16-19 July 2011
Our SWTJ Kesennuma representatives, the Tamuras and the Yoshidas, joined the SWTJ Kyoto team in Kyoto during a first opportunity for most Kyoto SWTJ members to directly meet up with our Tohoku representatives who work so hard for us on the ground to help prepare our trips to the tsunami area in and around the fishing port town of Kesennuma.
Meeting of SWTJ members from Kesennuma and Kyoto on July 16, during the Gion Festival
The fact that we all met up at the time of Kyoto's Gion Festival, one of the largest traditional festivals in Japan first held in the ancient imperial capital to ward off disaster and disease, is highly symbolic for SWTJ's work.
Meeting of SWTJ members from Kesennuma and Kyoto on July 16, during the Gion Festival
The fact that we all met up at the time of Kyoto's Gion Festival, one of the largest traditional festivals in Japan first held in the ancient imperial capital to ward off disaster and disease, is highly symbolic for SWTJ's work.
The first Gion Festival ceremonies held in Kyoto were in fact a consequence of the 869 Sanriku earthquake and tsunami which struck the area around Sendai in the northern part of Honshu on 9 July 869 (May 26 year 11 of the Jogan era) and killed around 1000 people. This year's Gion Festival, held only 4 months after the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami which hit the very same region (the Sanriku Coast) in Japan again, has thus a special meaning. It reminds us of the many historical links between Japan's northwest (Tohoku) and Japan's old capital Kyoto over the centuries. The Jogan era was a time when the imperial court of Japan battled with the people of the Tohoku region. Since that time, and especially in the area around Kesennuma, many locations carry names adopted from locations in Kyoto, and many of the temples and shrines built in Kyoto in that era have links to Tohoku.
Today, in a time of need after a disaster has struck Japan's northeast, these ancient connections between Kyoto and Tohoku have taken on a new meaning in SWTJ's efforts to create an open lifeline between the two regions.
Kesennuma representatives Tamura and Yoshida at Seikado Gallery, where the SWTJ Office is located.
SWTJ's Director Yoshikawa (front) and SWTJ's Kesennuma representatives Tamura (left) and Yoshida (right) talk about SWTJ's work and the current needs in the disaster area in Tohoku on radio KBS Kyoto.
(Was broadcasted July 26, 2011).
Text: Chika Tsukamoto
(Edited for the English version by B.Y.)
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