Several months ago, an award ceremony was held in the town of Kamaishi in Iwate prefecture. An off icial from the Guinness Book of World Records had come to award the Kamaishi Tsunami Protection Breakwater the title of world’s deepest at 63-meters deep. The 1,960 meter-long breakwater was constructed at the mouth of Kamaishi bay to prevent the threat of a tsunami disaster from the Pacif ic sea side. It reduces the bay-mouth opening to decrease the tsunami runup height as well as wind waves and swells. The construction work started in 1978, and it took an amazing 31 years before its f inal completion in March, 2009. It was moving to hear from the people involved how much hard work had been spent on its construction. The citizens of Kamaishi are proud of their breakwater which protects their lives. It surely is an incredible world record! Unfortunately, the record-breaking breakwater proved to be incapable of stopping the massive tsunami that hit the town on March 11, 2011. Waves swelled over the barrier, engulf ing buildings and cars and smashing everything in its path to smithereens in a matter of minutes. The images from Japan’s Pacif ic coastline have been a scary reminder of nature’s power, especially after Kamaishi thought it had built just the thing to keep the forces of nature at bay.