The photographic exhibition “Bōchōtei – Lives in the shadow of the wall. Enrico Graziani” , hosted in Rome in the evocative setting of the Museo delle Mura from 11 March to 14 May 2023 , is the result of a report made by Enrico Graziani , particle physicist by profession and photographer by passion, in north-eastern Japan. The theme of the report is centered on the consequences of the construction of mighty tsunami protection walls, with an eye above all on the architectural and social impact and on the daily life of the inhabitants.

The exhibition, promoted by Roma Culture, the Capitoline Superintendency for Cultural Heritage , with the museum services of Zètema Progetto Cultura , is curated by Enrico Graziani and Zhanna Stankovych and will be inaugurated on Saturday 11 March at 17:30.

Twelve years ago, on March 11, 2011, the Tohoku region was hit by the most violent earthquake and tsunami ever recorded in Japan. For obvious reasons, the landscape - human and natural - of the areas affected by the event has profoundly changed since then.

Today, there is an element that threatens to change it further in a perhaps irreversible way. Japan is investing colossal sums in the construction of tsunami protection walls along the coast of Tohoku . There is a Japanese word, bōchōtei to be precise, which identifies these walls. Bōchōtei etymologically brings with it a sense of protection, from the sea. And this is precisely the main criticism that the local populations, fishermen, navigators, oyster farmers, sushi consumers, level at the project: detachment from the sea, sense of confinement, damage to tourism, destruction of beaches and wetlands.

The voices in favor are scarce: saving human lives, obviously, and then protecting commercial activities, ports, infrastructures, fish processing plants.