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It’s been two years and eight months since the earthquake and tsunami struck Tohoku, Japan on March 11, 2011. The affected areas still face various problems, but the victims and volunteers continue to work hard to aid in the recovery.
To offer them support, a group has been formed called “Japan Support Project/Nico Co. Ltd.” With the idea of “restoring the hearts” of the victims, the goal of the group is to not only provide monetary donations, but to “bring even just a little smile to the faces of those affected by the disaster.” The first part of the project involves the production and traveling exhibition of “support flags.” The flags feature illustrations from around 40 well-known manga artists and illustrators such as Yudetamago, Masashi Ueda, Kia Asamiya, and Mamoru Yokota, and also include messages of support to the victims.
The support flags were revealed at Machi Asobi Vol. 11 in Tokushima Prefecture on Oct. 12, which also included displays of the original artwork for the flags, as well as a drawing and newspaper articles from the Tohoku region. The drawing was a large 2.2-meter tall and 3-meter wide illustration used in another victim support event by George Morikawa of Hajime no Ippo and Keishu Ando of Hentai Kamen that also included illustrations from several other artists.
The Machi Asobi exhibition was planned last minute, so there was little promotion, but numerous visitors attended on the day of the event and it ended up being a success.
The roadshow exhibition is scheduled to tour around the country, particularly in Tohoku. The locations scheduled as of November are Toho Bank headquarters from Monday, Dec. 2 to Friday, Dec. 6, Fukushima Cultural Center’s “Fukushima Dream Christmas” on Tuesday, Dec. 24, and Corasse Fukushima from Feb. 19-22, 2014. We hope you can attend one of these locations and contribute your support to the victims.
This is a Tokyo Otaku Mode original article.
