On March 11, 2011, a disastrous tsunami devastated parts of Japan. Survival for many was the result of a series of coincidences – whether a few seconds or a few centimeters. The College will present the U.S. premiere of The Great Tsunami in Japan: Reflecting on the 2011 Disaster on September 17, 2016 from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. in the Art Building Auditorium (2535 McCarthy Mall) on the UH Mānoa campus. Video collected immediately after the disaster has been combined with a rich compilation of personal stories, exploring the humble but resolute spirit of those who inhabit this disaster-prone region of Japan.
A fair featuring updated awareness and preparedness materials will precede the documentary. The screening is part of a three-day Communicating Disaster Science conference, which includes outreach to schools, community and academic presentations. The conference is jointly sponsored by the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s College of Social Sciences and Hawaiʻi Sea Grant, in partnership with Tohoku University’s International Research Institute of Disaster Science. As a pre-event of the first United Nations World Tsunami Awareness Day on November 5, it is sponsored by the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and supported by Japan’s Ministry Of Foreign Affairs, Sendai Ikuei High School and the International Tsunami Information Center.
