Ishinomaki Miyagi 宮城県石巻

On my way back, I stopped by at Ishinomaki. I wanted to see the city which Mr.O often mentioned while working in Tono.

帰り道に石巻に立ち寄る。遠野に居る間にOさんがいつも話をしてくれた。

Arriving at the station, they were waiting for me. Yes, here is the city Shotaro Ishinomori comes from.

駅に着いたらこんなものがお出迎えしてくれた。ここは石ノ森章太郎の出身地だ。

I did not take any picture of destroyed cities or streets when I was in Iwate. I wanted to take ones with smiles instead. I walked through the city and climed up to Hiyoriyama park where I had a whole view of the city along the coast. There is nothing more to say than that the part of the city disappeared. There we can see a huge heap of rubble along the Kitakami river. There were some groups of people with a local guide who explained the situation then.

岩手では壊れた街の一角や、通りの写真は一切撮らなかった。それよりも笑顔のある写真が撮りたかった。街を歩いて日和山公園に上る。上からは海岸線の一体がよく見渡せる。街の一部が消えたという感じ。北上川に沿って大きな瓦礫の山が見える。地元のガイドを引き連れたグループがいくつか。当時の状況の説明を受けていた。

 

Ganbare Iwhinomaki!

がんばれ石巻！

Hiraizumi Iwate 2 岩手県平泉町 ２

From early in the morning I visited Chusonji and Motsuji temple. I actually brought my SLR camera for today.

朝から中尊寺と毛越（もうつう）寺を見学する。今日のために一眼レフを持ってきたようなものだ。

"The summer grass is all that's left of ancient warriors' dreams" This monument of famous haiku by Matsuo Basho can be foundat Tsuneyoshido where Minamoto Tsuneyoshi is enshrined. From there on, the old war site in a vast plate and along Kitakami river can be seen.

「夏草や、兵どもが夢の跡。」この芭蕉の句の碑は、義経が祭ってある高館義経堂にあり、そこからは北上川沿いの広々とした平野に昔の戦場跡が見渡せる。

For lunch, nobody can avoid Wanko-soba in Iwate. This is not the one that somebody sits beside you and fill your bowl with soba noodle but self service. It is said that just eating soba will make you bored, they serve also tempura and sashimi as Hashi-Yasume "chopstick rest", side dishes that would be eaten between main dish. Here the main dish means of course soba noodle.

お昼は、わんこそば。岩手に来ておいてこれを避けるわけには行くまい。ただこれは、隣におかありを入れてくれる人がいるタイプではなく、セルフサービスだ。蕎麦ばかりでは飽きると言うことで、箸休めとして天ぷらや刺身まである。

Then in Motsuji. Here is famous for Yarimizu, its water channel in the garden. After long time walk, I had zunda-mochi at a cafe. This is the one I discovered really nice in Iwate.

それから毛越寺。ここは遣水で有名な庭園があるところだ。歩きつかれてきたころに茶屋でずんだもちを頂く。これは岩手で見つけた逸品。

Hiraizumi Iwate 1 岩手県平泉町 1

I had whole day rest in Hiraizumi which has been registered the World Heritage by Unesco last June. Here is the heart of Ohshu Fujiwara family. Arriving in the late afternoon, I just entered a small cafe in front of Hiraizumi station. There were about five local elder people, watching Sumo match on TV.

この６月にユネスコ世界遺産に登録された平泉で、まるまる一日の休みをとる。ここは奥州藤原家の拠点。午後の遅い時間に着き、平泉駅前の小さな喫茶店に入る。地元のお年寄りが５人ほどテレビで相撲を見ていた。

I ordered Hatto jiru, this is one of many variations of Suiton, so to say dough ball in soup, and called in other places in Tohoku area such as Hittsumi, Tsumeri, Tottenage and so on. In Tono it was called Hittsumi. I had a bottle of beer, too.

はっと汁を頼む。いわゆる水団だが、東北にはいろんな呼び方があり、地方によってひっつみ、つめり、とって投げなどと呼ばれている。遠野ではひっつみだった。ビールも頼む。

The other customers, surely regular guests at the cafe were talking about Sumo intensively. I said nothing and just enjoyed my food. Around the time I finished my Hatto jiru, the match was over. Then a woman came up to me to take the plate back, I told her that Hatto is a little more solid and sticky than Hittsumi which I had in Tono. Then a man in the group asked me that I am going to Tono from now, I said that I came from Tono that day.

他のお客さんたちは、カフェの常連さんのようだったが、一心に相撲を観戦していた。何も言わずただはっと汁をいただく。食べ終わったころには相撲も終わっていた。店の女性が空いた皿を下げに来たので、遠野のひっつみよりももちもちしてますねと感想を言う。そうしたらグループのある男性が、これから遠野に行くのかと聞くので、遠野から来たと答える。

He asked me where I come from, I said I am from Vienna. I explained to him that I had stayed in Tono for three weeks to join the volunteer activities. Also other guests joined the conversation and asked me about that. I briefly told them all the situation in Kamaishi and Ohtsuchi where I had worked. The woman of the cafe asked me if I am going back to Tono from now, I said that I would enjoy Hiraizumi the next day before going back to Vienna and would going to my hotel from then. She asked me where I would going to stay that night, called the hotel for me if they could pick me up at the cafe. Gratitude.

どこから来たのかと聞かれるので、ウィーンから来たと答える。それで遠野にはボランティアできて３週間居たと。他のお客さんたちも会話に加わってそのことについて聞かれた。釜石や大槌でのことを簡単に話す。お店の人がこれからまた遠野に帰るのかの聞くので、ウィーンに帰る前にここに寄りたくて寄ったと。どこに泊まるのかと聞かれるので答えると、宿に電話をしてくれてそこまで迎えに来てくれるかどうか聞いてくれた。感謝。

We talked further while waiting for the car from the hotel. When leaving, the man who talked me first told me that he was so glad to talk to a total stranger with this palms meet in front of his chest. I left the cafe saying thank you for the conversation and calling to ask to pick me up.

宿から車が来るまでのあいだ更に話をする。車が来てお店を出るとき、最初に話しかけてくれた男性が胸の前で手を合わせながら、初めて会った人に話しかけて本当によかったと言ってくれた。みんなに、話をしてくれたこと、迎えの車を呼んでくれたことに御礼をしてお店を出る。

And onsen (hot spring) and a fine dinner was waiting for me that night.

そしてその晩は、温泉と豪華な料理が待っていた。

Fukkou Shokudo 復興食堂

There is a special souvenir in Kamaishi city; Kaiho-zuke. This is a mixture of salmon roe and scallop seasoned by soy sauce. I wanted to have it there, although we can order via Internet. When I was going to work every day, our bus always passed by the shop. Today I was going to go to Hiraizumi but Mr.S drove  me as a volunteer before he goes back to Aomori. First we went to Nakamuraya where they make Kaiho-zuke. It was about 9:30 when we got there, we entered in the building. On the ground floor they were selling fresh fish or dried ones.

釜石には特別なお土産がある。海宝漬だ。これはいくらとホタテを醤油で漬けたもの。インターネットで注文もできるが現地で食べたかった。毎日現場に行くときにバスでお店の横を通り過ぎていた。今日は平泉に行くことになっていたが、Sさんが青森に帰るまでと、ボランティアで車を出してくれた。まず、釜石にある海宝漬を作っておられる中村屋さんへ向かう。着いたのは９時半。ビルの中に入る。一階では新鮮な魚や乾物を売っている。

The restaurant was on the second floor, we were too early. We faced to each other and considered what to do. Then I got an idea to go to Fukko-Shokudo in Ohzuchi-cho. It was opened on November 11, but when I was working there I did not have any chance to go and eat there. Without own car there was no chance. We drove further.

お店は２階なのだが、いかんせん早く来すぎた。顔を見合わせながらどうするか考える。そこで、大槌町の復興食堂へ行こうと言う話になる。11月11日にオープンしたものの、毎日現場に行くときに通り過ぎるだけで、自分の車がなければどうにも出来なかった。それでさらに車を走らせる。

We saw every day when we went to Kamaishi for work. Stone memorial is standing in Ryoishi district just before reaching the foot of Hakosaki peninsula along the route 45. This is the reminder not to build hauses below there, each stone was added in Meiji, Taisho and Showa era when they had big tsunamis.

釜石に仕事に入るときには毎日この横を通り過ぎた。国道４５号線沿いに 箱崎半島の根元を通る寸前、両石地区というところに石碑がある。これより下に家を建てるなという、明治、大正、昭和の大津波が語る歴史の碑。

We were still thirty minutes early till the opening time of Fukko-shokudo, but we were waiting. Mr.S and I were in Ohminato at Sumpu ranger show and a woman was there, too, who told us that she is working at Fukko-shokudo. She was not working there today. At the entrance I found that CDs and DVDs were on a table. The live CD and DVD was of a band which hold a live in Miyako city where there were the highest wave about 40m. The band members are from Hiroshima and there was also a copy of newspaper article. I bought the DVD.

復興食堂についてもまだ３０分ばかり早かったが待つことにした。Sさんと一緒に大船渡で駿府レンジャーショーのお手伝いに出かけたとき、ここで働いているという女性がいらっしゃったのだが、この日は非番だった様子。 入り口にはCDとDVDが机の上に置いてあった。広島出身のバンドが、津波が４０ｍと一番高かったとも言われている宮古で行ったライブのDVDだった。新聞記事のコピーもある。DVDを購入する。

Next to DVD we saw a picture of a cool T-Shirt with a logo of Ohtsuchi, we asked if we can buy it, too. But it was not ready yet. A man came out of the back of the kitchen and introduced himself. He was the leader of the group which promotes rivive Ohtsuchi district. I told him that I was working in Ohtsuchi for a week. I asked him it would be ok to hand him 5000 yen and send it to my address in Japan when the T-Shirt is available. He nodded and gave me his card.

DVDの隣には大槌のロゴが入ったかっこいいTシャツの写真があり、これは買えるのか聞いてみるが、まだ出来上がっていないとのこと。台所の裏から男性が 出てきて自己紹介をする。大槌復興プロジェクトの発起人だった。１週間大槌で働いたことを話し、５０００円で後から送ってもらうわけには行かないかと聞いて みると、いいですよと言ってくれた。彼の名刺をもらう。

The restaurant opened. We ordered Ohtsuchi-don, salmon roe, tun fish and sea weed on rice bowl. Only 500 yen. It was wonderful. When we finished the Ohtsuchi-don, the man came up to our table and asked it was good, then asked if we also wanted to try udon noodle. I said yes without consideration. So good it was, too.

お店が始まった。大槌丼を注文する。いくらとツナと、それにもずくのどんぶり。たったの５００円。素晴らしくおいしかった。どんぶりを食べ終わったころ、その男性がわれわれのテーブルまで来て、おいしかったかと聞き、うどんもどうですかと言うので迷わずオーダーする。これまた素晴らしくおいしかった。

It was time to go back. Mr.S kindly drove me to Hanamaki where I would be able to catch train to Hiraizumi. Before we drove there, I asked him to stop by Magoroko Net office in Tono. The man in charge is also Mr.S. and we once talked about translating volunteer workers' activity DVD. I offered him to do in six languages, English, French, Italian, German, Spanish and Russian. He asked me to do all.

そろそろ帰る時間が来た。Sさんは親切にも平泉行きの電車に乗れる花巻まで送ってくれた。その前に遠野のまごころネットの事務所に寄る。これまたSさんという、まごころネットの発起人に会って、以前話をしていたものの時間が取れなかった、ボランティアの活動DVDの翻訳について話をする。英語、ドイツ語、フランス語、イタリア語、スペイン語とロシア語にできますよと言うと、じゃあ全部お願いと言われる。

After that we drove to a supermarket nearby, bought 60 cup noodles and 2 dozen of beer for volunteer workers still working. It was still the middle of the day, almost nobody returned from the site. But we left them near the baggage of Mr.O with whom both of us often worked. Later Mr.O sent me a picture of him and our present in his background. We can also support other volunteer workers, this is also volunteer!

その後、近くのスーパーに寄って、２０個入りのカップヌードルを３箱にビールを２ケース買って、ボランティアが寝泊りしているところへ。まだみんな仕事から帰ってきていないのでほとんど誰も居ない。でもよく一緒に働いたOさんの荷物の近くに それを置いて出発する。あとでOさんは、カップヌードルとビールを並べ、その前に座って撮った写真を送ってくれた。ボランティアをサポートすることも出来る。これもボランティアだ。

Kawasaki Otosan 川崎のおとうさん

I started to work in Hakosaki where there used to be an office and a house to clean up the whole area. The owner was Kawasaki san. He had a huge garden with a pond where he kept his carps. Some huge rocks at the garden were moved by tsunami and were 30m away. Nothing else was left but crashed glass, trashes and weeds. I heard that he started to clean all by himself every day. Then Magokoro net decided to help him. Where tsunami destroyed this time, nobody is allowed to build houses. Actually this place would be burred up to 3 or 4 meters to build a new street, I heard. We were to clean the area but we knew that we were doing that only for Kawasaki san so that he can comfortably "leave" his house.

箱崎の川崎さんというお家の事務所と自宅跡の掃除を始めた。お家はとても大きな庭があって、家には鯉を飼っておられたそうだ。大きな庭石は津波で３０ｍほど流されているものもある。何も残っていない。ただ割れたガラス片、ごみに雑草。彼は自分ひとりで毎日掃除を始めたそうで、それを見たまごころネットがお手伝いを買って出たらしい。津波の被害にあった場所には二度と家を建てられない。実際にこの場所も３～４メーターほど土砂が詰まれてその上に新たに道を作るそうだ。だからこのお掃除はおとうさんのためだけにしていることで、彼が家を気持ちよく「離れる」ことが出来るためのお手伝いなのだ。

The first day, I just carried stones whole day. The next day I pulled out roots and weeds in the garden. His house was huge, we were working in 10 or more people but it took time to finish. Kawasaki san always waited us when we arrived in the morning with juice for us, then after that something to eat such as pickles, rice balls and so on every day. It was very cold day when he brought us rice balls, he apologized to us that it was not warm and then told that he would cook oden for us when he newly build his house there, smiling.

初日、終日石運びをした。次の日は庭の草むしりや木の根っこを抜く作業。お家はとても大きいので10人以上で作業しているものの時間が掛かる。おとうさんはわれわれが朝到着するころにいつも現場に来ていて待っててくれて、ジュースをくれた。それから毎日お漬物やおにぎりなどの食べるものも。おにぎりをいただいた日はとても寒い日で、おとうさんはおにぎりが暖かくないのが申し訳ないといい、そして新しく家を建てたらおでんを作って食べようと笑顔で話してくれた。

He losts many people but was always smiling. He told us laughing that only he was safe by escaping alone on the hill on the right, 15 who escaped to the hill on the left were killed by tsunami. He never showed us sad face to us. I decided to work for him in my last week in Iwate.

おとうさんは身の回りの人をたくさん亡くされた。笑いながら、家の左手の丘に逃げた15人はみんな亡くなって、反対側に逃げたおとうさんだけが津波から助かったと話してくれた。おとうさんは一度も悲しそうな顔をしたことがない。岩手での最後の週はおとうさんのために仕事をしようと決めた。

Usualy we introduced ourselves before starting, but we actually did not at Kawasaki san's place. On my last day, we did. I told him that I came from Vienna and I asked him if he knows where it is. He said no. Then I asked him Austria. Again No. Europe? Yes. I told him that I was from the middle of Europe and was the last day in Iwate. He told me smiling that he could have cooked something much better if he had known it before and said thank you to me. I was really very glad to come to Japan to work for him.

いつも通り作業の前に自己紹介をするが、川崎さんのところではどういうわけかしていなかった。作業最終日となるこの日、ボランティアの自己紹介をする。おとうさんに、ウィーンから来ました。どこだか分かりますか？と聞くと、知らない。オーストリアは？ううん。じゃあヨーロッパは？それは分かる。ヨーロッパの真ん中にあるところから来ました。今日で作業も終わりです。そう言うと、にっこりしながら、前もって知ってたらもっといいものを作って持ってきたのになぁ、ありがとうと。日本に来ておとうさんのお手伝いが出来たことは本当によかったと思っている。

Returned to Hakosaki shrine 箱崎神社に舞い戻る

As mentioned in previous entry, the step of Hakosaki shrine was destroyed by tsunami and earthquake. The picture was taken from the top. Eight steps coruppted and side stones were out.

以前のエントリーでも触れたように、箱崎神社の階段は津波と地震とで壊された。写真は階段の上から撮ったもの。 ８段は壊れ、縁石は外に外れていた。

When I first show them to Mr.O, who usually works at construction site immediately answered that it is more than volunteer work and we have to ask for professional's help. This is volunteer work and we should not be injured, otherwise whole activities would be frozen in worst case. We actually do not have proper tools. I did not think that he just wanted to stay in safe side but it was from his experience.

Oさんに最初に写真を見せたとき、すぐにこれはボランティアの手には負えないから、専門家に任せたほうがいいという答えだった。これはあくまでボランティア活動であって、万が一誰かが怪我をした場合、全ての活動が凍結になる恐れすらある。しかもわれわれにはろくな道具すらない。彼がただ安全な道を選んだとは思わなかった。彼の経験から直感的に出た言葉だと思った。

I was working in other site, I was cleaning a certain person's house for a several days. Meanwhile Mr.O was asked to do something to it and started to repair it with others. When he was back from work he told me that the stone was much heavier than he imagined, the steps are so narrow and very hard to keep safe posture. The reparation goes very slowly. Yes, I thought that, too. He is not a stonecutter. The great construction worker as he is, he seemed to know how to work efficiently at the second day. But the third day, he asked me and Mr.S due to heavy stones.

しばらく他の場所で働いていた。ある個人宅の清掃を数日間。その間にOさんはどうやら何とかして欲しいと頼まれたようで、他の人と修理を始めたようだった。作業から帰ってきては僕に、石が思ったより遥かに重く、階段も狭いので安定した体勢をとれなくて、なかなか作業が思うようにはかどらないと。僕もそう思っていた。ましてやOさんも石屋さんではない。それでもさすがはOさん、２日目にはずいぶんコツを掴んできたようだった。でも石が重いからと作業の３日目、僕とSさんを呼んだ。


We settle the last step, we checked if it is stable by stepping on it and and also the level between other blocks. Then we stuff sea sand between stone block like cement and was almost noon. Actually the real heavy work was from that. We had to bring a side stone block up to the middle of steps which has fallen all down by the tsunami. We were talking about how we would be able to do it safely. I was thinking about it even while we were eating lunch. As mentioned, the block is heavy and is possible just to lift a bit with two people on stable flat area. It is hardly possible to lift it with two people and carry up stairs. But with four people there is no place to stand within steps, to carry the stone block with two in front and two in back is very dangerous because the stair is very steep. Only two people below have to hold whole weight. Our conclusion was to to use a bar and rope so that we can lift the stone on our shoulders to work safely. I carried the stone with Mr.S to the foot of the stairs for about 5 meters. It was heavy but did not seem to be impossible if we go up slowly one step after another. We again confirmed that we have to do it very slowly and safely.

階段の最後の段を据え付ける。上に載ってぐらつかないか、そして他の石とレベルが合っているかをチェックする。その後海砂を石段の隙間にセメントのように詰めていったことろでお昼になる。実際本当に重作業なのはこれからだ。津波で階段の下まで落ちてしまった階段の縁石を上まで持ち上げなくてはいけない。どうやったら安全に作業できるかみんなで話し合う。ご飯を食べながら考える。石はかなり重くて、平坦なところで２人で少し持ち上げるのがやっと。それを持ち上げて階段を上るのは全く現実味がない。４人で持つにしても階段が狭く、前後ろ２人づつで持ったとしても、階段がとても急なことを考えるとこれはどう考えても危険。後ろの２人が全重量を支えなくてならない。そこで、籠持ちのようにパイプに綱を結びつけて、肩で持ち上げられるようにすれば比較的安全だろうという話になる。僕とSさんがまず階段の真下まで５ｍほど石を運ぶ。重いが、一段ずつゆっくり運べば無理ではない。再度みんなで、とにかくゆっくり気をつけて行こうと確認しあう。

The very moment, a cargo truck came and started to lift up a ship from the sea. A local old obligingkind man who worked together went to the cargo and tried to talk and help? them. We did not understand what he was talking about because of his strong dialect. We faced to each other and wished that he would ask them to help us after finishing their work. We kept watching their work wondering what would happen after that.

ちょうどその時だった。目の前にカーゴクレーンがやってきて、海に浮かんでいる舟を荷台に積む作業を始めた。一緒に作業をしていた世話好きな地元のおじさんは、そちらに行ってなにやら手出し口出しを始める。おじさんが話していることは方言のせいでほとんど分からないが、みんなで顔を見合わせて、その作業が終わったらこっちを手伝ってくれるように頼んでくれないかなぁと。みんなではらはらしながら事の成り行きを見守る。

The man came back to us with the cargo driver!! We were so sure that the God helped us, watching we were working for the shrine.

おじさんがクレーンの人を連れてこっちに帰ってきた！！神社のために働いているのを見ていた神様が、われわれを助けてくれたことを疑う余地は全くない。

Then local people can finally visit the shrine safely, but it is still too steep for elder people!?!?

これでやっと地元の人も安全に神社にお参りできる。でもお年寄りにはいずれにせよ急じゃないのかな！？！？

Kamaishi city Shirahama, Iwate 岩手県釜石市白浜

Over the weekend, we all went to Shirahama district, about 20 minutes further toward the edge of peninsula  from Hakosaki district. I heard that Magokoro Net used to work in June, but the local people told us after a while that we should go to the other region where there were still lots of troubles, because we did to some extent already. This time, after some months we were actually invited to the local festival for two days. And of course we worked too.

週末にかけて、われわれは箱崎地区から更に車で２０分ほど、半島の先端に向かったところにある白浜地区に向かう。ここは６月までまごころネットが入って作業をしていたそうだが、地元の人たちに、自分達のところはひと段落就いたから、他のまだ片付いていない地区に行ってもらいたいということで、それ以来行っていないとのこと。今回は白浜地区で復興際が２日間に渡ってあるとのことでわれわれは招待される形で伺う。もちろん作業もする。

There was a small current in the middle of the district but with lots of trashes. To clean up the current was our two days' task. The district is situated on very steep slope. I heard that 40 houses were fully damaged out of 126, there are still more than 20 people lost.

地区の真ん中に小さな小川があるが、ごみで一杯。この２日間で小川のごみを拾って流れを確保するのが今回の仕事。この地区はとても急な斜面に立ってる。１２６世帯中４０世帯が今回の地震と津波の災害にあった。まだ２０人ほどが行方不明の状態。

The first day, I was asked to work as a camera man to take pictures of our working. Last week when Mr.T left Tono after long time we hold a party at gymnasium and I took out my camera and took their pictures, the team leader remembered that and asked me in person to take pictures at festival.

初日、ボランティアが働いている様子を写真に撮って欲しいという依頼で、一日カメラマンとして働く。先週Tさんがボランティアを終えて遠野を去る晩、体育館ではパーティーになったのだが、そのときカメラを取り出してたくさん写真を撮ったことを今回のリーダーが覚えていた模様。それで今回は復興祭の写真も撮って欲しいと個人的に頼まれた。

While cleaning the current, local women groups were preparing dishes for us. Some of us also help them.

こちらが水路の清掃作業中、地元のお母さん方がわれわれのために炊き出しをしてくださる。そのお手伝いにも数人が参加。

The lunch for the first day was curry rice and ton-jiru. At the site dancers were also preparing.


今日のお昼はカレーライスに豚汁。また踊り子さんたちも準備中。

They told us that we can have as much as we want, and I did eat three times for both curry and soup without and retention. Well, I really ate a lot! Then we enjoyed watching the traditional one.

 いくらでもおかわりしていいわよと言われ、遠慮なくカレーも、豚汁も３杯おかわりする。食べた、食べた。その後鹿踊りを堪能する。

The next day we continued our work at the current, then Yosakoi Soran dance was shown. Three groups from Ohshu-shi, Aomori and Akita came for the occasion.

あくる日も小川の掃除を続ける。奥州市、青森、秋田からこのために来てくださった3グループがよさこいソーラン節を披露してくださった。