My father’s favorite items May 6, 2011

I went to Onagawa on May 2 and 3.
Amid Golden Week, Tohoku Highway was rather crowded.
In Onagawa, there were many cars with license plates from other prefectures or people who did not have Onagawa dialect. Did they come to see a world heritage site, Onagawa? Whether it was good or bad, I would want them to come back to Onagawa when it recovers as a port town to eat tasty fish. 

Roads were made a little higher in the shape of a cross around Marine Pal. It seems that it was to prevent flooding at the time of high tide. What a change in just 10 days as I was in Onagawa until 4/21. I can understand that people are talking about recovery, but when the town changes so rapidly at this pace, there is no time to be nostalgic. (laugh)

This time, I went as a group of three, with my husband and a former classmate, Mr. K.  He experienced the Kobe earthquake when he was in high school. He was in the same photography department in Nihon University College of Art as me and we were in the same class for four years since the entry to the school. One time, he stayed at our house in Onagawa, so the visit this time seemed very shocking. He lost words to the damages caused by the tsunami, which is a little different from those by earthquakes, but still looked through the finder and clicked the shutter.

I am used to the scenes of Onagawa, however, I discovered something new by taking a friend with me. To my surprise, I found a 4x5 rails and a large tripod for the use in studio, both of which were my father’s favorite items. They were found at 50 ~ 100 meters west to the house.
I had been only looking 30 meters around the house. It is understandable that a photographer friend can find those items quickly. (laugh)

I just realized that it was a little strange to be called “rubble.”
What is on the ground is a collective mass of something that was part of our life, such as pillars of a house, a chest of drawers, clothes, and plates. My father’s camera equipment is now just iron scraps, but we could live thanks to the equipment. It did a good job until the end. I would like to thank not only to my father, but to the equipment.