Tuesday, Oct 28, 2014

Join us for a memorable and important evening

Surviving the 2011 Tsunami:

100 Testimonies of Ishinomaki Area Survivors of the Great East Japan Earthquake


About the book:

On March 11th 2011 at 14:46, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake triggered a number of tsunami waves that hit the Pacific coastline of North East Japan, claiming the lives of over 18,000 people. This is the English translation of the Japanese book containing the interviews of 100 survivors. The series was published under the title “My March 11” in the Ishinomaki Kahoku, a daily newspaper published by Sanriku Kahoku Shimpo serving the Greater Ishonomaki Region and one of the most severely damaged areas. This English translation is a collaborative project between 26 Japanese volunteers and 16 Australians - led by Dr Hitomi Nakanishi from the University of Canberra. On March 11th 2014, the English version was published commemorating the third anniversary of the disaster.

About the event:

The event will be moderated by Professor Deborah Blackman. The Director of the editorial office, Takenori Osu, will be joining from Ishonomaki and he will talk about how the interview series with the survivors were conducted and the current situation of the disaster areas. Dr Hitomi Nakanishi will talk about how the Japan - Australia collaboration project was developed, followed by the book volunteers reading a few stories from the book. Photos of the disaster will be displayed at the event.

Professor Deborah Blackman works at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Canberra. Building upon a first career in Hospitality Management, Deborah has taught in areas which include Strategic Human Resources, Strategic Management, Performance and Remuneration, Organizational Development and Diversity. Deborah’s research is applied to developing effective knowledge development, acquisition and transfer in order to improve organisational effectiveness in a range of applied, real world contexts, including disaster risk management. Deborah recently co-authored a book chapter “Integrating Tourism into Disaster Recovery Management – The Case of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami 2011” (In Ritchie, B.W. and Campiranon, K. (eds.) 2014. Tourism Crisis and Disaster Management in the Asia-Pacific. CABI Publishing: Wallingford. pp. 97-115.)

Takenori Osu is the general manager of the event and publishing division of Sanriku Kahoku Shimpo. He has been a reporter and an editor for over 30 years with Sanriku Kahoku Shimpo and its parent company Kahoku Shimpo. The Sariku Kahoku Shimpo building was heavily damaged by the tsunami in 2011. However, the newspaper resumed publishing on March 14th 2011. Since then the company has been committed to publishing the record of the disaster such as this photobook as part of its social responsibility and contribution. Takenori has been responsible for leading these programs. His house is close the port area which was inundated up to 2.5m by the tsunami. He was able to repair his home, and still resides there with his family today.

Dr Hitomi Nakanishi is an assistant professor and an academic course convenor of Master of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Canberra. She is recognised as a leading expert in community planning and community disaster risk management and was invited to the United Nations Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in 2013. She has visited Ishinomaki and surrounding areas six times since the disaster to investigate community issues surrounding the recovery. Her current research focuses on different approaches to disaster risk management that involves more community engagement.


When: 6pm Tuesday October 28, 2014

Where: Asia Bookroom, Lawry Place, Macquarie ACT

RSVP: By Monday October 27th to 62515191 or books@asiabookroom.com

Admission by gold coin donation to The Taylor Anderson Memorial Fund.