Thousands of people lost their homes, families and land on March 11, 2011 when a devastating earthquake and tsunami struck northeastern Japan.  The people who survived the tsunami were moved from shelter to shelter for months. Many of them now still reside in temporary housing. They hope to relocate to new land as a community and start rebuilding their lives.

The Senninbari Project is working to help rebuild lives. Senninbari means “Thousand Person Stitches”.  The Japanese believe that a garment sewn by many people becomes an amulet, protecting the wearer from danger and clothing them in prayers. The goal of the Senninbari project is to form a sewing collective for women who have lost their homes and livelihoods. These women are working on sewing projects for exhibition and items for sale. Our hope is to share the resilience of the women of Tohoku by showing work that they have produced during this hard time and providing an income for them.