When Disaster Recovery Listens to Those It's Intended For

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JAPAN Forward launched its "Ignite" series of essays in English to directly share Japanese students' voices with their global peers. Otaru University of Commerce student Momoka Tsukada, from Hokkaido, is one. As part of the US-Japan Council's TOMODACHI Initiative, Tsukada and other participants traveled to the region devastated by the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake on March 14-15, 2026. Building on her earlier experience in the TOMODACHI Toshizo Watanabe Leadership Program 2022, she considers the process of disaster recovery from the perspective of who it is for.

The TOMODACHI Initiative is a private-public partnership between the US Embassy Tokyo and the US-Japan Council. Launched in the wake of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, it focuses on developing next-generation leaders in Japan and the United States. This particular Noto Peninsula project was organized by the TOMODACHI Regional Representative of the Chubu-Hokuriku Region, Shiori Sata. Funding was provided by Prudential and Amazon.

Tsukada's essay is the eighth submission among participants in the TOMODACHI 2026 Noto Peninsula project and the 47th essay in the Ignite series. The author brings into focus the question of "who" the recovery process is for and challenges us to think about how it can be better, so let's listen.

Forty-seventh in the Series, 'Ignite'

By Momoka Tsukada
Essay on the TOMODACHI Initiative Noto Peninsula Project

I participated in the TOMODACHI Toshizo Watanabe Leadership Program 2022 and studied in Los Angeles for 11 days. The reason why I decided to join this program was that I wanted to see the unknown world beyond Japan. I had expectations and hopes before going to LA. However, what I encountered was not only bright experiences, but also the long, dark, and heavy history behind how Japanese Americans (Nikkei) established their rights in the United States.

On the other hand, I also came to see the bond between Japanese and Japanese Americans. Japanese Americans have worked to preserve and pass on their history by establishing institutions such as the Japanese American Museum. Within these efforts, I also found their smiles and hopes.

Likewise, the TOMODACHI Initiative itself was born out of Operation TOMODACHI following 3.11, the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. It was rooted in the spirit of support and the relationship between the United States and Japan. Through this study abroad experience, I learned the value of “bond” and began to aspire to become someone who creates bonds around TOMODACHI alumni.

Since then, I have been involved in the alumni community in my hometown, Hokkaido, getting to know many alumni and joining in various alumni programs. And one program changed my thoughts on post-disaster recovery. The program was TOMODACHI Leadership Academy 2.0, held in Onagawa, Tohoku, and Tokyo last year. I learned how post-disaster recovery goes on, especially about 3.11, firsthand for the first time, and people in Onagawa taught me that post-disaster recovery is not about restoring things to their daily lives before the disaster happened, but about creating a new culture. This program inspired me to participate in the Noto Visit 2026 program.

Recovery for Whom?

What made me reflect the most during this program was the question: for whom does recovery exist, and where is it heading?

*This hot spring inn is having difficulty reopening due to the damage it suffered in the Noto earthquake. (©Momoko Tsukada)*

The Japanese government aims to restore things as quickly as possible, the municipality prioritizes the use of national subsidies, and local residents focus on rebuilding their daily lives. Although everyone shares the same goal of returning to normal life, differences in priorities and interests gradually create gaps between them.

One of the most striking voices I heard from local residents was, “We wish the recovery could have been slower.” In the terraced rice fields (Senmaida) that had been taken care of and maintained by local farmers’ hands, large construction machines were introduced in the name of “rapid recovery.” However, can this truly be called “recovery”?

The residents had managed these fields through communication with the weather and nature. The curves of Senmaida, shaped by human hands, were replaced by straight lines created by machines. To those outside the disaster, including myself, the recovery may appear as progress. However, for the local residents, it is the loss of culture.

Listening to Local Voices

This program reminds me of the importance of “bond,” which I learned in 2022 in LA. The local people and university students who were studying abroad in Noto, whom I met, were not doing it “for recovery.” Instead, they valued bonds born from encounters and conversations with local residents, and they worked to bring those voices into reality. For example, organizing festivals or establishing co-working spaces. I believe this represents a way of recovery that does not disregard anyone’s voices.

Post-disaster recovery is not merely restoration. I would like to define it as about creating energy in the community equal to or even greater than before the disaster.

*A scene from the panel discussion in Noto. (©Momoko Tsukada)*

Looking ahead, I aim to reduce the gender gap in Hokkaido, which remains one of the lowest-ranked regions in Japan, by encouraging women’s empowerment through my actions, career, and the relationships I build. I realized that this goal is similar to post-disaster recovery ー it is about creating a new culture, ensuring that no one’s voice is silenced, and revitalizing the community beyond its previous state.

As a first step, I have been reaching out face-to-face to potential alumni in Hokkaido who have participated in the TOMODACHI Program and are not yet part of the alumni community, inviting them to join TOMODACHI alumni in Hokkaido and expanding the network. By fostering this community, I believe more alumni will connect, enhance within a complex network of relationships, and collaboratively create new value.

About the Author

Momoko Tsukada, born in Sapporo, is a Hokkaido native. She was a first-year student in the Faculty of Commerce at Otaru University of Commerce when she visited Noto and wrote this essay. In 2022, during her second year of high school, Tsukada participated in the TOMODACHI Toshizo Watanabe Leadership Program and studied abroad in Los Angeles for two weeks. Later, in 2024, she studied abroad in Australia for seven months through Otaru University of Commerce's gap year program.