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15 years have passed since the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. While memorial ceremonies are held across various regions on March 11, Civic Force’s partner organization is also providing spaces to offer prayers. Hiroshi Uoyama from RAY of HOPE shared his thoughts with Civic Force about their project.

Please tell us more about the "Million Sparkler Night.”

Launched in 2011, the Million Sparkler Night is a project dedicated to honoring those lost in the Great East Japan Earthquake and ensuring their memories are passed down to future generations.

The project doesn’t have a specific venue but rather promotes that anyone can participate wherever they are.

While many participants choose to quietly light sparklers at home with family or close relatives, local volunteer groups often set up gathering points for those who prefer to share the experience with others. 

In Iwate, for instance, venues have been hosted at cafes and by the Wakutsu Community Development Council. In Miyagi, local residents and various non-profits organizations provide dedicated spaces for reflection.

While the "Million Sparkler Night" has spread organically via social media—making comprehensive tracking difficult—the motivations of participants remain deeply personal. One particularly moving story comes from Kamaishi, an area severely impacted by the tsunami. Although a memorial was built there to honor the victims, one resident shared, “I do not yet have the courage to visit the memorial site but I think I can manage lighting a sparkler.”

Many people look forward to the Million Sparkler Night as an annual tradition. What originally inspired this initiative?

Following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, I visited Iwate to assist in transporting fuel to disaster-affected areas. Having personally experienced the Great Hanshin-Awaji earthquake, I felt a strong urge to help anyway I can. I got to know the community and wanted to create moments that could bring a smile to the children living through such harsh realities. The initial idea was simply to provide handheld sparklers.

While the original plan for July 2011 was a small gathering to enjoy sparklers with local children, the response from the communities was overwhelming. This led to the decision to connect people across Japan online to light sparklers simultaneously.

A pivotal moment came when a high school student who had lost an older brother wondered aloud, “If we look down from the sky, will it look like the Milky Way? I wonder if my brother will see it.”

Fifteen years have passed since the disaster. How do you perceive the current situation in the affected regions?

When we conducted the sparkler night on March 11, 2012, a year after the disaster, I got some pushback. Some people felt it was inappropriate. However, I also received a lot of support to continue the project. The project really took off thanks to the power of social media and the number of participants grew with every passing year.

On the other hand, I constantly feel a sense of crisis that the disaster might be forgotten. In 2011, sixteen years had passed since the Great Hanshin-Awaji earthquake. In Kobe, while the city’s reconstruction was progressing, there were growing concerns about memories fading. 

That is why I have been conscious of promoting sharing memories instead of just building stone monuments.

Since the disaster, you have relocated to Tohoku and continued the Million Sparkler Night. What are your goals for the future?

The light of a single sparkler is incredibly small and it may not even be enough to heal one person’s trauma. However, through these sparklers we can pass stories from parent to child and connect people across generations. I believe that continuing to tell these stories might one day save someone’s life.