebuild and maintain the family legacy, but hopes that over time, the city would return to having some sense of normality.
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Memory of the one pine tree, Rikuzentakada JAPAN 2012
#陸前高田、#奇跡の一本松 の記憶 2012-09-02
The Miracle Tree in Rikuzentakata
The only tree left standing after the tsunami.... Kinseki no Ippon Matsu
JET-MIP 2013
Japan Town Rikuzentakata's Will to Go On After Tsunami
After surviving the March 11th tsunami, a lone pine tree in Rikuzentakata has become a symbol of the town's will to go on. But this emblem of life is failing. WSJ's Linda Blake reports.
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70,000 trees gone in Rikuzentakada, Iwate Japan
stretch of beach that had 2 kilometers filled with old pine trees
The Story of Kamome - from Rikuzentakata to Crescent City and back again
A small boat swept away by the 2011 Japan tsunami connects two tsunami-vulnerable communities on the opposite sides of the Pacific, culminating in a Sister City agreement between Rikuzentakata and Crescent City
The Tree of Hope: One Tree that Survives from Tsunami - Short Documentary Film
A short documentary film about a lone tree that survived from tsunami that followed the 2011 Japan Earthquake.
Writer / Director / Photography / Editor / Music cover by me
Original songs
Peace on Earth by Jeffree Clarkson
The Sunken Forest by Mike Oldfield
GREAT EAST JAPAN EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI MISSION by Gerald Scott Flint, Volunteer Medics Worldwide
Shortly after the massive earthquake which struck Japan on March 11th , Volunteer Medics Worldwide Disaster Assistance Team began to assist via Expeditionary Humanitarian Assistance Teams with rescue and recovery efforts in Japan. These are photos and video clips of those days.
Rikuzentakata Town just after the Tsunami (video)
Takada Matsubara after the tsunami
The way it looks after the tsunami. This was a very popular vacation spot for many people. If you have been there before you'll notice that the sea has moved inland more than 100 meters. It was landfill to start with. There uses to ba about 6000 pine trees now only one remains.
Kamaishi, Oofunato, Rikuzentakata July 2011
Music: Fumikomidori Mori to Inochi [Forest and life]