KAMAISHI, Iwate Prefecture--On a recent day, Masayoshi Yamaguchi rehearsed a tiger dance for a traditional festival in a seaside community in this coastal city ravaged by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.
KAMAISHI, Iwate Prefecture--On a recent day, Masayoshi Yamaguchi rehearsed a tiger dance for a traditional festival in a seaside community in this coastal city ravaged by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.
Yamaguchi, 32, who formerly worked for a Tokyo video production company after earning his master's degree, saw the need for long-term assistance after continually returning to help clear debris in the stricken region.
“Locals finally remembered my name,” he said. “Giving a boost to the festival and creating more opportunities for people to gather will lead to the reconstruction of the community.”
Yamaguchi is among a group of 13 young professionals from Tokyo and the surrounding area who are being counted on here in an important role as a liaison between city officials and locals, and leading projects to rebuild communities.
The task force, called Kamaentai (supporters for Kamaishi), was formed in April last year under a Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications program. The city qualifies for funding to pay salaries to the members and other group expenses for up to five years.
Kamaentai coordinates projects at the request of private groups and communities in the local area. It will also relay residents’ requests and opinions to the municipal government as a third party.
Among the members are those who worked for a bank, a trading house and advertising agency in Tokyo and the nearby region. The average age of the group is 34.6.
Yoshikazu Shimada, deputy mayor of Kamaishi who was dispatched to the city by the Finance Ministry after the disaster, said he is pleased with the lineup.
“Young people who were starting to build their careers have been assembled,” said Shimada, 30, who heads the entity that manages Kamaentai.
A large number of people applied for Kamaishi’s task force, hoping to contribute through their expertise and skills. More members will be added since the municipal government plans to start an endeavor to assist forestry workers in the current fiscal year.
The group was the brainchild of Retz Fujisawa, representative director of the RCF Reconstruction Support Team, which supports reconstruction projects in the stricken areas.
“I believed that the affected region needed an entity that will make up for a lack of communication between administrative officials and residents,” said Fujisawa, 38, who formerly worked for an international consultancy.
But joining the group is a big leap for professionals who are eager to offer their assistance. All the Kamaentai members joined after quitting their jobs. Fujisawa called on businesses to make arrangements for these employees to return to their former positions after completing their work on the board.
“We want to set a model for a career that includes an assignment in the disaster area,” Fujisawa said.
Yamaguchi is teaming with local fishery officials in a project to operate a website featuring local seafood dishes and preparing the launch of online retailing. He lives in temporary housing in the city, apart from his family.
Another member of the group is Izumi Ibaraki, 27, who worked for a textbook materials publisher after graduating from Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo. She attended a briefing session on Kamaishi's plan in Tokyo held early last year and decided to apply.
“I was hoping to have a chance to do something to stimulate local communities, which I was interested in.”
Her newlywed husband supported her decision.
Ibaraki was in charge of establishing a joint public-private venture tasked to work out development projects on city land. After exhaustive research and negotiations with banks over loans of capital funds, she launched the venture in November.
“I am able to have an experience that is not usually possible for people my age,” she said.
Takuya Kashima, 31, from Chiba Prefecture, applied for the group because he hoped the experience will help him grow as a person. He worked for an advertising agency before he traveled the world and returned to Japan.
Since last spring, he has been working on a municipal committee to promote green tourism, which is aimed at bolstering interactions between residents and tourists who stay in private homes in local farming and fishing communities.
“Initially, not many locals were willing to offer accommodations to tourists,” he said, “but they are showing more understanding to the idea.”
He also led an effort to send postcards on March 11 this year to 4,000 people who have visited Kamaishi in recovery assistance work in hopes of maintaining ties.
“We want to attract a large number of visitors by coordinating tours planned separately in the region,” he said.
(This article was written by Masakazu Higashino and Masataka Yamaura.)