22
Jun 2012
A group of young participants onboard Peace Boat’s 73rd Global Voyage in 2011 took the initiative to start a new project, considering what each individual can do for Tohoku. They decided to just take pen and paper, and collect messages of love for Tohoku from across the world, in a project they called “Hope for Japan 2011.”
21
Jun 2012
FUKUSHIMA & VENEZUELA MUSIC YOUTH AMBASSADORS:
Delegates from the Fukushima Television Junior Orchestra will join Peace Boat’s 76th Global Voyage together with delegates from the world renowned The Simón Bolívar Music Foundation (also known as “El Sistema,” providing free music education to 350,000 children in an effort to discourage them from crime and develop a culturally rich society), following music exchanges with the Gustavo Dudamel Youth Orchestra LA (YOLA) program, the El Sistema Los Angeles group which provides programs for under-privileged young people.
19
Jun 2012
Peace Boat was honoured to receive a certificate of appreciation, a towel commemorating the team’s entry into the Koshien national tournament, and an original photo stand from the Koshien Committee of the Ishinomaki Technical High School, whose baseball team made their first entry into Koshien this spring.
15
Jun 2012
“Oraho’s experience” (“my experience” in Tohoku dialect) is a new volunteer programme launched in 2012, in which participants can interact more with local people in the disaster affected areas by talking, eating, and sleeping together, not just working together. Peace Boat initiated this programme in the hope that participants can gain a rich experience based on direct personal connections with the local community, and that this programme can bring people closer together and inspire more ideas for the future.
This article features an interview with Komori Shizu, a participant in the 2nd program held in Oginohama, and local fisherman Fushimi Kaoru who hosted her.
11
Jun 2012
The fishing village of Funakoshi sits on the northern side of the Ogatsu Peninsula, about a one-hour drive from central Ishinomaki. Today, there is no sight of children at the Funakoshi Primary School, where the 17m-high tsunami flooded up to the 3rd floor. In the school building, however, you can hear the laughter of the ‘Funakoshi Ladies’ in their workshop, furnished with tatami-mats in the hallway.
The ‘Funakoshi Ladies’ now famously make and sell necklaces and cellphone straps made from Ogatsu Stone, as well as “Kai-no-Netsuke (shell charms)”, a popular charm for happiness in marriage.
18
May 2012
The Spanish language report on Peace Boat’s activities in Ishinomaki in 2011 is now available, along with the English and Japanese versions previously published on this site.
Download the report (PDF, 606KB) here: 2011 Report Spanish
We would like to extend our thanks to everyone who has contributed to our work over the past year, and look forward to further cooperating to support the people of Ishinomaki.
16
May 2012
Among the beautiful cherry blossoms filling the Ishinomaki Senshu University campus, you could hear the chatter of happy children from a parking lot. On April 30, about 40 local primary school kids gathered there for a cycling school ‘Wielerschool,’ which is held in over 30 locations every year throughout Japan.
The school is hosted by the ‘Chainring Project for Kids’ which was established by volunteer cyclists after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami.
11
May 2012
At the end of April, cherry blossom season finally arrived in Tohoku. These photographs show the scenery in Ishinomaki, Onagawa and the region.
23
Apr 2012
As Peace Boat volunteers went around distributing copies of the “Kasetsu Kizuna Shimbun” newspaper, the residents of these facilities often shared their troubles with us. It was their voices which inspired the volunteers to start creating maps of the local area, bus schedules and information about other local services for the communities living in temporary housing facilities.
09
Apr 2012
The first fishing experience programme was held in Sudachi/Fukiura, Ojika Peninsula. The first day was action packed, ranging from an excursion to the Ishinomaki Fish Market, trying gill net fishing, removing oyster shells, a study tour around the community, and exchange with the local fishermen, while the second day was Wakame seaweed harvesting offshore! Participants also participated in workshops entitled “considering the future of the fishing village.” Although the progra,,e was only one night and two days, participants absolutely fell in love with Sudachi/Fukuira. This programme is a new initiative in uncharted territory of “volunteering,” which we hope will provide an opportunity for many people to consider the future of fishing villages in the Tohoku area.