SWTJ 12th Activity Week in Tohoku March 9-14, 2012

“Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.”

(Victor Hugo)

Photo: Shibuya Atsushi

SWTJ FIRST DISASTER ANNIVERSARY 

Requiem Music Caravan

In memory of the victims

 of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of March 11, 2011

SWTJ organized a Requiem Music Caravan in the disaster area for the first anniversary of the earthquake.

In close cooperation with our local contacts, we determined the place and time at which SWTJ could show its solidarity with the people in the disaster area at such a sensitive time.

Together with the local branches of SWTJ in Kesennuma and Rikuzentakata, we decided that bringing music in the spirit of remembrance of the souls of the disaster victims would be the most appropriate way to share our sorrow with the survivors on and in the days close to the anniversary.

We are extremely grateful to the members of the Fanfare Roma’n-Garde, an ensemble of Japanese musicians led by Seto Nobuyuki, for having agreed to take part in the March 2012 SWTJ Activity Week under the same conditions as our own members, which means as volunteers who donate their time and skills.

Seto Nobuyuki, Clarinet (Photo: Shibuya Atsushi)

Musicians of the Fanfare Roma’n-Garde: Seto Nobuyuki (leader): clarinet; Terukina Toshinori: euphonium; Nagata Mitsuru: percussion; Watanabe (Watanbe) Mitsuru: drums; Mihara Sachie: accordeon; Nobori Keizo: sax; Ikeda Ayuko: percussion; Kumasaka Yoshito: contrabass; Kumasaka Natsumi: Kumasaka Kota : percussion; Igaki Akiko: violin.

Kumasaka Kota, the youngest member of the Caravan, beats the drum

March 10:

Musicians and SWTJ members arrive at the Former Tsukidate Elementary School, our base in the hills of Kesennuma in the disaster zone where we can stay overnight on the floor of an unused classroom during our volunteer activities.


After a last rehearsal by the musicians at the school, we head to the Zaito and Yanagizawa temporary housing sites in Otomo,  Rikuzentakata, where local SWTJ branch leader Kanazawa who lives close to the temporary housing has arranged the site for our event.

We spend precious time together with the evacuees from the temporary housing and other locals. Evacuees and locals join the musicians, and we all sing some familiar songs together.

It has become a tradition that SWTJ offers takoyaki octopus dumplings and watagashi cotton candy at some special events with evacuees. March Activity Week Project Leader Shuto Naoya reports:

'Today from 12pm we shared time with the evacuees at the Yanagizawa Community House, and from 3pm at the Zaito temporary housing site. While the ensemble played, we prepared takoyaki octopus dumplings and cotton candy on-site. The atmosphere was friendly and relaxed. 

One of the evacuees, fisherman Yu M. contributed the octopus that is needed for the dumplings, and it was him who had caught and boilt it! 

Of course, that made the takoyaki dumplings an especially delicious treat. Wataro, the nine-year old son of SWTJ member Wako, was really good at making the cotton candy!

Elderly evacuees at Yanagizawa community house, Otomo, Rikuzentakata

After the event, the locals treated us to local wakame seaweed and other delicacies from the ocean. It is still freezing cold in Tohoku, but there is a hint of spring in the air!“

March 11:

Today is the anniversary of the earthquake.

Today, we mourn the victims together with the earthquake survivors.

In order to honor the silence and privacy that survivors will need today, exactly a year after the earthquake and tsunami brought so much tragedy to so many families, our group moves to areas in a certain distance from residences that have symbolic significance.

We move to Mount Anba above Kesennuma City from which large parts of the destroyed coastal area can be seen. 

Requiem at Mout Anba above Kesennuma

Next, we move to the old Hajikami Cemetery on the southern coast of Kesennuma, where gravestones were badly damaged by the March 11 tsunami, and where monuments remind the visitor of earlier devastating tsunamis, such as the Meiji Sanriku Great Tsunami of 1896, and the Showa Sanriku Tsunami of 1933. 

Finally, we move to Shishiori, a Kesennuma district that was hit especially hard.

Shishiori in mid-March 2012

The huge boat  sitting in the middle of the former residential district Shishiori has become famous (March 2012)

Here, a huge ship was washed inland by the tsunami and still sits on the foundations of destroyed homes.

Requiem in front of a ship that was washed inland by the tsunami

The requiems are played in remembrance of the souls of the victims, and in prayer for recovery of all natural life in Tohoku.

March 12:

Today, the Music Caravan travels to Minamisanriku. Driving south from Kesennuma, where the earthquake and tsunami and a subsequent fire left unsaid destruction in homes and factories, here, we encounter a different sight: Homes and factories have completely been washed away: we enter a deserted land.
Utatsu, once a peaceful fishing village on the coast within the municipality of Minamisanriku, has physically disappeared.  There used to be an Utatsu train station here, but it is gone.

But in the hearts of the residents, Utatsu is strong: the evacuees of this village have become famous nationwide for their extraordinary cooperation, determination and courage after the earthquake. 
Fishermen lost all their boats to the tsunami, and today they rely on a few boats that they share. Without more boats, Utatsu cannot recover.

In December 8 months after the disaster, a first makeshift container market was built with the help of outsiders: the Utatsu Isato-Mae reconstruction market.  It is a first sign of recovery for the residents.


At the Utatsu Isato-Mae reconstruction market, SWTJ members sell takoyaki dumplings, cotton candy and popped rice. The people at the market are warm and friendly, and even help us make the food. SWTJ donates all profits to the Utatsu Isato-Mae reconstruction market association.

SWTJ sells takoyaki dumplings at the makeshift market in Utatsu.

Today, the Fanfare Roma’n Garde slowly parades through the bare land where Utatsu once was. The ensemble’s leader Seto leads the group in the spirit of remembrance of the tragic fate of the people who once lived here.  

Requiem parade in Utatsu, Minamisanriku

In the local tradition, the souls of the dead cannot rest in peace unless the dead body is found and a burial is held. 

Officially, a year after the disaster, the death toll stands at 15,854, and 3,155 people are still missing. People pray for the spirits of the dead and missing.  The parade was held in this spirit.

At night, SWTJ moves back to Kesennuma where the Fanfare Roma'n- Garde gives a performance for the people of Kesennuma at Ping-Pong, an izakaya-style pub well liked by the locals. 

The Fanfare Roma'n-Garde at Ping-Pong, Kesennuma (photo: Shibuya Atsushi)

Ping-Pong's first floor had been flooded by the tsunami- but the manager persevered and reopened the second floor to the public as soon as possible. Today, it's the first time a live performance is held at Ping-Pong! SWTJ thanks the manager for so graciously welcoming our event.  

Locals and visitors alike are touched by the sincere performance and moving sounds of the music ensemble.

Nobori Keizo: Sax (photo: Shibuya Atsushi)

March 13

In the morning, the SWTJ Music Caravan plays at Tsukidate Elementary School in Yasse, Kesennuma. We visit the school during the main morning break, and the children get very excited and follow the musicians as they parade through the school. They are also very interested to get to know so many different musical instruments.

We are very happy to re-encounter the school rector and teachers, who always receives us so warmly here in the hills of Kesennuma whenever SWTJ organizes an activity here. Many thanks!

In the afternoon, the Music Caravan moves to Kesennuma’s Minamimachi Ward, a low-lying part of this port city in Miyagi Prefecture that was terribly damaged by the 11 March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Minamimachi has come a long way since March 11. With the help of the Japanese military first, then the firemen and policemen, and later a large crowd of volunteers, victims have been helped and dead bodies have been searched for, people have been evacuated, and dirt has been carried away. Still, there is so much to do.

But there is a first sign of reemerging business: the Minamimachi Murasaki Ichiba- a makeshift market building for retailers who have lost their shops in the disaster. It was inaugurated in December 2011, and has brought some new life into the area.

Minamimachi Murasaki makeshift retailer's market

Today, we work together with the group KRA (Kesennuma Reconstruction Association) many of whose members are disaster victims themselves. KRA organized a photo event for Kesennuma citizens today at the corner space ‘Cadocco.’ We are in close contact with Hashimoto-san of the KRA group, and have made sure through him and his contacts with retailers in the area that SWTJ and the Music Caravan were welcome to play in this area during the days of the one-year anniversary of the disaster.

While the ensemble plays, other SWTJ members make takoyaki dumplings, cotton candy and popped rice after having prepared their stand. All profits from the SWTJ sale today are donated to the association that runs the Minamimachi Murasaki Ichiba makeshift retail market.

The SWTJ Music Caravan parades through the roads of the market. Many locals as well as visitors or volunteers who have come for the anniversary week gather. People are first surprised, but soon join the rhythm of the music and sing along or dance along.

There is a great sense of unity through the power of the music.

SWTJ thanks the people of the Minamimachi Murasaki Reconstruction Market for their warm welcome!

March 14

                                                                               

It's time to clean up and say good bye! Our sincere thanks go to the Fanfare Roma'n-Garde, whose music brought tears and smiles to so many during this week; to the SWTJ branches in Tsukidate (Kesennuma) and Rikuzentakata for arranging our visits; to KRA for connecting us and to the Murasaki market for welcoming us in Minamimachi; and to the people of Utatsu for giving us space and a warm welcome at the Utatsu Isato market.

Finally, we would like to thank the many sponsors who made the March Anniversary Requiem Week possible for their trust and generous support!

Based on a report by Shuto Naoya@SWTJ

(Edited for the English version by Beatrix Yoshikawa)

SWTJ will be in the disaster area again in late April. After an extremely exhausting year for the disaster victims, many now try to find a new livelihood. SWTJ will adapt to new needs in the disaster area in close cooperation with our local contacts.