Hometown Stories
Stories about people, stories about life. Intimate portraits of people from around Japan, each leading diverse lives while enriching lives of others.
6. Revealing the Final Moments
0.0Mar 14, 2020
In the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, the town of Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture lost 30% of its civil servants, the highest proportion for any affected municipality. The local government was blasted for its handling of the crisis, and bereaved families were left with painful questions. For a long time, most employees who lived through that day remained silent. Then, the town publishes a record of the disaster that includes first-hand accounts by surviving workers. For a community struggling to find closure, this could be a turning point.