What is happening now

Three days into 2024, people who had evacuated to the temple in Kuroshima Town will join the community center. Approximately 18 people were crammed into three 200-tatami Japanese-style rooms and one slightly larger Western-style room.

The community center had a kitchen, and through cooperation, the meal system for the evacuation center was put in place. Everyone worked together to bring ingredients and seasonings from the disaster-affected homes, and the people in charge of cooking decided on the menu while paying attention to nutritional balance, prepared the food using emergency techniques, and served the freshly prepared meals. Teamwork was built by dividing up the food and serving the food. With no water or electricity, limited gasoline supplies, and restricted car travel, I felt the gratitude and reassurance of being able to eat homemade food.

We had a meal together and then stayed with a family in the neighborhood for the night. “How warm it is,” I muttered to myself as I walked back and forth. In the darkness, unable to see an inch ahead, I illuminated my steps with a flashlight and walked while sensing the presence of my surroundings. ``How beautiful!'' I stood there looking up at the star-filled sky. It was a moment when I felt hope for living here, even though I was struggling to survive and didn't know what the next day would bring.

Blessed snow, a series of gratitude

A snowy day that continues to fall. When I was freezing to the core, I relied on hot water bottles and bean charcoal, and chatting with the people around me seemed to light up my soul. How happy I was when I was able to wash my hands and face with a bucket of melted snow or fresh snow. After a few days, volunteers from the city hall and the private sector began delivering supplies to the community center, including drinking water, bags of sweet bread, rice balls, and newspapers.

Little by little, I was able to communicate with people outside of town, and although smartphone reception was unstable, I was able to connect depending on the location and carrier. However, in order to maintain the battery, the operation has been reduced to the minimum.

The fear of aftershocks and tsunamis continued, and the earthquake caused the roof tiles to fall off and my car to be damaged, so I stayed at a friend's house and moved from place to place. My friend's family had also been affected by the disaster, and they took care of me in every way possible, even though we were in a difficult situation to even make a living. From the days when I was doing my best to survive day to day, I gradually entered a phase where I was able to understand the situation I was in, and my perception and thoughts about the earthquake gradually changed.

I thought I was returning to my hometown...

During my wandering days, I became unwell. It is difficult to stay warm and survive the winter here without having to drive to buy daily necessities and fuel for the stove (kerosene). Combined with calls from the government, I decided to take a second evacuation to my parents' home in Kanagawa Prefecture. I felt like I was always going shopping at the supermarket, so I only carried my personal belongings. In mid-January, thanks to the kindness of a neighbor, I was given a ride in the car and dropped off at Kanazawa Station. Along the way, there were many cracks and upheavals in the ground, and there were many road closures due to landslides and cave-ins, and the sights were so terrifying that you couldn't believe your eyes.

While recuperating at my parents' home, I watched the news on TV and finally understood objectively what was happening on the Noto Peninsula, and I was speechless. Kanagawa is sunny and the wind is blowing, and Ishikawa is rainy and snowy and cold and windy. At this moment, it was hard to believe that we were living in the same world. With so much unbelievable information and footage flying around, I was eager to return to Wajima as soon as possible without putting a burden on Noto as much as possible, so I began to spend my days in the dark trying to figure out what to do next.

Noto, where you can live as part of nature and enjoy the scent of the breeze

As May approaches and the weather improves, bamboo shoot season begins in Noto's Satoyama. First of all, it starts with mosochiku, followed by light bamboo and madake, which appear one after another until July. Bamboo shoots go well with any type of dish, including cooked rice, soups, simmered dishes, and stir-fries, and add color to your daily dining table this season.

In the fields in my neighborhood, radish stalks are standing, rape blossoms are blooming, and fruit is bearing fruit because no agricultural work was done during the winter. In a normal year, various types of beans with pods would be harvested. The local people are busy cleaning up and rebuilding, but I can see them plowing the fields and starting planting as much as they can.

Rice fields are filled with water as early as late April, depending on the region's climate and rice variety, and the frogs' cries become louder each day. When I look at the rice fields reflecting the sky and Mt. Wakakusa like a water mirror, and the wild birds coming and standing there, I am reminded that humans are kept alive by the cycles of the natural world. Even though nature appears harsh and harsh, like a natural disaster, it sometimes brings peace and many blessings. The destructive power and the dynamism of life are two sides of the same coin, and I once again feel that life in Noto is nurtured as if it were rooted in the earth.

slow steps

I went to the town of Wajima to visit an acquaintance for the first time in a while. Carp streamers were swimming on the burnt-out morning market street, looking up at the sky. Thanks to restoration work, the main roads are now as navigable as they were before the earthquake, and route buses have resumed service, using detours.

Publicly funded demolition work has begun in the city center, and empty lots can now be seen along with heavy machinery. Construction of temporary housing is progressing slowly, and we are hearing about people moving in. On the other hand, there are many places that have remained untouched since New Year's Day. If you go into a little secluded area or alley, you will see manholes popping out and cracks in the ground. Temporary restoration of electricity, water and sewage systems, including residences, is progressing. However, the degree of damage varies by region and household, and living conditions are not uniform.

Along with the movement toward new town development and the opportunity to think about the future of Wajima's lacquer, support and cooperation systems from other regions have begun to be built, and we can feel the scent of fresh greenery and the rays of hope.

“Wajima News ~While looking up at the starry sky~” is…

Yukiko Akiyama, a lacquer artist who lives in Wajima, writes ``Wajima News ~While looking up at the starry sky~''. 30 minutes by car from the center of Wajima City. The Kuroshima area, located in the northwestern part of the Noto Peninsula, flourished as a residence for Kitamae-bune ship owners and sailors, and its beautiful landscape with black-tiled roofs has been designated as a nationally important preservation district for groups of traditional buildings. I did. After 16 years in Wajima, lacquer artist Yukiko Akiyama set up a workshop in an old private house in the Kuroshima district, and was just about to work on her work while restoring it, when she was struck by the earthquake. Like many buildings, Akiyama's workshop collapsed. Although there is no prospect of resuming production in her workshop, she will continue to work with lacquer here, and while working on the town development of Kuroshima, she will aim to rebuild the Noto Peninsula and solidify her resolve to start a new life. I am. The rich lifestyle of Kuroshima in the past, the beautiful nature, the interaction with people, the passion for lacquer, and the current situation of the disaster area... She is a woman who lives her daily life in the disaster-stricken area and strives for reconstruction, but at the same time, she depicts the true image of Noto as depicted by a woman who deals seriously with lacquer.