http://vimeo.com/zapuni/byyourside

dwarf studio, the animation studio that brought us the internationally beloved character Domo-kun, created a short this year to bring attention to the continued difficulties faced by children in Fukushima Prefecture, and the promise of music as therapy.

The short promotes Zapuni, an art collective, and El Sistema Japan, a non-governmental organization that is bringing Venezuelan-style youth orchestras to areas of Japan still affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. And no area is more affected than Fukushima Prefecture, with its no-go zones and fear about the long-term effects of exposure to radiation from the damaged Fukushima Dai-Ichi power plant.

It’s a beautiful and touching short, made with the painstaking process of dimensional animation.