and TECH Japan members Suvendrini Kakuchi and Akiko Ozaki show off an apron made at a sewing center for tsunami and civil war survivors here in northern Sri Lanka.

Eight months later, still trying to overcome her grief, Ikehashi, 43, has returned to Sri Lanka -- this time as a member of a nongovernmental organization she helped set up to carry out relief projects in the north to help residents recover from the tsunami's destruction and cope with civil war.

Our Planet

Hikers on a trail in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture. As extreme heat continues to grip Japan, a tectonic shift may be underway in the nation’s summer tourism scene as more people gravitate toward cooler destinations.
Are 'coolcations' the answer for Japan's heat-weary tourists?

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past