Play Starring Hey! Say! Jump’s Hikaru Yaotome Explores Guilt After Loss from 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake

By Yayoi Kawatoko / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

10:00 JST, April 24, 2026

Fifteen years after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, a play about a young man who lost his entire family in the disaster is being staged. “Chiisana Kamitachi no Matsuri” (The festival of small gods) explores the journey of how its protagonist starts to look forward to the future after a mysterious experience.

The play, starring Hikaru Yaotome of pop idol group Hey! Say! JUMP, is based on a novel written by Makiko Uchidate, who died in December. She wrote the novel based on her script for a TV drama by Tohoku Broadcasting Co. in Miyagi Prefecture.

Before the play opened, The Yomiuri Shimbun spoke with Yaotome, a native of the prefecture, and Satoru Saito, an actor from Fukushima Prefecture, which was also struck by the disaster. Yaotome plays protagonist Akira, while Saito plays Akira’s grandfather, Yukio.

‘My own memory?’

The play is set in Watari, Miyagi Prefecture, which suffered severe damage in the earthquake and tsunami. Akira is the eldest son of a strawberry farming family. The earthquake occurs after he had left for college in Tokyo. He is left alone, as his whole family goes missing in the tsunami.

“Akira feels guilt as the only one in his family who survived,” Yaotome said. “I want to present scenes which audiences can relate to, like one in which he gets irritated by the remark of a close friend whose family survived the disaster.”

To prepare for the role, Yaotome read the novel. “As I was reading, I thought, ‘That’s right, it was like this.’ It was not like simply reading a story. I felt as if I was reading my own memories,” he said.

Like Akira, Yaotome was in Tokyo at the time of the disaster. “I remember watching the news all day long at the time. It was shocking to see the scenery I knew changing so rapidly. Back then, I didn’t have the courage to do anything. I felt powerless, and it was frustrating.”

Later, he visited the disaster-stricken areas, which were still littered with debris, with Hey! Say! JUMP members. “I felt a strong sense of emptiness. I thought, ‘There used to be shops here, and it used to be full of people.’ Since it was caused by the forces of nature and nobody’s fault, I didn’t know where to direct my emotions,” he said.

Since then, Yaotome has served as an ambassador for Miyagi Prefecture, held concerts there and returned to his hometown more frequently. “I want to put the things I have learned from so many people into myself to play Akira. Rather than just putting on a good performance, I want to deliver something realistic,” he said.

Reality of disaster areas

Although the play is themed on the disaster, it is not just a serious, depressing story. It touches on how Akira, who became stuck in time due to the disaster, discovers his family’s love for him and tries to move forward.

In preparation for the play, Yaotome visited Watari and a location in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, where a special postbox was installed to send messages to people who died in the disaster.

Because he personally saw reconstruction efforts in the disaster-stricken areas, he believes understanding what it’s like today will help when remembering March 11, 2011. “If you would simply say, like, ‘We must never let this memory fade,’ it will tend to just sound dark and heavy. But in the past 15 years, many have been doing their best with a positive outlook, while suffering,” Yaotome said.

He recommends visiting the areas to listen to people’s stories, such as what they have managed to recover despite losing everything. “I think it’s good to go for sightseeing and to learn about the history, as well as enjoy local cuisine. It’s best to go see the areas that have been rebuilt,” he said.

‘Play for vulnerable people’

Saito, who is from Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, went to support people who had evacuated to Tokyo immediately after the disaster. But, he said, “I could not do anything. I returned home feeling crushed. I felt powerless.”

Since then, he has worked on projects with the determination to do “anything” for the Tohoku region, including a mini drama promoting seafood from Fukushima Prefecture. However, he said, he continued to feel as if something was troubling him. Then came the offer to be in the play. “I was truly delighted,” he said. “I may be able to finally break free from that sense of powerlessness.”

The play will be staged in not only Fukushima Prefecture but also in Miyagi and Iwate prefectures. “I am not sure how much I can do, but I believe theater and literature are meant to support those who are vulnerable. I hope that I will be of some help in my own small way,” he said.

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“Chiisana Kamitachi no Matsuri” will be staged at Kenshin Cultural Center in Koriyama on April 24, Morinomiya Piloti Hall in Osaka on April 30 to May 4, Tosai Classic Hall Iwate in Morioka on May 10, Comtec Portbase in Nagoya on May 14-15 and Tokyo Electron Hall Miyagi in Sendai on May 22.