My visit to Onagawa April 2013

In April I was able to visit japan for a holiday , while I was there I was determined to visit Onagawa to see how reconstruction was going and try to understand how the region could recover from the huge 2011 disaster.
I have been posting stories and photographs from my visit at my other blog.
here are links to some of the Onagawa posts but please explore the whole blog if you are interested in what else I saw or ate while I was in Japan

http://longstoned.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/onagawa-part-1-journey-north-april-10th.html

http://longstoned.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/eating-my-way-around-japan-2013-part.html

http://longstoned.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/wakame-seaweed-harvest-on-enoshima.html

http://longstoned.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/why-onagawa-some-background.html

http://longstoned.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/onagawa-part-2-guided-tour-april-10th.html

http://longstoned.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/onagawa-part-3-reconstruction-april.html

http://longstoned.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/onagawa-part-4-temporary-town.html

http://longstoned.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/eating-my-way-around-japan-part-7.html

http://longstoned.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/onagawa-part-5-remnants-and-controversy.html

thank you 

El Faro, new hotel in Onagawa video story.

Excellent story of local people in Onagawa forcing the pace of recovery . 

I have booked to stay here on my next visit to Japan .

Respect

Thoughts and respect two years on , I hope the recovery continues as fast as possible .

Onagawa Photography update documentary from JIBTV

A recent documentary featuring Mayumi Suzuki in Onagawa following on from the original film made just after the Tsunami.

Watch the video here at JIBTV
Select the program

"FORWARD" Snapshots: Capturing Hometown Life

New Hotel in Onagawa

An interesting news story about opening a new hotel in Onagawa, click link below to view a short video at the NHK World web site

NHK news video 

How a Sake Brewery coped after the earthquake in the Fukushima region

An interesting "good news " article of how a famous Sake Brewery fared during and after the March 11th Earthquake and what measures they took to ensure their products were not contaminated.
It is pleasing to read that recently their sales have risen since the quake.
Read the story here

The Brewery is the Daishichi Sake Brewery in Nihonmatsu town and the same web site has a nice article explaining it's history and the artisan brewing process.

Daishichi Sake Brewery article.

The Brewery also has a good web site in English and Japanese

Company web site ( in English )

If I can track down any suppliers of their products in the U.K. I'll update the post later ,
I like a drop of sake.

Sanriku Oyster Reconstruction Project

I saw a documentary on NHK world T.V. about Oyster farmers trying to restart their business after the Tsunami wiped it out. It led me to investigate a bit more.
Sanriku Oyster project link

also a related "good" news story here
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120211a6.html

Interesting Documentary Film maker

I hope these films get a release with English sub titles some time .

The film maker is Ayako Imamura , and I read about her in this news article
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fl20120219x1.html

There is a web site about her most recent film here in English and Japanese
http://www.coffee-to-enpitsu.com/documentary_film/index.html

and a website here for her film production company ( in Japanese )
http://studioaya.com/

plus a blog here ( also in Japanese)
http://blog.livedoor.jp/rouinc/

According to the article Ayako's current project is a film about deaf residents in Tohoku in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami.

100 Santas Came!

We have made a donation from the funds raised by selling the Sakura CD to the 100 Santas Christmas project . They will send 100 Santas to the North East coast of Japan and hand out Christmas candy to children and old people living on their own who survived the tsunami.
People outside of Japan can contribute by purchasing extra sweets for the project from an Amazon gift list .
Check the links for more details and the story that inspired the project .

100 Santas English language page

100 Santas Amazon wish list page

News roundup including Onagawa related stories

A few news stories at these links reporting on continued difficulties faced by the areas hit by the tsunami and earthquake.

Land prices in Onagawa since the Tsunami

Another thought provoking set of photos from the Guardian

Temporary housing opened in Onagawa

Tsunami related art by a student in Onagawa used for postcard titled "Ikiru"

Interesting story about trying to promote tourism since the Tsunami

Some thought provoking photographs .

Hi
please check out the link below for some amazing "before and after " photos showing the extent of the cleanup in Kesennuma after six months . A lot has been achieved but it also illustrates how much work remains to rebuild the communities .


News article and photos here.

this article was shared on Facebook by the excellent site

https://www.facebook.com/kesennuma

thank you

News from Genkidama ... The school trip memorial photos.

I have an update from the Genkidama project which we are donating the money we raise from sales of the Longstone "Sakura" CD.  Mayumi Suzuki, who started the project in her home town of Onagawa has kindly sent me these photographs so I can explain how some of the money is used. Mayumi is a photographer ( you can read her story at the Monchicamera links in the side bar ) who lost her parents in the Tsunami , she decided to carry on the work of her father who was a portrait photographer in Onagawa. One of his jobs was taking the children's photographs at the local elementary school for such occasions as graduation etc. Onagawa was very badly damaged in the Tsunami and many families lost everything and simply could not afford to pay for school photos. One of the things Mayumi is able to do with the money donated to her project is provide the children with photos and yearbooks free of charge . This may seem like a small thing but it makes all the children equal again and provides those who may have lost everything  some new happy memories for the future. If anyone doesn't have the CD and would like to help a very limited number can now be bought online here

Click here to purchase Sakura

£15 from each sale will be donated to Genkidama.

 Recently Mayumi accompanied some of the children of Onagawa on a school trip and took memorial photos for them. 

Here are some of those photos with a simple message from Mayumi.

Please tell your friends " Onagawa kids are fine , they enjoyed their school trip "

 These are the memorial photos as presented for the children.

Group photo from Rindou lake and farm 

http://www.rindo.co.jp/

Visit to Nikko Tosho-go Shrine .

http://www.toshogu.jp/

                        They visited an elementary school at Shioya-town ,Ibaraki, which gave relief supplies to Onagawa. 

Remember what may seem like an ordinary or small thing to us is very important for these children . Many of them will have witnessed the terrible effects of the tsunami . They may have lost family members and friends , many will have lost their homes and will be living in temporary housing or evacuation centres . There is also a good chance their parents have no way to earn money at the moment , it will take a long time for life to return to normal . It's wonderful to hear that the children are having some fun and to see some of their smiling faces.

Onagawa supporters web site.

Mayumi ( Monchicamera ), who organised the Genkidama project that we are donating to, discovered an English web site who are collecting money for Onagawa in association with the towns football team.
Below is a link to their site and an excellent news/photo story they have posted about the town

http://onagawasupporters.com/

Excellent story about recovery in Onagawa 

Book recalls Japan tsunami through children's eyes. "The tsunami was greedy"

A couple of news stories about a book published in Japan where children who survived the tsunami write about what they witnessed . The few quotes in the news item are heartbreaking .....
" The tsunami was greedy "


Book recalls Japan tsunami through children's eyes.

Most touching tsunami stories come from surviving children.

Six months on, some photo stories, one with amazing pictures of Onagawa .

Please click on the links below to view the stories and photos .

Then and now photos including pictures of Onagawa

Amazing slideshow showing the unbelievable scale of the cleanup

Some photos of the Tsunami aftermath taken by children .

Rumours and fear ... Fukushima farmers get some positive coverage at last

It's understandable that the Fukushima nuclear problems have caused worry and fear among people living near to the power plant. Japan more than any other country has good reason to be concerned about the damage that can be caused by radiation. However it seems to me that this fear is fuelled and exaggerated by the media who seem to continually want to mention the atomic bombings along side the Fukushima issues.
I don't speak or read Japanese so I can only comment on the English language coverage. From this it seems people are afraid to use any produce originating from the wider Fukushima area and in one case a father was convinced no one would want to marry his daughter because she was from Fukushima prefecture .
Last week NHK World broadcast one documentary aimed at allaying some of these fears . It was only a small thing but it was pleasing to see .
It was called Overcoming rumours and marketing Fukushima and featured a market stall set up in Tokyo by farmers in Fukushima to sell their produce accompanied by certificates proving the produce was tested and not contaminated. In addition another stall holder had started a blog featuring recipes using this produce to help the farmers cause .
At the time of writing it's still possible to view the program at the NHK web site .
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/tv/japan7/recent.html
I'm guessing this link will only work for a week or so , the heading to look for is Restoring a Reputation.
Interestingly neither the program ( English language version ) or the NHK World web site provided either the address of the stall or the web address of the recipe blog .
I emailed NHK who happily provided the information  which I'll reproduce below by copying part of their reply.

Please see below the information about the shop and the recipes introduced

in the program.

FYI, the information in Japanese was also added.

*Kobushi no Sato: Outlet Shop of Tamakawa Villege, Fukushima Prefecture,

located in Tsukiji Outer Market of Tokyo

Midori no Eki 1-ban sen,

Tsukiji Outer Market,

4-16-2 Tsukiji Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0045

TEL & FAX:  03-3547-6061

http://www.tsukiji.or.jp/modules/shoplist/shop_detail.php?shop_id=605

(Japanese only)

Tsukiji Outer Market Official Website

http://www.tsukiji.or.jp/english/

*Cooking Blog

Tsukiji Outer Market "Midori no Eki" Diary

Website: http://ameblo.jp/midori-no-eki/ (Japanese Only)

A few more news stories about the recovery process

News of the recovery efforts are still hard to find in English but here are a few links to recent reports , some of them contain links to earlier stories and photos . We are approaching six months since the earthquake and Tsunami of March 11th and normally I would hope that the media would remind the world what happened and of the plight of the survivours. However six months to the day from March 11th will also be the 10th anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Centre which will understandably occupy the headlines .
I hope that some of the media in the west see fit to remember the scale of the disaster in Japan and it's effect on many thousands of ordinary people and don't just focus on the Fukushima crisis .


http://www.panorientnews.com/en/news.php?k=1140

http://www.stripes.com/news/ishinomaki-residents-rebuild-their-lives-as-they-rebuild-their-town-1.153738

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/26/us-japan-tsunami-bathhouse-idUSTRE77P0H520110826

http://www.cnngo.com/tokyo/drink/japan-tsunami-earthquake-2011/japans-sake-makers-unite-tohoku-372887

Not so much a positive news story but it highlights the difficulties faced in Onagawa and other coastal towns.

This article in the Economist outlines the magnitude of the task faced to rebuild towns like Onagawa and reminds us that many people still live in rescue shelters and are waiting patiently for temporary housing.


Read the article here .

A photo story about the cleanup process five months after the Tsunami .

Unfortunately this is from one of my least favourite U.K. tabloids,  however , I need to give them some credit for running a story about the recovery after the Tsunami that doesn't focus on the Fukushima crisis.

Some thought provoking before and after photos .

I found the link from this Facebook page

Kesennuma building for the future Facebook page.

they run positive stories about the recovery in Kesennuma , here is another example

https://www.facebook.com/#!/notes/kesennuma-building-for-the-future/news-from-kesennuma/237277909650158

another U.K. newspaper story about recovery of survivors belongings here ...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/18/japan-tsunami-victims-reunited-cash

Sakura CD reviewed in the September issue of WIRE magazine .

Again the reviewer kindly mentioned that money raised goes to help tsunami survivors in Japan .
We placed an advert for the album in the same issue .