When work was under way to rebuild areas of the disaster-hit Tohoku region, one man drew surprised looks with his effortless swings of a sledgehammer that broke up concrete walls that had toppled.
When work was under way to rebuild areas of the disaster-hit Tohoku region, one man drew surprised looks with his effortless swings of a sledgehammer that broke up concrete walls that had toppled.
Steve Yamaguchi did not fit the image of a travel agency president.
The main reason Yamaguchi was so adept at handling tools was that until four years ago he headed a construction company.
With a glint in his blue-green eyes, Yamaguchi said, "I was probably the only Caucasian president of all the construction companies in Japan."
Now the president of Travel Tohoku, Yamaguchi, who was born in the United States and who now calls Mogami, Yamagata Prefecture, home, has a clear idea of how the Tohoku region should rise up from the rubble of the Great East Japan Earthquake.
"Rather than wait for the government to do something, I want to bring about a rebuilding that has residents themselves doing the work after discussing how to rebuild their communities," Yamaguchi said.
His work and the quake and tsunami have come together to bring Yamaguchi to a region of Miyagi Prefecture especially hard hit.
Before the March 11 disasters, buildings blocked the view of the horizon. Now, it is possible to see where the sky meets the land that is still covered with debris.
Over a weekend in early June, Yamaguchi, 51, joined volunteer members of a tour in a hamlet on the edge of the Oshika Peninsula in Miyagi Prefecture.
During the tour that he himself planned, Yamaguchi helped to repair homes and a chicken farm that had been damaged by the quake and tsunami.
Traveling from the West Coast of the United States, Yamaguchi studied at the University of Tokyo to write a thesis about contemporary Japanese politics. He later began working for a major Japanese trading company in Tokyo and was the epitome of an elite salaried worker.
His life changed drastically when he met the woman who would become his future wife. Since she was the only daughter of the president of one of the largest construction companies in Mogami in northern Yamagata Prefecture, her parents were fiercely opposed to the idea of her marrying an American.
His future father-in-law finally allowed the marriage provided that his future son-in-law "become a naturalized Japanese citizen and take over the business by assuming the family name."
What awaited the American groom who moved to a land closely associated with the famous haiku poet Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) was the reality of a local economy where public works projects played a central role in creating a structure of collusion among the political, bureaucratic and business sectors.
With huge pump-priming measures implemented following the collapse of the asset-inflated economy, the construction sector enjoyed booming times.
However, Yamaguchi could not stop thinking, "This type of structure will have to reach an end eventually."
Indeed. With the structural reform program undertaken by then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, the construction industry all but collapsed. Fortunately, Yamaguchi's company still had enough funds to provide severance pay to its employees.
In 2007, the company closed its doors to a history of nearly 50 years.
"For 13 years, I experienced to a painful extent how a dependence on a government-produced economy will weaken a local community," Yamaguchi said.
He said he believed that one business that could lead to a revitalization of the region was tourism, given the area's bountiful resources, from nature and hot springs to good food.
Yamaguchi also focused on travel that would allow tourists to realize their desire for personal growth by staying in one location, rather than rushing through a prepared course from one location to the next that was the mainstay of major travel agencies.
Using the money that remained after the construction company was liquidated, Yamaguchi acquired a travel company and began Travel Tohoku.
The travel plans that he put together included a haiku tour along the course traveled by Basho and described in his "Oku no hosomichi" (The Narrow Road to Oku), as well as a horse-riding tour that visited locations known for producing the animals.
The popularity of the tours spread through word-of-mouth. Yamaguchi was also successful in persuading a movie director to shoot scenes in the region.
He had also drawn up plans to enter into cooperative projects with other prefectures when the March 11 quake and tsunami hit.
Even as customers canceled their tour reservations made for March and later, Yamaguchi brought fresh water to the areas stricken by the disasters and helped to transport dialysis patients.
He was also busy relocating evacuees in Miyagi Prefecture to hot springs in Yamagata Prefecture. It was through such activities that he hit upon the idea for a tour by volunteers to Oshika Peninsula, which had been cut off from almost all forms of assistance.
To respond to the needs of working people who could only take part in volunteer work on the weekends, Yamaguchi organized tours that involved meeting at a train station where Shinkansen trains stopped and transporting the tour members by bus to the Oshika Peninsula. Yamaguchi's company provided the meals and tents.
Following are excerpts of an interview with Yamaguchi:
* * *
Question: Why did you choose the Oshika Peninsula as the destination for the tour for volunteers?
Answer: The old Oshika town was merged into Ishinomaki city in 2005. Although it suffered major damage from the quake and tsunami, the local government had its hands full with the central city areas.
Because the region is about two hours away by car from the nearest Shinkansen station and because lodgings within the region had been destroyed, it was difficult for volunteers to enter.
At the same time, many people in the Tokyo metropolitan area eagerly wanted to help someone in the disaster areas.
I felt that as someone in the travel industry I could bring the two sides together.
Q: What were some of the problems you encountered in actually implementing the tour?
A: One problem was not being able to decide on where to send the volunteers. While there was a volunteer center in the region and mainly young people were trying to do their best, there was an overwhelming shortage of people since some were being asked to handle six to seven mobile phones for contacting others all by themselves. That was while there was still rubble everywhere.
Fortunately, after we consulted with a dairy farmer who agreed to provide for free a location where we could set up tents, the farmer immediately found disaster victims who wanted to ask for help.
Another problem was that even though we only needed a single decision, government officials insisted on procedures and regulations used in ordinary times, so we were forced to make revisions or abandon some plans.
There were many media reports that volunteers would only be accepted by organizations that had been approved and registered with local governments. While there is obviously a need to direct traffic, there were also many instances of local governments using that as an excuse to prevent outsiders from intruding on their jurisdiction and possibly uncovering problems.
Greater attention should be placed on the fact that such thinking limits the activities of volunteers and represents a major barrier to restoring community services.
Q: What do you think about confusion within the central government and Diet that appears to ignore the plight of the disaster-stricken areas?
A: Some of the tour members said, "By declaring a one-day truce, all lawmakers should come to the disaster area and work as a volunteer for a day while experiencing the smell of the sludge." They feel that will lead to cooler heads among politicians.
Q: How do you feel about the people of the Tohoku region being described as incredibly patient?
A: I feel that is being expressed in the wrong way. I think everyone should be much more angry at politicians and local government officials and say, "Why are you placing priority on your own convenience?" and "Why don't you take more action?"
At the same time, there are already signs of a battle in the disaster areas over vested interests or collusion with an eye toward the rebuilding process as well as schemes that are close to being fraud.
Not being able to know whom to trust, people are unable to do anything because they are caught up with feelings of helplessness and tension.
Q: Do you believe a strong leader is needed?
A: In a mature democracy, an individual who helps reach an objective that has been decided on becomes a leader. Such individuals will have to be able to gather the information and methods needed to make the necessary decisions about the situation. However, the general public has to decide on the fundamental objective.
As someone from the Tohoku region, what I am concerned about is the feeling that people are becoming passive and holding the feeling that "someone else will do it for me."
Regarding what to do about harbors, shopping malls and schools, we have to thoroughly talk about such topics among ourselves in order to reach a conclusion that we can all be satisfied with.
If that occurred, each person would feel a sense of responsibility, and there would be more energy.
A strong leader will not be born unless there are strong followers.
Q: I understand you do not like the word "ganbaru" (to do one's best).
A: The word oozes with a sense of despair because it implies bearing with an issue that has been forced upon oneself.
A good example is the entrance exam system. There is something very wrong with Japan's entrance exam system. But everyone thinks "there is nothing I can do, and since I cannot change it, all I can do is do my best."
That also leads to resigning oneself to not always achieving the desired results.
The true sense of ganbaru is to work toward an objective that one wants to really achieve. Because it involves action to approach one's dreams, it cannot help but be enjoyable.
When I was in high school, I really spent a lot of time studying German, but it never felt like a burden. One reason was my objective was very clear because my father had promised to allow me to study abroad if I improved.
Since it is your own life, you should not have to limit yourself. One should not be afraid of failure.
Rather than a road that has been forced upon you, you should choose your own path and walk happily along it.
Q: Have you ever thought about returning to the United States?
A: No.
There are many wonderful aspects of Japan.
For example, in every room of a lodging, a flower is arranged in a vase. That type of detailed concern for the other person is one example.
The sense among craftsmen of trying to elevate even a simple task into a "way" of doing things.
Even in food, there is attention to every single dish.
That is a major difference from a nation that only has food that is created through a manual by workers of whom 90 percent are part-timers.
Q: How do you deal with the stress that accumulates?
A: I go to cut grass at the ruins of Oguni castle, which is an old mountain castle located in Mogami that was once one of the most important in the entire Tohoku region.
For a long time, it laid buried under vegetation, but we are now pushing ahead with a restoration project.
Using an entire hill of about 350 meters, the castle was a fort of the warring states period that has many signs of the measures that were taken to desperately survive during a period when there was no end to war.
My dream is to hold an event on the site to allow young people and visitors to take part in a re-enactment of a battle.