CONNECTING THE LAST MILE THE ROLE OF COMMUNICATIONS IN THE GREAT EAST JAPAN EARTHQUAKE
COMMUNITY PRINTING
CASE STUDY #1: ISHINOMAKI, MIYAGI “When we went to the evacuation centres with the newspapers, big crowds gathered. People were so hungry for information we could barely stick the paper on the wall. If there is no information after a disaster people become even more stressed and anxious. Old media works best in emergencies.” H I R O Y U K I TA K E U C H I , E D I T O R , H I B I S H I M B U N
The Hibi Shimbun, or Daily Newspaper, is a wellestablished local newspaper in the Ishinomaki area. Before the disaster, it regularly sold 14,000 papers a day. But the tsunami flooded the company’s offices, breaking the printer and cutting off power. The paper’s six reporters immediately began to gather information from the city hall and by moving around on foot.
Hiroyuki Takeuchi, Editor, Hibi Shimbun, November 2012. LOIS APPLEBY
The day after the earthquake, reporters handwrote headlines on a giant piece of paper. This was duplicated six times by hand, then taped to the walls in five evacuation centres and on one shop door. From March 12 to March 17, these newspapers were handwritten daily. They answered survivors’ most urgent questions. People were cold and hungry so the reporters wrote about the status of power and water supplies, hot food distribution and rescue efforts. The paper also advised locals to listen to Radio Ishinomaki for official notices about the dead and missing. These handwritten newspapers also dispelled rumours with a feature called “Act on the Facts”. During their work, the reporters realised that people outside evacuation centres were in an information blackout and that they hadn’t received aid for almost a month. They relayed these needs to city hall and to the local volunteer centre.
Hiroyuki Takeuchi, Editor, Hibi Shimbun, November 2012. HIBI SHIMBUN
After the sixth paper was handmade, a home printer and power source was found. After this 700 newspapers were printed on A4 and distributed around the city for the next month or so. Almost two years after the disaster, the newspaper continues to cover the recovery and reconstruction almost daily. Their “wall papers” are still on display for the public to see.
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