When I visited Ishinomaki in September last year, I saw sunflowers everywhere where it used to be a town, but then big field with some remnant of houses. The scene was different than I visited a year before, and I was very surprised and moved when I saw those sunflowers in the field with other weeds growing all over the place I felt some very powerful impression. It was end of last summer. The thing that I didn't know was that those sunflowers were planted by somebody who believed in something.

Kentaro-San

9 months later, now beginning of following summer, In June 2nd, 2013, I went there again and met Jocky-san, who actually planted all those sunflowers that I saw and gave me big impression, and Kentaro-san, who came back from Uganda and rode bicycle all the way from Hokaido to help Jocky-san, in the middle of the field, a hoe in their hands. They were planting sunflowers for this summer. As I was curious about what they were doing, I approached them. Kentaro-san said hi and introduced himself. I introduced myself and asked what they were doing. He explained that they were planting sunflowers. Jocky-san kept working. As I was curiously watching, Kentaro-san asked me if I wanted to help them planting seeds. I said yes. Then he called Jocky-san and introduced me to him. Jocky-san explained to me that there used to be more people who were helping this project until last year. But the aid to the disaster was significantly reduced this year, like many other supporting efforts, this 'Himawari Project' had to be called off.

Jocky-San

Now Jocky-san is continuing it by his own. He wants people to remember this place and people and what happened here, and he continues planting sunflowers. He explained to me about poor soil there because of salt deposit from ocean when tsunami swallowed the place as we were planting seeds in the soil that Jocky-san had been preparing in the morning with his haw. He talked about the return of the Blue Impalse, aerobatic demonstration team Air Self Defence Force to the nearby base at Yamoto. He told that I was lucky, because not so often you could see this much of their tricks on the air. Kentaro-san was spraying water with small watering can. Jocky-san asked me whether I saw any changes as I had visited there for the 3rd time after tsunami. 

He tells me that although debris were almost all gone, and some construction to build new levee were started and Ishinomaki appeared somewhat changing as time passed, people who had been evacuated were telling him that nothing had changed since 3/11/2011. They still live in temporary housings not knowing where to go when the government closed the temporary housings where they live now. Jocky-san says, the temporary housings probably will be extended from 5-years to 10-years as it was the case with the earthquake in Kobe in 1995, but people will have to go somewhere if they cannot be able to go back where they lived before.  

After saying good-bye to them, I saw construction workers who were demolishing the foundations of houses. I asked if foundation cannot be reused, then he said “this area is not going to be residences anymore, because tsunami might come again. Government office will make arrangements.” I don't know if that's true or not. But probably is, then that means people who used to live there will have to go somewhere very soon.

I ate lunch with Jocky-san and Kentaro-san. Jocky-san bought Kentaro-san and me Ishinomaki Yakisoba, local special fried-noodle for lunch. Jocky-san walked away and came back surprisingly quick with three yakisoba in a plastic bag in his hand. He explained to me that a man who lost his house and his wife in the tsunami was finally able to get back on his yakisoba business. He comes there in lunch time with his kitchen truck in the hope of Isihinomaki's full recovery from the disaster. There were only two set of wooden chopsticks, so kentaro-san and I broke the one wooden chopsticks into half and shared small chopsticks. We sat by the small truck on the road and ate delicious Yakisoba and rice-balls!

Tokyo at dawn

Shimomaruko,Tokyo

View from Ishinomaki Line

View from Ishinomaki Line

Ishinomaki

Hagurosan Toya Jinja Shrine

Ishinomaki

Minamihama, Ishinomaki

Blue Impulse, aerobatic demonstration team in Yamoto

Minamihama, Ishinomaki

Minamihama, Ishinomaki

Minamihama, Ishinomaki

Hiyoriyama, Ishinomaki

Hiyoriyama Park, Ishinomaki

Ishinomaki

Ishinomaki

Ishinomaki

Ishinomaki

Ishinomaki

Ishinomaki-Taiwan Art Project, Ishinomaki

Ishinomaki

Ishinomaki

Minamihama, Ishinomaki

Hiyori Oohashi Bridge, Ishinomaki

View from Hiyoriyama, Ishinomaki