KOBE -- The idyllic image of a father and son flying a kite in Minami Komae Park bears no resemblance to the scenes visited on this place during the devastating 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake.

Located in Kobe's Nagata Ward, one of the hardest hit areas, the park became a tent city for over 200 evacuees in the aftermath of the quake.

It is from this park and through their shared hardships that Japanese and Vietnamese survivors developed new relationships based on mutual understanding.