Tsunami-hit town gets ready to welcome the world

VIDEO SHOWS: FISHERMEN WORKING AT OFINATO PORT / SOUNDBITES FROM FISH QUALITY OFFICER, KO INAGAWA, FISHERMAN, TAKA SHIGIHARA AND MASAAKI KIMURA / MASAAKI KIMURA TALKING ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCE OF SURVIVING EARTHQUAKE

SHOWS: OFUNATO, JAPAN (SEPTEMBER 24, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

1. VARIOUS OF MACKEREL FISHING BOAT APPROACHING OFUNATO PORT

2. FISHERMEN TALKING ON BOARD

3. FISHERMEN AND MARKET STAFF UNLOADING FISH

4. FISHERMAN SCOOPING THE FISH OUT OF SEAWATER BATH ON BOAT

5. VARIOUS OF FISH NET LIFTING FISH

6. FISHNET UNLOADING FISH TO PLASTIC CONTAINER

7. MARKET STAFF CHECKING FISH

8. (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) FISH QUALITY CHECK OFFICER, KO INAGAWA , 71 SAYING:

"I was cleaning isada fish when the earthquake happened. The pier shook so strongly that I was having difficulty standing up. The ship captain said there is a tsunami approaching so I should leave. I escaped to the rail track on high ground by car. I thought it would be safe enough but then within a moment the water came as near as the rear of my car so I escaped further up the ground where a convenience store was."

9. WHOLESALERS GATHERING AROUND FISHING BOAT

10. VARIOUS OF FISH NET RELEASING FISH TO CONTAINERS / FISHERMAN, TAKA SHIGIHARA

11. (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) FISH QUALITY CHECK OFFICER, KO INAGAWA , 71 SAYING:

"Yeah, I heard that we lost two boatloads of fishermen out in the sea. They were too late to escape."

12. FISHERMEN WORKING ON FISHING BOAT

13. FISHERMAN MANOUVERING LEVERS OF FISH CRANE

14. (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) FISHERMAN, TAKA SHIGIHARA, 65, WHO WAS NEAR FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR REACTOR WHEN EARTHQUAKE HIT, SAYING:

. "There is nothing 100% safe that humans make. Nothing. Everyone should remember it in the head. Some people are supporting nuclear power… but there is nothing 100% safe which human make."

15. VARIOUS OF WHOLESALERS CHATTING

16. WHOLESALERS LAUGHING

17. VARIOUS OF BOATS ANCHORING AT THE PIER

18. SHIP MAST IN THE SKY

19. VARIOUS OF FISHERMEN SORTING FISH

20. FISH ON CONVEYER

21. FISHERMEN SORTING FISH

22. FRESH FISH FLIPPING IN BASKET

KAMAISHI, JAPAN (SEPTEMBER 24, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

23. VARIOUS OF RUGBY FAN WHO LOST WIFE IN TSUNAMI, MASAAKI KIMURA, DURING INTERVIEW

24. (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) RUGBY FAN WHO LOST WIFE IN TSUNAMI, MASAAKI KIMURA, 63, SAYING:

"(To search my wife and my mother) I walked on rail track. On the rail track, there were sleeper wood and gravel, so it was difficult for me to walk. My boss who was walking with me said he is worried about his wife but he could not leave me alone so he kindly came with me. I said he did not have to, but he came along. Along the rail tracks, it took me about five hours."

25. INTERVIEW UNDERWAY

26. (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) RUGBY FAN WHO LOST WIFE IN TSUNAMI, MASAAKI KIMURA, 63, SAYING:

"It is not exactly where it was, but where the statue (that Kimura built for his wife) is the place the staff room was. I will be sitting just off the spot. But I think it is correct (to say) that I will be sitting close to staff room where she worked."

27. TWO VASES OF FLOWERS AND SHRINE

28. VARIOUS OF FLOWERS IN VASE

29. VARIOUS OF KIMURA MARKING CALENDAR MATCH DAYS IN KAMAISHI

KAMAISHI, IWATE PREFECTURE, JAPAN (FILE - MARCH 11, 2011) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (HANDOUT - MUST COURTESY "JAPAN COAST GUARD." CLEARED FOR INTERNET, MOBILE AND ARCHIVE USES)

30. SEA WATER FLOWING OVER SEA BARRIER

31. COAST GUARD OFFICIALS LOOKING AT TSUNAMI INUNDATING TOWN

32. MORE OF WATER FLOWING OVER SEA BARRIER

33. VESSEL APPROACHING BUILDING WHERE COAST GUARD OFFICIALS ARE EVACUATED

34. MORE OF WATER FLOWING OVER SEA BARRIER

35. VESSEL GROUNDED

KAMAISHI, IWATE PREFECTURE, JAPAN (FILE - MARCH 25, 2011) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

36. DOWNTOWN AREA DAMAGED BY EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI

37. DEBRIS CLEARED FROM STORE FRONT

38. DAMAGED TRAFFIC LIGHTS

39. DESTROYED CAR AMID DEBRIS

40. SIGN (IN BLUE) FOR TSUNAMI EVACUATION ROUTE

41. DEBRIS ALONG DOWNTOWN ROAD

42. DEBRIS

43. PEOPLE WALKING ON CLEARED ROAD

STORY: Fiji's clash with Uruguay on Wednesday (September 25) may seem like just another Rugby World Cup group fixture, but for the people of Kamaishi, where the match will be played, it is an event packed with significance.

The small, rugby-mad town was devastated by the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan's north-eastern coastline on March 11, 2011.

More than 1,000 people were killed or went missing in Kamaishi that day, leaving the community on its knees.

In the aftermath of the disaster, the local club, Kamaishi Seawaves, became a beacon of hope for the town as it gathered around the team and began to rebuild.

After Japan was awarded the rights to host the 2019 World Cup, Kamaishi was chosen as a tournament venue.

Since then, infrastructure projects, including the construction of a new expressway and trainline in the region, have boosted the economy and brought jobs and dynamism to the region.

The Kamaishi Recovery Memorial Stadium was built on the site of schools destroyed by the quake and tsunami, and will play host to the match on Wednesday.

For locals such as 63-year-old Masaaki Kimura, Wednesday's match might just bring a little bit of closure.

Kimura lost his wife, mother and mother-in-law in the tsunami. His wife Takako, whose body has never been found, worked in the elementary school that was completely destroyed in the disaster.

As adults and children fled, Takako stayed.

Kimura still doesn't know why.

Hearing that all those from the school were safe, Kimura, who survived because his office was in a building that didn't collapse, spent five hours searching for his mother.

"I walked along the rail track looking for her," said Kimura, who needs crutches to walk.

"On the rail track, there were sleepers and gravel, so it was difficult for me.

"My boss who was walking with me said he is worried about his wife but he could not leave me alone so he kindly came with me. I said he did not have to, but he came along."

Kimura has had Sept. 25 circled on his calendar all year, and will have a seat in an area near where the school's staff room was located.

That was the last place Takako was seen alive. Kimura says he can imagine himself watching the rugby match with her.

"It is not exactly where it was … I will be sitting just off the spot," he said.

"But I think it is correct (to say) that I will be sitting close to staff room where she worked."

As well as rugby, the region is known for its steel and fishing industries.

The steel industry may be almost completely gone, but there are still plenty of fisherman hunting for the premium produce that ends up on expensive dinner plates down in Tokyo and Osaka.

The port town of Ofunato, just down the coast from Kamaishi, was also badly damaged in the disaster.

Many fishermen were lost, and those that survived are still haunted by that fateful day in March 2011.

"We lost two boatloads of fishermen out in the sea. They were too late to escape," said 71-year-old Ko Inagawa, who still works in Ofunato.

"I was cleaning fish when the earthquake happened. The pier shook so strongly that I was having difficulty standing up.

"I escaped to the rail track on high ground by car. I thought it would be safe enough, but within a moment the water came as near as the rear of my car so I escaped further up."

After the disaster, people in the area take nothing for granted.

"There is nothing 100% safe that humans make. Nothing," said fisherman Taka Shigihara.

"Everyone should remember that."

The new Recovery Memorial Stadium in Kamaishi may not stand forever but tournament organisers and locals alike are hopeful that Wednesday's match can leave a lasting legacy in the small town.

(Production: Andy Ragg)