Rikuzentakata's Kibou no Ippon-matsu, or One Pine Tree of Hope, was the sole standing 200 year old pine out of the 70,000 that once made up the Takata-Matsubara (高田松原) forest.  The fact that this single tree remained standing gave many people hope for the future.  Much effort went into trying to save the tree but as of late 2011, arborists determined that the salt water damage to the roots was too great.  The land had subsided in the area after the quake and the tree resides only 5 metres from an already eroded coast line.  The continued saturation of the roots in salt water was basically poisoning the tree to a slow death.  As a result, the valiant effort to save the tree was abandoned.  Months earlier though, grafts from the pine had been taken with the purpose of producing many seedlings which will be planted in the future.  The pine tree is no longer producing any resin (it is drying out), it's needles have turned brown, and any pine cones are discolored.

This video is dedicated to this single pine tree and the people of Tohoku Japan.

4 months after the March 11th disaster, efforts are underway to save the only pine tree which remained standing in Rikuzentakata's Takata Matsubara (which before the tsunami, was a 2km beach lined with tens of thousands of pine trees).

A special camera is used to capture imagery from the tsunami devastated town of Otsuchi.  The resulting videos are edited together for projection onto a planetarium-like dome where it gives the viewer a better sense of the scope of the disaster.  The message that is being conveyed is that people need to head for high ground as soon as possible. 

This is a new graphical mapping system which will be utilized for post-disaster reconstruction.  The system makes use of 360 degree composite video footage

Three months since the March 11th earthquake and tsunami may be too short of a period for people to begin carrying on after losing family members to the disaster.  Many are trying to figure out how to deal with their grief.  One of them is Mika Sato; she has been searching the rubble for memories of her daughters short life.

A nursing school in Ishinomaki holds its entrance ceremony which had been previously cancelled due to the March 11th disaster.  One of the new students, Asuka Suzuki, received her admission letter on March 11, 4 hours before the earthquake hit.  She had always wanted to be a nurse since kindergarten and went to see her grandmother to tell her the news.  The grandmother who had always encouraged Asuka was thrilled to hear about this.  While the two were talking, the earthquake struck.  Her grandmother said she would be fine and suggested that Asuka should head back home.  Soon though, the tsunami hit the area including her grandmothers home.

May 14, 2011 english dubbed broadcast of Science Zero - this episode looks further into detail about the mechanics of the March 11th megaquake and its impact on future events.  Shinji Toda also discusses his Kanto Fragment hypothesis.

May 14, 2011 english dubbed broadcast of Science Zero - this episode looks further into detail about the mechanics of the March 11th megaquake and its impact on future events.  Shinji Toda also discusses his Kanto Fragment hypothesis.

April 2, 2011 english dubbed broadcast of Science Zero - the latest research at the time of its airing regarding the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

April 2, 2011 english dubbed broadcast of Science Zero - the latest research at the time of its airing regarding the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami