Eleven high school students from a Hawaii community devastated by wildfires last August have learned about postdisaster reconstruction during a weeklong visit to northeastern Japan areas hit hard by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.
The students from Lahaina, the area most heavily damaged by the wildfires, which left about 100 people dead, visited four municipalities in Miyagi Prefecture — Higashimatsushima, Ishinomaki, Matsushima and Onagawa — from March 18 to Sunday.
They took part in workshops on topics such as forest conservation and the cultivation of seaweed, which has recovered from damage during the March 2011 disaster, and interacted with local fishers and youths, vowing to make contributions to rebuilding their own community.