After Kaneo Miura built a new fishing vessel, he proudly displayed colorful "tairyo-bata"--the flags indicating a successful haul from the sea--on the boat near a fish market in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture.
After Kaneo Miura built a new fishing vessel, he proudly displayed colorful "tairyo-bata"--the flags indicating a successful haul from the sea--on the boat near a fish market in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture.
The No. 58 Daishinmaru has yet to catch a single fish. It is scheduled to make its maiden voyage in March. Miura, 61, feels he is under heavy pressure to consistently hoist the tairyo-bata flags on his returns home. At stake are the livelihoods of his crew and perhaps the future of this city now rebuilding from last year’s Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.
“Some of my crew members lost their houses in the tsunami. They lost everything. So we have to make larger catches than before. We have no other way,” Miura said.
The fishing industry, a crucial part of the economies of Kesennuma and other coastal communities in the Tohoku region, was devastated by the quake and tsunami nearly a year ago. Fleets of fishing boats were destroyed, factories were swept away and loved ones lost.
But with each passing day, confidence for a recovery has grown, and fishermen, food processors and retailers of marine products are steadily returning to their way of life before the disaster struck.
Immediately after the magnitude-9.0 earthquake hit off the coast of northeastern Japan, Miura jumped into his fishing boat alone and headed out to sea, a common practice among fishermen trying to protect their vessels before a tsunami grows when it nears shore.
However, his boat became trapped in a whirlpool in the bay and overturned. He clung to the boat and barely survived.
His new boat was constructed with the help of his colleagues and support from the central and prefectural governments.
He said he still fears the sea but will resume fishing for sharks and other marine creatures off the Sanriku coast, which stretches from Miyagi Prefecture to Aomori Prefecture.
“We are people who earn money by catching fish. We have received the blessings from the sea. And we will also use them from now on to make a living,” Miura said.
Tsutomu Onodera, 65, was one of the earliest residents in Kesennuma to start rebuilding and leading by example.
Only about a month after the March 11 disaster, Onodera reopened his store, Kanema, which specializes in processing and selling tuna.
“If citizens eat fish, it will lead to the revival of Kesennuma,” he said of his motive to resume operations.
In December, Onodera opened the Sakana no eki (fish station) market with eight other local store operators under the slogan: “The power of Kesennuma comes from fish.”
Other fish processing companies and fish shops have since resumed their operations in the city.
“I wanted to inspire other people. My actions hopefully encouraged my fellow residents who also wanted to restart their businesses,” Onodera said.
After the tsunami swept through the city, Kesennuma’s central shopping area, Minamimachi, underscored the devastation.
To the surprise of many, a Japanese-style “izakaya” pub, Pinpon, reopened in the area in August although many store operators have moved their businesses inland.
Pinpon owner Hideo Shirahata, 53, said he was concerned about a lack of customers when he reopened his business, despite its reputation of serving fresh fish from the market.
But he said he was determined to remain in Minamimachi, which had long prospered along with the nearby market.
“If I also move, what will become of this area? People who have left this coastal area will also fight to come back. I want to hang in here,” he said.
Other parts of Tohoku’s fishing industry, where skepticism is more evident, are taking longer to revive.
In Miyako, Iwate Prefecture, Yoshio Matsumoto, 80, has yet to return to work at the seaweed farming facilities that were swept away by the tsunami.
He fears that young people will not want to take over his job after the facilities are rebuilt.
“Do young people really want to try to cultivate seaweed after seeing that tsunami?” Matsumoto said.
In Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, Seiya Abe, 39, lost not only his house on the seaside but also his rafts and other equipment for his oyster farming business.
He said he initially could not bring himself to even look at the sea, which had provided his livelihood but then took everything away.
“I will never culture oysters again,” he said he thought.
He thought about fishing in the ocean, but he did not want to spend long times away from his wife and their three small children.
Two months after the March 11 disaster, he resumed his oyster farming business with four colleagues who had been forced into a similar situation.
“I thought that since I had been working as an oyster farmer, I must not be defeated by the tsunami,” Abe said.
His look of disappointment has been replaced with one of enthusiasm, partly due to the encouragement he received from his wife, Tomoko, 31.
“I want him to work hard (as an oyster farmer),” Tomoko said.
The Abe family is now looking forward to its first oyster shipment scheduled for December.