Three years ago, I walked around Shinjuku at Tokyo. I had not yet obtained informal decision from current company for which I now work. So I walked around Shinjuku for job hunting as pre-graduate student called “Shukatsu-sei” in Japanese.

First I wondered what happened. Then I escaped from the building shook violently. In spite of the pleasant friday always, those who were enjoying before the weekend were not the same to the ones of ordinary day. 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami struck Japan, my homeland.


All media in Japan are filled with the memorial of that disaster today. They said “Never forget that day” or “Hang over the memory to the next generation”. These real intentions seem to me as the power that does not allow me to forget the grief of that day. Of course from the point of view of disaster prevention, information obtained through such misery disaster has to be kept in our society. But all needed to be kept for the future are concrete data, aren’t it?

I think grief doesn’t help us recovering from the mental injury completely. Furthermore, it is infectious to all over our country. So this anniversary compelled us be in deep sorrow. Never allows us to laugh, smile and joy. Of course I understand that the victims cannot avoid sinking to sorrow. But is this emotion need to be spread through radio, TV and internet? If anything, it is better to make them smile to recovering from deep sorrow as much as possible.

It is very important for progressing to the future to laugh. Above all recovering from this cruel disaster. As well as grief, a smile is also infectious. It has the power of making our country better place for the future. So I want to spread smile rather than grief.

The media might has the intention of keeping the memory in order to develop the disaster prevention system or making people keep doing support affected area for a long time. I agree with this attempt somewhat because all people tend to forget anything. But all what is necessary for developing disaster prevention system to keep might concrete data obtained from the situation of those days, isn’t it?

How high the tsunami was?

How many building were collapsed by quake?

What kind of resources became a shortage just after the disaster?

Which nuclear reactor was more fault-torerant, BWR or PWR?

These data can be used for making the scheme to stand up to the disaster that has same scale to 3.11. Such research is now ongoing and will be kept going. These big data should be stored in the reusable state and be opened to all people who are not affected by this disaster. So keep data in your mind not grief. Whole my country should turn toward the bright future where all people are smile. I think this future is not what comes to us as the result of all recovery process, but it exists on the way to the future. So it is now. Smile is not what came to us someday but what should be kept spreading whole my country today. So it is now.

Three years has passed after that 3.11 earthquake. It is the time to forget all grief from our heart. What should be kept in our heart is only data. With these practical data, we can construct the country that is unafraid of next disaster which might come to our homeland again. Let’s spread these knowledge all over the world. Disasters occur on a daily basis. While I do it this way, People affected by misery disasters currently are seeking these knowledge today. This is urgent. We have no time to spread grief and weaken our life force.

Forget grief, Keep data.

Our country surely gets better with smile. Our world surely gets better with smile.