On Thursday morning 7:30 in we drove to the warehouse, where we took a lot of new relief supplies, which we wanted to deliver. What should we take? What would the people need most? We chose different items of which we thougght that people need at the moment most. Then we drove up to Matsushima. This city is located on the Matsushima Bay, the main attraction of the prefecture. This is a bay with about 260 pine-covered islands, 22 km northeast of Sendai. In addition to Amanohashidate and Miyajima, Matsushima is one of the three most beautiful landscapes of Japan - which has made its beaches and nearby historical sites to appropriate centers of tourism, this I read afterwards on the website.
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| Matsushima - Bay with 260 pine-covered islands, before the earthquake. |
But what we saw today is a picture of horror. I have no words. I'll let the pictures speak. The place resembles a single pile of garbage, while many houses are still standing, but everything is totally muddy, dirty, a scene of horror. We drive right in front of a house whose owner (Mr. Takahashi), our team leader knows. Today we volunteers are going to help him cleaning his house. The first floor is completely in mud. The rooms are completely distroyed. We throw all things in his garden. Books, furniture, lamps, pictures, everything is muddy and totally unusable. Mr. Takahashi asks me to clean the pictures, porcelain vases and other things. I did obeyed and tried to give my best to treat these dirty things well .. but to be honest, in my mind I thought, I better would throw everything in the trash. But for him it might be hard, because he had probably many memories and it might be hard to throw everything away. An unpleasant smell was in the air. Today we are lucky, the weather is good and everything can be done outside. But his garden is like a muddy farm field ... He told us that he were able to buit this house 12 years ago. Unfortuanatelly his wife died five years ago. For lunch he offered us his garden but he went up to his 2.nd floor to have a brake.
After lunch I walked around the neighbourhood and discovered that most houses are currently empty, only Mr. Takahashi and a few others have chosen to endure in the rubble. I wonder now, what would be better for me: a crowded gymnasium hall, but warm and dry, or this durty and desolatet area. I probably would have preferred the gym. In the 2nd floor of his house, where I could use the restroom, I realize that he is a great gentleman who has a good sense of beauty in the style of interia. No wonder he wants to live here again. But for me it would feel uncomfortable and dangerous to stay in the mud-covered garden because of the associated hygienic and bacterial pollution. Mr. Takahashi brought us everyone later a cup of coffee, which he served in valuable porcelain cups, a collection, he says.
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| Mr. Takahashi´s house and his brandnew car he bought after the earthquake. His livingroom. lunch time. |
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