Rainy Day

After my beautiful day with the garbage it seemed only appropriate that it should rain through both the night and our bike ride to the office in the morning. When we finally arrived, we learned that we would be delivering the futons Nael had helped pick up the day before to their intended recipients around Ishinomaki. For those of you used to the Western version of a futon, the genuine article is actually just a thin padded mattress that lies on the ground which is usually put away during the day. We traveled up in two vans, and after stopping at a few locations and then shortly leaving again (apparently they were all set on futons), we finally arrived at a small settlement called Hamagurihama (here on Google maps).

Hamagurihama [click to enlarge]

Although it’s hard to say that I could ever grow accustomed to seeing the devastation along the Tohoku coastline, by this time what I saw at Hamagurihama was far from new. Before the tsunami hit I’m sure the cozy little hamlet nestled in the hills along the sea was a perfect paradise, but now most of it lay in ruins, with only a handful of houses still standing on the hillsides around the wreckage, saved by a few precious feet of elevation.

 We also traveled through the coastal areas of Ishinomaki today and saw the real damage the city had sustained. Above, a small section of a pile of debris along the highway (note the rusted car frame to the right for scale), Below A massive steel drum in the middle of a traffic island. [click to enlarge]

Those who remained in Hamagurihama had moved into the few surviving houses, and were almost all elderly individuals with the exception of one younger woman there who seemed to act as their caretaker. In total we had brought seven futons to deliver to two of the houses, but before we could do that we needed to do some cleaning. The tsunami contaminated wells and knocked out electricity across the region, which meant that homes without their usual dehumidifiers and air conditioners became perfect environments for mold in the summer. First we disposed of the old mildew-laden futons, and after that we proceeded to clean and disinfect the entire room where five people had been living. After that, the AARJ workers showed the ncie old ladies how to use moisture blocking mats to protect their futons on the floor, in addition to providing them with an array of cleaning supplies.

Midori-san, Nael, and an adorable grandmother cleaning. [click to enlarge]

Post cleaning and futon delivery. I actually had to take this picture as a part of work - we needed to make provide some visual evidence to action medeor that we were using their funds as they wanted. [click to enlarge]

Our work in Hamagurihama was done, but before heading back to Sendai our van decided to go eat. Now, I’ve neglected to mention Midori-san so far, but she was by far the highlight of the day. Besides paying for dinner (which ended up being udon and takoyaki – fried octopus – yum), she also paid for Nael’s and my lunch earlier that day (she said it was a grandmother’s responsibility), and outside of things relating to supplying my belly with food she was also the nicest person I’ve ever met. While we ate, a flash cyclone brought a sudden crescendo of rain and thunder upon us. But despite the torrential downpour, the rain was gone quicker than it came, and the sun was left shining once again.

Surprise flash hurricane. [click to enlarge]

Returning to the office we learned that almost everyone would be taking the next day off, so Okayama-san made Wednesday an unofficial office holiday, and we all went out for nomikai to celebrate. To explain: nomikai (飲み会) means “drinking meeting”, and it is an essential time in Japanese work life when everyone goes out, forgetting about their various hierarchical divisions, and just gets moderately to severely plastered together. We had a great time talking and drinking with the Sendai office staff, and I was struck by the genuine warmness they had showed us in the few days we were in Sendai. Midori-san poured me Shochu for my tea, which is about the most Asian of cocktails I could ever think of, and while Nael was in the bathroom one of the AARJ employees took the liberty of adding a little more body to his tea as well.

Cheesin' with Midori-san. [click to enlarge]

Nael's drink gets a boost. [click to enlarge]

After the nomikai we said our tipsy goodbyes, and began our last bike ride back from the office.  But since we had the next day off Nael and I decided to check out one more bar in Sendai, and after stumbling around lost trying to find the place, we wandered into another bar where I sat down to a 12% ABV Schneider & Sohn - the perfect end to a great day. On the way back to Okayama-san's apartment it began to rain again, but this time I wasn’t bothered by it. Maybe, after today's encounters with the wonderful people working in Sendai, it was going to take more than a little water to douse the warmth in my heart. 


Or maybe I was drunk.