My Feeling about Onagawa’s Devastation --- 3/28 Report #2

April 2, 2011

These are the scenes around Marine Pal.
You can see the extent of the tsunami if you see the places you know in the neighborhood of our house.
This is just a report with photographs for now.
1. The back street of Marine Pal. (Taken from around Okasei and Sato Rice Store.) The left one is toward Mon Mart, and the right side is Kadohama. The ground sank by 110 cm with the earthquake this time and the area has become ocean completely. It is a little difficult to see as I connected three images in a panoramic form.
2. Simiarly, taken from around Okasei and Sato Rice Store towards the Chamber of Commerce direction. 　Up front, Sasaki Iron Works and Suzuya Hotel buildings remain. It might have been that the pressure from the waves did not hit directly since they are behind Marine Pal. (I am not sure as I am not a specialist.)

3. The front of Marine Pal. As it is facing the center of Gulf of Onagawa, it was directly affected by the waves. The corridor that connected the two buildings was damaged. My impression was that the exterior was not as destroyed as I expected, maybe due to tiles. (Inside is a mess.) I could see working people burning wood material on the second floor.

4. A view from Tachibana Sushi near Sasaki Portrait Studio to look over the road that leads to Konori. The road is neatly cleaned up.
5. Suzukiya Store at Kadohama.  When I take a picture of one house like this, you can imagine the terror of the tsunami from the way the house is destroyed. A lot of times, only steel frames remain if it was built with steel frames.

6. Taken from Tachibana Sushi toward Chowanso direction. As buildings were gone, you can see Chowanso from this position. The tsunami came to about Omori Vegetable Store. Houses beyond this point to a higher ground are safe and people are staying at home. On March 28, heavy equipment came in and was clearing the road going up from Omori Vegetable Store.

My Feeling about Onagawa’s Devastation --- 3/28 Report #1

April 2, 2011

We left for Onagawa on March 28^th, two weeks after the Tsunami, and returned home yesterday.  We were able to reach the photo studio site by car without any problem as major roads in the town were pretty much cleared, unlike when my sister went there on March 16^th.

※Photo:  With My sister and Father Doi at the site where the Sasaki Portrait Studio used to be

Looking at the tsunami devastation for the first time…

I had wondered if looking at the devastation with my own eyes would be different from looking through the TV or the Internet.   To be honest, in my eyes, the scene looked “ordinary.”  Please don’t take this wrong, but the statement might have come from my objective and logical thinking without actually experiencing the tsunami; parents are gone and I can’t do anything about the ruined town.  The power of the nature is too great for us to fight back.  The devastation extends to the entire areas along the Pacific coast beyond Onagawa. I hate to admit, but I have to simply “accept” it. 

※ Roads are being cleared by the Self-Defense Forces.  Heading towards the bay from the Onagawa bypass. The extraordinary force of the tsunami is apparent from the way wood building materials scattered around.

“What can I do for the rebuilding of Onagawa?”  A strong sense of mission is now taking root inside of me.  I think that my mental strength is being maintained because I have a home to return to in Zushi and I still have a family member (my sister) to rely on.  Having a home to bring articles left by parents to is a reason to rejoice.  I relish these pleasures, which were taken from the people living in shelters.  

I will take succession to my father’s name in his business without permission and as the third generation owner of Sasaki Portrait Studio (ha,ha,ha..), I hereby declare that I will continue my father’s work and assist in the rebuilding of Onagawa.

My first shots are from Onagawa Daiichi Junior High School.

The school principal was kind enough to talk to me over the satellite phone.  He said, “We can neither contact a photo studio nor ask parents to pay even if we find someone to do the contract work.”  And I replied, “I will take group photos and the cost of distributing to students will come from donations.”  He was overjoyed.  I just want to share as much as possible the memories of Onagawa with these children, the bearers of our future.     

I will be commuting for a while between Onagawa and Zushi.  I appreciate your messages which encourage me and inspire me to live.   

Contact Information

April 2, 2011

I cancelled my father’s cell phone as of today.  So the new contact now is my cell phone number.  Please dial my father’s number.  (You will hear the forwarding number.)  Also the address book was washed away, so please give us your phone numbers and addresses.  If you can use e-mail, please send your contact information via e-mail.  This way your information is saved in the e-mail database.  If you make a comment in the comment section as “private,” I am the only person who has access to that.  So please write your e-mail address and other information under “private”.  E-mail communication is much easier than the one over the phone.  I am sorry to trouble you, but please do so.  I appreciate your cooperation.

My Father’s Belongings

March 28, 2011

Just came back from Onagawa.
I have many things to tell you, but I’ll talk about the most delightful, miraculous story.

It is my father’s portfolio.  It survived without being washed away by the tsunami.  There remained the entire file of his photo collection which contains the silver salt photo prints of ship carpenters who worked to restore the San Juan Bautista.

Someone picked it up somewhere and brought it to the multipurpose gym.

Likewise, we found someone’s memorable album near my parents’ house and took it to the gym.
“Where did you find this?”
“Near Sasaki Portrait Studio.”
“Do you happen to be with Sasaki Portrait Studio?  Your pictures are brought here, too.”
I was handed the portfolio and snapshots of my sister’s wedding.

70% of my father’s portfolio can be saved if it is washed with clean water.  The muddy water here will not save it.  I’ll try to wash and save those pictures after I return to Tokyo.
The portraits were taken by my father originally and later I printed them.  This is, after all, our first and last joint product.

My parents’ house was washed away, but I think my father’s work is pushing me forward.  I hear my father’s voice, “Mayumi, Be sure to keep on taking pictures!”
I was not able to succeed the photo studio, but I can succeed the techniques of photography.  I honestly feel this way now.

This scene was videotaped for broadcasting on TV.  It will be broadcasted on TBS Asazuba (Morning News), around 8: a.m. of March 29 tomorrow.
Please view that if you are able to do so.

Onagawa Survivors One after Another

March 16, 2011

Much information about survivors in Onagawa has been coming since around yesterday.
I have been receiving much information via telephone calls and communication means to the extent that I could become confused.  Some are personal calls about a person having found his parents and some are through acquaintance of someone’s acquaintance on survivors.  Safety of my friends’ families and my acquaintances has been confirmed.

What I can say now is that almost all people that we cannot contact are alive somewhere in Onagawa.  ”5000 People in Onagawa are still Missing”as of March 14 according to the news.  This was the official number that was announced.  Accurate information including numbers obtained from reliable sources is to be reported to the public on the news.

If so, “What is the official number?”  Please thick about this carefully.
Usually don’t we think of the number of names that were surely confirmed with a list of names by clerks of local governmental offices?
Then, speaking of “surely confirmed with a list of names”, to what extent would it be the sure confirmation?

I heard from my old classmates about the situation of the area.
Many messages were like these: “So and so drove me to Ishinomaki.”  “I left a shelter on my own because it is too difficult for me to wait.”  “I stayed at so and so’s place because her house was saved.”  “My son came to pick me up, so I am going to Sendai for now.”  All these sound like people from Onagawa would do and make my heart warm.  So this is the current situation.


It is difficult to think that those who flee Onagawa would take the trouble to file a transfer notice rather an escape notice with the city office.  All victims are desperately trying to survive and take actions on their own, so the accurate number (of survivors) is not grasped, I assume.

Of course, people who stay at public shelters may notify the office of their leave.  I wonder to what degree even those offices are functioning.  In addition, I heard that people with secure houses (in the areas that have escaped the tsunami) could not go to shelters and were waiting for help.  They would not dare to go to Multipurpose Gymnasium that is located so many kilometers away.

In that sense, the official number is very obscure.

March-15 news reported that 2000 people were confirmed to be safe in Minamisanrikucho.
It does not happen that suddenly 2000 people were discovered. (laugh)  Information of a count is collected one town at a time gradually; name lists have been made and totaled in several days.  Then perhaps the total of 2000 people was realized.

I want to say that I am not blaming the work done by the governmental organs.  In addition to this, however, the situation is something like that the goods have finally arrived there. So I think any clerical work could be left to be taken care of much later.  All of you are desperately trying to do your own work by grudging sleep.  Also, some walked many kilometers over a heap of rubbles to get to the towns that escaped the tsunami.  I wonder how you managed to pass a cracked road to head for a town.  It must have been very inconvenient.


Let us not give up our hope and wait patiently!

Let’s imagine the sunny disposition of people in Onagawa when you feel down!
“Aren’t you hungry?  Here, have some meal!”  It goes like this in Onagawa; it is a place where neighbors express concerns about others.  Even now, it is a rural town where you can borrow Miso paste and soy sauce from your neighbors.

That is why you can be sure people you are looking for are safe.  A little bit more (of waiting)!  Let’s do all we can!

I am pleased that this blog drew many people’s attention and may have given some encouragement to people who share the same hometown.  I only gather information from far and organize and upload the information little by little to my blog.  I am sorry that I could not be much help to those who commented to my blog. 

Lastly, I apologize for the fact that I could not sufficiently contact my relatives and people who helped my father and only this blog was the means on information about my parents.  I would like to express my appreciation to them through this blog.  Thank you so much for your support.

Message to the Quake and Tsunami Victims from Tokiko Kato

“Where are you now?”

March 25, 2011

I dedicate this song to all.

This is a collaboration of my most favorite singer, Tokiko Kato and Kiyomu Tomita, a broadcasting photographer whom I have come to know of via twitter.  Both song and lyrics are touching very much and you can see the snapshots of devastated areas that have never been broadcasted.

“You don’t have to force yourself to be cheerful and try hard.

Just accept the things as they are and live (today and) tomorrow.”

This is the message that I received from her song.

This is a famous Japnese musician,Tokiko Kato.

Esperanza（Hope）

March 23, 2011

It has been two months since I’ve studied Spanish seriously.

The tsunami halted my study just when I was beginning to read sentences.

Today I restarted.  “Learning” is fun.
I find studying more enjoyable and I can learn faster now than when I was a teen, because of my purpose and determination.
Learning never betrays you. It becomes your own asset.

My interest in learning Spanish came after trips to Mexico.  After living in Canada awhile, I made a short visit to Mexico.  I got hooked.  Indigenous Mexicans look very much like us, Mongoloids.  And their spoken language sounds just like an Onagawa dialect.  “Anda, koizu, umegara tabede midara iccha” (Will you try this. It’s tasty). What a joy to  hear a language sounding so close to our local fishermen’s heavy dragging accent in Mexico!   

It seemed as if I was going back to the past since the country goodness and human characteristics of Latinos seemed akin to the Onagawa and its people I had known in my childhood.  Being able to taste the lively and populous pre-nuclear power plant era in Onagawa, where I spent my childhood, was the biggest charm of going to Mexico.

Mail comes from friends in Mexico.  Now I can comprehend them easily. 
They write “Animo (cheer) “ and “Esperanza (hope）.”
Their supportive manner or, what I might call, expressions for feelings for others seem akin to ours.

By the way, the word “esperanza (hope)” was derived from a verb, “esperar（await）.”   How wonderful this word is!  Waiting brings hope.  I send to all of you, “Esperamos! (let’s have hope!) “