As part of the "Fukushima Hamadori Film, Art and Culture Project" promoted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, an exhibition event showcasing the new attractions of the Hamadori region of Fukushima Prefecture, "Art & Imagination from FUKUSHIMA - The Beginnings of Creation in Fukushima Hamadori," will be held at Shibuya Hikarie 8/COURT from Wednesday, March 11th to Sunday, March 15th, 2026.

Focusing on the creative process: A place of expression that intersects with the local community

Artist Shinji Mitsuzuka stayed in Minamisoma and created "The Process of Incommunicable Memory."

This project introduces the current state of Hamadori, where a wide variety of creative activities are expanding after the recovery from the earthquake, through the works and stories of artists and creators. One of the exhibits, "The Process of Incommunicable Memory" by art artist Mitsuzuka Shinji, is a project based on a residency in Odaka Ward, Minamisoma City. Through interviews with residents who lived there before the earthquake, he listened to "memorable landscapes" and personal anecdotes, and then combined them with his imagination to create paintings. After completion, a dialogue was held where residents could gather around the works and discuss the differences and overlaps with their memories. This is an attempt to visualize the multi-layered memories that live in the region through the perspective of an outside artist.

Nanami Akimoto and the theatre group humunus planned, wrote and produced the guidebook for Tomioka Town, Futaba County, Fukushima Prefecture, "Utsubo no Hige 0: The Path of Dust and Tide."

Additionally, in the "Residence and Production Project Exploring the Time of the Land" held in Tomioka Town, local coordinator Nanami Akimoto collaborated with two groups, the theatre unit humunus and the architectural group Garage. They uncovered the traces of time and change that had accumulated in the town, resulting in the production of a book, a performance tour, and the planning of a festival. This presented the possibilities for a creative environment that can be seen from the perspective of a local resident.

Food and music reflect the "now" with a variety of projects

"Rocco Kitchen" is a documentary film directed by Daisuke Miyoshi.

The documentary film "Rokkoku Kitchen" is set in a town along National Route 6, which connects Tokyo and Fukushima, and depicts the lives of people through the lens of food. It portrays the changing present of Fukushima through the daily lives of people with diverse backgrounds, including returning residents, people who have moved there, and people visiting for work.

Additionally, the program will feature the choral song "Gunjo," which originated in Minamisoma City and is sung at graduation ceremonies across the country. The song, which became the most sung graduation song in the country in 2022, is a symbolic song that shares the feelings of the people living in the area through music. It conveys the power that connects people in the Hamadori region.

Along with the exhibition and video broadcast, a talk event will be held on the first day, Wednesday, March 11th, from 6pm. In addition to Mitsuzuka and Akimoto, film director Hirata Yuki, who won the Grand Prize at the film planning competition "FFF Award 2025" and will be working on projects in the Hamadori region, will be taking the stage. They will discuss the background to his creations and the potential of the area.

Admission is free. Capacity is 65 people. Advance registration required (first come, first served).

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