Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on June 2012

Ask any Japanese person, and they will tell you the one indispensable part of summer is the nighttime firework displays, preferably watched in yukata. But what happened in towns which canceled their planned festivals after the 3/11 disasters? This question motivated young company employee Yoshitake Takada, who started the Light Up Nippon Project, aiming to “cheer up Tohoku and Japan with fireworks.” On August 11, the five-month anniversary of the disaster, colorful displays lit up ten tsunami-hit cities to commemorate the lost and give hope to survivors. Meanwhile, photographer and filmmaker Kensaku Kakimoto filmed all the blood, sweat and tears that made the project a success, as well as shooting the colorful skies. Working with 900 hours of raw footage, Kakimoto edited a documentary with the stated message that disaster-affected folk “don’t have to keep hanging their heads to the ground.” Actress Hitomi Kuroki narrates the film, and Grammy-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto provides the soundtrack.

Light Up Nippon streams online at http://theatre-tokyo.com, Jun 30-Jul 6, and at Shinjuku Wald 9 (3-1-26 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku; www.wald9.com), July 7-20. http://lightupnippon.jp