The Tōhoku based artist asari has shared her latest creation with us at Aid For Japan. The song is quite appropriately called ‘Share’ and contains all the hope, sadness and anxieties of someone who survived the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011. Working together with asari, Aid for Japan are putting out a call for anyone who survived the Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami to get in touch and contribute their own videos, which will become part of a music video for the song.
asari is a special breed of artist who believes that music can help share the burden of loss and grief that others have felt. Aid For Japan and asari have worked together to translate her song lyrics into English, so that a whole new audience can listen and understand the song’s true meaning. You can listen to the song with lyrics in English and Japanese here:
asari wrote ‘Share’ to express how she still felt inexplicable sorrow for the losses incurred from the 2011 disaster:
Through working with school students on the production of the song ‘Share’, I was moved to learn that many of them were struggling with the responsibility to tell their stories, and, in spite of these uncomfortable feelings, continue to face up to the disaster and participate in disaster prevention activities.
I myself am a survivor of the Great East Japan Earthquake. I have often found myself wondering if I could share my thoughts and feelings with others, to do something to lighten their hearts and offer encouragement. I feel very grateful to the students for allowing me to get back in touch with this feeling.
This is why she published ‘Share’ without taking out any copyright. With the intention that as many people as possible can re-create her song, adapt the score and share the meaning of the lyrics, even beyond Japan.
Let’s make a music video!
If you (or anyone you know) have survived the Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami disaster and would like to contribute to the music video, then please get in touch. Your collaboration will help bring asari’s song Share to a wider English-speaking audience. Hopefully, it will help you feel part of something bigger and allow for you to share the burden of your grief.
Please send us any video footage we can use to create a music video for the song Share.
- You can film it on your camera phone
- It can be as long as you like, but as the song is only five minutes long videos may be trimmed down
- It can be videos of anything, however, try and keep in mind the theme of the song Share. What does it remind you of? How does the song make you feel? Is there anything about your survival that you would like to share?
Once you have filmed your videos, please send them to us by e-mail to info @ aidforjapan . co . uk Please include your name and contact information, however you can also remain anonymous if you so wish. Once the music video is finished it will be published on YouTube.
Thank you and please share this project around!
Japanese language version of this project can be found here: www.aidforjapan.co.uk/jp/asari
You can buy copies of asari’s music from her shop here: https://asarishop.official.ec/
