https://www.scmp.com/rss/267704/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Christmas Day saw dozens of masked men descend on Futaba, in the northeast of Japan’s main island of Honshu. They moved deliberately along deserted streets, clearing triffid-like undergrowth and preparing to demolish derelict buildings. Their arrival marked the beginning of an estimated four-year government-led project to clean up Futaba, which has succumbed to nature since its residents deserted almost seven years ago. Futaba is one of two towns (the other being neighbouring Okuma) on which... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2130359/fukushima-heroes-both-sides-pacific-still?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2130359/fukushima-heroes-both-sides-pacific-still?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Jan 2018 08:15:15 +0000 It's hard to miss the first completed buildings to appear on Rikuzentakata's weed-infested landscape since the tsunami ripped through the small city in northeastern Japan in March 2011. On the city's deserted coastal plains, a collection of small wooden chalet-like structures, each one painted a different colour of the rainbow, stands out on the desolate terrain. The bungalow village project was the brainchild of Katsutoshi Tomiyama, a former computer systems expert turned jazz cafe proprietor,... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1370486/rainbow-village-emerges-tsunamis-sea-mud-rikuzentakata-japan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1370486/rainbow-village-emerges-tsunamis-sea-mud-rikuzentakata-japan?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Dec 2013 21:26:20 +0000