On 28 November 2011, I had a chance to visit one town in Miyagi Prefecture, called Watari, affected by 3/11 (11 March 2011) earthquake and tsunami. Watari is located south of Sendai city, and the main industries were fishery and agriculture, mainly strawberry. Ms.Takahashi who took me to the city, is a radio announcer, working in a station dedicated to the victims of earthquake and tsunami in Watari town.
Ms.Takahashi took me to a temporary housing complex for the victim, the largest one of the 5 temporary housing complexes in Watari town. 588 families were living in the temporary housing. There was an exhibition of photographs and things found by volunteers in the tsunami area, sponsored by UN World Food Program. The photographs were displayed, showing a lot of memories, expected to be collected by the owners. Other memorial things like graduation certificates, trophies of competition victories, cameras, basketballs with names on them… were also displayed, waiting for the owners to collect.
After having lunch the town famous Harako-meshi (salmon egg rice) meal, Ms.Takahashi drove me to the port area. I saw huge piles of materials from destroyed houses, trees, cars… They were collected from the surrounding area by a construction company. The company won the bid by the government with the conditions to hire the victims who lost their jobs due to the disasters and to hold events to ease the victims.
Even though many houses in the area have been repaired, I still saw many damaged houses, a school, completely destroyed foundations, destroyed gasoline station and convenient stores. Most rice fields and other plantation farms were destroyed by the tsunami, and could not be cultivated up to now because the salt of the sea water remained on the ground. Moreover, the underground water became salty water after the tsunami, made it difficult to produce rice or other plants.
Ms.Takahashi took me to one strawberry farm. The lady in the farm explained to me about the plantation. The red fruit was formed from the white flower. With the help from the bees, the flower became the strawberry fruit. The farm was destroyed by the tsunami, but the owner had re-cultivated, put fertilizer and re-built the green houses. However, since the underground water became salty water after the tsunami, she had to bring the water from the pool provided by the town. Watari town was the main strawberry producer in Tohoku region, but due to the tsunami, the production had to be delayed several months. She hoped she could make it the production before Christmas since it was a tradition in Japan to celebrate Christmas with strawberry cake.
Before we left the town, Ms.Takahashi took me to the town hall where the temporary radio station, FM Aozora, was housed in a temporary building. The radio station was dedicated for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami since days after the disaster, phones were mostly not functioning and most TVs were destroyed by the tsunami. Besides the information on the news related to the disaster, currently about radiation, events or other information were broadcasted. Ms.Takahashi was the only professional radio announcer working in the station, while other staffs were locals volunteering for the radio.
When I asked Ms.Takahashi what is the most wanted help for the victims, she said that still money was required to help the victims who lost their houses and jobs. Moreover, a lot of psychological support is required for the victims. Even though months have passed that the people may forget about the disaster, years are required for the victims to recover and to face the world with the new perspective.
Post Notes:
I wrote this blog in a temporary housing in Natori. Next to me, a lady living in the temporary housing, was looking at videos of the disaster. She managed to escape to Sendai Airport, but she lost her husband and her father since they could not make it to run after trying to save some things in their home. The lady was shocked for months, but finally she was able to watch the video that night. She was crying while watching the video, remembering the day when it happened.
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| Exhibition of Pictures and Things Gathered at the Affected Areas |
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| Temporary Housing in Watari Town |
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| Damaged Cars in the Yard |
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| Piles of Destroyed Things by the Tsunami |
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| Remaining Foundation of Destroyed Houses |
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| Destroyed Convenient Store |
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| Damaged House |
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| Some Electric Poles were not Recovered |
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| The Lady Re-Started the Production of Strawberry after the Tsunami |
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| FM Aozora, Dedicated to the Disaster Victims in Watari Town |
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