Man Creating Film on Japanese Village’s Reconstruction after Quakes

May 6, 2018

Nishihara, Kumamoto Pref.- A man is working to create a documentary movie on people in a southwestern Japan village fighting to rebuild their community ravaged by powerful earthquakes about two years ago.

"I want to pass on to future generations (the film on) the efforts by the local people who are struggling to move forward," says 51-year-old video director Rikei Kubo.

He plans to transfer the copyright in the movie to the village of Nishihara in Kumamoto Prefecture for nothing so that it will be utilized widely.

In the village, the death toll from the April 2016 quakes totaled eight, including people who died of indirect causes related to the disaster. Nishihara was one of the areas hit hardest by the temblors that struck the prefecture and other parts of the Kyushu region.

Kubo began to work for Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) after graduating from Kyoto University. But he left the public broadcaster, aiming to work in the movie industry.

After learning film techniques in the United States, Kubo worked at a movie company and produced such films as "Climber's High," which is about a newspaper reporter covering a deadly aircraft crash. Kubo turned freelance in 2010.

During a visit to the village after the quakes, Kubo, a resident in the city of Miyazaki, also southwestern Japan, saw Nishihara municipal government employees working tirelessly for affected residents although their own houses were heavily damaged in the quakes. He also met locals who lost their loved ones in the disaster.

This experience prompted Kubo to create the documentary movie on the Nishihara residents' struggle for postdisaster reconstruction. Kubo says he wants a lot of people to know the village's efforts for revival.

He then visited the village more than 60 times and filmed scenes totaling over 130 hours.

"We've scuffled when we talked over drinks about how to promote reconstruction, and Kubo filmed all of the scenes," says Makoto Yoshii, 48, a Nishihara government employee.

Many major disasters have hit Japan, including the January 1995 earthquake that ravaged the western city of Kobe and surrounding areas, the October 2004 temblor that struck the Chuetsu region in the central prefecture of Niigata, and the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that knocked out the Tohoku northeastern region.

But Kubo points out, "Problems facing affected communities are not the same," while emphasizing that Nishihara's experience would be of help in times of possible future disasters.

To finance the documentary film production, Kubo is soliciting some 4 million yen through crowdfunding, aiming to complete it this summer.

Nishihara Mayor Kazuhiko Hioki, 70, says, "We want to use the movie on various occasions to pass on the memory of the earthquakes to future generations." Jiji Press