2.1 Travel for Volunteer in Minami Sanriku Town attacked heavily by Tsunami

Introduction

Please allow me to apply my letters to my friend for the explanations of this blog page.  On March 18th 2011, I departed the travel from Yokohama City for Minami Sanriku Town in Tohoku area of Japan in order to join to the volunteer activities to help the refugees in Minami Sanriku area which was heavily attacked by Tsunami. Just before the departure, during the travel and after it, I wrote several letters to my friends in Japan and in foreign countries to inform them the stage of affairs of the areas attacked by Tsunami together with my activities, attaching several photos which I took during the travel.  I think these letters would be applicable to report the stages of affaires and the activities in the destroyed area which I  saw with my eyes and felt in my heart as reality.  The explanation begins with the first letter which I wrote to my friend just before my departure as below.

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Dear my friend,

I am sorry that I have not contacted with you so long time. As the first boy of the family, I had taken care of my mother with the best power who had suffered several serious diseases since many years.  In the last December, she went to heavenward finally in the age of 96.  As the managements after her death were almost over, I can now move myself actively as before including writing papers, traveling abroad and writing letters.

Let me write you that I am going to Miyagi prefecture of Japan, where Tsunami attacked its coast, to carry the eating articles in my Honda StepWagon and work for refugees as a voluntary helper.

The goal is Town Minami Sanriku Cho (South SANRIKU Town) where the amount of victims by Tsunami is largest.

The traffic for the place may be difficult because of jams or blocks and dangerous because of the up break of Fukushima Nuclear Plant which is newly located in the mid course.

However I would like to do my best.

Let me write you in the near future further more  about my experiences during this travel in order to inform the stage of affairs of this crisis more precisely.

As cell phone is not always available in the catastrophe area as many electric wave stations are broken, my message will  be dispatched only when my cell phone card catches enough electric waves.

With best wishes,

Hajime

Hajime Yoshino 

Professor of Law Emeritus

Meiji Gakuin University in Tokyo