Pray for Japan

Losing loved ones cuts emotional scars which run deep.

We can help heal these wounds by paying tribute to the amazing resilience and quiet spirit of the many victims and volunteers of Tohoku. By letting them know we admire and respect them, we encourage them to continue the good fight – at a time when even the strongest warriors would grow weary.

We also gain insight into how our own inner strength can help us if we ever find ourselves in a life-threatening situation. We can all learn from these incredible heroes.

The film focuses on Ishinomaki, Miyagi – the largest coastal city in Tohoku with a population of over 160,000 people. The director filmed the tsunami aftermath over a period of 5 weeks, soon after his first couple of trips to Miyagi as a volunteer. The director shot over 40 hours of footage with my Canon 5D – just him and one guy on audio.

While they visited many shelters and damaged areas, the film focuses on the efforts of volunteers as they work with the victims of the Minato Shogakkou shelter and Ogatsu Junior High School.

The film’s theme of vitality and hope is represented visually by the powerful symbol of the koi-nobori, the blue kite-like fish flying in the final shot of our video. On May 5, kodomo-no-hi (children’s day), 18-year-old Kent Ito led a memorial service for his 5-year-old little brother Ritsu, proudly raising over 200 blue koi-nobori donated from across Japan.