LWIF EP34: 花は咲く(Flowers Will Bloom) Japanese Tōhoku Earthquake Song

On March 11, 2011, the Tōhoku region of Japan had a massive earthquake and tsunami. The song 花は咲く(Flowers Will Bloom) was created to commemorate the tragedy. You can purchase the song and all royalties will be donated to the recovery effort.   From the NHK (Japan’s national public broadcaster) site: NHK produced the song “Hana wa Saku” (Flowers Will Bloom) to build public support for the 3.11 disaster recovery efforts. It is also the theme song of the TOMORROW series of TV documentaries produced by NHK’s Great East Japan Earthquake Project. The song’s composer, lyricist, and singers of the original Japanese recording all have strong ties to the region affected by the disaster. The lyrics are a message from those who lost their lives to the people they left behind. Song’s lyrics are by Iwai Shunji and the music is by Kanno Yoko

Our Story

It was night time in Vancouver and I received a message from a friend asking if our family in Japan was ok. Luckily for us they were, as they lived in Tokyo. However, the railways were suspended for a time, so my brother-in-law couldn’t immediately get back to his family. Many other families were not so fortunate. The video of the 花は咲く(hana wa saku) song came about accidentally. At school, all the kids learned this song and performed it, so I would always hear the kids singing it at home. I had no clue what this song was about until today, when I was talking with Aiko about what song to sing, and realized that this was the song commemorating the earthquake that happened exactly five years ago. Aiko was nervous singing the song by herself (and Shin was a bit too jumpy to record), so yes, that’s my wife (Aiko’s mother) singing with her.