Chizuko Nakamura follows the village of Tanohata in Iwate Prefecture, surrounded by steep cliffs, where for centuries people have known nature both as a source of beauty and life and as a force beyond humanity. In the 1980s the village's women campaigned against a plan to build a nuclear power plant nearby, no matter how much money they might receive. On 11 March 2011 much of the village was damaged or destroyed by the earthquake and tsunami. The photographs capture the duality of the local nature, document the ongoing reconstruction and celebrate the villagers' efforts to rebuild their lives; through traditional festivals and folk performing arts such as the local deer dance, they show an awareness of nature's force and keep their culture alive. The afterword reflects on strata hundreds of millions of years old, standing exposed, and asks where life comes from, what keeps us alive and where we return to. All text is in Japanese and English.