Strong in the Rain; Surviving Japan's Earthquake, Tsunami, and Fukushima Nuclear Disaster

By Lucy Birmingham and David McNeill

Blending history, science, and gripping storytelling, Strong in the Rain brings the 9.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Japan in 2011 and its immediate aftermath to life through the eyes of the men and women who experienced it. Following the narratives of six individuals, the book traces the shape of a disaster and the heroics it prompted, including that of David Chumreonlert, a Texan with Thai roots, trapped in his school's gymnasium with hundreds of students and teachers as it begins to flood, and Taro Watanabe, who thought nothing of returning to the Fukushima plant to fight the nuclear disaster, despite the effects that he knew would stay with him for the rest of his life. This is a beautifully written and moving account of how the Japanese experienced one of the worst earthquakes in history and endured its horrific consequences. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
• Release date: Oct 30, 2012
• ISBN: 9780230341869

Lucy Birmingham

Lucy Birmingham is Time magazine’s Tokyo-based reporter and covered the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis. She is the co-author of Strong in the Rain. Since coming to Japan in the mid-1980s, her articles have appeared in Bloomberg News, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, and The Boston Globe. She is also an editor and scriptwriter for NHK, Japan’s national television and radio broadcaster. A board member of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan, she lives in Tokyo.

Reviews for Strong in the Rain; Surviving Japan's Earthquake, Tsunami, and Fukushima Nuclear Disaster

[whisper1_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm, not sure what to say about this book. There are many positive things, and yet, it seems as though it is very disjointed. Consistently while reading, I had to go back a few pages to find a link. Two writers were trying to tell a story and yet the tapestry wasn't woven in a manner that made a solid piece of art.The positive thing about this book is that the authors did a credible job of adequately portraying the terror felt when a level nine earthquake occurred primarily in the northern regions of Japan on March 11, 2011. The earthquake was followed by a tsunami with 50 foot waves that far surpassed any walls previously built to abutt the sheer power of the water. And then, the unstoppable triple event occurred when Daiichi's nuclear power plant went into meltdown. Located near the epicenter of the earthquake, automatically, pipes ripped apart, the power failed, and all too soon, the rods were overheated as the electricity in the plant was non existent. I feel as though the authors tried to cover too much territory. Yet, I came to the end of the book knowing it was a credible work. Perhaps there simply were too many things that occurred to enable a straight path to the story.The authors paint a wonderful portrayal of a strong and caring people who sustained so very much in a short period of time. The sense of camaraderie and otherness is what held and helped the people survive. The title of the book is from a poem of the same name written by Miyazawa Kenji. To be strong in the rain is a solid and positive attribute which enabled the country most impacted to come together in a caring of others, and a sense that tomorrow just might be better.

[gma2lana · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I felt that this book was a bit boring and probably could have been written better.This book was from early reviewers. *

[rchurch_19 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Strong In The Rain offers a great deal of information in two-hundred pages. It did feel like it was written in a disjointed manner with repetitive sentences and no real flow to it. It jumps from science, to politics, to the human side of this disaster rather haphazardly. I would rather see two separate books, one based on the science, the other on the survivor's stories. The authors missed a chance to write a powerful narrative and settled for a diluted version.

[loafhunter13 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

2011 saw a trio of massive disasters strike Japan with a 9.0 earthquake followed by a colossal tsunami, both of which contributed to a nuclear meltdown at one of the country's many nuclear power plans. Strong in the Rain attempts to document the events as experienced by the people living in the affected areas as well as the population as a while. The authors are two experienced foreign journalists based in Japan.Other reviewers have pointed to the uneven perspective and direction of the text and I am inclined to agree. With two authors, even similarly located, the problem of speaking with a unified voice is noticeable. The writing styles are different and in several instances, sentences or sentiments are repeated. The chapters provide a loose structure. The interviews and sources cited are strong and provide a good level of depth to the prose. The authors do seem to switch back and forth between exploring their topic materials and simply documenting it which lessons the impact of the book. They also attempt to cover media, political, environmental, and societal elements, all of them lightly in order to keep the text introductory, and all suffer slightly as a result. I can appreciate the desire to get the Japanese citizens' message out especially in light of the nature of Japanese media and reporting, but the opportunity to real dig deep into serious topics presented by the disaster are passed over. The true strength of the book besides the authors' knowledge of Japan is the power of the story and lives involved. As noted, the interviews and sources used in the book put faces on the story as well as the success of Japan in dealing with these events. The power of community and human goodwill are the stars and while the extent of the disaster is hard to comprehend, knowing that so many were undeterred is inspirational.

[swivelgal · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to lovers of non-fiction. Even though I followed the coverage of the trifecta disasters, this book provided a new perspective. I had no idea that the international community's perspective would be different from those on the ground.

[loraineo_8 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The personal stories of individuals who survived the earthquakes, tsunami and nuclear disasters in Japan. Real life horror. Powerful, painful book to read. Very informative.

[mirrani_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I got Strong in the Rain through the Librarything Early Reviewer program because I was interested in understanding the experience of what the people of Japan had gone through when the earthquake and tsunami hit. It is human nature to want to absorb as much information on a disaster as is possible, in part so that you can prevent it from happening again, and in part because of the compassion we hold for others. I knew people in the country at the time and this book helped me to understand the feelings and experiences that those people went through, in a way that I would not have been able to experience otherwise.There is actually very little about the earthquake and tsunami. Most of the book covers the nuclear disaster that follows and tries to point fingers without pointing fingers, all the while explaining why things happened the way they did and why they were unavoidable. It sounds like more to take in than it actually was. The book is ordered well and is not too disaster or fact driven. Nothing feels overwhelming or overpowering and the stories of the survivors are told in a very calm, yet meaningful way.Still, I wasn't really sure how to feel about this book until I got to the description farther in about the grieving process in Japanese culture. Once I saw the book in that light, I was very comfortable with the way it was written. In fact, I can almost certainly say that if the goal was to write the book in a style that reflected that grieving process within the culture of Japan, the writers certainly hit the mark. When you have completed the book and have a chance to take it all in as a whole entity, I think you will realize it has really affected you or touched you in a way you hadn't expected.

[buchowl · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Human nature, at its most unedited, will surprise you.Calamity has a way of sweeping away all petty concerns and a person's true nature has no choice but to emerge. Sometimes this nature expresses itself in less than noble ways. But more often as not you hear stories of courage, self-sacrifice, and determination that are nothing short of astonishing. These are the stories authors Lucy Birmingham and David McNeill tell of the 2011 Japanese earthquake/tsunami/nuclear meltdown. Six ordinary, everyday people - a teacher, a school cafeteria worker, a fisherman, a worker at the Fukushima power plant and a student - put names and faces to a disaster that is incomprehensible in its scope.This is a book heartwrenching in its power. One cannot help but empathize with these people and the horrors they undergo. Yet you also come away from this book with a renewed faith in humanity and its quest for goodness and for survival. While the book did not politicize, how government and business reacted to the disaster makes this a cautionary tale of the highest degree. Beautifully told and masterfully tied together, I would recommend this book highly for anyone but espeically to those interested in the history of this disaster, anyone with an interest in "green" energy, or anyone interested in the Japanese people and their culture.

[akreese · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In March of 2011 a 9.0 earthquake struck Japan, followed shortly thereafter by a devastating Tsunami. These set in motion the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

In Strong in the Rain the authors tell the stories of six survivors from areas affected by the disasters. Their stories are written in the third person, and even with the occasional historical background information (how the communities planned, built and trained for tsunamis for example), the real-life horrors that they faced make the tension palpable.

Even though I had followed the news broadcasts closely for several days when the events were happening, and had seen the horrific tsunami videos; these close-up personal stories had more long-term impact on me than aerial footage and sound bites from the news.

Some other topics which are brought to the readers attention:

The social impact of resettling families; breaking up entire communities so that people no longer have a social support network.
The actions of the nuclear power company, which seem to be less than ethical in retrospect.
Options for rebuilding communities on higher ground or in ways that would withstand future tsunamis.
Speculations about long-term impacts of the meltdown.

Strong in the Rain is one of the best nonfiction books I have read this year. It has a good balance between personal accounts of survival and factual background information. I highly recommend it to anyone who has an interest in natural disasters and/or the dangers of nuclear power.

*I received a free copy of this book via Goodreads First Reads.

[oberon_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Strong in the Rain takes its name from a poem by Miyazawa Kenji. The poem, according to the authors, is in praise of endurance. It is this endurance that is sorely tested by the triple disasters of earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown.Strong in the Rain seeks to tell the stories of several ordinary Japanese and their experiences in the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 and the tsunami and meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant that followed.As someone who followed the news of the earthquake very closely, Strong in the Rain did not add much new about the earthquake or the tsunami (although a story of surviving the flooding inside school gymnasium is well told and scary). To me, the new information contained in the book deal with the Fukushima meltdown. Specifically, the authors discuss not only the personal impact of those displaced by the meltdown but also discuss at length the level of confusion and the amount of deliberate misinformation that was provided to the public. Reading Strong in the Rain, one gets the very real sense that Tokyo itself hung in the balance during the worst of the crisis. Ultimately, I think the book suffers a bit from the narrative structure used by its authors. The authors switch back and forth between personal accounts and general information about the disasters. The story also shifts geographically between different places affected by the triple disasters. As a result, the readers ends up moving back and forth between different narrative styles, chronologies, characters and geographies. This is not to say that the book is to confusing but I did find that the book lost some of its narrative force.An interesting book and worth the read but one that I feel could have been better.

[twolfe360 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Strong in the Rain by Lucy Birminghan and David McNeill is a balanced chronicle of the March 11, 2011 earthquake in Japan and the subsequent disasters that occurred due to the earthquake. It is a chronicle of people not of science so it does not go into detail over the dynamics of earthquakes, tsunamis or nuclear meltdowns. Nor does if focus on one area or a small group of affected people. Basically it is an overview of the events in light of Japanese culture. Although there is a bit of finger pointing over the nuclear disaster, the authors try to convey to the reader, why such decisions would be made. I found it to be interesting more like an expanded magazine article though instead of an in depth study. I wouldn't say the book was boring as one reviewer has but I wouldn't claim that it has an earth shattering revelations either. As an human interest piece the book works as an in depth chronicle of the earthquake, tsunami or nuclear disaster it really doesn't.

[phoenixterran · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lucy Birmingham and David McNeill's Strong in the Rain: Surviving Japan's Earthquake, Tsunami, and Fukushima Nuclear Disaster was initially released as a hardcover volume by Palgrave Macmillan in 2012, a little more than a year and a half after the country's threefold crisis that began on March 11, 2011. Both Birmingham and McNeill were established correspondents based in Tokyo who covered the March 2011 disaster--Birmingham writing for Time and McNeill writing for The Independent, Irish Times, and The Chronicle of Higher Education. Strong in the Rain, deriving its title from a poem by Kenji Miyazawa which became something of an anthem for the country and the disaster's survivors, was later released as a trade paperback in 2014. It was this edition that I had the pleasure of receiving for review through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program. I had heard very good things about the original release of Strong in the Rain and so was looking forward to finally reading the work.On March 11, 2011 an extraordinarily powerful earthquake occurred off of the northeast coast of Japan. Later estimated to have registered at at least a magnitude of 9.0, the earthquake was extremely violent. It moved the main island of Japan as much as eight feet in some areas and shifted the Earth's axis. Aftershocks from the quake continued to be felt years later. However, the tsunami that was triggered by the earthquake accounts for much of the immediate damage associated with the March 2011 disaster. It wiped out entire communities along the coast and reached much further inland than anticipated. Japan has been subject to massive earthquakes and tsunami in the past, but what made the events of March 2011 particularly devastating was the resulting meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, culminating in one of the world's worst nuclear crises. Japan's recovery continues to this day; the country will have to deal with the impacts of the disaster for years to come.Strong in the Rain is an excellent volume touching on many different parts of the March 2011 disaster. It's written in an incredibly engaging manner but without sensationalizing the subject matter. Birmingham and McNeill incorporate their own personal experiences and have also conducted a great deal of research and investigative journalism. The narrative of what happened during and after the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster relies heavily on their interviews with six survivors: Katsunobu Sakurai, mayor of the coastal city of Minamisoma, who would become one of the most publicly recognized figures following the disaster; Kai Watanabe, a pseudonym of one of the maintenance workers at the Fukushima plant; Yoshio Ichida, a fisherman from Soma; David Chumreonlert, an American elementary school English teacher in Higashi-Matsushima; Setsuko Uwabe, a cook at a public nursery school; and Toru Saito, a recent high school graduate who was looking forward to attending Tohoku University that following April.In addition to the personal accounts of the events surrounding Japan's threefold disaster, Strong in the Rain also provides a scientific, historic, and cultural context for the catastrophe. The volume includes charts, maps, photographs, as well as a helpful index. Told in ten chapters (in addition to a prologue and epilogue), Strong in the Rain addresses many of the aspects and complexities of the March 2011 disaster: the quake, tsunami, and nuclear crisis themselves, but also the failure of the floodgates and other protective measures, the reaction of the imperial family, how news coverage was handled domestically and by the international media, the evacuation of foreign citizens, rescue and recovery efforts, how survivors dealt with the tragedy and death tolls, and the spirit and resilience of those living in the affected Tohoku region. Strong in the Rain forms a comprehensive overview of the March 2011 disaster and its ongoing effects. Even years after it was initially published, Strong in the Rain remains an approachable and informative work.Experiments in Manga