KESENNUMA, Miyagi Prefecture--Despite losing their homes and loved ones in the devastating tsunami on March 11, residents in the Osawa district of Kesennuma are holding onto their close bonds to improve their precarious situation.
KESENNUMA, Miyagi Prefecture--Despite losing their homes and loved ones in the devastating tsunami on March 11, residents in the Osawa district of Kesennuma are holding onto their close bonds to improve their precarious situation.
About 200 survivors from the district, mostly elderly people, sought refuge at the nearby Koharagi Junior High School gymnasium. To allow a semblance of normality to continue, they reshuffled their allotted spaces so that they can be next to their former neighbors.
The move apparently restored morale among evacuees, who are still in deep shock. It could be successfully copied in other evacuation centers across the Tohoku and Kanto regions, where about 250,000 are living in communal shelters.
The fishing community was one of the hardest hit in the tsunami, which washed away about 150 of its 189 residential buildings.
Born in the district, Kinko Ito, 80, and Reiko Kumagai, 82, were neighbors for 80 years.
After the reshuffle, they became neighbors again. Ito's 79-year-old husband, Kiyomi, was swept away by the tsunami and is still missing. She said it is "encouraging" to have Kumagai again sleep next to her.
"There's no use just crying. We have to be strong together," Ito said.
With the majority of residents aged 65 or over, they cannot count on young people to support them.
To enable older residents to effectively cooperate, the neighborhood association divided them into six teams for such tasks as general management, food and water procurement, cooking or cleaning.
Ayako Hoshi, the 80-year-old leader of the cleaning team, cleans restrooms and the gymnasium's entrance on her duty day.
"It feels bad when the entrance of your house is not clean, and I feel the same way in this place," Hoshi said.
The threshold of a home or public area holds a special significance in Japan, and is usually marked by taking off one's outdoor shoes and putting on slippers or walking in one's socks.
Hisayuki Ito, the 70-year-old head of the residents' association, said he has found a positive impact of the reforms. He noticed residents starting to say "I'm home" and "welcome home" to each other.