A group of U.S.-based filmmakers has taken a different perspective on the March 2011 disasters in northeast Japan in a documentary that draws on the wartime experiences of Japanese-Americans.
"We saw that there were a lot of similarities between what our parents and grandparents have gone through during World War II and what the people at the temporary housing in Tohoku are experiencing now in terms of restricted housing situations, uncertainty about the future and dramatic changes in lifestyle," director Dianne Fukami said.
The film, "Stories from Tohoku," tells the struggles of some of the victims of the megaquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis that wreaked havoc on the region and links them with the wartime experiences and insights of Japanese-Americans, including students who visited the disaster-hit areas to learn more about how the tragedy affected the land of their ancestry.