From a person who had read a newspaper article about Jonet

I wish to express my thanks for the other day.

Thank you sincerely for allowing me to attend the Miyagi Jonet salon on August 14^th & 15^th despite only telephoning you at the last minute.

Minato Primary School, which we visited on the 14^th, was the last workplace of my grandmother. On the way there, we passed through Mangoku-ura, where from the roadside we saw a house that looked like it might have been my grandmother’s earliest home as a child. Ayukawa Primary School was the first school that my father attended, and I have only learned since returning home that he used to board at Kugunarihama.

However, what lingers most in my heart are the women I met on this occasion: the two women I met at the salon on the 15^th who coincidentally were both, like me, in their fifties; the Jonet members who took the same car with me; and, those women who joined us all the way from Tokyo.

There were people who have received support and are now giving support to others, and those who now find themselves straddling both positions, as well as people who in the short time of the salon were seeing indications of this kind of shift… In such situations as these, I could sense the clear purpose contained within the Jonet organization and its activities.

While we were sitting together throughout the long drive, I regret that I chatted too much and divulged too many things about my own family that nobody had even asked me about, and I apologise that it has taken me so long to email! But now, what I really wanted to ask concerns the Culture Festival. To start with, I have had one box (around 150 packs?) sent from the Chiba-Noriya (seaweed) store, but gauging from the reaction around me, I thought I might order some more. I wanted to ask you, might it also be possible for some students to create some signs to display?

I would like to spread certain messages - “Step forward through work”, “In the absence of work, create!” – to the students and their parents and guardians who have bought our seaweed.

Actually, the 3^rd year pupils from my local high school’s football club also visited Kesennuma, where they interacted positively, playing football and cleaning away sludge from the park. On short notice, it has been arranged for a video to be shown during the opening ceremony of the Culture Festival accompanied by a speech by the team captain recounting their experiences. Therefore, even in the short two days of the Culture Festival, the sentiment of, “Do not forget, get involved”, looks to spread yet further. I hope that through their hard-working efforts to sell lots of seaweed, the students are able to realise something within themselves.

If there is anything I can do on my return to Sendai, then please let me help.

Best wishes, Yuko Hashimoto.