This week marks the third anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake. On a practical level, TBS's two-hour special, "Shinsai chokugo: Seishi wo wakeru 72-jikan ni subeki koto" ("Right After the Disaster: 72 Hours Means the Difference Between Life and Death"; Mon., 9 p.m.), offers advice on how to survive the kind of calamity that happened March 11, 2011.
The program interviews survivors and rescue personnel who directly experienced the tragedy, and uses their testimony to formulate survival tactics. The first 72 hours is crucial. The show uses footage from the disaster that has never been aired before in an attempt to illustrate these tactics. The producers hope they will be useful when a major quake hits the Tokyo metropolitan area.
Something most people don't think about when they remember the disaster is how many lives began on that day. In the area most affected by the quake and tsunami, more than 100 babies were born on March 11. If it seems late to discuss events that could counterbalance the day's sadness, many of the mothers who gave birth that day have suffered from feelings of guilt about "receiving a gift" when so many people lost loved ones.