The Japanese Language Program is pleased to announce the completion of our project, “Messages for the Tohoku residents in Japan”.
Three years have passed since the triple disaster hit the Tohoku (north eastern) region of Japan in March, 2011. However, reconstruction in the region is still ongoing and many people continue to face various challenges. To support these people, a group of Japanese instructors initiated a project to collect video and written messages to convey to the Tohoku residents that we have not forgotten about them and our warm thoughts are always with them.
The project began in March, 2014, when we held our first ever Japanese Language Program Open House at the Asian Centre. At this Open House, we set up a booth and a camcorder to record messages. A table was also set up for written messages. Many people, including Japanese, non-Japanese, current and former students and people in the community stopped by the booth to contribute. Some of the participants have lived in Japan, and sent their heartfelt messages. We would like to particularly mention Ms. Kozue Matsumoto, a UBC alumni who was the Koto music performer at the Open House, who happens to be a Tohoku native. Before her performance, she gave a most heart-warming message to the youth in the Tohoku region, asking them not to give up their dreams despite the adversities they face. The beautiful piece of koto music she played was also incorporated into the video.
Guests wrote messages at the Japanese Open House
In order to gather more messages, the video production team set up another recording opportunity in July, 2014. Under the guidance of some of our summer term Japanese instructors, students from all July-term Japanese courses (100-300 levels) gathered at the auditorium in the Asian Centre to send an uplifting group message in Japanese.
Students from all July-term Japanese courses (100-300 levels)
On the same day, some faculty members, alumni and their friends in Vancouver also attended the recording event. We were thrilled to see Professor David Edgington from Geography Department came in a T-shirt with the words “I love Fukushima” printed on it. Having conducted research since the disaster occurred three years ago, he had just returned from his most recent trip to Fukushima, just in time for the recording. We were also gratified to learn that many alumni have already been involved in their own ways in community events and initiatives to support the Tohoku residents.
Besides collecting messages locally, we contacted some alumni currently living in Japan as well as in other parts of Canada and the world. Despite the time and space that separated us, they all responded with great enthusiasm, and sent us their individual messages swiftly. One of them, Vivian He, is currently working as a Coordinator for International Relations in Fukushima on the Jet Programme. We value the ties that we have with all our alumni, and are gratified to know that wherever they are, Japan, the Japanese people and the Japanese language are still close to their hearts.
Between September and November, our departmental webmaster and Event Coordinator Oliver, and our Work Study student Dmitri, who provided all the technical support we needed throughout the whole project, worked with us closely to complete the editing of the video. Also, our ASIA instructor/graduate student, Eiji, assisted us with the subtitles. It was a great pleasure to have worked with all of them; the enthusiasm and team spirit they demonstrated was wonderful.
The video messages have now been uploaded on YouTube. Also, with the kind help of Taher and his team, staff members at Arts ISIT, the messages have been recorded on DVDs. We just sent these to Fukushima University where we have a contact person, William McMichael, a second-generation UBC alum, son of our former student Bill McMichael. William is currently the Assistant Director of the International Center at Fukushima University. With his help, our messages will be forwarded to various government and municipal offices, universities, and temporary housing in the Tohoku region. We are particularly excited to learn that our messages can reach people in the temporary housing sites directly: this was our initial goal for the project, though at the beginning we did not know how best to accomplish it. According to William, their Student Disaster Volunteer Center runs events at the temporary housing sites every week. We sincerely hope that our messages can reach and touch as many people there as possible.
The messages are now on DVD and will be sent to several organizations in the Tohoku region
Our heartfelt thanks go to all those mentioned above who have contributed to this project. Without their help, it would not have been possible. We would like to add that the completion of the project is by no means the end of our efforts to reach out to Tohoku residents. We have now obtained permission to show two documentary films on Fukushima, and the screenings will be held on Wednesday, January 21, 2015 in the Auditorium at the Asian Centre. For details, please go to the following link. All are welcome to join us!
http://www.asia.ubc.ca/2014/12/04/upcoming-screenings-2-documentaries-on-fukushima/
We would like to point out that one of the films was obtained through a friend of one of our alumni who participated the July recording session. This is another great example of the ways in which this project has not only enabled us to connect or re-connect with our dear colleagues, students and alumni, but also helped us to create new relationships through them. We truly cherish and value all our old and new ties and it is our sincere hope that through these ties, we will be able to build a community where all of us continue to study issues and challenges that people in Tohoku face, learn valuable lessons from them while staying with them in their journey towards full reconstruction.
