Volunteering at Rikuzentakata 陸前高田

On our third day in Tohoku, we headed down to Rikuzentakata (陸前高田), one of the most badly affected areas during the 3.11 disaster. What used to be a populated coastal town was literally flattened, nothing could be seen in the distance except for piles of debris, crushed cars and buildings reduced to their steel supports. To get an idea of how much debris there was around, compare the size of this single pile with the size of the building nearby.

Really, the first word that came to my mind was...nothing. There really was nothing. Nothing to describe what I saw, nothing to describe the feelings you feel upon standing in the middle of nothing. In pictures and on TV you see the whole areas, but when you're actually there you feel so small in that vast area of land; the destruction and debris seem so much bigger, and the impact and scale of the destruction feels magnified. I can't imagine what the people living there must have felt.

Lands were barren; no greenery; no people. It was heartbreaking to witness. Though I had seen countless pictures and TV coverage of affected areas, seeing them with my own eyes was a different experience.

Think this is some autumn scenery of the changing colors of leaves? Wrong. The reddish leaves are leaves of pine trees that have died as a result of being hit by the tsunami.

All the free-standing trees in the town were uprooted and washed away by the tsunami, save for this single pine tree which they call the "Miracle Pine Tree" 奇跡の一本松 (kiseki no ippon matsu) or "Pine Tree of Hope" 希望の松 (kibou no matsu). This miracle tree survived the disaster and even saved the life of a man who clung onto it. It is now a symbol of hope for Rikuzentakata.

Even amidst the barren land and debris-filled water, this sunflower grows steadily. A sign that life continues and can grow even in the harshest of environments. I do believe that Rikuzentakata can do it. Bit by bit, one step at a time, it will happen: they will recover.

We were tasked with clearing drains which had been blocked and covered with debris and mud, hardened over time by the weather. Despite a collective effort over a few hours, all we could clear was a section of a single drain. It was a tad sad to know that our minute efforts did not make a significant impact, although it was nice to know that at least we were helping albeit in a small manner. Imagine all the time and effort needed to get the whole town back to recovery. Or all the affected towns.

We headed back to the volunteer center and met people from Uganda and the Red Cross who were also on their way to do some volunteering. It was really touching to see people from all over the world come to support Japan and participate in relief efforts; to show her that she is not alone. Alone, we might not seem to make a difference, but working together, we can make things happen.

*** Special thanks to group B for some of the photos!***

Sendai Airport ♥ 仙台空港

After the Sendai Tanabata Festival, we visited Sendai Airport, which was damaged and flooded by the tsunami, in which floodwaters reached a height of 3.02m.

It was heartwarming to see various messages of support and encouragement from all over the world and all over Japan, and they made the airport brighter and cheerier. Each and every petal of the sunflowers here is a message from a different individual. They are hoping that Sendai can be like sunflowers; bright and shining. This is from passengers and staff of ANA.

These messages are from visitors to Haneda Airport in Tokyo.

So are these.

This colorful one is from Kansai International Airport (KIX) in Osaka.

Miyagi's mascot with a message of encouragement. Sendai is located in the Miyagi Prefecture.

The blue line around the pillar shows the height the floodwaters reached when the tsunami hit, 3.02m.

Because the Tanabata Festival was underway, even the airport had some fukunagashi decorations, with words of encouragement on them. The board is promoting Hagi no Tsuki, a regional specialty confectionery of Sendai. It's really delicious!

More messages from all over Japan and the world, this time from JAL passengers and staff.

Cranes of well-wishes and support from Kyuushuu, the south of Japan.

Alongside the messages were photographs of when the tsunami hit, to serve as a reminder.

This was a photo from 17th March, about a week after the disaster.

This one is from 30th March, of the interior of the airport, almost 3 weeks after the incident.

Up till now the upper floors are still under going renovation.

We attended a short presentation on the airport and what happened when the tsunami hit. One of the speakers shared a story of how one of the airport staff, whose grandmother went missing during the earthquake, still showed up for work and greeted each and every passenger with a smile and tended to their needs. I felt my heart wrenching in sorrow for the staff, but at the same time it's really touching to know that such kindred souls exist.

In a mere 4 months, most of the damaged area has been rebuilt, and international flights resumed on 25th July 2011. The airport is now fully operational.

Sendai Tanabata Festival 2011 ♥ 仙台七夕祭り

Tanabata is a Japanese festival celebrating the meeting of Orihime (Weaver Girl) and Hikoboshi (Cowherd). According to the legend, they are separated by the Milky Way and can only meet once a year on Tanabata.

The Sendai Tanabata Festival is one of the 3 major festivals in the Tohoku region, and each year, over 2 million people come to see the giant, exquisite, hand-made decorations ♥

This year, the Sendai Tanabata Festival was held on 6, 7, 8 August.

Some of the beautiful fukinagashi.

Fukinagashi are streamers that symbolize Orihime, to wish for improvement in handicraft skills. During the festival, there are contests and prizes for the most beautiful and creative decorations.

Each of the little decorations are hand-made, have messages written on them and pasted onto the fukinagashi.

More colorful and gorgeous fukinagashi.

These ones have messages gathered from younger school children I believe.

Someone (a child) giving thanks for the support and aid that the world has given Tohoku.

Cute animals made from many scrunched up balls of paper put together.

The top part of the fukinagashi is made by sticking hundreds of scrunched up balls of paper around a spherical bamboo frame. The basic shape is a ball, these were altered to make them look like animals!

Gorgeous panda and crane fukinagashi!

Elegant blue.

Colorful and delightful paper cranes and flowers.

Every single part of every single decoration is painstakingly hand-made with washi, Japanese paper.

Cranes symbolize longevity, as well as hope; for folding a thousand paper cranes is believed to make your wish come true.

Giant kinchaku (purse) with an exquisite mizuhiki crane.

The whole area decorated with beautiful tanabata decorations which people come to enjoy.

Even in the morning there are already so many people who've come to enjoy the festival~

Writing wishes on tanzaku.

With Chiba-sensei from Day 1, when we made mini Tanabata decorations~

Miniature version of the nanatsu kazari, the 7 types of Tanabata decorations.

In brief, the 7 types of nanatsu kazari are:

♥ Kamigoromo 紙衣: Paper kimono. This is to wish for health and for the improvement of sewing skills.

♥ Fukinagashi 吹流し: Streamers. This symbolizes Orihime and is to wish for improvement in handicraft skills.

♥ Tanzaku 短冊: Paper strips to write wishes.

♥ Kuzukago くずかご: Trash bag. To wish for cleanliness and thriftiness.

♥ Toami 投網: Net. To wish for a good catch of fish (good business) as well as to catch good fortune.

♥ Senbatsuru 千羽鶴: Cranes. To wish for longevity and health, as that is what cranes symbolize.

♥ Kinchaku 巾着: Purse. To wish for wealth, thriftiness and good business.

The Sendai Tanabata Festival is gorgeous; a real visual delight. The whole community comes together to make decorations, and to make the once-a-year event an enjoyable one~ ♥ It's not hard to see why it's one of the biggest festivals in the region, with all the gorgeous handiwork and amazing preparations!

Thanks to Jiawen and Huixian's cameras for some of the fukunagashi photos!

Afterthoughts on Tohoku, 5 months after

In the past week, under the Singapore Youth Ambassador for Tohoku program, I have been in Tohoku. You might know this as the region which was hit by the 3.11 earthquake and tsunami. Today marks the 5th month after the disaster. Up till now, many foreign visitors still shun going to Japan, and especially Tohoku, despite the fact that most areas are safe; that the food and water are edible and uncontaminated; that the people are alive and living.

This summer, I've been to Japan 3 times, and each time I've come back better than ever. Tohoku is a beautiful place, and it really saddened me that so many people shunned the whole region after the 3.11 disaster. And to make matters worse, the media did not always portray an accurate reflection of the situation, choosing at times to merely focus on the worst-case stories. Without knowing any better, over time the masses lumped the whole Tohoku region together, giving each and every place, affected or unaffected, the same branding of "unsafe", "dead" and "nothing there".

There was a point in time that I heard from friends living abroad that the Japanese living in their countries did not want to return to Japan, not because they feared for their safety, but because their children would be bullied after coming back. It was really saddening to hear of such horrific thinking and behavior.

I started learning Japanese when I was 12, and continued formal lessons all the way until I graduated from high school. Throughout the years, I've always felt that Japan is like my second home. Due to twitter, I actually found out real-time when the earthquake happened. At first, I thought it was just a larger-than-normal earthquake. A few hours later, after classes ended, I read about the devastating tsunami that followed.

All I could do was feel helpless; there was nothing I could do to help other than pour in monetary donations and convince friends and family that Tohoku would recover; that Japan is like a phoenix, forever rising from the ashes and surviving thick and thin.

DAY 1:

After landing in Narita, we sat on a 6-hour bus ride to Sendai, where we made mini-tanabata decorations and attended a welcoming reception. More on Day 1 here.

DAY 2:

Headed off pretty early to visit Chuusonji at Hiraizumi, Japan's newest UNESCO World Heritage Site. After a quick and delicious lunch we headed off the Akita International University for an interaction session, where a girl, a recent graduate working at the Akita Prefectural Office, shared with us her nerve-racking experience alone when the earthquake hit. In the evening, we got to experience the amazing Akita Kantou Festival, where men balanced heavy bamboo poles carrying up to 46 lanterns and weighing up to 50kg on their heads, shoulders and hips. Posts on the festival here and here.

DAY 3: Volunteering day

Headed down to Rikuzentakata, one of the most badly affected areas during the disaster. What used to be a populated coastal town was literally flattened, nothing could be seen in the distance except for piles of debris, crushed cars and buildings reduced to their steel supports. Lands were barren; no greenery; no people. It was heartbreaking to witness.

We were tasked with clearing drains which had been blocked and covered with debris and mud, hardened over time by the weather. Despite a collective effort over a few hours, all we could clear was a section of a single drain. It was a tad sad to know that our minute efforts did not make a significant impact, although it was nice to know that at least we were helping albeit in a small manner. Imagine all the time and effort needed to get the whole town back to recovery. Or all the affected towns. But bit by bit, one step at a time, it will happen.

DAY 4:

In the morning, we went for the Sendai Tanabata Festival, one of the largest Tanabata Festivals in Japan and one of the major summer festivals in the Tohoku region. After, we headed to Sendai's Mitsui Outlet for a short while.

Next, we visited Sendai Airport, which was damaged and flooded by the tsunami, in which floodwaters reached a height of 3.02m. In a mere 4 months, the damaged area has been rebuilt, and international flights resumed on 25th July 2011. The airport is now fully operational. It was heartwarming to see various messages of support and encouragement from all over the world and all over Japan, and they made the airport brighter and cheerier. In the evening we had a farewell dinner with our new Japanese friends from Tohoku.

DAY 5: Took a bus to Utsunomiya, where we bid a sad farewell to out new-found but dear friends, and took a Shinkansen to Tokyo. After arriving, we headed to the University of Tokyo for informative lectures and an exhibition by the students from the civil engineering department.

DAY 6: Farewell reception and headed back to Singapore

I'll be putting up more in-depth posts as the days go along. Though my time spent there was short, from what I experienced, the Tohoku region is a beautiful place with wonderfully amicable people. I would definitely like to go back to leisurely visit the area some other time in the future.

Akita Kantou Festival 2011 ♥ Part II

To add on to my previous post, here's more information on the Akita Kantou Fesitval ♥ Held in the Akita Prefecture, the bamboo poles with lanterns in the shape of bales of rice hanging on them are collectively known as "kantou"; hence the name of the festival. The bigger, heavier kantou are known as oowaka, and the smaller version for kids are called kowaka/youwaka.

Like the brochure says, this year, the festival was held from 3~6 August.

In the entire festival, there are 250 poles and 10,000 lanterns.

It really pretty seeing a sea of yellow-orange lights illuminating the night.

This brochure shows the size of the oowaka and components. Unextended, the oowaka is 12m and weighs around 50kg. To the rhythm of the beating drums and flutes, all 250 lanterns are hoisted up simultaneously, and performers take turns balancing them whilst ensuring that no candle loses its flame. A piece of paper, a Shinto offering known as "gohei" is attached at the top of each oowaka, and also aids in showing the wind direction.

It was really hot and humid that evening, saw this fan on a stand behind us and asked if it was on sale, but it was free. Turned out that the stand behind us was a stand by Japan Post, the postal service of Japan. They were also selling commemorative letter sets, postcards, stamps and other postal-related memorabilia.

This one caught my eye.

A postcard depicting the performances in the festival.

The men balance the whole weight of the huge poles on a tiny area on their bodies.

Also got a limited edition stamp set depicting the festival.

The stamps say "Akita Kantou Matsuri" and show various pictures of performers and parts of the festival.

At points in the performance, the performers add bamboo extensions to make the base longer, extending it beyond the original 12m and making it harder to balance, as in the stamp on the right.

The kind person manning the stall also gave me a free file, red star keychain, packet of tissues and face towel with my purchases^^

As the procession moves along the streets, you'll hear shouts of どっこいしょ! どっこいしょ! (dokkoisho! dokkoisho!)

Having so many poles of lanterns illuminating the night, accompanied by the melody of flutes and rhythm of drums is truly a beautiful experience ♥