Please don't forget Tōhoku


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Asia » Japan » Miyagi » Ishinomaki
September 11th 2013
Published: March 10th 2015
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I wasn’t sure what to expect. I wasn’t sure quite what I’d see. It seemed like a typical rural station as the train rolled in, and still as I walked through the overpass and out the turnstile. Choosing to walk to my accommodation, again there were no immediate clues. Further on and the picture began to look not quite right. The occasional empty lot neatly cleared and obviously being readied... Read Full Entry



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'Thank-You House' - Ishinomaki'Thank-You House' - Ishinomaki
'Thank-You House' - Ishinomaki

I cried here, again.



10th March 2015

Devastating
Jo It is impossible to say how much suffering there was in Japan... I was in the centre of Christchurch a few weeks earlier when the earthquake struck there so I have great empathy for anyone who has experienced the devastation of an earthquake.
10th March 2015

Do not forget
What a beautiful and moving post. Your photography brings it all to life. I can't imagine what it must have been like, but I will remember it.
10th March 2015

Wow!
I've always been fascinated by disaster areas, call me weird but there is just something awe like witnessing how humans and their stuff can be wiped out by mother nature in a blink. Thanks for sharing this blog.
10th March 2015
Memorial - Ishinomaki

A sobering account!
What an amazing experience to visit a place so devastated by what we Californians call the Fukushima Disaster/Earthquake/Tsunami (probably because the radiation from the nuclear leaks still affects us on the Pacific East Coast). How wonderful the kindness shown you by Mrs S, and how sad that there is still so much in ruins. I'm curious, what made you visit this town and document its state? Had you lived there before? Did you visit other sites in the area? Thanks for the eye-opening photo journalism!
10th March 2015
Memorial - Ishinomaki

Why Ishinomaki?
Although the immediate need when something like this happens is shelter and food, to rebuild businesses and community financial support is the best way to help. I wanted to go somewhere in Tohoku and support local business by spending money, and show that there are people thinking of them. I saw a couple of foreigners at the accommodation near the train station, but none out in the wasteland. Why Ishinomaki? A few days after the tsunami an article was written in Japanese about the American English teacher living in Ishinomaki who died trying to save her students. They were looking for a volunteer to do an urgent translation of it to get the story out in English, and I picked the job up. I've never not been able to remove myself from a translation before, but this one I couldn't get out of my head.
10th March 2015
A special gift

So moving
Jo, your story of the translation and of why you went to Ishinomaki brought me to tears. I well remember this disaster because I was on the infamous, dirt road of Route 40 traveling down through Patagonia. We met another bus coming up and learned of the tragedy. On our bus was a Japanese backpacker; no one would tell him what had happened because we were out of internet/cell range for days and didn't want him worrying about his family when he couldn't contact them. Because of him, the Tohoku tragedy has been etched on my memory.
11th March 2015
A special gift

Lest we forget
A poignant reminder Jo that while news of natural disasters catches our attention while the tabloids are interested...it can pass us by with the next news event. But for the survivors they never forget. Reminds me I was at the epicentre of the Sichuan earthquake in 2007 one month before it hit...and I have never heard from my local friend since. Lest we forget. Thanks Jo.
14th March 2015

Two beautifully written/translated pieces, Jo. From Mrs. J to Taylor Anderson and the countless more individuals who were never found -- you remind us that each person had a life story that we would only be lucky to encounter and remember. Thanks so much for taking this journey and sharing it.
24th March 2015

The individuals
Thanks Michelle. Yes, there is so much more to be seen and felt when you take the time to stand out in the middle of 'nothing'.
21st March 2015

An increased state of abandonment the further I went
My heart breaks with your story of this tragedy. Your words evoke a great deal of emotion in me. Thank you for telling the story of the town and these people with such a warm heart. As you say it is hard to imagine.

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