Ishinomaki Scenery (3)
Third in a series of photographs of scenery in Ishinomaki, this time by photographer Nakamura Mitsutoshi.
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Nov 2011
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14
Nov 2011
Volunteer accommodation facility Assistant Director (AD)
Matsumura Junichi has been working long term as a volunteer in charge of one of the volunteer accommodation facilities – a vital aspect of Peace Boat’s volunteer programme. Initially, volunteers were asked to bring their own tents during their stay in Ishinomaki. In conjunction with volunteer activities becoming long-term, more diverse and increasing in scale, volunteers are now provided with accommodation facilities with a roof and four walls. It is from these facilities that they depart each day to carry out volunteer activities.
“Mattsun” (Matsumura Junichi) has been in charge of operating one of the volunteer accommodation facilities located in a store called “Kaska Fashion.” This entry tells of the facilities provided and Mattsun’s experiences in Ishinomaki.
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Oct 2011
Team from Malaysia hard at work!
A volunteer team from the Malaysian Association of Youth Club (MAYC) spent five days in Ishinomaki between 18-22 October, working together with the local community to help support the recovery of the local fishing industry.
To date, international volunteers from 49 countries have worked together with Peace Boat.
The 20 members of the Malaysian Association of Youth Club were in their 20s-40s, and came all the way from Malaysia to contribute to supporting Japan. Having experience in disaster relief activities in their own country, they were able to play a large role in the activities, particularly supporting the recovery of the local fishing industry.
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Oct 2011
Newspaper delivery to temporary housing
Peace Boat is now creating a weekly newspaper to be delivered to temporary housing throughout Ishinomaki as part of its relief activities. Currently it is being delivered to around 4000 households in 70 different locations. (The newspaper itself can be downloaded at the bottom of this report.)
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Oct 2011
7 months on – the closure of the Ishinomaki evacuation centres
As of October 11, 7 months since the disaster, all evacuation centres of Ishinomaki City have been closed. This report introduces the situation as people move into evacuation centres, and Peace Boat plans to continue supporting the local community such as through provision of newspapers to temporary housing.
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Oct 2011
The Orahono Recovery Festival – Ishinomaki, Onagawa, Higashi Matsushima
On Sunday October 16, the “Orahono Recovery Festival – Ishinomaki, Onagawa, Higashi Matsushima” was held at the Ishinomaki City General Sports Park. Many people attended and enjoyed the lively booths and performances.
“Oraho no” translates to “Our” in the local dialect. The day was blessed with beautiful weather, and around 8,000 people joined the events including Mayor Kameyama Hiroshi of Ishinomaki, as a step taken together towards recovery. This was the first large event to be held by all three cities together in the aftermath of the disaster. When the Kawabiraki Festival was held 2 and a half months ago, volunteers were involved in coordinating much of the preparations and operations. Yet this time, this was reversed and volunteers served only a small role, with the local community taking full initiative. While much time is still needed for life to return to as it was before the disaster, the Orahono festival really demonstrated that energy, courage, and life is returning more and more to the area. The efforts of the local community to coordinate this festival are certainly going to play a great role in encouraging recovery efforts.
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Oct 2011
Ishinomaki Light & Art Festival
From October 8 to 10 the “Ishinomaki Light & Art Festival – Light a Candle in Prayer for Recovery” was held in the Kashima-miko Shrine grounds at Hiyoriyama Park.
Candles laid in the shape of the Kashima-miko Shrine’s crest in the temple grounds overlooking the coastline which suffered catastrophic damage in the disaster.
Please enjoy this report about the songs, dances, musical performances and light displays.
18
Oct 2011
Disaster relief volunteer leader training program
It has been seven months since the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami occurred, and the situation in the disaster affected area has gone through many changes during this time. Peace Boat will continue our relief efforts in the Ishinomaki area while learning from the disaster so as to minimize the amount of damage suffered in the event of another disaster in the future.
The Peace Boat Disaster Relief Volunteer Center will commence running the “Disaster Relief Volunteer Leader Training Program,” a human resource development and capacity building program aimed at disaster relief volunteers in Ishinomaki.
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Oct 2011
Report on emergency relief efforts – ‘Creating a system to utilize volunteers’
On October 13 the “Report on emergency relief efforts 7 months on from March 11 – ‘Creating a system to utilize volunteers’” report session was held at the JICA Global Plaza in Hiroo, Tokyo. Many guests attended the event including people who came all the way from Ishinomaki. This report covers the report session which included information from the mid-term report.
Approximately 500 people including, including representatives of media organisations, embassies and corporations, attended the event at the JICA Global Plaza. Many of the individual participants were people who had experience as volunteers in Ishinomaki and there were joyful reunions here and there prior to the commencement of the event.
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Oct 2011
Concert by Oshio Kotaro at Hebita Junior High School
On October 7, famous Japanese guitarist Oshio Kotaro performed a concert for local evacuation center residents at Hebita Junior High School in Ishinomaki. After Mr. Oshio finished his performance in the evening, he gave the evacuation center residents a surprise by presenting them with gifts of winter underwear and jackets as the weather is gradually getting colder. When Mr. Oshio was leaving he promised to come back and visit Ishinomaki again.