Welcome to Hijiori

Yesterday, two volunteers who had spent 2 weeks in Ishinomaki came to Hijiori Onsen, my hometown. The whole time they were working at sight, clearing rubbles and cleaning houses etc. Most nights they slept in the tent. They weren't even able to take a shower. 























So we wanted to invite them to Hijiori Onsen to somehow reward them for their services. 


Uri-kun and Watanabe-kun both belong to a theater group and they perform with this group in Japan, Beijing, Korea and Taiwan, etc


At night, Hijiori young people got together and had a party for the two. They told us about their experience in Ishinomaki, and tips of volunteering. Many young people in Hijiori are interested in going to the affected area for help. 

But at the same time, we have to protect our lives. There are still very few guests in Hijiori Onsen. 


Next week is the "Golden Week" when most Japanese take about 1 week off. 


Normally, Hijiori Onsen will be packed with visitors from all over Japan during Golden Week. 


But this year, we are afraid that we will have very few guests..., which will make a huge impact on our business.


If we don't do something about it, it could lead to a fatal consequence... 


The reality is that serious. Our task is huge =========! Come to Japan everyone!!


(rimiko)

Report from Ishinomaki & Sendai

I just got back from Ishinomaki & Sendai in Miyagi prefecture. It was my first time to go there after the earthquake. We started a Tsunami relief group to support the volunteer center in Ishinomaki. 8 of us went there. 


This is how Ishinomaki looks like now. There are still rubbles and broken cars and ships on the side of the street, but the street itself has been cleaned, and it seemed that much has already been done (not to mention, there is A LOT more to go).






this is the picture I took from the park in highland. Top of the picture is the ocean. Tsunami was about 15m tall... You can see the devastation.


But the weird thing is that this park is becoming like a touristic spot.  I did feel quite uncomfortable being there...


This is "Senshu University" campus in Ishinomaki city. This campus has become a tent village for the volunteers. WPF, Peaceboat, and other NGOs and individual volunteers live here. I guess there are 200 or more tents. We have pitched 4 tents here. Now two volunteers from Tokyo and my boss are staying there. I'd say it's quite comfortable, but there is no water, meaning,,, NO SHOWER after a day of clearing the rubbles... 



There are toilets :-) and there are big supermarkets and home centers about 1-2km away from campus so it's easy to get supplies.


Everymorning, volunteers meet in front of the volunteer center and are sent to different places. 





These are pictures of Sendai city. I was working in Sendai last year, so i have many friends here. I was thinking, maybe Sendai city centers is back to normal. But that was not true! Convenience stores were empty. Streets were dark, and at midnight, most of the bars were already closed!

I met a couple of my friends, and I could tell that the earthquake has changed something fundamental in them. One girl who got into art university is determined to become a designer and start projects to heal affected children with art. 


Another friend who has just got into grad school to study psychology said that she would change her research topic to help those who have been affected by this earthquake. I'm very proud of them!!

Sendai station has not fully recovered... 









This is the picture of the entrance of my sister's apartment who lives in Sendai. My sister is quite classy, unlike me :-) and normally wears nice designers shoes and high heels. But after the quake, she bought a pair of tennis shoes. Next to it is a bag containing food, water, some snacks, flashlight, towels etc. 


We hear that another big one might come any time. We've got to be prepared. 

Spring Has Come!

It seems that FINALLY Spring has come to Hijiori. It snowed only a couple of days ago, but I guess, I hope that it's Spring now! 



Light green flowers in the picture on the left are called "Fukinoto". These flowers are the sign of Spring in Northern Japan. 

When we see "Fukinoto", we don't say "How pretty!" Instead, we say "Yummy!". 


Fukinoto is the best when cooked as Tempura. It has a slightly bitter taste and it goes so well with hot white rice :-) I already had some this year. Oishii!!

We still have some snow left. It won't be gone until May. By then, we'll have more flowers, and fresh green leaves will grow on the trees in the mountains. Hijiori's famous morning market will start. Many kinds of eatable wild vegetables will be sold in the market. 


Right now, all the hotels and touristic places in Tohoku are empty. Hijiori, of course is one of them. It makes all of us worry about our future. But what can we do? It is no use to cry. 

So today, I took a walk in my beautiful town, feeling the warmth of the sun. I talked to the neighbors, talked to the few guests. I had spent the past few says totally stressed out about organizing volunteers to go to Miyagi. All the negative news didn't help me. But this short stroll gave me more power than I expected. 


Some say, "Our life is never going to be the same". But today I felt that we are going to be okay :-)  Who could abandon such lovely little town with the best hot spring in the world!? 

Report from Ishinomaki

My boss and colleagues have visited Ishinomaki-city in Miyagi-ken to organize volunteers. 

These are the pictures my boss took there. 

Ishinomaki is a quite big city on the coast of Miyagi with the population of 160,000 people. 

Fishing industry is huge in this area. Ishinomaki had the Eastern Hemisphere's second-largest fish market. 

Ishinomaki was hit hard by Tsunami on March 11th. It is said that Tsunami was as high as 10m (about 32 feet). It traveled 600m inland and destroyed the port, the market, houses and commercial buildings. In this area alone, about 2,500 people's death have been confirmed.

My colleague is from Ishinomaki. So for her it was very difficult to see the reality with her own eyes.

As you can see in these pictures, there are a lot needs to be done. And many people are eager to help. But there are very few volunteers working there... Why? 

The reason is the lack of system and "leaders" who can organize people and allocate jobs. The city officials and workers are also victims. They already have more jobs than they could handle. 

In addition, many volunteers and NGOs are contacting them. So they are overwhelmed.


My boss went to Ishinomaki today to assume that role. 2 actors from Tokyo (my boss is in theater) were also dispached to Ishinomaki to be a local volunteer staff. My job would be to stay in Yamagata, and organize volunteers, collect donations, etc...


If any of you want to help us with donation, or actually come to Japan and help, you are more than welcomed. Please let me know! Rimiko Murai rimiko@gmail.com  
  

Huge Afterquake!

Last night we had another big aftershock. 

It was about 11:30 PM. I was reading a book on my bed, dozing off, and all of a sudden, huge shake with rumbling noise!

My Ryokan is quite big, so my family had agreed to meet on the 1F of a new building when there is a big earthquake. 


I grabbed my winter jacket and cell phone and ran out of my room. 


My nephews were already there.
My 6 year old nephew was totally frightened.
My 9 year old nephew was almost falling asleep again :-)


We had blackout all night, but the electricity was back around 9:00AM today.


Some Kokeshi dolls fell on top of each other. but no big damage here...

Hasta La Vista!

People from Fukushima have left for home... a world "infamous" Fukushima.


We decided to have a farewell party on the last night. We invited the neighbors and prepared a lot of drinks, Takoyaki, Popcorns and Karaoke :-)

People from Fukushima are such amazing entertainers! They were even preparing new costumes! They sang, danced, and made us laugh so much! 


We also wanted to give something back, so my mother taught everyone crazy dance to "Oklahoma Mixer", and we all danced in line. I  played the guitar and sang some old folk songs everybody knows.


In Japan, or maybe just here?? When there is a Karaoke contest, audience throw coins wrapped in tissue papers at the stage. This is called "Ohineri". We were preparing a lot of "Ohineri" containing 5yen, 10yen, and some 100yen coins :-) We threw them at the kids while they were sining. They all stopped singing and jumped at the coins on the floor. We all burst into laughter.


When we were about to call it a day, one of the ladies from Fukushima announced with a microphone, "We have something for Okami san, Waka Okami san and Rimi san!"


They made us stand on the invisible stage. 3 kids showed up with beautiful cards made for us!!


A 9 year old girl, who I've made good friends with, gave me a small paper crane and said "This is so that you don't forget about us. " I couldn't hold my tears anymore :-(


They left yesterday morning.


1 minute later, we noticed that they left "Onigiri" we had made for lunch! I drove my car and caught up with them! We had just had a tearful good bye, so we all laughed saying, "Oh, nice to meet you again!". I love their good spirit!


 My Ryokan is so quiet without those kids. I miss them so much!!


I got a call from one of them saying that the arrived at Fukushima. Most of them cannot stay in their own house so they are staying in a shelter. It breaks my heart...


I feel like the farewell party made our tie unbreakable. I'm so certain that they will all come back to my Ryokan someday, and I'll visit them in Fukushima.      


Hasta la vista! 

Happy Faces of Children

15 people evacuated to my Ryokan from Soma city (Fukushima) 20 days ago. Today is their last day... They are leaving tomorrow.

They really like it here. one of them told me "This place is heaven! We are going back to hell" :-(

But the kids are starting school, and they need to be near their house so that they could go there to clear the rubbles and clean it. 

They will be staying in one of the shelters. I really hope they'll get to stay in a nice place...

We have spent a lot of time together, so I'm gonna miss them so much. 

These pictures are from last Friday when we played this special game called "Igo Ball" at Hijiori center. About 30 people participated, and it was so much fun!

They have made friends with the locals:-)

Yesterday, we went for a sleigh ride. It's April already and it's still snowing in Hijiori... So we have plenty of snow to play with. 

There is a huge snow man made for a Winter Festival which never took place due to the earthquake. But kids can go there and play around the snow man. The back of the snow man is a good ski slope for the kids.  

It doesn't snow much in Soma city, so the kids were so excited to play in the snow. For some of them, it was first time to sleigh in the snow!

They loved it so much that they begged me to go again today. As a matter of fact they are playing there again at this moment. I told them I have to work, but I'll be there in a moment :-b

So I'd better get going before they start whining... :-)

Tonight, we are planning a small farewell party. We'll have "Takoyaki" party in my Ryokan. 

I have invited some local friends. So it'll be a nice night. 

Today, a 5 year old girl, Mi-chan told me, "Rimi-san, I have written a letter for you!", which was of course, supposed to be a secret! 

Oh, I'm gonna miss those kids so much !

(Rimiko)