東日本大震災で失った大切な命へ、南相馬で鎮魂と慰霊の花火をあげたい

As a memorial and repose of souls, we would like to set off fireworks for the precious lives lost at the East Japan Great Earthquake.

We would like to set off the fireworks to mourn the victims of the East Japan Great Earthquake and also use it as a light of hope. 

I am Akiko Abe, residing in Yamagata. I took care of the people who evacuated to Yamagata, due to my work at the NPO Child care support at the time of the East Japan Great Earthquake. I heard about the situation from them and went to the stricken area. From that day onward, I have helped people who lived on their own and also have been to remote areas where help was hard to reach. 

After the evacuation zone warning had been canceled last year in April, I started to go help the coastal line areas of Fukushima.

This time, we would like your support and donations for the fireworks. 

Our aim is to set off 2,000 fireworks this year, which is the same number of lives lost in Minamisoma-shi., Fukushima. This is a project for the people who have not yet been found. The fireworks will be their guiding light, lighting the night to their homes and family who still wait for them to be found. This project can only be accomplished by your warm support.

Right after the earthquake, I actively supported and helped the remote areas and the places which were heavily damaged. The first time I went to help Odaka, Minamisoma-shi district, which was the evacuation zone until April 2012, I was shocked at the sight. One year had passed since the earthquake and it still remained the same as that day.

Right after the earthquake, the local firefighters dug the mud and moved the rubbles carefully by hand and found the victims. For many days, they walked over and over again, draining the water with only one power shovel. They all thought “the people who can/are able to move should do it”.

Mr. Takayuki Ueno, member of Hamadan lost his 8-year-old daughter, 3-year-old son and his parents.

Day after day, he continued looking for his lost family.  He was able to find his dearest daughter and mother, however his son and father have not yet been found. He regrets for not being able to save his parents and children because of his rescue work.

Understanding the feeling of the people wanting to be near with their lost ones,  Mr. Ueno and his members set up small group called "South Kaibama Young People’s Association”(now, Fukko Hamadan). They dug the mud out of the houses and searched the shores, looking for the victims whose families wait for their return. " (“Fukko Hamadan”) 

“We want to set off fireworks for the local people and children who were sacrificed by the tsunami”.

These words from Mr. Ueno gave the opportunity to set off 138 fireworks on August 2011, which was the same number as the people who had lost their lives in this district. The names of 138 people were read as each firework went up to the sky. 

There were various troubles occurred the following year, but we were able to set off 1,818 fireworks, equivalent to the number of people who lost their lives in Minamisoma-shi, Fukushima.

Mr. Ueno and the members don’t talk much about themselves. oneself very much, but people who touched their feelings to think “let’s do what we can do” for cooperate with activity. The members and volunteers cut the grass removed the rumbles from the vacant land which the tsunami struck and started the preparations for the fireworks. 

Fried noodle shaved ice and the popular taka-udon were treated to make the local people happy. It has been a long time since a large number of people had gathered to the empty shore. As the fireworks went up, they all looked up at sky with the same feelings, with tears. 

I could not even imagine how painful it would be to lose your family and loved ones, your home in a second. I thought of my children, family and my loved ones…if it had happened to them. As I watched the fireworks go up one by one, I made up my mind to do whatever I can and to help as much as possible.

The meaning of holding this project every year is for us not to forget the disaster, pray and wish for the restoration. It has been two years since the earthquake and there still is confusion and restoration of Fukushima is still far away. We want this day will become an important memory for their future.

Since the establishment of Fukko Hamadan, they have not received any support and only had a few tools to start. The fireworks of 2011 were made possible with contributions from the volunteers. As for 2012, being co-hosted with the coastal fireworks project, we somehow managed to hold the fireworks. We would like to set off as many fireworks as possible. In order to do this, we need your continued support.