"Riririn" resonates in the northern spray.

Before the 2024 earthquake, I was living in the center of Wajima. After the New Year's holiday and into the cold season, a solemn and elegant sound of "Riririn, Riririn" echoed through the quiet town. I had been wondering what that sound was, and one day, the sound suddenly stopped near my house.

When I asked my neighbors about it later, they told me that it was the signal sound of the monks from Sojiji Temple in the next town going around to houses to beg for alms as part of their winter training. When they hear the sound of this Buddhist bell, they open their front doors and give offerings to the monks, who are wrapped in straw hats and raincoats.

A place of refuge for the people of the temple town

Sojiji Soin, where these monks train, is located about 20 km south of the center of Wajima City. After sustaining major damage in the 2007 Noto Peninsula earthquake, it took more than a decade to complete restoration work, but the 3 earthquake, which occurred less than three years later, caused buildings to collapse and caused cracks and landslides in the grounds, leaving the temple in a dire state. While there is still no prospect of reconstruction, in October 2024, 2024 buildings at the temple were designated as Important Cultural Properties of Japan.

Together with the head temple Sojiji Temple in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, it conveys the wisdom of the Soto Zen sect as a training center. This ancient temple with 700 years of history is a symbol of this temple town and a spiritual anchor for the residents. In the Monzen Sojiji Shopping District, located nearby, each store has resumed business in temporary stores and is moving forward with the recovery and reconstruction efforts.

There is a large temporary housing complex on the seashore about 2-3 km west of Sojiji Temple. There are about 360 houses in the entire complex in the area. I moved into one of them last fall. On the site that was a grand golf course before the earthquake, temporary housing container houses are lined up neatly in sections.

The locations of the houses are assigned by the local government, and people from various neighbouring areas live in the same block. Although the damage suffered by the residents varies, there is an atmosphere of them living close together, maintaining a comfortable distance between them.

Living a minimalist life in temporary housing

The layout of the house you are assigned to varies depending on the number of people in your household. As a single person, I live in a one-room apartment. There is a rain shelter at the entrance, and as soon as you open the front door, there is a 1 tatami mat kitchen/laundry space, a bathroom, toilet, and washroom, and behind that is a 2.5 tatami mat room and a storage shelf. The space is about the size of a single room in a business hotel, and I live there with the bare necessities for daily life, such as a refrigerator, cooking utensils, a washing machine, bedding, and clothes, lined up in a small space.

The half-tatami space in the entrance hall is the kitchen and dining area, and also doubles as a dressing room. For example, at mealtime, a folding table is spread out on the half-tatami and cooked, then the table is used as a desk to eat, then quickly cleaned up, and then the laundry is done... This is the flow of daily life. The kitchen only has a built-in stove and sink, so for those who cook and eat every meal, it is difficult to cook in the same way as before, and they have to be creative with their cooking methods and menus in the limited space.

The 4.5 tatami room at the back is a bedroom and study. There is a window at the end of the house where a clothesline can be attached. This room is equipped with an air conditioner, so it can be used as a drying space when the weather is bad, and you can adjust the humidity in the room by hanging out laundry there. Since there is no space for stoves, heaters, and other heating appliances that are common in snowy regions, you have to rely on the air conditioner to stay warm, but this house is airtight and there are no drafts in the winter, which is a relief.

Thoughts on life

As you can see, the temporary housing is compact and functional, and everything is well-equipped, which is a great thing. Thanks to it, we were able to get through the winter in peace, and we are very grateful. However, staying in the housing all the time can make you feel lonely, as if you are living in a can, and your body and mind will shrink and become like dried fish.

Whenever I try to stretch my arms and legs, I always end up hitting something and feeling hurt. Because of this, on sunny days I go outside in front of the entrance to breathe as much as I can and move my body. This creates an opportunity to communicate with my neighbors and the volunteers who are on patrol and around the house.

Before the snow falls, they lay down straw mats in front of the entrance to prevent slipping when it freezes, and when the snow piles up, they shovel it away and protect our car. I feel truly warmed by the considerate interactions that are unique to snowy countries.

From temporary housing to a new community

There is a meeting hall in the temporary housing complex. There is a library space that is open to the public, and social events are held there. There are bulletin boards in various places in the complex where residents can get information about daily life. And because there are no stores selling daily necessities around the complex, buses run regularly and mobile food trucks come to take residents shopping at the stores around Sojiji Temple.

Furthermore, a community center is scheduled to open next to the meeting hall in May 2025. According to the people at the meeting hall, the center will include exercise facilities, a restaurant, a public bath, and more. People often feel isolated in their housing, but if a center like this can create a space where people can interact with each other in their daily lives and build relationships of mutual support, we hope to see more happy, smiling residents of this housing complex.

In Noto, after the heavy snowfall in February, butterbur flowers have bloomed and butterbur shoots have begun to appear. I am enjoying the seasons as if I am remembering my daily life up until now. Even amid the flurry of falling snow, I feel the sparkle of life as spring gradually approaches.

“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.