Volunteering in Miyagi

Gordon and I have been wanting to visit the Tohoku region ever since we arrived in Japan last August. We wanted the chance to help with the clean-up efforts and to see the damage firsthand. Where we live (further south) only a few roads were cracked and some roofs damaged from the earthquake, so it is difficult to imagine the extreme devastation people experienced up north.

Our friend Fumiko, who works for the Tonosho Board of Education, has volunteered 3 times in the Tohoku region and we told her we wanted to go with her the next time she went. So, this past Saturday, Gordon and I finally got the chance to volunteer in Miyagi Prefecture.

We left our apartment at 2am on Saturday morning. Fumiko drove us about 2 hours up north into Ibaraki Prefecture where we got on a bus with about 30 other volunteers. We were all on the bus and leaving Ibaraki at 4:30am. Gordon and I settled into our seats and tried to sleep. As we neared our destination, the volunteer leader told us what we'd be doing and gave us our instructions.

At a rest stop near Sendai, the epicenter of the earthquake.

Then the volunteer leader showed a film of footage from the March 11th earthquake and tsunami. It was a somber reminder of why we were volunteering and made me reflect on all that the Japanese people have been through.

Around 8:50am we start driving closer to the coast toward the city of Matsushima and started to see the affects of the tsunami. There were very few trees along the coastline and only the foundations or plots of land remained where houses once stood. Every once in a while we'd pass a house or building that survived the tsunami, but was completely gutted and deserted. I just stared out the window with my mouth open. I couldn't believe I was in the same place the earthquake and tsunami destroyed a year prior.

View of the coastline. You can see where trees once stood.

Foundations where houses once stood.

Twisted and bent bridge railing.

A deserted house.

The bus arrived at the beach and we all got out and put on our boots, work gloves and hats. It was time to get down to business.

Climbing up the barrier to get to the beach.

Our job was to collect debris along the beach and separate it into burnable or nonburnable waste. One of the things the volunteer leader told us was if we found a photo to give it to her and if we find a bone, not to touch it, but to alert her so she could give it to the police. I was a little nervous after she said that, but I knew that was the unfortunate reality of the devastation and loss of life the tsunami had caused.

At first, I thought a day of volunteering here would be a sad reminder of all that happened on March 11th, but I couldn't have been more wrong. Every volunteer had a positive attitude and was happy to help cleanup. Even our trash bags had colorful drawings done by school children on them. On top of that, it was a beautiful day! All these factors combined made it hard to focus on the negative.

Gordon and Fumiko with their trash bags. Smile! :)

Gordon picking up random pieces of debris including a ball of yarn and a doll.

Picking up sticks.

All of the trash we picked up.

Gordon and I worked as a team to collect debris. We worked on a small area of the beach and combed it until we had picked up all the trash. We found bottles, bottle caps, lighters, plastic containers, string, bullet casings, jars, metal scraps, toys, a recorder, styrofoam, glass, a golf ball, pieces of fabric and tons of plastic bags. Every once in a while, Gordon and I would stop to look around at the beautiful ocean and islands in the distance. The volunteers were the only ones on the beach except for two surfers out in the water. The beach was once a popular swimming area for families but is now deserted because of the damage the tsunami caused and the debris it left behind.Gordon and I both agreed that if the tsunami hadn't happened, he and I would have definitely visited Matsushima and the beach on a trip. Hopefully the beach gets back to normal soon and people will start to return too.


Gordon and I got the chance to talk to several of the volunteers while working on the beach. We got asked many questions mainly because we were the only foreigners there. People wanted to know where we were from, how long we'd been living in Japan and what we liked about Japan. They also thanked us for being there (I have to admit, it feels strange being thanked by a fellow volunteer. I felt like I needed to thank them back!) Gordon and I found out that all the volunteers had volunteered in the Tohoku region before, many of them 3 or more times! These people are committed and dedicated!


After about 3 hours on the beach, we hopped back on the bus to eat our bento box lunches and head into town for restrooms.

Our lunch: rice, fish, squid, egg, broccoli, meatballs and spaghetti. 

When we entered the downtown area of Matsushima, there were many people busy visiting all the stores, restaurants and gift shops. We got a couple minutes to wander around the gift shops and purchase a few postcards and food items. Outside one of the shops, a man and woman were grilling and selling oysters. It was great to see this area getting back to business as a popular tourist spot.

Yummy grilled oysters!

We hopped back on our bus after shopping to visit the next volunteer site.

Our next stop was a roadside flowerbed that had been planted a couple weeks prior. One part of getting Matsushima back to normal is making the area beautiful. The flowerbed had lots of weeds and grass growing in it. Our next task was to pull weeds, something Gordon and I are very skilled at.

Gordon and the other volunteers picking weeds on a steep hill.

KILL ALL THE WEEDS!

We were careful not step on any of the flowers and careful not to mistake the flowers as weeds, but I have to be honest, Gordon did have to ask me several times what was a flower and what was a weed.

     "Is this a flower, Emily?"
     "No. That's a weed."

     *5 minutes later*

     "Is this a flower?"
     "Yes. The plants with flowers are flowers, not weeds."

     *20 minutes later*

     "GORDON! You just pulled a flower!"
     "Oh crap! Seriously?!"
     "Hurry, dig a hole and plant it again!"
     (We quickly look around making sure nobody noticed.)

Is this a weed? :)

So, maybe we could use some more practice with weeding. At one point an older Japanese lady walked by on the sidewalk near where we were weeding. She surveyed our work, smiled, and thanked all the volunteers for being there. It was great to hear that encouragement and motivated us to keep working to make the flowerbed as clean and as beautiful as possible. After about 2 hours of weeding, it was time to call it a day and the flowerbed looked significantly better than when we first came.

Just flowers now. No weeds!

We all changed into clean clothes and hopped back on the bus to drive home. Gordon and I were sad to leave and told Fumiko we wanted to come back again. She seemed slightly surprised and asked if the work was too easy. Gordon and I laughed and told her we really enjoyed ourselves and that it felt good to be productive and finally help out after months of only seeing the damage. The volunteer company did a wonderful job of managing the trip. They made sure we took breaks to drink water and even served hot green tea on the bus. We felt well taken care of and appreciated for our efforts. It was a very humbling experience.

Being served green tea on the bus.

The number one lesson I believe Gordon and I learned from volunteering was the power of optimism, healing and the will to move on. As we were leaving, we saw a new house being built not far from the devastation. Its a sign that people want to call this place home once again and are not deterred or defeated by what happened on March 11th.

Life goes on.

Gordon and I recently found out we will have the opportunity to volunteer with Fumiko again on June 23rd. Our work is not done! :)