Ishinomaki 石巻
In exactly four weeks, I will be flying back to London. Time really flies and it has been a good two months here in Japan. It has been eventful and a fruitful trip, lots of precious encounters and memories that I’ll return to London with. Since I have quite a long bus ride to Osaka (to catch Massu’s final butai) I thought I’d update a little on my trip to Ishinomaki.
A month ago, I went with a voluntary group (NADIA) to Ishinomaki, pretty much the most severely affected area by the tsunami in 2011. Prior to that I had been looking for voluntary work in Tokyo/Yokohama area but a lot of groups aren’t that active anymore. NADIA remains as one of the more active groups, focusing on rebuilding Ishinomaki. They were one of the first few NGOs who went to Ishinomaki in 2011 and have been making regular monthly trips there since then. Since I couldn’t find anyone else to go with, I decided to join NADIA and left Shinjuku on Friday night, taking the night bus to Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture. The group I went with had a total of 14 volunteers and two leaders - 11 Japanese and 5 foreigners. Since it was the weekend leading up to Golden week, there was a group of Japanese college kids on their first trip to Ishinomaki. When I boarded the bus, I was greeted by stacks of cans of beer and chuhai. What a sight! (^^) I knew then that it was going to be a good trip. I know, I know, I’m easily influenced by alcohol.
The bus ride was 7 hours and we reached Ishinomaki at 5.30 am Saturday morning. The sun was up since 5am so we spotted some late sakura blooms as we drove into Ishinomaki. First thought that struck me: What a peaceful & idyllic town, right by the seaside. However, upon taking a closer look at the streets, the damage inflicted by the tsunami 2 years ago can still be clearly seen. Neatly stacked ruins of cars washed up during the tsunami, covered with rust and weathered by the sun and the sea. Wrecked shop houses along the coast, abandoned schools decorated with ‘Ganbare, Ishinomaki! (Fight on, Ishinomaki), gaping holes in the town left behind when homes and shops got swept away during the tsunami. Even though I have seen countless news reports on TV and newspapers, witnessing the after-math for the first time with my own eyes left me speechless. Without realisation, tears were falling down my cheeks. And this is after two years have passed. I can only imagine what it was like right after it happened. I recalled the time when Sian was telling me how her friend, who was part of the fire rescue team UK sent to Japan right after the tsunami, stood there speechless, surveying the damage and not quite knowing where to begin.
The place we were putting up at was an abandoned office building. It had six floors in total and had managed to stay intact during the tsunami. However, the first three floors were flooded by seawater and rendering it useless. Previous tenants had either lost their businesses or chose to relocate elsewhere. Hence the 6th floor of the building was leased to NADIA as their headquarters and that was where volunteers spent the night. 6th floor was chosen for obvious reasons and it was the only floor with running cold water and electricity. Heating was in the form of kerosene burners. Even though it early May, Ishinomaki was still rather cold with temperatures falling to 5,6 degrees Celsius in the night. I left all my winter wear in London and made do with a fleece pullover borrowed from a kind friend and Uniqlo’s heat tech tops. Upon arrival, we put down our gear and had an hour or two of rest before we got around to the day’s tasks.
There were several jobs lined up for the first day. There was a local matsuri (festival) that needed help in setting up the stalls and stage. NADIA would be setting up a stall to sell chili con carne to the local folks. Another task that required help was the photo-cleaning project. Many photos were washed up ashore during the tsunami and since then, volunteers have helped to collect and categorise these pictures, looking through each picture piece by piece and sorting them into different groups -definitely family/friends, likely to be family/friends. What we have to do know is to wash each picture with clean water and then dry them to prevent further decay. There were so many pictures of kids and happy smiley faces… I couldn’t help but wonder if the kids in these pictures survived the tsunami or not… Though it wasn’t physically draining, it certainly was emotionally draining. We were there from 9am to 4pm and made our way to the local sento (Japanese style public bath) for our daily shower/clean up since there was no hot water in the building. Thereafter, we had dinner at the sento and headed back to the HQ for the ritual nomikai (booze session)
On the second day, I was assigned to help with the demolition of a shop house that was damaged by the waves. While the structure was still intact, its insides were pretty much falling apart. Its previous owner sold the house to the local fishmonger, who hopes to turn this house into a ryokan sometime this autumn. Our main task was to take apart the water fixtures, beams, remove the nails and whenever possible, remove whole pieces of wood/nails so that they can be reused during construction. Working with just hammers, pliers and our bare hands. Masks were given as it was seriously dusty especially when we knocked down the walls and partitions. It was quite an interesting experience, nothing like I had done before. The locals made us bento lunches. During lunch, I dropped my mobile phone on a street full of rocks and grave and completely smashed my screen. Orz. Thank God it was a cheap Huawei phone…
That night, we had dinner at the local yatai place and went to an izakaya that had just opened. It was such a lovely place and we (I) drank far too much. Japanese sake, shochu, beer… and more wine and shochu back at the HQ. Our drinking session ended at 2.30am and we all had to get up at 7am to pack up and get ready for the final round of voluntary work before we head back to Tokyo in the afternoon. Needless to say, some members woke up with severe hangovers but continued to trudge on.
For the last morning of work, I was asked to help the local fishermen to mend the nets used for harvesting seaweed. Upon reaching the place, I realised the local fisherman is the newly elected Member of Parliament for Ishinomaki. And I went there dressed in a hoodie and Adidas slacks.Lol. Anyway, he was a very hospitable gentleman and instead of mending nets, he insisted on having coffee with us and shared with us all that had happened in the past two years, the neighbours who lost family members and friends, how he and the others escaped to the hill behind his house when the tsunami came. He lapsed into the local accent every now and then but I think I did catch most of what he said anyway. One thing he mentioned was the meaning of recovery.
His own words - 「複興っては何？どう言う意味？今再建すべき、やるべきこともう大分やったが、今後の作業は何？戻りたい人もう戻れない、戻れる人は戻りたくない。震災前の石巻は観光と漁業で有名だったが。。。今後はどうなるかうまくいけるか正直わかない。うまく行きたいほしいけれど、実はそんな甘いもんじゃね。」(What is the meaning of recovery? Stuff that needed rebuilding, stuff that had to be done has already been more or less accomplished but what’s next (for Ishinomaki)? People who wanted to come back can’t do so anymore and those who still can would probably not come back to Ishinomaki. Ishinomaki was known for its fisheries and as a tourist destination before the tsunami… What kind of future awaits us, would we be able to succeed remains a question that I have no answer to. I really hope that things would go well but the reality isn’t always what one wants it to be)
Having spoken to the guys at NADIA, it seems like voluntary work is scarce these days in Ishinomaki. The streets and shores are clean; most if not all debris has been cleared… The next step is to rebuild its economy and breathe life onto its shores again but that isn't something NADIA can directly influence. Infrastructure and facilities are in place but there aren’t enough people who are making use of these facilities. People who survived the tsunami are hesitant to return to Ishinomaki, choosing to relocate to inland cities. And even fewer are willing to relocate from other cities to Ishinomaki. I do not have the stats but with the lack of schools in the region, I can only imagine that the proportion of Japanese under age of 60 is quite a bit lower than other cities.
After coffee at Abe san’s place, we returned to the HQ to help with the move. The building we stayed in was due for demolition in two weeks’ time hence we had to move NADIA’s belongings to the new HQ. Since using the elevator was out of question, we made countless trips going up to the 6th floor and back to the ground floor. (Sure beats the Stairmaster any day!) After another local bento lunch, we boarded the bus and began our long bus journey/drinking session to Tokyo.
This concludes my very brief trip to Ishinomaki. It was brief but I learnt a lot from the people in Ishinomaki. Having experienced all that and yet not losing hope and faith, going about their everyday lives with a smile and hoping for the best. It was very touching yet humbling at the same time. Every time I mention to my Japanese friends that I went to Ishinomaki as a volunteer, they never fail to say ‘Arigatou gozaimasu. Thank you for helping us.’ While it seems like I went to Ishinomaki to help the locals, I do think that at the end of the day, the one who gained the most is me.
Thank you, NADIA. Thank you, people of Ishinomaki.
NADIA's chili con carne stall
Photo cleaning
Ex NADIA's HQ
Taking the kitchen apart
Team NADIA!
Ganbare, Ishinomaki!
A month ago, I went with a voluntary group (NADIA) to Ishinomaki, pretty much the most severely affected area by the tsunami in 2011. Prior to that I had been looking for voluntary work in Tokyo/Yokohama area but a lot of groups aren’t that active anymore. NADIA remains as one of the more active groups, focusing on rebuilding Ishinomaki. They were one of the first few NGOs who went to Ishinomaki in 2011 and have been making regular monthly trips there since then. Since I couldn’t find anyone else to go with, I decided to join NADIA and left Shinjuku on Friday night, taking the night bus to Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture. The group I went with had a total of 14 volunteers and two leaders - 11 Japanese and 5 foreigners. Since it was the weekend leading up to Golden week, there was a group of Japanese college kids on their first trip to Ishinomaki. When I boarded the bus, I was greeted by stacks of cans of beer and chuhai. What a sight! (^^) I knew then that it was going to be a good trip. I know, I know, I’m easily influenced by alcohol.
The bus ride was 7 hours and we reached Ishinomaki at 5.30 am Saturday morning. The sun was up since 5am so we spotted some late sakura blooms as we drove into Ishinomaki. First thought that struck me: What a peaceful & idyllic town, right by the seaside. However, upon taking a closer look at the streets, the damage inflicted by the tsunami 2 years ago can still be clearly seen. Neatly stacked ruins of cars washed up during the tsunami, covered with rust and weathered by the sun and the sea. Wrecked shop houses along the coast, abandoned schools decorated with ‘Ganbare, Ishinomaki! (Fight on, Ishinomaki), gaping holes in the town left behind when homes and shops got swept away during the tsunami. Even though I have seen countless news reports on TV and newspapers, witnessing the after-math for the first time with my own eyes left me speechless. Without realisation, tears were falling down my cheeks. And this is after two years have passed. I can only imagine what it was like right after it happened. I recalled the time when Sian was telling me how her friend, who was part of the fire rescue team UK sent to Japan right after the tsunami, stood there speechless, surveying the damage and not quite knowing where to begin.
The place we were putting up at was an abandoned office building. It had six floors in total and had managed to stay intact during the tsunami. However, the first three floors were flooded by seawater and rendering it useless. Previous tenants had either lost their businesses or chose to relocate elsewhere. Hence the 6th floor of the building was leased to NADIA as their headquarters and that was where volunteers spent the night. 6th floor was chosen for obvious reasons and it was the only floor with running cold water and electricity. Heating was in the form of kerosene burners. Even though it early May, Ishinomaki was still rather cold with temperatures falling to 5,6 degrees Celsius in the night. I left all my winter wear in London and made do with a fleece pullover borrowed from a kind friend and Uniqlo’s heat tech tops. Upon arrival, we put down our gear and had an hour or two of rest before we got around to the day’s tasks.
There were several jobs lined up for the first day. There was a local matsuri (festival) that needed help in setting up the stalls and stage. NADIA would be setting up a stall to sell chili con carne to the local folks. Another task that required help was the photo-cleaning project. Many photos were washed up ashore during the tsunami and since then, volunteers have helped to collect and categorise these pictures, looking through each picture piece by piece and sorting them into different groups -definitely family/friends, likely to be family/friends. What we have to do know is to wash each picture with clean water and then dry them to prevent further decay. There were so many pictures of kids and happy smiley faces… I couldn’t help but wonder if the kids in these pictures survived the tsunami or not… Though it wasn’t physically draining, it certainly was emotionally draining. We were there from 9am to 4pm and made our way to the local sento (Japanese style public bath) for our daily shower/clean up since there was no hot water in the building. Thereafter, we had dinner at the sento and headed back to the HQ for the ritual nomikai (booze session)
On the second day, I was assigned to help with the demolition of a shop house that was damaged by the waves. While the structure was still intact, its insides were pretty much falling apart. Its previous owner sold the house to the local fishmonger, who hopes to turn this house into a ryokan sometime this autumn. Our main task was to take apart the water fixtures, beams, remove the nails and whenever possible, remove whole pieces of wood/nails so that they can be reused during construction. Working with just hammers, pliers and our bare hands. Masks were given as it was seriously dusty especially when we knocked down the walls and partitions. It was quite an interesting experience, nothing like I had done before. The locals made us bento lunches. During lunch, I dropped my mobile phone on a street full of rocks and grave and completely smashed my screen. Orz. Thank God it was a cheap Huawei phone…
That night, we had dinner at the local yatai place and went to an izakaya that had just opened. It was such a lovely place and we (I) drank far too much. Japanese sake, shochu, beer… and more wine and shochu back at the HQ. Our drinking session ended at 2.30am and we all had to get up at 7am to pack up and get ready for the final round of voluntary work before we head back to Tokyo in the afternoon. Needless to say, some members woke up with severe hangovers but continued to trudge on.
For the last morning of work, I was asked to help the local fishermen to mend the nets used for harvesting seaweed. Upon reaching the place, I realised the local fisherman is the newly elected Member of Parliament for Ishinomaki. And I went there dressed in a hoodie and Adidas slacks.Lol. Anyway, he was a very hospitable gentleman and instead of mending nets, he insisted on having coffee with us and shared with us all that had happened in the past two years, the neighbours who lost family members and friends, how he and the others escaped to the hill behind his house when the tsunami came. He lapsed into the local accent every now and then but I think I did catch most of what he said anyway. One thing he mentioned was the meaning of recovery.
His own words - 「複興っては何？どう言う意味？今再建すべき、やるべきこともう大分やったが、今後の作業は何？戻りたい人もう戻れない、戻れる人は戻りたくない。震災前の石巻は観光と漁業で有名だったが。。。今後はどうなるかうまくいけるか正直わかない。うまく行きたいほしいけれど、実はそんな甘いもんじゃね。」(What is the meaning of recovery? Stuff that needed rebuilding, stuff that had to be done has already been more or less accomplished but what’s next (for Ishinomaki)? People who wanted to come back can’t do so anymore and those who still can would probably not come back to Ishinomaki. Ishinomaki was known for its fisheries and as a tourist destination before the tsunami… What kind of future awaits us, would we be able to succeed remains a question that I have no answer to. I really hope that things would go well but the reality isn’t always what one wants it to be)
Having spoken to the guys at NADIA, it seems like voluntary work is scarce these days in Ishinomaki. The streets and shores are clean; most if not all debris has been cleared… The next step is to rebuild its economy and breathe life onto its shores again but that isn't something NADIA can directly influence. Infrastructure and facilities are in place but there aren’t enough people who are making use of these facilities. People who survived the tsunami are hesitant to return to Ishinomaki, choosing to relocate to inland cities. And even fewer are willing to relocate from other cities to Ishinomaki. I do not have the stats but with the lack of schools in the region, I can only imagine that the proportion of Japanese under age of 60 is quite a bit lower than other cities.
After coffee at Abe san’s place, we returned to the HQ to help with the move. The building we stayed in was due for demolition in two weeks’ time hence we had to move NADIA’s belongings to the new HQ. Since using the elevator was out of question, we made countless trips going up to the 6th floor and back to the ground floor. (Sure beats the Stairmaster any day!) After another local bento lunch, we boarded the bus and began our long bus journey/drinking session to Tokyo.
This concludes my very brief trip to Ishinomaki. It was brief but I learnt a lot from the people in Ishinomaki. Having experienced all that and yet not losing hope and faith, going about their everyday lives with a smile and hoping for the best. It was very touching yet humbling at the same time. Every time I mention to my Japanese friends that I went to Ishinomaki as a volunteer, they never fail to say ‘Arigatou gozaimasu. Thank you for helping us.’ While it seems like I went to Ishinomaki to help the locals, I do think that at the end of the day, the one who gained the most is me.
Thank you, NADIA. Thank you, people of Ishinomaki.
NADIA's chili con carne stall
Photo cleaning
Ex NADIA's HQ
Taking the kitchen apart
Team NADIA!
Ganbare, Ishinomaki!