Shun Kanda and Matthew Bunza speak at Columbia University / Barnard College in New York

On the 2nd anniversary of the Great Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, MIT Japan 3.11 Initiative director Shun Kanda, along with Matthew Bunza (Lecturer in Architecture at MIT) took part in a symposium at Columbia University / Barnard College entitled, “The Great East Japan Earthquake: Creative Responses & Social Imagination.”

Great East Japan Earthquake March 10, 2013 Symposium, Part 2 of 8 – Matthew Bunza & Shun Kanda (MIT) – YouTube

Alongside other speakers such as Chim↑Pom, Jake Price, Shimpei Takeda, Yuhei Suzuki, Alisa Prager, Kirsten Homma, Susan J. Onuma, Dr. Robert Yanagisawa, and Dr. Shunichi Homma; the symposium highlighting the diverse ongoing efforts of the respective speakers, asked questions about role of creative response, and reminded us all of the enormity of the work still left to be done in Tohoku.

Special thanks to Daiyu Suzuki, Nat Andreini, and the Consortium for Japan Relief for making the event possible.

More info can be found at:

About the Symposium | NYJAPAN311 | Consortium for Japan Relief

Event // James Wescoat and Shun Kanda speak at MIT

This is a reminder of an event not to be missed: Professors James Wescoat and Shun Kanda will be sharing today (Monday the 14th) about the Japan 3/11 Initiative as part of MIT’s Art, Culture, and Technology lecture series.  Details below, and hope to see you there!

Monday, November 14 at 7:00 PM
James Wescoat & Shun Kanda
MIT Japan 3/11 Initiative
Bartos Theater at MIT, Wiesner Building (E15), Lower Level Continue reading

Excerpt from Minami-Sanriku documentary

During this summer’s workshop, Jegen Vincent de Paul and Shun Kanda conducted a series of interviews in Minami-Sanriku with the help of the Japanese filmmaker and translator Takaharu Saito.

Watch an excerpt of interviews from “Minami-Sanriku: An Archaeology of People and Place” below:

Event // Profs. Wescoat + Kanda in Fall ACT lecture series

Mark your calendars!  Professors James Wescoat and Shun Kanda will be speaking on November 14th at MIT about the Japan 3/11 Initiative in the Institute’s Art, Culture, and Technology fall lecture series entitled “Zones of Emergency: Artistic Interventions – Creative Responses to Conflict & Crisis.”  Collaborator Jegen Vincent de Paul will act as respondent.

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“Let’s not make Japan yesterday’s news.”

Quote

Brookline philanthropist Atsuko Toko Fish takes action to help her native Japan through activism and generous donations to the Japanese Disaster Relief Fund of Boston.  Her story is featured in the Boston Globe here.

The Initiative is a grateful recipient of a portion of Fish’s generous gift.

MIT ILP feature on post-quake planning

MIT Japan 3/11 Initiative Raising Funds — and Consciousness — for Post-Quake Disaster Resiliency Planning

“In addition to the immediate social need for a memorial community center, our underlying aim is to create a more holistic approach to disaster relief planning and disaster-resilient design that isn’t quite embedded in Japan yet. They already have great expertise in individual disciplines such as disaster relief, seismography, engineering, medical technology, and more. We see our role as finding practices and processes that integrate all of those areas for better-informed reconstruction efforts as well as more effective responses to disasters by future generations.”

// Shun Kanda, quoted by William Manning in the MIT Industrial Liaison Program (ILP) Institute Insider (July 15, 2011)

Read more here.