Rebuilding Iwaki

---

First off...for those of you are following my blog, I apologize that the past two entries have been a bit of a downer - I promise that the next two (from Mt. Fuji and Kyoto) will be much more uplifting! 😊

Anyway, yesterday marked my last day in Fukushima and, for some odd reason, I felt that it would be appropriate to take the opportunity to travel to the coast to see how the communities there were coping with the aftermath of the tsunami. Not surprisingly, the experience conjured up mixed emotions. While the situation there is extremely heartbreaking, there was also an undercurrent of hope that was both encouraging and inspiring.

There are literally hundreds of villages and cities along the coast of the Fukushima prefecture that were affected by the tsunami. Logistically, though, many are very difficult to get to via public transportation and even harder when you don't know Japanese (and, sadly, "Lonely Planet" also provides no information on how to get around this area). Therefore, I decided to go to Iwaki, a relatively large city (the 10th largest in Japan) that is fairly easy to access from Tokyo and Koriyama using the JR (Japan Rail) train system. After getting there, though, I was surprised to find that it still took about an hour on a local bus to get to the city's coastal neighborhood of Onahama.

I'm not quite sure what I expected when I arrived in Onahama. I think I expected to see a populated fishing village with fish markets and beaches, even if some were damaged and/or under construction. But what I found when I got there was very different. Today, Onahama is basically a ghost-town. While I did pass by two fish vendors on the streets, the vast majority of the store-fronts were boarded up, and there were countless other reminders of the tsunami, from mangled street signs to crumbling ocean barriers. The people who I did meet, though, were extremely friendly and I even decided to buy some squid for sale, which I had ambitions of eventually cooking (that didn't happen). But, despite their friendly demeanor, you could still tell that the people who had decided to remain in Onahama were struggling, both spiritually and financially.

But there was one sign of hope. Amidst the ruin and destruction, the local government had decided to rebuild the city's aquarium, which used to be a hot-spot for tourists passing through the area. Given the city's financial situation, I didn't have high hopes for the quality of the rebuilt aquarium. When I got there, though, I was shocked to find an incredible, three-story building that contained a film screening room, educational tours, and a ton of indoor and outdoor exhibits. While it was interesting to learn about all of the wildlife and fauna that were native to Fukushima, my favorite area by far was the seal exhibit. It's hard not to smile when you're in the company of seals playing and enjoying life 😊

My guess is that the government invested in the aquarium in hopes that it would be a first step in bringing tourists back to the Iwaki area. Sadly, though, there were very few tourists there when I visited (though I did meet one American couple). But, perhaps more important than that was the noticeable difference in the demeanor of the locals who were working there. Unlike the people who I met on the streets of Onahama, the people who worked at the aquarium seemed happy, positive, and outgoing. While some of that may have just been part of their job, I am still optimistic that the hopeful attitude at the aquarium is merely the beginning of a larger shift in the general attitude of the people of Iwaki....and, hopefully, of the rest of Fukushima as well.

---