Mai Oshima

Posted: May 17, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

I am surprised about how much work was done in the six months that I wasn’t in Ishinomaki. Some places were totally cleaned up and a lot of temporary shopping malls and restaurants are now properly built. It is always impressive to see how fast and efficiently Japanese people work. I believe I wouldn’t see that kind of progress in any other country.

But still, it is obvious that an enormous amount of work still needs to be done. Many places remain as they were a year ago and even in March we were still clearing sludge from houses.

I took on more of a leadership role this time but I do not think that being a leader impacts your work. Of course as a bilingual leader I had to translate but other than that we always worked as a team. Everyone was looking out for each other and taking care of each other.

Last September, when I visited Ishinomaki, I noticed that there was some kind of a turning point for the fishermen there. I was able to participate in a festival in Oginohama. Before this, many fishermen had given up hope and never wanted to work again. But at the festival we were told to come back next year and eat their fish. Now, I don’t feel much despair among the fishermen anymore. I am amazed by their strength and determination to get back to where they left off.

I talked to some people who lost their houses and workplaces but no one from their family. Even though everything they owned was washed away, every single person was grateful that they did not lose someone. They all seemed to be at peace with everything that has happened.

One thing that bothers me is that, in some areas, the government has not decided whether people will be able to rebuild their houses. It’s been over a year but some people still don’t know if they will be able to go back to their homes.

To be honest I don’t know what to expect or what I want to achieve when I next visit the area. I just hope I can make a difference for the people in Ishinomaki, even if it is just something small, and let them know that the world has not forgotten about them.

Koga Saori – volunteering in Ishinomaki

Posted: December 1, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Field Report | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I’m a staff member working at the Peace Boat office. I went to Ishinomaki on 29-30 August, taking a day off, to do volunteer work as a member of the 40th short volunteer group of Peace Boat.

For two days, our job was to clean around the graves in the SAIKOJI temple located at a distance 500 meters from the sea. They said these graves were under a lot of cars and collapsed houses and carried away by tsunami, just after 3.11. After removing them, they needed cleaning, by 9.23, the equinoctial week.

At first, we started to remove the debris covered with graves. Halfway, I found some things people always use everyday, for example, bags, shoes, photos, toys… I felt like crying. I realized the debris was never “debris”. A grave needed 5~6 members to clean, so we concentrated our job.

On the next day, when we arrived at the place where we worked, I saw an old man stand in front of the gravestone we cleaned yesterday. There were a few flowers before the grave. He closed his eyes tightly, joining his hands together before his heart. When I saw this situation, I realized some important things of our activity.

After work, we had a meeting to share our own impression, review, and feelings. In this time, we knew the volunteer’s thoughts, for example, why they wanted to come to Ishinomaki, how they felt through 3.11, what to do after this… I was so interested to listen to them, especially, some young Korean students who were living in Japan. Their words made a deep impression on me. They said “We are always helping each other, so now, when Japan is in a trouble, it’s time to act for Japan. There are some problems between Japan and Korea, but we wanted to be a bridge between the two countries”. Their words shocked me. This disaster happened in Japan, but its influence was never only on Japanese. This opportunity is be able to make good international relations. So, I think that we, especially Japanese, need to broaden our horizons, look to all over the world.

Our prayers through 1000 fishery loops

Posted: October 11, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Field Report | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

On September 12 and 13, I joined Peace Boat relief activities in Ishinomaki.  This was my fifth trip to the Tohoku region and the second one with Peace Boat.  Having joined different volunteer tours, I have found that Peace Boat offers the most well-organized, efficient, and volunteer-friendly operation that involves unforgettable exchanges with the local people who survived through the earthquake and tsunami disasters.

The place where I worked with 11 other volunteers was Oginohama on Oshika Peninsular, about a 40 min. drive form the central Ishinamaki area.  Oginohama is known for its oyster cultivation.  This fishing village had grown oysters and even exported the young oyster shells outside Japan, until it was struck by the earthquake and tsunami on March 11.

Peace Boat and other organizations’ volunteers started cleaning up the Oginohama port at the beginning of the summer.  They also collected the fishing and aquaculture tools and equipment that had been scattered everywhere, so the fishermen can reuse them.  Thanks to earlier volunteers’ work we did not have to carry heavy sludge or debris and were able to walk around the port easily and safely.  The port ground, however, became sunken due to the earthquake.  During high tide, the ship landing area and nearby workshop were completely flooded.  This was the time when we had to terminate our work on both days.

I and two other women worked inside the workshop, making loops to hook to the buoys for growing “wakame” seaweed.  Although the Oginohama fishermen had been growing oysters, they have to give up the next cultivation as they lost most of their oyster shells.  In order to survive as fishermen, they are now going to grow seaweed as well, because it can be harvested 6 months earlier than oysters.  While making 1000 loops, we had a great opportunity to speak with the fishermen.

The fishermen were at first, very quiet and reserved to speak to us.  But gradually, they began talking about what they were doing individually on March 11 and how the life at the evacuation center was.  One of them was rescued while he was drifting on a boat, and the other still has a nightmare of being swallowed by the black cold tsunami.  When they realized that they lost their oyster farms, they felt utterly hopeless about continuing their business.  However, they were encouraged by volunteers who came everyday to clean up the port, hoping that they could help the fishermen resume fishing and aqua cultivation as quickly as possible.  One week before our arrival, they celebrated an annual fishery festival with help of Peace Boat volunteers.  They carried a “mikoshi” (portable shrine) and pulled floats for maritime safety and great catch of fish and seafood.

As the life of fishermen is slowing returning to normal, their smiles are coming back.  In their Miyagi dialect the fishermen told us that they would welcome us back in spring when the seaweed is grown and in autumn when oysters are harvested.  What they had gone through at the time of the disaster was beyond my imagination, but they are now ready to share with us their past experiences and talk about promising events in the future tense.  Their resilient spirit moved and encouraged me so much.  We made 1000 loops of rope in two days and I believe that each loop is blessed with our thoughts for the resting souls of the victims and the strong recovery of the Tohoku region the way 1000 cranes represent prayers.

Akiko Shimada, Tokyo

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