This series of photographs was conceived after two stays in the towns of Sendai and Higashi-Matsushima, both in the region covered by the disaster area after the tsunami in Japan. They date back to October 2011, six months after the catastrophe. The atmosphere was harrowing, though less chaotic than in the images published by the media, despite cleaning and reconstruction. Reality took on another dimension. The first stay was very brief and insufficient. I wanted to find out more. So, I started to conduct research and enter into contact with some of the inhabitants. I went for a second stay in the month of December, almost a year after the tragedy. When then awaited me was no longer an apocalyptic landscape. The inhabitants were trying to keep their spirits up and rebuild. However, I sensed that there was a kind of fault-line in them, a feeling of loss, smothered sadness. Time followed its course. The seasons changed. Life and nature reasserted themselves. Some inhabitants helped me to explore unimaginable and hard-to-access sites. Following their stories, I visited the places where they used to live, work and take refuge. This series bears witness to my journey.