The Story of Paper Dome

The 921 earthquake was not the only disaster that influenced Taomi community life. 6 years earlier, in January 1995 Japan suffered from the Great Hanshin earthquake. 60% of all buildings were destroyed in Kobi, the epicentre of the disaster, including the Takatori Catholic church. However, strangely a statue of Jesus remained unharmed. People understood this fact as a miracle and they decided to rebuild the church as soon as possible. An internationally known Japanese architect Shigeru Ban (one of his most famous works for example is a museum of Modern Art in Metz, France) was invited to build a temporary church for survivers.

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Taomi community history: from a poor village to a famous eco-tourism destination

Paper Dome’s story is a story of two earthquakes that happened in Taiwan and Japan. It’s also a story about people who managed to unite and not just rebuild their community but change their life radically. In Russia we say “There'd be no good fortune with misfortune's helping hand”. This happened to Taomi community after terrrible  Jiji earthquake happened on the 21st of September, 1999.

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