Resilience at The Academy Theatre

Resilience showing at the Academy Theatre

I have another showing of Resilience coming up in September 19-22 at The Academy Theatre . You can catch it again for those of you who missed the first showing at Method Art Gallery. This time it is more focused on the stories of the residents, with narratives that go along with the photographs. I will also be giving a talk at the reception on Friday, September 20th, 6-9 pm. The 1000 Cranes for Ishinomaki will also be on display.

As a bonus feature to the show, I will be showcasing the fashion photography I have been doing lately in the lounge area. It will be the first time being shown in a gallery space so I’m very excited.

 

Day 8: Hidemaruya

After seeing the beautiful display from the artists from Taiwan, I went to a souvenir store right down the street. It was called Hidemaruya, and they had Ishinomaki t-shirts that they sold for around $20. The shirts said things like “Never give up Ishinomaki” or “Ganbappe, Ishinomaki”.  I had seen these shirts last year but didn’t have money to spend when I was volunteering, so I was happy to purchase them :)

After looking around the store for a while, the owner asked me where I came from. When I said the United States and that I was here last year volunteering, she was surprised and let me sit down and look at her photo album that contained lots of tsunami related pictures/newspaper clippings. She was hesitant at first but she started sharing her stories with me.

“It was like a dream”, she said. “It all happened in an instant…just one moment… like what happened?” On 3-11, she was here at the store, and her house is on the second floor. She felt it shook, and ran out side, but she heard her neighbors shouting that the tsunami was coming. She ran up to her home, and ended up staying up there for 2 days. At night it was cold with snow falling down, only a gas stove to keep her and her husband warm, and only one candle for light. Thankfully, she had a fridge full of food so they didn’t starve like many of her neighbors.

“There were many people that I knew that lost their lives looking for their family members. They went out when the tsunami came,” she said almost in a whisper. “You have to take care of your own life first. Because what do you have when you lose yourself? Just make a place to meet up when things like this happen.”

Unlike all the people that I met, she didn’t aestheticize the recovery effort. She wasn’t negative about it, but rather realistic. “The recovery/reconstruction isn’t in the near future.” She said with lines between her eyebrows, “We’ve become so dependent on other people, especially volunteers. We can’t be like this forever.” She said she felt like she was going crazy after losing her store. Her store sold yarn and knitting products. “I can’t just not do anything. I told myself I must become independent.” And that’s why she started a whole new venue making souvenir t-shirts. She felt that with volunteers and tourists coming into Ishinomaki, she could let them take a memory of Ishinomaki with them by selling these shirts.

After learning her love for knitting/crocheting, I gave her one of the crochet cats. She loved it! “Thank you so much. I want to start my yarn store again, but it’s so hard when there’s hardly any customers anymore. I hope Ishinomaki will become a better place than before. I know it’s going to take a while, but my wish is that Ishinomaki will be more independent.”

Day 8: Taiwan Friends

As I was riding my bike along the Manga Road, I saw pretty colors peeking from the corner of the street. I stopped to see what was going on, and saw adorable chalk drawings on the pavement. I’ve never seen chalk drawing so beautiful in my life. Seeing this brought a smile to my face as well as the locals. This brightened up the street!

Good luck charm from Taiwan.

After staring and lurking and taking a bunch of pictures, these nice people explained to me that they’re a group of artists from Taiwan supporting Ishinomaki. Different styles of artists were here and they told me they painted murals on houses and made public art to bring joy into the town.  They also gave me a good luck charm :)

Pretty pastel chalks.

They told me I can contribute to the drawings so I put my drawing skills to the test….

Meow.

And I drew a cat. But someone said it looks like Pink Panther. I guess they’re kinda right lol

I’m messy wherever I go.

Soooo pretty!

My cat looks like it was done by a 4 year old compared to this great looking mountain next to it! Mad props!

Sunflowers.

Large mural on the side of a building.

Lots of locals told me they are really thankful for the organization from Taiwan. Some elderly people kept their cash at home so they lost most of their savings in the tsunami. The locals said the people from Taiwan handed out money to anyone who got in line. These people were painting a very large mural on the side of the building. They each had their own distinctive style. I didn’t stay long enough to see it completed, so I can’t wait to go back and check it out :)

 Since they were so nice to me, and anyone who helps Ishinomaki is automatically my friend, I gave them one of the crochet cats! I hope they liked it :)

Its crazy how you meet so many different kinds of people through the same cause. I wish them the best of luck :)

Day 7: part 3, Kawamura Magobe gravesite, oceanside, fish market

After visiting Tsuda-san, Ted and I visited Kawamura Magobe gravesite. Kawamura Magobe is an important person in Ishinomaki history. He was a technical expert in Omi Province, and he constructed the Port of Ishinomaki at the mouth of Kitakami-gawa River. Peace boat volunteers worked hard to clean up this gravesite, but the clean up isn’t complete yet.

Mabo Tofu.

Then we went to the Chinese restaurant near Kaska. It was so cheap! And lots of food! I was stuffed.

Ooper Looper

I found a funy looking fish/lizard? It’s called a Ooper Looper. I’ve never seen anything like this, it looked like a Pokemon.

We drove around town again. And we drove by the mountains of trash piled up everywhere.

Japan Paper Company.

This is a paper company located right by the coast. Paper and water doesn’t go well together, so after the tsunami most of their materials were ruined. The huge rolls of paper was very heavy when it soaked up all the water.

San Juan Bautista.

This is a museum that displays the San Juan Bautista, a Spanish style galleon built in the 17th century. Though this is a replica, the actual ship was built in 1613 by Date Masamune, the lord of the Sendai Clan. The ship transported an envoy to the Pope in Rome, stopping at Acapulco, Mexico on the way. The boat had very minimal damage from the tsunami but the museum was closed.

Beach.

Most of the beaches are closed for swimming since not everything is cleaned up from all the scraps. This beach is mostly for fishing tho.

“The bottom of the sea is all messed up because of the tsunami. I can’t catch any fish!”

I asked this fisherman how it’s like fishing here. He said he could catch all different kinds of fish before but he said “the bottom of the sea is all messed up because of the tsunami. I can’t catch any fish!” Even if he can’t catch anything, he still comes here to fish. I’m guessing he comes here to relax.

Buoys.

Sea Bugs?

Shells used to raise oysters.

Oyster harvesting is very big in Ishinomaki, and it’s considered the main area that imports oyster seeds to all over the world. I LOVE OYSTERS, and it was cool to see how they raise baby oysters. This made me salivate a little bit.

Fiiiiish market.

We then went to the fish market. Originally, this market was placed right near the coast, but they relocated for now. This fish was huge! I wear a size 6 shoe so like 3 of my shoes was the size of this fish!

Sea Urchin!

I’ve never seen a sea urchin with the spikes on. All I could think was sushi. I bet the fresh ones tastes really good :)

Cleaning the sea urchin.

She was cleaning the insides out to get the meat out of it. She was using a tweezer very carefully to get the black parts out and leaving the orangey/yellowish insides.

FINALLY! OYSTER!

YUMMAH!

I finally got to eat some oysters! This particular one wasn’t grown in Ishinomaki, but it was fresh nonetheless. Oyster season is around November, and they even have a festival dedicated to them! Hopefully next year, I can go to one of them and eat lots and lots of oysters! :)

Day 6: Strolling around Kaska, Ishinomaki Pet Center

Riho went back to Tokyo after giving the knitted clothing to Kasumi-So, so Day 6 begins my lone trip. I’ve always had my family around me whenever I traveled and depended on them so much, so I was kind of scared. Would I be able to connect with the locals? Would I be able to speak Japanese? Would I get lost? All these questions kept worrying me, but I tried to be brave, and started riding my bicycle to familiar places I visited last year. It was only a 20-30 minute bike ride from the hotel.

Karaoke

Last year, this karaoke place was the only bar that was open in this area. It was very old fashioned, 100 yen per song, and it was like being in someone’s living room. They didn’t think I was Japanese so they told me to sing something, and I sang a Christina Aguilera song… Though I think I’m a diva when I’m singing in my car, no one should be forced to hear me sing. haha. But they were kind and clapped for me. Teehee. It was nice to see them still in business.

So clean.

Last year, the roads were still rough and covered in dirt, and hardly any stores were open on this street. Now it’s all repaired and clean! Clean-ups around areas that are being used were very fast. It’s crazy to see the gap between this and homes around the water. But all that matters is that it’s being done.

Last year, piles of trash everywhere.

Last year, this area was pretty rough. There were piles of trash being gathered everywhere you looked. Sludge still covered the ground as it gave off a foul smell. The building with the colorful sign was a camera store.

CLEAN!

This year this place was all cleaned up. The camera store relocated to another area.

Hide out.

Nap time.

This was my favorite place. It’s a greenbelt around the river, and the trees are big enough to make shade in the hot sun. At night time, I remember hearing crickets chirp. This was the place to be to unwind from a long, hardworking day. This man was taking a nap on my favorite bench.

Buddha got his arm fixed.

Last year, this buddha lost his arm and it was being held up by ropes. The garden itself was done very beautifully and I’m glad the Buddha was fixed.

 

 

Ishinomaki Pet Center

I saw this pet center everyday last year while staying at Kaska. I was curious what the inside looked but it wasn’t open when I went. So I decided to pay a visit.

I was greeted by these very energetic geese as I walked up to the store. They wouldn’t stop quacking!! I wasn’t sure if it was a farm animal store or a pet store. I saw turkeys, chickens, baby chicks, rabbits, guinea pigs, goldfish, cats, and dogs.

Guinea pigs.

Meeeow.

I LOVE CATS. These adorable kitties made me miss my own, Whiskers and Bailey. I wanted to play with them more but the chihuahuas behind me wouldn’t stop barking so I had to leave the room. Chihuahuas are so loud! They just kept growling at me!

Ruff. Frenchies are the best. They’re so cute. This one had a scar on her hip, but she was such a sweetheart.

After being in the store for 15 minutes, the owner came out and I got to ask her how its been since 3-11. She said “On 3-11, I didn’t think a tsunami was going to come. We live upstairs of the store so me and my family rushed up. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to save the animals.” Since this area is very close to the coastline, the water level was very high and the animals in their cages drowned. “We had to start all over. It was sad, and I feel very sorry for the animals.”

Chirp!

They did all the cleaning by themselves. “I saw the volunteers walking around a lot last year. But we did all the cleaning by ourselves, just me and my father. We had a lot of free time, so it wasn’t a problem.” There weren’t enough volunteers to go around to every place in town.

TURTLE

“We used to have a lot more animals. Parrots, large aquarium fish, different breeds of cats and dogs, ferrets, etc. We had to start from scratch. We used to have lots of customers who owned large aquariums so they came to the store a lot. But now, even if they still have their tanks, they live in temporary homes so they don’t have the space. Or they don’t want to own any pets because they’re scared that the tsunami might come again. They come visit me from time to time. They don’t buy anything but they just come to see the animals. If you love animals, you never stop loving them no matter what.”

Bunnies! Fluffy fur balls.

“Having pets is a luxury. It’s not a need for survival so we don’t have customers anymore. Businesses like insurance, construction, cars, homes, and grocery stores are doing just fine. But stores like us, pet stores or fishing supplies, they’re hobbies. So to get by, we started a traveling zoo. A lot of events and schools have us come and bring our animals. They want the children to smile and be happy, and animals have the power to do that.”

“My daughter is going to love this.”

“I hope things will be back to where it was again, but I know it will take a long time. But I hope people will start having pets again, because I know how much joy they bring to our lives.”

I gave her one of the crochet cats and she really liked it. “I have a daughter and she loves stuffed animals. She’s going to love this. We’ll treasure it.”

Day 5: Kasumi-So Senior Home

Riho eating Taiyaki.

Nom nom nom.

We headed to Kasumi-So senior home later that day. We took a train and since we didn’t have breakfast or lunch, we ate the Taiyaki that we got earlier.

Watanoha Station.

We arrived to Watanoha Station 10 minutes later. The palm trees reminded me of Arizona. Though Ishinomaki city is the 2nd most populated areas in Miyagi prefecture, the train only comes by every 2 hours. This is unbelievable compared to Tokyo where the train comes every 5 minutes. The train only has 2 cars since the tsunami disaster, but they plan on adding more next year.

Kasumi-So Senior Home.

We finally arrived to Kasumi-So Senior Home. We brought the handmade knitted scarves and clothing made by the wonderful folks of Japanese American Citizens League. I hope they like it!

The head manager of Kasumi-So.

Manjome-San is the head manager of this senior home. When asked about what happened on 3-11 she said, “Right after the earthquake, one of the seniors said the tsunami will follow soon. So all of us evacuated to the mountains before the tsunami warning even went off. So thankful for the wise knowledge of the elderly, they were all safe.”

She got caught in the tsunami.

“After we evacuated, I realized I forgot to grab the medicine for my patients. We were in such a rush, I knew I shouldn’t go back but I went anyways. When I was driving back, I saw a little girl crying on the side of the street. I picked her up and while I was driving, the tsunami came. I didn’t know what was happening, but thankfully someone reached a hand from the 2nd floor of a building and saved us.” Though she was talking very calmly, what was coming out of her mouth was unimaginably horrifying.

For 5 days after the tsunami, all of their patients spent it in a temple in the mountains.

“There were many people at the temple. Since the damage of this area was unbelievable, the bridge was gone so the military couldn’t even come to this side of the town for 2 days. I was very worried. Some elderly people didn’t have their medicine so they were turning blue, or going crazy.”

“People started to find out that I work at the senior home. They thought we would have medicine to share, but we didn’t have any either. It pained me to turn them away.”

“I stepped into hell.”

With tears forming in her eyes, she spoke softly, “We went down the mountain when the water level decreased… And I stepped into hell.”

“The people who evacuated to the mountains didn’t directly see the tsunami, so it was shocking to see the aftermath. There were dead bodies everywhere, a lot of them in their cars. It felt like a war zone. I was actually seeing hell.”

Seniors watching TV.

“We had our one year anniversary of this institution the day after the tsunami. We were saying how it’s been a year and then it happened.” The seniors were transferred to a hospital out of prefecture, so they were safe and taken care of. They were more worried about us (the caretakers) if we had enough food.”

“My tears dried up after a while.”

After a year and a half, she said there are times where she feels depressed. “Year and a half flew by so fast. The reconstruction takes a long time, I know that. I get depressed quite often, and put a stop to myself. Most of us suppressed our emotions. My tears dried up after a while, I was tired of crying. Thankfully, all of my family members survived, but many of the workers’ didn’t. My daughter’s friend’s body was found 3 months later. And all that was said was “They found another one.” It was hard to feel anymore. It was all too much.”

Friends of JACL.

We come bearing gifts!

We gave them the letter, pictures, and the handmade items from Japanese American Citizens League. They were very ecstatic to receive them since they lost most of their winter clothes in the tsunami. “Thank you so much. The winters are so cold here! It gets cold by September. Now to think of it, it was snowing the day after the tsunami. ”

“This ones mine!”

Everyone’s faces were covered in smiles. We dispersed the clothing to everyone and they loved it. This lady wore hers already even though it was hot!

Kangaroo.

We also gave them the crochet animals too. They were saying how cute it was. She was a funny one, “I’m a kangaroo.”

95 years and still counting!

She’s 95 years old and loved the shawl. “Give them a peace sign”, the manager said.

99!

We woke him up from his nap, but this 99 year old man picked the white vest. He can’t hear very much so they had to shout in his left ear. When they told him that we brought them clothes, he smiled and said “Thank you.”

Fancy!

She liked this blue shawl very much. “I like it, it’s fancy!” Such complicated and beautiful design, all handmade by JACL.

Blushing a little bit.

“Blue is a man’s color.” “Looking good!” the women shouted. He blushed a little bit as I took his picture.

Group Photo.

Everyone got several items to keep. Rather than taking it to a large senior home and not have enough, we picked the one with 6 people. They shared their stories with us and welcome us into their home. Thank you to Kasumi-So senior home and JACL for providing the clothing!

Thank you! :)

Day 5: part 2

Mangattan Museum

This is Ishinomori Mangattan Museum dedicated to the most famous Manga artist in Ishinomaki. It’s being repaired right now but will be open to the public in October.

Lots of cars.

Lots of cars cross this bridge to get to the other side of the river. Can you believe the tsunami covered this whole area underwater? Crazy.

Blue sign indicates where the waterline was.

Past the bridge, there was  a sign of where the waterline was.

Still the same.

Being near the river, some houses around here are too far gone to be repaired. The town is focusing on houses that are still repairable, and leaving the destroyed ones for later. It seemed like at any moment, this house could collapse.

Pile of rubble in the middle of the house.

Cleaning takes a long time and a lot of strength. Though it still seems dirty, I bet that this place took a lot of people to get it this far to remove large scraps and shoveling sludge.

Asking for help.

Riho wanted to visit the house where she found a friendly cat last year. We asked this nice gentleman where it was. He pointed in a direction and lead us there. But he told us that they demolished the house.

No walls.

The tsunami ripped open this whole wall of this house. A lot of houses in this area looked similar.

New hairdo, anyone?

I found a chair of what seems like came from a hair salon. I didn’t see any buildings that looked like one so I think the water traveled this chair here.

Day 5: Around the Kyu-Kita-Kami River

Before I start this post, I wanted to thank all of you that have been taking a look at this blog. I’ve been getting views from all over the world, in 25 countries including Japan, USA, Argentina, Ireland, France, Australia, etc. My purpose is to share the stories of Ishinomaki to as many people as I can. Everyone has a different story which wasn’t on mainstream news, of how the ground shook so much that they couldn’t stay standing up, how they couldn’t reach their family members for days so they walked in the water waist deep to search for them, how they spent days without food or water on top of a roof, how they got caught in the water and climbed on to a floating car. We live in a world where internet makes everything accessible, so I am trying to share the stories that I heard face to face from the survivors of the 3-11 earthquake/tsunami. They are so brave and positive, such beautiful souls. I’m just a messenger.

Riho showing the Taiyaki store owner the picture from last year.

The owner was very happy to see that we came back. He even gave us 2 free taiyakis!

We visited the Taiyaki (Japanese dessert) shop that Riho went to last year. I guess this store was the only thing opened in this area so Riho was happy to see that it’s still in business. And it was the best Taiyaki I’ve ever had!

By the river.

Broken boat port.

There’s a lot of areas along the river that hasn’t been repaired yet.

Riho taking a break.

Bridge being repaired.

This bridge is called Nishi-Naikai Bashi. This bridge is used by many people so it is in the middle of reconstruction. One side of the sidewalk is completely closed so it was kind of scary riding our bikes alongside cars on such a narrow bridge.

Cats!

I think I have a cat radar. Last year, I didn’t see any stray cats. But now they’re starting to appear again. This made me happy.

Downtown Recovery/Reconstruction Market

There was a little market place down the street where all the shops that were ruined by the tsunami got together. They’re in trailers so this is temporary, but it’s nice to see that they’re open for business already.

Gallery in the cafeteria.

Inside their cafeteria, they had pictures of before/after pictures of the town. In attendance were many tourists from all over Japan.

Anpanman

This is a drawing of Anpanman, a very popular kids anime. The theme song translates to “Do not fear, for everyone. Love and courage is your only friend.” Even though it is a kids song, it was played a lot last year while volunteering. It sent out a positive message to everyone.

Encouraging message on a bench.

All over town, there are signs or ads of words of encouragement. “We are cheering for your energy/spirits!”

Japanese Flag.

Land of the Rising Sun.

Next to this play set was a Japanese flag waving in the wind. Though it was ripped, it was still standing strong.

Day 4: Watanabe-san

One of our missions for this trip was to give out the hand knitted clothing that the wonderful people of Japanese American Citizens League had made to the senior homes in Ishinomaki. So we contacted the nearby senior home to schedule an appointment for an interview. But when Riho talked to them over the phone, they said that they were not affected by the tsunami at all, so they would rather have us give the knitted clothing to a senior home that is more deserving. We wanted to hear their story, tsunami-damaged or not, because everyone was affected by this tragic event, one way or another.

Watanabe-san, the head manager of Wakouen Senior Home.

This senior home is called Wakou-en. And this is the head manager, Watanabe-san. He said that on 3-11, he wasn’t at the senior home or even in Ishinomaki. He couldn’t get back until 5 days later, but the tsunami didn’t reach the building because it was on a hill, but the earthquake had caused damage to the water pipes beneath the structure.

Watanabe-san showing us the geography of Ishinomaki in a before & after book.

He showed us a book with aerial photographs of Ishinomaki, before and after. Since we are not familiar with the area, he showed us where everything is in detail and even gave us the book.

Watanabe-san thinking really hard.

“Even if it’s in the same city of Ishinomaki, the amount of damage is different in every area. Ishinomaki combined 5 towns, so it’s pretty broad,” Watanabe-san said. When we asked how this senior home have changed after the tsunami, he said “a lot of our patients have dementia, so most of them don’t even know what happened. They didn’t actually see the water. It shook a lot from the earthquake, so some walls have cracks but it’s not very obvious from what people can see.” He said very apologetically.

He showed us other senior homes in Ishinomaki on the map.

He showed us several other senior homes that had a lot of damage on the map.

He called other senior homes for us.

“It hasn’t changed so much for us. Sorry about that. But I’ll introduce you to other senior homes that I know that suffered a lot. Let me give them a call.”

So thankful.

We’ve been blessed to meet people like him all over the city of Ishinomaki. Everyday, someone lends a hand to us. We’re very thankful.

Day 3: Middle of the day.

This is actually the middle of the day of Day 3. I’m not used to blogging so I made a mistake and forgot to put this into the last post!

Snacks and Sports drinks!

While working on my blog and editing pictures, my sister and I received some refreshments from the management of the hotel :) Yaaaay, drinks and snacks! You can tell on my face that I’m super stoked.

Crossroads? Cross rails?

We went on a bike ride around town in the afternoon. And we were waiting at the crossroad? cross rails? idk. My sister told me that cars get stuck in the middle of the rails a lot. Impatient drivers… sigh.

Beautiful scenery.

River.

We rode by the river that leads to the ocean and enjoyed the view. It was such a serene view. It’s crazy how a beautiful and peaceful river like this overflowed and destroyed so many people’s lives last March. Just unbelievable.

Bike riiiiide.

Our bike ride was pretty awesome. It wasn’t too hot, wasn’t too humid. I don’t ride bikes that often so this made me want to take on biking when I get back to Arizona. Just saying. But then again, as my friend Daniel Kim always said, I just look fit. I’m usually panting by the time I walk upstairs but maybe going on bike rides might be good exercise!

GREEEEN!

My grandpa once told me that seeing green makes your eyesight better. So I stared at this landscape for a while. This is a tanbo, a rice field! My last name, Katsuta, means Victory and Rice field. Victory in the rice field!!

Vines.

This is a car repair shop. There were many cars being repaired, because of the tsunami. This side of the building interested me more than people repairing cars. Vines! I love it when plants take over man made stuff.

The Golden Hour on Riho’s face.

So after getting back to the hotel and resting for a bit, I saw the golden light coming from the window so I forcefully made Riho stand by it to take a picture of her. I love you Riho.