Ms. IJ (a woman in her 30’s) I.Jさん（３０代）

April 27 2014 I thought women were tough to take action immediately and were able to quickly change emotional gears. When living was still difficult with lack of food due to debris and slime, women wanted a haircut, to be clean, to be pretty, and came to my beauty salon. Women after the disaster grew more gray hair and lost more hair, and some of them cut their long hair very short. Women wanted a short hair in anticipation of days when they might not be able to wash hair. Customers were very happy to receive hair lotion or skin care products. In the midst of emergency, women were concerned about their hair and skin care to overcome rough skin and dry hair. White lilac flowers in front of my salon bloomed for the first time in three years despite the Tsunami. I adore these flowers that once were washed by the sea water. I adore customers who come to enjoy chatting, brining some sweets, probably to have some healing time. I, too, was encouraged and supported by talking with and working on these customers. At the shelter, I built new relationship with my new neighbors and felt very thankful for being Japanese. On the fourth day after the disaster, a flood of support goods started to come in. I felt very thankful for volunteers. I got married in 2012.