15 Years On: Flowers Bloom in Tohoku as Symbol of Resilience

Tokyo, Feb. 26 (Jiji Press)--In Japan’s Tohoku northeastern region, colorful seasonal flowers bloom to symbolize the resilience of communities hit hard by the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident.

In the city of Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, Sakura Line 311, a nonprofit organization, aims to plant 17,000 cherry trees along a 170-kilometer stretch of locations where the tsunami reached, in an effort to pass on the memory of the disaster to future generations.

“If more information about past tsunami damage had been known, some people might not have died,” said Shoma Okamoto, a 43-year-old senior official of the organization.

Okamoto explained that the group decided to plant cherry trees because they live longer than people and are expected to foster a sense of attachment.

In the city of Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, Rie Tokumizu, 64, began planting ground cherries at the site of her former home, which was ravaged by the tsunami, after her mother, a lover of the plant, died in the disaster.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]