We found the following pictures in the waiting area shelter at the docks in Ishinomaki City. They are of the main harbor and docks on Ajishima at various times throughout the tsunami back in March 2011. They were taken by a one Mr. Shiraiwa, printed, laminated and hung in the shelter. We took pictures of his pictures and share them with you now:
The island's entire harbor emptied, feeding the tsunami as it hurled itself towards the mainland
The water returned; this is when most of the damage was done to houses along the harbor
A few days later all looks calm but everything has changed
These scenes are awful and awe inspiring at the same time. It must be about twenty feet from the dock landing to the bottom of the seabed. For all that water to be sucked out in an instant and vanish for who-knows-how-long must have been an incredible site to behold. The rushing water returned after laying waste to Ishinomaki, washed ashore and wiped out many houses in the low-lying areas of the island. The last picture doesn't hint to any of damage done, but just outside the frame, it looked like a war zone. It still does!
This is how our current story began. Well actually, it began sometime earlier when Michie and I decided to move back to Japan to build a Bed and Breakfast on Ajishima. We even thought about starting some kind of intentional community or ecovillage. We arrived in Japan three weeks before the disaster, but were thankfully on the mainland visiting family and friends. We finally were able to move to the island in May because until that time, the ferries could not operate due to the debris in the ocean and the fact that the island sank 1.4 meters into the sea. This meant most of the docks sank as well and were unusable.
Eventually, a small temporary dock was built and crews of workers came to the island to get the utilities back up, and the clean up started. At first islanders gather up debris and burned it, plastic, wood and all. Then a demolition company came and gathered the garbage into several dumps to later be loaded on barges and shipped to Ishinomaki for burning, dumping at sea or recycling, or distribution to other prefectures in Japan for similar processing.
The tsunami debris has long been cleared up and shipped away, but our island is still covered in garbage from everyday use and improper disposal in the woods, fields, mountains and sea around us. I was able to get a job driving a dump truck for the demolition company last summer. They came back this year in January and I was able to start driving for them again. So, every morning I wake up, feed the dogs and drive a dump truck full of unfortunately destroyed materials from old houses demolished by my employer. After lunch I am free to walk about the island and gather up as much trash as I can. I take it to the dump, and this will be shipped off the island at some point as well.
I was inspired in part to clean up Ajishima because it is my home and will be until the day I die. I want to have a clean and safe place to raise a family and to start a community of like-minded people. I was also inspired by a worldwide garbage clean up project undertaken by millions of people in dozens of countries, which I researched after the disaster: Let's Do It World Clean Up. Check out their video below and webpage for more information. There is even a map of some garbage in Japan. I would love to map Ajishima's garbage if I have time before my EDE course.
This is how our current story began. Well actually, it began sometime earlier when Michie and I decided to move back to Japan to build a Bed and Breakfast on Ajishima. We even thought about starting some kind of intentional community or ecovillage. We arrived in Japan three weeks before the disaster, but were thankfully on the mainland visiting family and friends. We finally were able to move to the island in May because until that time, the ferries could not operate due to the debris in the ocean and the fact that the island sank 1.4 meters into the sea. This meant most of the docks sank as well and were unusable.
Eventually, a small temporary dock was built and crews of workers came to the island to get the utilities back up, and the clean up started. At first islanders gather up debris and burned it, plastic, wood and all. Then a demolition company came and gathered the garbage into several dumps to later be loaded on barges and shipped to Ishinomaki for burning, dumping at sea or recycling, or distribution to other prefectures in Japan for similar processing.
The tsunami debris has long been cleared up and shipped away, but our island is still covered in garbage from everyday use and improper disposal in the woods, fields, mountains and sea around us. I was able to get a job driving a dump truck for the demolition company last summer. They came back this year in January and I was able to start driving for them again. So, every morning I wake up, feed the dogs and drive a dump truck full of unfortunately destroyed materials from old houses demolished by my employer. After lunch I am free to walk about the island and gather up as much trash as I can. I take it to the dump, and this will be shipped off the island at some point as well.
I was inspired in part to clean up Ajishima because it is my home and will be until the day I die. I want to have a clean and safe place to raise a family and to start a community of like-minded people. I was also inspired by a worldwide garbage clean up project undertaken by millions of people in dozens of countries, which I researched after the disaster: Let's Do It World Clean Up. Check out their video below and webpage for more information. There is even a map of some garbage in Japan. I would love to map Ajishima's garbage if I have time before my EDE course.
With the dumps here now we have a once in a lifetime opportunity to get rid of a lot of trash scattered about our island. This is woefully unsustainable (I only have a week left before I depart for my month-long EDE-course) and the demolition crew and their dumps and their garbage barges will leave the island for good in a month or two from now. We need an action plan to clean up Ajishima in the future, but more importantly, we need to figure out ways to prevent the garbage from polluting our home in the first place. I think we can take these ideas to the rest of Japan as well and help make this country cleaner and safer for everyone. Are you ready to do it? I am! Please join me in cleaning up Ajishima, Japan and the world!!!
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