The Yoisa festival - Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture

I’ve been to Fukushima prefecture to take part in volunteer efforts so many times now that I’ve lost count. When the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami hit, I wasn’t in Japan. But when I found out what was happening, I knew I wanted to do something to help out in the recovery efforts. At the time, I was attending community college. I didn’t have much money, and I didn’t have much free time off, so I wasn’t able to help out. At community college, unlike a standard university, you have the freedom to take whatever classes you want, and seeing as most students studying there will transfer there aren’t really any set classes you need to take in order to graduate. So if I were to say that I ‘dropped out’ of community college, then that might not be correct. What I can say is that I stopped taking classes at community college. After I stopped taking classes there, I got on a plane and came to Japan.

I love Japan. When the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami hit, I knew I wanted to do the little that I could to help out. After the earthquake and tsunami, a large number of Japanese people made their way to the Northeastern region to help out. At the time, I’m sure that the removal of rubble and so on was the majority of the volunteers efforts. After the areas up north had become cleaner, many volunteer groups wrapped up their operations. Even though there is still much work that can and needs to be done in the Northeastern region, there’s no guarantee that there is a need for these groups to act as they did when the disaster had just struck. Even so, I knew I wanted to do something to help out.

For those of you who’ve read blogs I’ve posted on other sites, you’ll know that I frequently visit the city of Minamisoma in Fukushima prefecture. I don’t go as often as I used to, but I still help out whenever trips up there are taking place. However, Northern Japan is not the only place that I’ve volunteered in, after the earthquake that took place in Kumamoto prefecture last April, I went down to Kumamoto prefecture and did what I could.

Last weekend I yet again made my way back North as a volunteer, but this time I wasn’t headed to Fukushima prefecture. Last weekend, I went to Iwate prefecture. I didn’t volunteer with the same group that I normally do, but rather with Takushoku University, which is the university that I attend. Seeing as I went with my university, we didn’t pass out necessary items to those still living in temporary housing, and we didn’t clean up areas around homes that had been left untouched since the earthquake and tsunami. This time around, we participated in a festival in the city of Kamaishi known as Yoisa. It’s a local festival and we focused on stimulating and revitalizing the town. This was the first time that I’d ever got to participate in a festival in Japan, and despite the fact that it was hot we had to wear jeans and a polo t-shirt (provided for by my university). Having said that, it was fun. Wearing a type of Japanese half-coat that you often see others wearing at a festival, know as a haori, would have made it an even better experience. Other than the poor choice of clothing for the festival itself, it was nice getting to soak in both the morning and evening at the public bath at the Japanese-style inn we stayed at. It was a fun 3 days.

In another volunteer blog, I wrote that this was a school. I believe it was actually a city hall. You'll notice that the clock on the building has stopped at the exact moment the tsunami hit.

In a previous volunteer blog, I wrote that this was an island that an author used in one of his books. It was actually (I believe) an island that was used as a motif for the area that came up in a famous drama.

We all bought breakfast at a convenient store. I chose a boxed lunch, known as a bento, that had strips of thinly sliced beef on top. 

For lunch, they gave us each a bento. Last time, they didn't give us a bento, rather 2 onigiri or rice balls. It wasn't enough, so I complained. Because I complained, this time around we all got a boxed lunches. Yum!

This sign indicates how far up the tsunami rose.

Some of the girls that took place in the Yoisa festival.

Kids too took part in the festival. Cute!

A photo below of the Kamaishi train station at night. Beautiful!

Dinner.

Breakfast.

2 offertory boxes in the lobby of Japanese-style inn that we stayed in.

For lunch, we stopped at one of the many service areas. Seeing as we'd come all the way to Iwate prefecture, I decided to go for the curry with a croquette that used Maesawa beef. Delicious!

A number of years has passed since the earthquake and tsunami, so there aren't many volunteer groups still going in the Northeastern region. If anyone knows of any groups in which are still requiting volunteers, I'd appreciate it if you'd let me know.