How I survived in Ishinomaki

Since I was totally a beginner volunteer worker, the food I brought was only 6 rice balls, a bottled water, bottled teas and oat snacks.
Most of my "house mates" were experts; they brought vegetables, noodles, rice, stove burners, pans, dixies, bowls, mugs and even chopsticks. They told me "Eating enough food is a fundamental of volunteer workers. Without enough energy, you cannot work or encourage local people". In fact it was right. We need to give them the strength needed for reconstruction of their town.

Some people took me to the hill behind our house.

What we did was.... looking for food!　Yes, wild food picking!

We met local people on the hill by accident. As supermarkets in the area are still closed, it's difficult to get enough ingredients locally. For these occasions it's good to go back to the old days, using the ancient wisdom. Although, we need to be careful with wild flowers since some of them can cause toxic reactions. Luckily I was with a guy who knows well about them.
 The leaves of the photo above are "Mitsuba"- trefoil. It's delicious to put them on soups or boil them and eat with soy sauce.

This is "Yomogi"- mugwort. We eat them boiled and mixed with soy sauce.

"Tsukushi" (Yellow tall ones)- horsetail. Again we boil them.

Ingredients of our dinner!

They brought back a bamboo stick which had been left in the forest.
What are they using this for...?

They taught me how to make bamboo chopsticks. (They knew I didn't bring my chopsticks.) It was like a craft-work class.
Boys love craft works... when we started, other house members joined us one after another.
I never thought of me making things from bamboo in my life...

Whittling a bamboo stick with an awkward manner... and making MY chopsticks. It was really fun!

And my "master" made a bamboo bottle and glasses.

After the class, we started cooking.

Dinner!
And long-awaited drinking time!

One member brought sake, and we drank it from a fresh bamboo bottle and glasses.
After pouring sake into the bottle, leave it for 30 minutes, and then it's ready to drink.
Strangely, sake had become mellow and tasted lovely!

This is how I survived with the limited resources.

I shouldn't forget what I experienced here; my staying here was merely a "trial version".
Disaster victims who lost their family members and friends live their life in even worse conditions for almost two months now.

Nature destroyed our normal life, but we still enjoy the blessing of the nature.

We couldn't help relying on it.

It made me humble and reflect on my profligate lifestyle.

I learned a lot and I had such a productive time here.

Oshika- photos

Volunteer Work in Oshika Peninsula - Part 2

As I wrote on the previous diary, what we can do here is limited. The army was collecting rubbish, building banks and tidying up chaotic roads.

Today our team was divided into two- a house cleaning team and a food/clothes delivery team. I was in the house cleaning team.

On our way to work

There are small number of houses miraculously standing after the disaster.

The owner of the house was third-generation fisherman who has run the sardine fishing business. The ground floor of his house was damaged by the Tsunami. All the mud was taken out yesterday by other volunteer teams.

I and another girl were requested to clean the "Kamidana"- Shinto altar. It's common to have household altars, however, it was like 10 times as big as the normal size. I have never seen such a humongous one at someone's house. They must set this to pray for business success.

I am surprised that I was assigned religious-related work two days in a row. Their ground floor was still in a mess and there were so many things to do- they chose the altar to be cleaned first of all.

I understood the reason when I heard the story from the owner. This altar was made by the father of their current builder who's also the third-generation builder. They've been working together closely from the grandfather's time, and the altar is the sign of their bonding. Also they believe that the altar will protect them from a disaster.

All wooden parts of the altar were assembled without nails. It was an elaborate beautiful masterpiece. We needed to clean it without disassembling it, using whatever we can use- toothbrushes, thinly sharpened chopsticks, or a special air-gun (I don't know how to call it). 

It's not a man... it's me! I am blowing all the fine rubbish by this special tool.

Other team members were taking rubbish away from the river running by his house. This rubbish has stopped water flowing and given a very bad smell.

Some of the rubbish here- scallop shells; this area is famous for cultivated oysters.

This came from their neighbouring oyster farm.

Taking rubbish away- it seemed a never-ending work...

We were warned not to cut our fingers or feet by objects. 

They are receiving reports of a growing number of cases of tetanus.

One of our team members cut his foot by stepping on a rusty nail with his welly.

He was taken to a hospital immediately.

The end of the day, the house owner repeatedly thanked us, saying it was a big step. However, one day's work is not enough help... it's a small improvement in a long long way before they go back to their normal life. I've realised that the important point is "continue to help people". At the moment this area is crowded with volunteers who want to help victims, but it shouldn't be a "trend". We need to remember 3.11 and continue our activities in the future.

Volunteer Work in Oshika Peninsula - Part 1

About Oshika Peninsula

The Oshika Peninsula was the closest part of Honshu (mainland) to the epicentre of the earthquake on 3.11, the closest parts of its eastern coastline approximately 72 km (45 miles) away. A report on March 14 indicated that 1,000 bodies had washed ashore on the peninsula. The March 11 earthquake shifted Oshika Peninsula by 5.3m (17 ft) towards the epicentre and lowered it by 1.2m (3.9 ft).

You don't need much explanation if you see the video I took from the bus.

The scenery was overwhelming- this was totally another world. 

I couldn't hold my camera without shaking, since the road was really bumpy.

At this stage there is not much we (general public) can do with the land- very dangerous.

Most of the houses were washed away, leaving debris.

The army was everywhere, working to stop seawater from flooding the town and collecting the rubble.

You wouldn't imagine this used be a residential area.

 

Volunteer Work in Watanoha Area

About Watanoha area

Watanoha area is a district where I stayed for 2 nights and worked on the first day.

This area sank around 75cm because of the earthquake and rice fields around here are filled with sea water at high tide.

Sea water has started to fill this rice field.

According to the local people, this area is much cleaner than before. But it will take a long time for the town to recover to the original state.

Rubbish was still scattered in all directions.

Rotten squids on a road. They have given off a terrible smell. I felt sick when I arrived in the town the day before. But on the second day I seemed to get used to it.

A destroyed concrete wall. At school we have earthquake disaster drills in Japan. I remember that we were told that if an earthquake happens, we shouldn't walk along the wall. I just saw the best example here. 

Crushed cars bumped into a house. I wonder how the owners of these cars escaped on the 11th.

I heard from a local guy that when the Tsunami struck on the 11th, how to deal with one's car became the difference between life and death. Many people tried to escape from the Tsunami by their cars. It paralised the traffic. Some people abandoned their cars and ran towards mountains or high-up places and survived. On the contrary most of the people who had decided to stay in their cars lost their lives. One of his friends miraculously returned to life even if he was caught in the wave with his car. His car was lucky enough not to be hit by big floating objects. He waited for a while until his car came to the surface and broke the car window with his hammer and escaped. (Taking along a hammer is miraculous to me...) I think this is a really rare case.

According to a gardener who also worked as a volunteer, different to other trees, bamboo reacts immediately when they suck sea water. They change their colour into yellow.



Task of the day- cleaning a shrine

There are many rice fields around here, and the stalks from the fields were carried by the Tsunami and scattered all over this area. We need to take them away as soon as possible. There are a few reasons for this;

Blocking passages

Stalks would raise the temperature inside by fermenting and they could cause a spontaneous fire

Finding objects of memories of people

I worked with 3 team mates. We were asked to start cleaning a shrine with beautiful cherry blossom trees in full bloom. On our way to the shrine, I had seen many houses with mountains of straws. I asked why they wanted the shrine to be cleaned at first, rather than anybody's house.

According to a guy who worked with us, it's a shrine which worships a local God. The local people gather here from time to time for events or praying. They were supposed to hold a traditional cherry blossom festival, but they couldn't because of the disaster. They want to show their respect to God and hope that God protects them. They prioritise a shrine over their own property. That was a thought-provoking answer.

We put straws and twigs covered with mud into bags. Straws on top were dried and dried mud was blown up by wind. Inside was wet and heavier. I felt this was a never ending work... The amount of the straws in front didn't seem to get smaller. The photos below are one of the mountains we fought with. (Another mountain is on the other side of the shrine and not on these photos.)

Before and After 

The "Torii" (Shinto gateway) was terribly destroyed by the earthquake

 We put aside people's memorable objects when we found them. I really hope that they will be returned to the owners in the future.

When we worked, we received appreciative words from local people walking by. They must have indelible scars in their hearts. Just thinking about them, my heart ached. This work wouldn't delete their experience, but I want to support them as much as possible and help them get their normal life back as soon as possible.

Arrived in Ishinomaki

Ishinomaki is a seaside town, 50km north from Sendai.
I used to use a train called "Senseki-line" to go there to enjoy fresh seafood. This city is very famous for its fishing port.


Unfortunately the rail tracks were hugely damaged by the Tsunami (I heard that they have twisted horrendously and the train company cannot foresee when the service will be back to normal...) and currently the train service is limited between Sendai and the town 10km south from Ishinomaki.

I left Sendai by bus and 1.5 hours later, I stood in front of the station.

Apparently the whole town smelled pretty badly... rotten fish.
Fish and seafood carried to land by the Tsunami have become rotten after 48 days.
People are trying to clean up the town, but stinking seafood is everywhere; on streets, in mountains of rubbish and in rice fields.
The town has been suffering a dust problem as well- once mud dries, the dust stirs up. In addition destroyed old houses contain asbestos and it's very harmful to human bodies.
You need to wear a mask to prevent breathing (or even lung) problems.

The station building wasn't used. Buses arrive from nearby towns.


The station shopping centre and arcade were even worse. The Tsunami destroyed everything. It was told that the area improved a lot since then, but I could hardly see the town I had known about.

The dome on the photo above is Ishinomaki Manga Comic Museum. The walls look fine at a glance, but it was told that inside is messed up completely. The buildings around it were flattened. It looks like another planet...

The shopping arcade was like a ghost town. Debris and mud were collected on both sides of the road.


I headed for Ishinomaki Senshu University. Many volunteers and charities use it as their base. A charity I work for also has its office there.

It's a massive camp site. I heard that during weekdays more than 500 people stay there, and on weekends, the number increases to over 1000.
Contrary to my expectation that I would stay in one of them, I was driven to an old one-storied house. Below (the one at the back on the photo) is the house I stayed at for 3 days.

This house is in the area called "Watanoha". The Tsunami struck severely here as well. It destroyed many buildings, houses, and rice fields. Some people lost their lives in the area.
The house is only 2 blocks away from the point the Tsunami reached on that day.
We were warned; "If another Tsunami strikes the city during our stay, run up the mountain behind".


Here is the girls' bedroom (I shared it with one girl)- and unbelievable! I could sleep on a BED in my sleeping bag!!! Too luxurious for a volunteer worker.

I shared the house with around 15 people each day. I met many people with different backgrounds. Different from staying in tents, we might have less privacy- we shared lots of time, food and thoughts. I was very lucky to spend useful time in this house. I'll write about it another time.

I took a rest this evening and prepared for the next morning.
I was greatly shocked by seeing the city with my own eyes.

Even though I didn't do any work, I was exhausted.

I'll update the rest later.

Time to head to Ishinomaki

I'm going to Ishinomaki soon for volunteer work.
Ishinomaki is a north seaside city of Miyagi where the Tsunami struck severely.

It may be a really small help, but I hope my action will be some help to the people and the city.
This is what I've wanted to do from the first place- be there and be with the people, share with them.

Will update when I come back- It will be a few days later.

See you!