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Nobuyuki Tsujii - Elegy for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami
Identifier
025525
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
Microphthalmia in newborns is caused sometimes by viruses, sometimes by toxins and heavy metals, and sometimes by radiation such as that caused by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster (福島第一原子力発電所事故? an energy accident at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima, initiated primarily by the tsunami following the Tōhoku earthquake on 11 March 2011.
Immediately after the earthquake, the active reactors automatically shut down their sustained fission reactions. However, the tsunami disabled the emergency generators that would have provided power to control and operate the pumps necessary to cool the reactors. The insufficient cooling led to three nuclear meltdowns, hydrogen-air chemical explosions, and the release of radioactive material in Units 1, 2 and 3 from 12 March to 15 March. Loss of cooling also caused the pool for storing spent fuel from Reactor 4 to overheat on 15 March due to the decay heat from the fuel rods.
On 5 July 2012, the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (NAIIC) found that the causes of the accident had been foreseeable, and that the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), had failed to meet basic safety requirements such as risk assessment, preparing for containing collateral damage, and developing evacuation plans. On 12 October 2012, TEPCO admitted for the first time that it had failed to take necessary measures for fear of inviting lawsuits or protests against its nuclear plants. The Fukushima disaster was the most significant nuclear incident since April 26, 1986 the Chernobyl disaster and the second disaster to be given the Level 7 event classification of the International Nuclear Event Scale.
Man took Tsujii's eyes, but God has given him music, and has put him in touch with something more sublime.
A description of the experience
Nobuyuki Tsujii: Elegy for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami
The one most touching and most heart rending composition that he has written and performed is the "Elegy for the Victims of the Tsunami of March 11, 2011 in Japan". When he played this piece at Carnegie Hall, he was visibly moved almost to tears.
A 2014 film Touching the Sound, by Peter Rosen, documents Tsujii's life from birth to his 2011 Carnegie Hall debut, including footage of his visit to the region in Japan that suffered the devastating aftermath of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.