"Smile Tohoku Project" Joint Special Edition on 3/11 ~ Documentary Film Screened at Okinawa International Movie Festival
On March 11, the Fukushima Minpo, Kahoku Shimpo, and Iwate Nippo newspapers published an 8-page special insert with a print run of approximately 1 million copies. This was part of the "Smile Tohoku Project" (Special Sponsors: Kao, Nikon; Sponsors: Sapporo Breweries, Japan Professional Tennis Association) jointly run by the three newspapers. The insert was included in the morning editions of the three papers in Fukushima, Miyagi, and Iwate Prefectures, and also distributed on the streets in Tokyo, Osaka, and other locations.
The front page, featuring the mastheads of all three papers, prominently displayed photographs taken on March 1st of this year in Tomioka Town, Fukushima Prefecture; Rikuzentakata City, Iwate Prefecture; and Natori City, Miyagi Prefecture, with the statement: "This is Japan in 2014, not 2011." As newspapers from the three prefectures, they conveyed the "present" of Tohoku and expressed their determination not to let the memories of the disaster fade. Subsequent pages reported on the current situations and project activities in each prefecture. They covered the flower art "Smile Mark" created collaboratively by residents in the disaster-affected areas, as well as support activities by sponsoring companies.
Additionally, on March 20th, a roughly 9-minute documentary film summarizing the activities of the "Project to Convey the 'Present' of Disaster-Affected Areas Through Photography" (Organized by: Smile Tohoku Project Office; Supported by: Kyodo News, Nikon, Yoshimoto Creative Agency) was screened at the 6th Okinawa International Movie Festival (Organized by: The Okinawa International Movie Festival Executive Committee). This project involved 45 junior high school students from across Japan visiting nine locations in the three disaster-affected prefectures with the comedy duo Rosan, reporting on the current situation through photographs. The movie summarized the year-long activity, incorporating the students' reflections. At the screening venue, Rosan, joined by NON STYLE and Fruits Punch, discussed the current state of Tohoku.
The movie can be viewed at
smile-tohoku.jp/project/photo_makes_smile/photo/
Was this article helpful?
Share this article
