Japan Trip: Day 1

Day 1 of my Japan trip. Guided by my stepson, Sosha Smith, we're exploring the Tohoku region that was devastated by the 2011 tsunami. Here are the view of the Matsushima Bay today and the image of my blockprint. Six years ago, I carved and printed 1500 blockprints (sold out) of this incredible bay with 260 islands. Our 100% donation was used to aid with the recovery effort in Tohoku region. (Thankfully these small picturesque islands protected the area of Matsushima from the tsunami disasters). Today the rebuilding efforts continue slowly, from building new roads and creating higher embankments against a future tsunami, to remaking the small coastal communities that had lost too many lives. Heartbreakingly beautiful and sad . . . beyond words.

Here is our Sosha, who first came to the Tohoku tsunami area with his sister Tamara, immediately after the disaster. Here he's showing us the lower beach area where once there was a thriving fishing community before the 15-meter tsunami engulfed it. Now it's just dirt, half-built roads, and a bunch of construction trucks there. Since the initial recovery efforts, Sosha has continued to travel to the area from his Tokyo home and to help with the reconstruction efforts. Now living in Minamisanriku in Tohoku-region, he has been working closely with the communities in the region and is actively operating a Nature-Education program called Earth Camp. http://www.ceco.jp/ec/ I have to admit I'm a very proud step-mom of these amazing individuals!