March 11, 2012

To all our Supporters,

Today, we honoured the anniversary of March 11 with fresh feelings.
Thanks to your generous aid, the circle of friends and supporters has widened daily, and Jonet and the people in the disaster areas have been strengthened by your kind support.
That we have been able to extract ourselves from a situation that seemed hopeless, is entirely due to the strong support you have lend us.
We would like to use this occasion to thank you all from our hearts. Thank you very much!

Immediately after the earthquake and tsunami in the heavily hit disaster areas, it was as if we had received electric shocks. The stench was indescribable, the air filled with dust, and one's feet were getting stuck in the sludge unable to move. To walk even a small distance took considerable time and effort, leaving one exhausted. Our surroundings had turned into a single-colour grey world.

Over the last days, we have been continuously contacted by the media who want to report on the recovery of our towns one year on. But from our perspective, hardly any people in the disaster areas are on the road to recovery.
The debris may have been cleared away; traffic lights and telephone cables may have been renewed, and the roads may have been restored. However, one does not catch sight of the people of the towns. This might be because one now uses the car when moving from door to door, but life is nowhere to be seen, so to speak. This is the most worrying phenomenon.

Miyagi Jonet endeavors to set up with its salons a point of contact and interaction with the people in the disaster areas, and, going back to basics, to continue its various support activities and efforts. We kindly ask you to continue providing us with your support.

 

The Jonet House (trailer) in front of the ruins of 

Minamisanriku's Disaster Prevention Office

 

The foundations were swept away.

This seems to be a new building method for foundations.

 

 

 
 

A sign in the new Sansan Shopping District explaining the escape routes.

 

  
 

Temporary shopping district in Minamisanriku opens!

 

Town in snow. Trucks loaded high with car wrecks can no longer get up the steep hill to this storage site but have been seen to ground to a halt.

 

In the far distance, the sea at Minamisanriku

 

The black dots are tree stumps left behind by the tsunami.

 

For the time being, the Chiba Nori Shop has set up its premises in the temporary shopping district with its prefab shops. 

Jonet has prepared little gifts to thank the clients coming to the shop.

 

Suddenly, a 'yosakoi' dancing girl popped in cheerfully, lifting our spirits.

But hey, outside it is so cold that one wants to snuggle deep into one's winter coat, no?!

Minamisanriku - municipal institutions

 

The temporary premises of the Minamisanriku Town Hall

 

The temporary premises of Minamisanriku's Public Hospital

 

The campsite sign is still standing close to the Bay-side Arena,

but the tents of the volunteers have disappeared.

 

Film shooting

 

 

We held a 'making my own tote bag' Salon.

The results were lovely individual creations.

 

 

Next door, film director Okuda Eiji was shooting.

The film is scheduled to premiere on March 11.

 

The participants' creations

 

 

 

A 'room for the elderly' was built.

Inside, there is that cozy warmth peculiar to heating with a stove.

Over lunch everyone returns to their rooms, but soon after they gather again so that there is hardly any seat left.

Minamisanriku - the situation at the beach

 

Unchanged since 3.11.

The second floor of that house was swept over the street 

and lies overturned ever since.

 

Today's catch is this one fish.

The chef is my father.

 

The minshuku (private lodging for tourists), the house, the kitchen, three buses and cars - all gone. Nothing but this billboard remained. 

 

The 20m heigh tsunami transported the boat up this hill and over the road, depositing it finally in this ravine.

 

The fish looks really ugly, but I was told that they are delicious as a fish soup.

 

Pacific cod for 5000 Yen

 

At the fish monger, fish dishes prepared from locally caught fish 

as well as these unique cookies are sold

 

 

 

Stately tiled roofs

 

 

 

 

 

In Minamisanriku, one can find many houses with elegant tiled roofs; each of them being distinct in its style.

Impressions of Minamisanriku

 

Volunteers helping with the clean-up of smaller debris.

 

A lacquer bowl found at the foot of the mountain.

 

Even this flat cover was swept away and broken.

 

 

A house saved from tsunami damage

 

 

 
 

Wrecks of boats and disaster alarm radio poles

 

Salt-damaged trees cut down and piled up

 

Straw

 

Before the disaster, straw would be kept in bales on the fields. Nowadays, these bales are covered, apparently in order to avoid contamination with radiation.

"Skill Up" lectures in Sendai

Below is the schedule for the forthcoming "Skill Up" Lectures for volunteers and supporters, to be held in Sendai. We hope that many of you will participate.

The Omoriya Shop

 

As we are approaching the first anniversary of 3.11 and were hoping to leave the disaster behind us, we came across this place which is still in a state of complete ruin.

 

Withered seaweed entangled in the railing of a staircase

 

 

View onto the coastline 

 

The tsunami smashed cars into this building, too.

 

 

Rubbish remains like glued to this building's back (facing inland).

 

Remnants of the rail tracks.

 

"This is already sold out in Tokyo!"

A special yoghurt said to help against influenza.

 

"I also wanted to read that," said a client to the Omoriya shop owner.

The article in demand is about "owning property vs. renting property."

 

The temporary shopping street where the Chiba Nori (dried seaweed) shop will soon open.

 

The owner of the Omoriya shop currently reads this book.