Edgar: Japan is a chain of islands nourished and sheltered by the sea that surrounds them.

Isolated from the world for much of its history, this nation has incubated a strain of culture that is unique, idiosyncratic, and rich with tradition.

Yet just as the sea gives so much to the Japanese, it can also demand a heavy toll.

When a tsunami hit the island in 2011, the region of Tohoku, just a few hours north of Tokyo, was devastated.

♪♪ As it has many times over centuries marked by natural disasters, a period of rebuilding has emerged from the wreckage.

But how do people find healing after the chaos subsides?

And with the harsh realities of life after such a disaster, does music even really matter?

♪♪ ♪♪ Man: Ladies and gentlemen, once again -- "Music Voyager!"

Edgar: You may think you've heard everything, but the world is full of surprises.

And when you're hanging out with musicians, nothing is off limits.

Is this what you guys do every weekend?

-Every night.

-Every night!

-Yeah.

-My name is Jacob Edgar.

Music is my life, and life is short.

So crank up the volume and let the voyage begin.

[ Man singing in foreign language ] ♪♪ The improvisational noise music scene is esoteric for even the artsiest cities.

But here in the trendy neighborhood of Aoyama, in downtown Tokyo, it's just another Monday night happening.

This one featuring the endearingly bizarre work of revered Japanese avant-garde composer Otomo Yoshihide.

♪♪ For Otomo's experimental performances, you've got to leave your expectations at the door.

[ Otomo shouting in Japanese ] ♪♪ As "out there" as it might seem, Otomo is quite a mainstream figure in Japan.

He regularly plays with Japanese jazz greats such as Naruyoshi Kikuchi, and he's composed for numerous films, commercials, and TV shows.

Otomo even wrote a recent pop song that reached number one on Japan's singles chart.

He's the kind of mind-expanding character we just love to share a beer with.

[ Speaking Japanese ] What do you mean by "noise music"?

Isn't all music some type of noise?

[ Imitates grating sound ] Otomo's creative spirit clearly has found a home in fashionable Tokyo art spaces, like this one in Aoyama.

But the tsunami of 2011 brought Otomo's attention back to his roots in the region of Tohoku.

Otomo's thoughts of his homeland led him to the idea of putting on a concert right by the coast in the middle of the tsunami-affected region.

So you're inviting me to come?

Yes, yes, it's free.

I would be honored to come.

Our whole crew would be happy to visit.

Arigato.

Thank you very much.

It takes less than two hours by bullet train to reach Sendai, the largest city in the Tohoku region.

There's a good reason they call these "bullet trains."

As it zooms along at over 200 miles an hour, Japan's countryside becomes a roller-coaster blur.

Along with everyone else in the world, we had seen footage of entire towns destroyed by water.

What would be waiting for us when we got to Tohoku?

♪♪ Otomo's partner in producing the special children's concert is Ryuichi Sakamoto, one of Japan's best-known composers and musicians.

Besides winning an Oscar for his soundtrack to the film "The Last Emperor," Sakamoto has collaborated with stars like Iggy Pop and David Byrne, and even had one of his songs covered by Michael Jackson.

♪♪ ♪♪ Among his many efforts to help with recovery, Sakamoto has spearheaded an initiative to fix musical instruments that were damaged by the tsunami.

At a rehearsal for the concert, we catch up with Sakamoto and learn more about why he and Otomo decided that local children should be center stage.

[ Speaking English ] ♪♪ ♪♪ Edgar: For kids who cannot find words to describe the trauma of their experience, this concert represents an opportunity to let go and release some steam.

♪♪ Edgar: But moving on in many places of this region is, first and foremost, a physical task.

Some pieces can be put back together.

Many must be hauled away to clear land for new beginnings.

With the concert nearing, we set out to the port of Yuriage, an area particularly devastated by the water's surge.

Entire blocks were washed away by two-story waves which, at one point, reached up to the top of this hill, destroying the shrine that stood there.

The stark view from atop the hill says more than words about what these kids have been through.

But it's also an amazing testament to how rapidly the cleanup and recovery is happening.

Despite the sheer enormity of the destruction, the 25 million tons of rubble estimated to have been generated by the tsunami is nowhere to be seen.

Still, some ruins remain untouched, ghostly reminders of that day.

The clock on this junior high school stopped at 2:45 when the waves from the tsunami crashed through this area.

When the waves got up to the second floor of this building, the kids had to Be rushed to the roof.

14 students from this school perished.

Luckily, nearby Somahigashi High School escaped the waves.

Some of the school's students are participating in the Tohoku youth orchestra concert, so we thought we'd stop by and pay them a visit.

The students are hard at work practicing Sakamoto's compositions.

-Konnichiwa.

-Konnichiwa!

So my name is Jacob.

Can you say Jacob?

Jacob.

Very good, very good.

What instrument do you play?

What instrument?

Sax.

Sax?

Yes.

Sax.

And you?

Trumpet.

Trumpet?

Me, too.

Oh.

Me, too.

I play trumpet.

Edgar: The kids seemed extremely shy at first.

Come closer, come closer!

Everybody's fleeing.

[ Laughter ] But with instruments in their hands, their reservations completely washed away.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Chuckles ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ All shout ] Yeah!

Wow!

Tohoku's Miyagi prefecture is renowned as one of Japan's most beautiful areas and thousands of tourists every year visit its quaint seaside villages, striking coastal inlets, and rolling mountain scenery.

Matsushima was hit by flooding but protected from the destruction of the waves by its natural bay.

So this line right here marks the high point of the tsunami right here in Matsushima.

The children's concert will take place in a park in a temporary performance hall constructed just for this event.

It's there we meet Otomo on the day of the show.

[ Speaking Japanese ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Edgar: For the children of Tohoku and this entire community, this concert represents an important moment in the local effort to recover and rebuild.

But it also sends a message from the children of Tohoku to the rest of the world -- there's more to this region and to the people who live here than the tragedy and chaos that has cycled through international news.

Here in this room, there is hope.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Applause ] ♪♪ Even though Japan is one of the world's most modern societies, tradition is as important as ever.

Simple daily acts are treated with great ceremony.

You can feel this attention to detail in the food, the exquisite range of tastes and textures in a single bite of sushi or a sip of tea.

Perhaps the only things older than fishing in this part of the world are earthquakes and tsunamis themselves.

How do people who live off the sea return to work after such a trauma?

How have they done it for generations?

Can fishing communities at the heart of this industry recover from such losses?

We set out for answers in Shiogama, a port town in Tohoku that's essential to Japan's fishing industry.

At Shiogama Market, we're overwhelmed with the kindness of strangers, who introduce us to some local delicacies that we definitely wouldn't find in our supermarket back home.

What is this?

Tuna?

Tuna heart.

Tuna heart.

You eat this raw?

Wasabi.

Okay, spicy.

Japanese spice.

My first tuna heart.

Boop-boop, boop-boop.

[ Speaks Japanese ] Mm.

Whoa.

That's strong.

Delicious.

Oh, yeah, with garlic?

I feel the power of the tuna beating within me.

When it comes to seafood in Japan, the general rule seems to be eat it before it eats you.

Look at that.

I can't believe people actually eat octopus.

I mean, I love octopus, but it's one of those types of food... Oh, you're going to let me have a piece?

[ Speaking Japanese ] Yeah?

Arigato.

Ah, okay now.

This is pickled octopus.

Pickled, yeah?

It's pickled in some kind of sweet vinegar.

So it's really chewy, really sweet, believe it or not.

Nice sword.

I would not want to be that tuna.

Nice.

Mmm!

Now, here's something I've never seen before.

Grasshopper.

Here's the leg.

The antenna, the wings.

Just... Yeah?

Straight in?

Mmm!

Crunchy.

Crunchy and sweet.

This region earns big bucks supplying huge quantities of seafood to Japanese restaurants around the country.

In this open-air auction house that's about the size of an airplane hangar, buyers have come to bid on today's catch -- tuna.

And, no, it doesn't come in cans.

So can you tell me what's going on here?

What are all these men doing with meat hooks and what are they looking for in this tuna?

Everybody's gone through and they've decided which fish they want to bid on.

What happens next?

[ Men shouting in Japanese ] These guys mean business.

Tuna is no joke here in Japan.

The auction house manager tells me that just one of these babies can sell for over $2,000.

That's just the price at the port.

The demand for fish is still very high in Japan.

And it certainly makes us curious about supply.

After all, entire fishing villages were washed away when the surges hit.

On a small fishing boat nearby, we find a fisherman named Tatsuyuki Akama, who's willing to talk about how the tsunami has affected his life and livelihood.

Edgar: While the region rebuilds, thousands of people are still living in government housing, glorified refugee camps, really.

Have you talked about that day with your son since then?

So do you think that things will get better soon?

Edgar: Fishermen like Tatsuyuki Akama are carrying on a tradition that's been the lifeblood of this region for generations.

This connection to the sea is reflected in local folk songs like this one.

It celebrates the beauty of Matsushima Bay, the Zuiganji Temple that overlooks its waters, and the bounty of a good catch of fish.

[ Singing in Japanese ] Edgar: Seiji Endo is a local folk singer who specializes in the shamisen, a traditional Japanese instrument that's reminiscent of a banjo.

The song he plays has been sung by countless generations of Japanese, and it connects them to the many who came before them and ventured out to sea, struggling against the elements to bring home food and income for their families.

♪♪ Given what we've seen in Tohoku, it's a song that seems likely to be sung far into the future.

♪♪ One tradition we didn't expect to find in Japan is surfing.

It turns out Japan has some pretty gnarly breaks, especially here along the Sendai Coast.

One of the regulars here Is a surfer named Hiro.

What does surfing mean for you?

Why do you do it?

[ Speaking English ] It's like food for your soul.

[ Speaking Japanese ] Edgar: Hiro explains that this parking lot overlooking the sea was the site of a refugee camp in the aftermath of the tsunami.

Edgar: The pain of that day kept Hiro away from surfing for over a year.

And finally coming back to this beach was a difficult experience.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Edgar: Over the centuries, mother nature has offered illumination and sustenance, but she's also revealed her capacity for destruction.

Hiro, like his neighbors, eventually returned to the sea, full of love for its beauty and increased respect for its awesome power.

Music, it turns out, is as essential to the Japanese as the landscape that inspires them, the ocean that feeds them, and the traditions that unite them.

It allows them to express profound feelings that cannot be put into words, to celebrate the richness of their past and their hopes for the future.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Applause ]