By SOJI KASHIWAGI
Twelve years after the triple disaster struck Tohoku, many in the region feel like they’ve been forgotten.
Our theater group, the Grateful Crane Ensemble, was there last month to say that this isn’t true.
“You have friends in America, and we haven’t forgotten you” was our message.
We were there on our fourth goodwill tour to Tohoku, where we sang nostalgic songs of hope and brought laughter and joy to disaster survivors in Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate, the three prefectures hardest hit by the disaster.
In Ishinomaki, Miyagi-ken, we asked our host, Aya Sugawara, and her friend, Yuko Sasaki, to speak to us about their experience in surviving the tsunami 12 years ago. Yuko-san told us about being separated from her husband and not knowing where he was or if he was okay. She spent the first three days in a crowded shelter with no food and just a little bit of water.
To this day, any earthquake triggers traumatic memories. She also said her tennis buddy has never been found.
“I didn’t have it that bad,” she said, downplaying her experience. “Others had it much worse.”
And yet, in the silence and emotion underneath her words, and all that wasn’t being said, we knew and felt her pain 12 years later. Clearly, the trauma of her experience is still with her.
Among Tohoku disaster survivors, depression, anxiety as well as substance abuse and domestic violence have also been reported over the years.
Aya-san thanked me afterwards because even though she’s worked together with Yuko-san for six years, she’s never talked to her about her experience. Some things are just too painful to talk about. We as Japanese Americans definitely understand that.
“I am thankful to hear her story,” Aya-san said.
In Minamisoma, Fukushima-ken, the stories of displaced residents are a bit different due to the 2011 nuclear disaster. Branded as “unsafe” and “contaminated,” Fukushima residents have dealt with issues not faced by people in Miyagi and Iwate. Fukushima products and people have faced discrimination, shaming, bullying and an ongoing stigma just because they are from Fukushima.
Younger folks have moved away, and are trying to start over in cities throughout Japan. The once close-knit Fukushima family bond is gone, leaving displaced seniors behind, oftentimes alone and isolated in government-funded public housing, the large facilities built to replace temporary housing units.
This is where we last performed for them in 2018. We were happy to see several of the same people five years later. However, over time, some have moved away, others have died and new people have moved in. The newcomers, mostly low-income and non-disaster survivors, have not meshed well with the remaining residents.
In one facility, it’s gotten so bad that residents refuse to answer their doors, or come out for any community activities.
Except it’s hard to say “community” when “community” doesn’t exist. In one facility, we were told to expect only three people. When we started our show, only two showed up.
During our introduction, I explained who we are, and how many of us with Hiroshima roots can empathize with the nuclear stigma that has also affected our own families. Then I delivered our message, on behalf of our Nikkei community, that they are not forgotten.
A man named Watanabe-san, one of the two people in attendance, was visibly moved. During the singing of the Tohoku relief song, “Hana wa Saku,” he started to cry. Seeing this, members of our group started to cry as well.
By the end of the show, though, Watanabe-san was smiling, he was singing along to every song, and afterwards told us that he was deeply touched by our music and our message.
“To know that someone around the world hasn’t forgotten us is very moving,” he said.
We left this facility and headed to another for our afternoon show. Before the show, Watanabe-san showed up on his bike. He wanted to see us again.
We have found that it’s these person-to-person, human-to-human connections that mean the most, and have kept us coming back.
During our past tours in 2014, 2016 and 2018, we sang nostalgic Japanese and American songs that were enjoyed by seniors, children and people of all ages. This year, along with the singing of these songs, our intention was also to bring laughter, joy and a whole lot of fun as well.
We did this by performing a simplified version of our “Kouhaku Uta Gassen” spoof. Our “Asadora medley” featured catchy theme songs from Japan’s widely watched morning dramas. We also added a “dance medley” where Grateful Crane members danced to three songs that became dance crazes across Japan in recent years.
Over 13 shows in eight days, we performed for over 600 people, including seniors living in public housing in Fukushima and a nursing home in Minamisanriku, 100 children in a nursery school in Minamisoma, 125 middle school students in Ofunato, and people with special needs in Ishinomaki and Oshu, the hometown of Shohei Ohtani.
Our Grateful Crane team included performers Jason Fong, Haruye Ioka, Keiko Kawashima, Merv Maruyama, Helen Ota, Miko Shudo and Ping Wu, with musical director Lisa Joe on keyboards and Miko Shudo on violin and cajon. Crew members included Yoshi Irie, Hiroshi F. Kashiwagi, Mike Okamura and Nancy Takayama, along with photographer Michael Palma and interpreter Mika Aoki.
Together, the team served as unofficial ambassadors between Japanese Americans and Japan, and brought goodwill and friendship to the Japanese people, despite the fact that the majority of members do not speak Japanese.
At every show, no matter how big or small, the reaction was the same: People sang along and clapped to the songs and music, they smiled and laughed and some cried. And as our bus pulled away, they waved and waved goodbye.
“Please come again,” they said.
Twelve years after the triple disaster, much has been rebuilt in Tohoku. The ground around them has been raised and uplifted, but what about services that can help the people? Tohoku people are strong and resilient, but even they wonder, “What about us?”
Our answer and presence, thanks to the support of the Japanese American community, said to them, “You are not alone.” Hearing this along with our songs and music gave them hope, and we hope, some much-needed healing.
“As someone who experienced the disaster, I appreciate that they traveled so far to sing for us,” said a man in Minamisanriku.
“I now feel like I can go on for another day,” said a woman in Ishinomaki.
Back in Fukushima, Watanabe-san told us he had been down on his luck, but after seeing us twice he said, “I haven’t been this happy in a very long time.” And then he started to cry.
Note: On Monday, Nov. 6, NHK World featured Grateful Crane’s goodwill tour on its worldwide newscast. Here’s the link to the report by Orie Sugimoto: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/videos/20231107162904724/
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Soji Kashiwagi is the executive director and playwright of the Grateful Crane Ensemble.
Photos by MICHAEL C. PALMA
