March 11

It's been very hard to find the time to write blog entries during my time in Japan. I have not stood still long enough to get something down. Now I am back In Kamaishi, and it is March 11, 2014. In 2011 on the same day, the small, industrial region was hit by a earthquake measuring 8.2 on the Richter scale, 30 minutes later a series of waves, 7 in total pounded the coastline with a force that swept away buildings, trucks, cars, forests and people at a rate that is beyond belief.
To commemorate this day there will be a ceremony in the bay where I am staying. I have been invited to go aboard the locally run rescue boat which will sound a horn at the very moment the disater took place 3 years ago.
These are tough people, they have suffered badly and are still nowhere close to living a normal existence. Many people are still living in temporary housing, there are areas of city that remain completely flat and the plans for the reconstruction of the region from the government are at odd with the need and desires of the local people.
We are here as a strange band of merry artists, designers and a musician with an ambition to help with developing a new future for the people living here. We have come to provide some advice, show some work and to have some fun. It is an amazing place, there is an incredible atmosphere that is mixed between a sadness for the past but a hunger for an exciting future. Future Lab are at the early stages of a big and ambitious project.
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