3. At Minami SANRIKU Town - Prologue

Dear my friend,

Mrs. Ohtaki, councilor of the Minami (South) SANRIKU town, came to me at 6:30 in the next morning.

With Mrs. Ohata, I went to the headquarters of countermeasures which is located in the building of Seas Side Arena.    In the morning light, the town appears clearly as the death town.  There is no house or nor building alive.   We drove through heaps of rubble to the end of the streets and went up a hill.  All of the flat lands were destroyed by the Tsunami.  Driving up the hill, we noticed that the water came to a quarter of the hill.

At the office of the headquarters, Mrs. Ohata introduced me to the director of the countermeasures, Major of the town, Mr. Hitoshi SATO.   He explained an interesting story about his experience of "one life among 9 deaths" when the Tsunami attacked 30 public servants of the town on the housetop of the disaster prevention center which was 3 stairs reinforced concrete building.

After I heard the state of affairs of the disaster of the town shortly, I explained the purpose of my visit and asked him to let me know what I could do for the people of the destroyed town as a volunteer helper.   He answered to me: "Professor Yoshino, please go around the destroyed area to look at the reality of the town exactly.  Please report it to people in Tokyo as well as in the WORLD as much as possible."

Since then, the new mission as a volunteer has been given to me.  That is to observe the disaster exactly and to think about it deeply to report the reality to the world as much as possible.  I should also try to contribute to promote the world assistance for the people in this totally destroyed SANRIKU area as far as I could.

Dear my friend, this is the reason why I have written to you and sent many photos via e-mails to report about my travel for South SANRIKU Town, my activities in this SANRIKU area and the reality of this horrible disaster in SANRIKU.  

I would like to observe this disaster exactly and analyze it.  I would like to take more photos and videos.  I think I should challenge to take interviews here from the refugees as well as people helping them.  I think I should challenge to construct a website for reporting the stage of affairs and to promote supporting the revival of SANRIKU by the people of the WORLD.  Although these are for me the first time tasks in which I have had no experience, I think I should challenge them.

Dear my friend, please understand my challenges and help me as far as you could.

With best wishes,

Yours,

Hajime

吉野一

Hajime Yoshino

明治学院大学名誉教授

Professor of Law Emeritus
Meiji Gakuin University in Tokyo

(1)Asahigaoka Community Center - a small harbor of refuges

(2) Refegees gather around a bonfire in the very earling morning

(3) From Asahigaoka Community Center to the headquarters of countermeasures

Town councilor, Mrs. Ohtaki kindly went with me to the headquarters of countermeasures which is located in Seas Side Arena and introduced me to the director, Major of the town, Mr. Hitoshi Sato.

(3a) Town councilor Mrs. Ryuko Ohtaki @ Asahigaoka Community Center

(3b) Seas Side Arena



(3c) Mrs. Ohtaki introduced to me the director of the headquarters of countermeasures　Major Sato.



(4) Major of Minami Sanriku Town Mr. Jin SATO Explaines his Experience When Tsunami Came.

 (4a) Mr. Jin SATO at the the counter meseasure office 

(4b) "Truly, It was a very slight difference between life and death." - the story by Major SATO (Movie with subtitles of  English translation)

(5) Message by Major SATO of South SANRIKU Town for the WORLD Assistance FOR SANRIKU (Movie with subtitles of English translation)

 

(6)Refegees in the harbor of refeges @ Sea Side Arena

(7) An Ambulance Team came from Shimabara of Kyushu

(8)Town Hospital destroyed by Tsunami

(9) Destroyed Main Area of South SANRIKU Town (MInami Sanriku Cho) (Movie)

(9a) Destroyed Supper Market and Weding Hall (left side)

(9b) 360 Degrees View of Destroyed Down Town. (Movie)

(10)Destryed Town and harbor - Sight from a hill

(11)Refegees stand on line for Lunch at Arena-Refuge

(12) Volunteers Activities

(12a) Volunteers serve lunch for Refugees

(12b) Volunteers make clear the temporary toilets

(12c) Volunteers seve dinner

(12d) The dinner

(12a) Volunteers made small a quarter walls of corrugated cardboard for each family of refugees.  These bring a little comfort to the refugees.  (Please compare this photo with the photo (6) above.)

(13)Refegees and Relatives looking for deceased or missing

(14) Shizugawa Primary School - One of Habors of Refegese

(14b) Refegees living in a class room

(15) From the Primary School throgh Down Town to Havor of South SANRIKU Town (Movie)

(16)Tide Embankment Broken By Tsunami

(17) Survived Wild Ducks on the Survived Ground Just in Front of the Sea

3. At Minami SANRIKU Town - Epilogue

3.  at South SANRIKU Town - Epilogue

Dear my friend,

Since the new mission as a volunteer was given to me, I have observed the disaster of SANRIKU exactly and think about it as far as I could.  I have taken many photos and videos.  I challenged to take interviews here from the refugees as well as people helping them. 

I have challenged to construct a website for reporting the stage of affairs and to promote supporting the revival of SANRIKU by the people of the WORLD.  These are for me the first time experiences. 

It was not so difficult for me to take interviews.  I could conquer my hesitation by thinking about the huge disasters and people suffering from them.  But, it was very difficult for me to construct a website to assist for SANRIKU. With only courage, wishes and passion, one cannot overcome technical difficulties.  I have my personal website "Hajime Yoshino Online", which was, however, constructed by my assistant, who was very good at IT, according to my requests long time ago.  Unfortunately, my present assistant is not good at IT.  I can update HajimeYoshinoOnline for myself only in the limited range using Homepage Builder produced by IBM.  I have never edited movies and uploaded them in Internet world.  I have never dealt with Blog.  Almost all things, I have had to learn from the beginning.  It has taken much time indeed.

Some friends gave me kind suggestions and helps to build a Blog site.  According to their suggestions and assistances, I have endeavored to build a Blog site.  For a beginner, it has not been easy to construct a Blog site.  (If one would be accustomed to Blog, it would be no more difficult to build a Blog site.) I learned step by step, for example to chose appropriate Blog provider, to construct a Blog site, to find an appropriate movie editing software for MP4 files produced by Sony Digital Camera DSC-TX5 or converting software from MP4 to WMV, how to use them, and so on.  To choose photos or movies to be uploaded and edited has been also time consuming work. The present Blog "The Word for SANRIKU" is a very poor result of my time consuming endeavor.  It stands only on the first step.  It is to be developed step by step.

The tentative URL of the Blog site "THE WORD FOR SANRIKU" is:

http://hyoshino.blogspot.com/

I am sorry that this 5^th message to you is dispatched so late, as the Blog construction is delayed.  However, the Blog is finally realized somehow, even if it is still poor and to be developed further.  In this Blog, we can provide much more photos than e-mails.  We can provide movies as well.  These could convey you much more reality of the disaster and the movements for the revival. 

The reality of this dreadful spectacle sight of destroyed town, Minami (South) SANRIKU, shakes oneself deeply to his foundation.   If one looks at the sight with his eyes in fact and hears the experiences from refugees with his ears directly, one cannot help endeavoring to do his best for them.  That is the case also for me.  This Blog site is one of small products of such endeavors by me.

In this Blog, we could submit our sympathies, comments, opinions and/or proposals into the box of comment ("コメント").  These comments could contribute at any rate to promote the movements to support sufferers from the disasters in SANRIKU toward the revival.  Dear my friend; let me invite you and beg you to submit your comments to this blog "The World For Sanriku".

It would be nice if the WORLD could do FOR SANRIKU.

It should be realized that the WORLD tries to do FOR SANRIKU.

Please help us for this!

Please join us for this!

Please start or continue this on your side!

Please suggest us what we should do further!

With best wishes,

Yours,

Hajime

吉野一

Hajime Yoshino

明治学院大学名誉教授

Professor of Law Emeritus
Meiji Gakuin University in Tokyo

2.3 Epilogue

 March 21. 2011

                                         

Dear my friend

I am now in Minami Sanriku Cho (South SANRIKI Town) in Miyagi prefecture.

It is a quarter to 5 in the early morning.

I am writing you laying myself on the seat of Honda StepWagon, in which I slept through this night, as is the second time in this travel.

(The first time was on the parking of Tohoku highway service area.) I woke up very early, because it was too cold.

Yesterday night I arrived in this ghost town after very long and time consuming drive.  It took more than 24 hours totally for the drive from Yokohama to Minami Sanriku Cho.

On the way to this town, I visited Miyagi Prefectural Office in Sendai City to confirm how I should reach to Minami Sanriku Cho.  Toward Minami Sanriku Cho, I went through Wakabayashi Ward of Sendai City, Sendai Airport in Natori City, Shiogama City and harbor, Matsushima, Ishinomaki City, etc.

I saw many important things.  I would like to convey you some of them in the separately attached photo files.

The list of photos:

(1) My StepWagon with the boxes of eatable articles and my lovely mountain bike.

(2) Empty shelves of a convenient store in Sendai City which is the capital of

    Miyagi prefecture.

(3) The catastrophe of Sendai Airport.

(4) A shoe without owner in Airport.

(5a) A fishing boat on the entrance of Daihatsu car dealer at Shiogama.

(5b) A Matsushima sightseeing boat on the city park.

(6) A survivable family in Ishinomaki (?)

(7) A beautiful and peaceful Matsushima bay and islands who do not remember Tsunami.

    (Famous Haiku poet Basho has composed:

     Matsushima ya, Aah Matsushima ya, Matsushima ya.) (It would be noted that the copy right belongs to Hajime Yoshino and the privacy in the photo is to be protected.)

It was already dark when I arrived in this town.  In darkness, however, I could estimate that this town is a ghost town.  All houses were carried away by Tsunami and only wreckage of houses are remaining.

I came to Asahiga-oka Community Center, which is one of harbors of refuges in this town.  Asahiga-oka is a small living area with houses on the hill. ("oka" means hill.) The small community center is used as a temporally harbor of refugees. Around 50 people are staying here. 

I came here because I was informed that the station is so small and isolated that The help from outside has not enough reached here.

I handed over the eatable articles to the refugees, which I carried here in StepWagon from Yokohama.  They pleased very much and thanked to me for carrying those articles from such a long distance.  I was also very pleased to see that they were pleasing.

At 7 am, Mrs. Ohtaki Councilwoman of this town, will come to me to go with me to the center of countermeasures in this town, where I would like to ask a responsible person to let me know what I could do for the people here.

I am waiting for her now.

With best wishes,

Hajime

吉野一

Hajime Yoshino

明治学院大学名誉教授

Professor of Law Emeritus
Meiji Gakuin University in Tokyo