Kesennuma
Kesennuma is located in the north-east of Miyagi prefecture. The eastern edge of the city borders on the Pacific, the northern side of the city borders on Iwate prefecture.
Kesennuma is blessed with nature. In particular, the coast is famous. It is a ria coast, so there are peninsulas and complicated inlets where we can enjoy the beautiful cycle of seasons.
In addition, Kesennuma port is famous for its fishing industry. This port has a large catch of bonitos (the largest catch in Japan), Pacific sauries, and sharks. And people farm oysters, wakame seaweeds, kombu kelps, scallops and ascidians.
So if you go to Kesennuma, you can eat fresh fish and delicious sushi!
On 11th March in 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake happened and five-meter tsunamis reached Kesennuma. Many areas were flooded and a large number of people were killed by the tsunamis.
In addition, a big fire broke out on the sea. So Kesennuma port was severely damaged, too.
However, Kesennuma is revitalizing gradually now. Although the city hasn’t revived to the level of its past glory, the transportation system has resumed and construction work to raise banks is progressing smoothly, so the port has recovered some of its vigor. Moreover, disaster victims are also trying to get over the shock of the earthquake and subsequent tsunamis, and there are some people who have started new businesses or projects.
If you are interested in Kesennuma, why don’t you come to Kesennuma? Hoya-boya is waiting for you to come to his city!
↑Sashimi (sliced raw fish) dish
←Hoya-boya(Hoya=ascidian,boya=boy)
Hoya-boya is Yuru-chara(ゆるキャラ means local PR character in Japanese) of Kesennuma. His head is Hoya(ほや means ascisian) and there is a scallop on his belt. He uses a Pacific saury sword and advertises Kesennuma.
←festive float
↑fish market
aqua labo kesennuma
アクアラボ・ケセンヌマというアクセサリーやストラップなどの雑貨を作って販売している店について紹介します。こちらの代表を務めている菅原理香さんにいろいろとお話を聞かせていただきました。
はじめたきっかけ
震災で全国から支援物資をたくさんもらい、自分たちも何か地元ならではの物を作ってお礼をしたいと思ってこの工房を始めたそうです。
始めはビン玉から作っていたそうですが、次第にサメの歯を使ったものも作るようになり、藍染の作品は後に声をかけてもらって始めたそうです。今では自らインターネットなどを使って染め方を調べつつ製作をされているそうです。ちなみに！サメの歯は人間の歯と違って何度も生え変わるもので幸運をもたらすという意味もあるようです。
活動内容
「子育てしながら活動できるように」をモットーとされていてみなさん子育てをしながら取り組まれているようです。アクセサリーなどの雑貨品を作りながら今ではワークショップも開催しているそうです。子供たちと一緒にモノづくりの教えて下さる方を招いて楽しみながら活動しています。また、作った商品を違う店に置かせてもらって販売したりもしているみたいです。
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Hodoru(ほどーる)
1. What is “Hodoru (ほどーる)”?
"Hodoru" is a workshop which Yuriko Shimizu and Hiroko Kida started in 2011.They make and sell beautiful goods which are made of Kimono.
"Hodoru" is a dialect word which means “getting warm” in Kesennuma in Miyagi prefecture.
On 11th March in 2011 when happened, their houses were washed away by . But, their warehouses which were built of stone weren’t washed away, and many that they had kept in the warehouses were left. and received support from many people which warmed their hearts. They wanted to send hand-made gifts to them to acknowledge their kindness; they thought of making something using the . That was the beginning of their workshop named “Hodoru”. Although the two women started making small gifts simply to show their appreciation at first, they started selling items made of kimono after displaying their goods at a market in Ginza (in Tokyo) in November 2011.
2. What kind of goods do they make?
They make about 10 kinds of goods including book covers, pouches, accessory cases, reels, pincushions, corsages, hair accessories, and pierced earrings. Because they are made of kimono, they are not only beautiful but also sturdy. Moreover, all goods are uniquely beautiful because they are hand-made items.
↑a pouch and a pincushion
↓inside of the warehouse
↑Pincushions
←An accessory case
3. What is hard for Shimizu and Kida?
There are only two workers at “(ほどーる)”, Shimizu and Kida, so they can’t make so many items in a day. The steps they have to take to make something are as follows: First, they take a kimono apart and then wash it. These steps take up the most time in all stages of their work. Next, they cut the fabric. Finally, they sew it.
Their handicraft is excellent but according to them, they had to go to the city library and learned from books how to sew things at the beginning.
4. What gives them pleasure?
They feel happy when people send a letter after buying their goods andtheycheer them up, saying they hope for the recovery from the disaster. However, and want people to understand the goods are well-made and hope that people buy them not out of pity but because of their high quality.
5. Where have they sold their items?
They usually make and sell their goods in , but they have sold them some times at other places.
For example, they had a chance to join a market and sell their goods in France because they won a local contest in 2013. They were scheduled to join the market in March, 2014,but it snowed heavily on the day of the market. Because of the unprecedented snowfall, they couldn’t join the outdoor market and had to quickly change their venue to the main factory of L'OCCITANE. However, many people stopped to see their goods and bought them.
Fortunately, they were able to enter and win the same contest again, so they had a chance to fly to France again to display and sell their goods in April, 2015.
K-port
There is K-port near the Kesennumaport. This cafe’s owner is Mr.Ken Watanabe of an actor.
The Great East Japan Earthquake has occurred In March 11,2011. He thought to have and opened a cafe for disaster area. This time I collected date on Ms.Kumagai of the store manager.
There is a café called K-port near the Kesennuma port. This café’s owner is the actor Mr. Ken Watanabe. Immediately after the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred on March 11, 2011, he thought, “I have to do something!” In the fall of 2013, he opened a “café and event space” as a way to assist the recovery of the area. The information below on K-port is from the store manager, Ms. Kumagai.
K-port’s concept is “TUNAGU”. Mr.Watanabe’s faith is connected people of kesennnuma and the world. The meaning “k” of k-port in kesennuma, Mr.Watanabe and mind.
K-port’s concept is “TSUNAGU”, a word that can be translated into English as “bond, connect, link to.” Mr. Watanabe’s wish is for people of the world to be connected to the people in Kesennuma, as well as Kesennuma residents to be linked to each other. The meaning of “K” in K-port is the “K” found in Kesennuma, Ken Watanabe and “Kokoro” (mind or spirit).
A design in a building is Toyoo Ito. He is architect who knows worldwide. A building is steel and one-story house. A roof is a pentagon and imagines playhouse. A gallery is in the store. There are exhibited pictures. And It can be used as a place of an event. The design of the café was created by the worldwide famous Toyoo Ito. The one-story building is a steel-framed reinforced concrete house. The roof is a pentagon, like that of a playhouse. A gallery is in the café. There are exhibited pictures. The café can be used as a venue of an event.
Mr.Watanabe visits a store once in several month . He is sending almost all fax message to the customer every day. Wherever in all over the world. It is put one corner in a store.
Mr.Watanabe visits the store unannounced once every two months. He is sending fax messages to the customers almost every day, no matter where he is in the world. The faxes are displayed in one corner of the store.
The menu is Pizza with the local ingredients, Sweets which collaborated with a store in kesennuma and shrimp curry etc...The menu development is performed by Mr,Watanabe and staff.The items on the café’s menu are created, developed, and tested by Mr. Watanabe and the café staff. The menu includes such dishes as pizza made with local ingredients, sweets which are made in collaboration with a store in Kesennuma, and shrimp curry whose recipe is handed down from a French chef.
In a store shoes off it take off the shoes by the entrance and enter a store. Because it wants to relax in the store like at your home. After an earthquake disaster, kesennnnuma disappeared play space for kids. So, K-port made kids space in one corner in a store. There is so popular.
People who enter the store take off their shoe and put them by the entrance, just as they do when entering an ordinary home in Japan. This is because the concept of K-port is to have you relax in the store like you do at home. After the 2011 disaster, play spaces for kids disappeared in Kesennuma. So, K-port made a kids’ space with toys and books in one corner of the store, which has proved to be very popular.
K-port hope it wants to be a loose place for a tourist and local persons. Everyone should go there when you visited kesennuma.
K-port hopes to be a spacious, relaxing place for both tourists and local residents. Everyone should go there when you visit Kesennuma!
Odyanomi studio Tsubaki
After the March 11,2011 earthquake and tsunami, women who lived on Oshima island had nothing to do. The only thing they did was “drinking tea” so every day was boring for them. But they realized that they could move their hands and make things, for example, “shugei” (handicrafts)! So, they came up with the idea of selling the goods they made. They named their store “Tsubaki” (camellia) because they had a wish. “We want women who live in Oshima to be happy and energetic. That way, their children will become energetic like bringht camellias.”
Their first activity was delivering “Michibiki-Jizou” (jizou guardians) to people whose houses were washed away by the tsunami. It is said that “Michibiki-Jizou” led the way for victims of the tsunami that occurred 100 years ago. The women made the jizou one by one. There weren’t handicraft shops and fabric shops in Oshima. So, immediately after, the disaster, the women used kimono which were left in dressers. Afterwards, they used cloth and materials which were donated to them. They devised ways to use as little money as possible to carry out their activities. Two other activities they did was holding pizza making classes and making toy pigs with elementary school students.
“Odyanomi studio Tsubaki” closed down in late October,2016. It is sad, but the women who were working there said, “We did all we could do. We feel a sense of achievement!” They were smiling broadly. They were able to make the people of Oshima feel happy and make them smile, which was their goal. Of course, they can still use their hands to create handicrafts, but what they found most enjoyable was bringing snacks and talking at the shop. The Odyanomi studuo Tsubaki is gone, but we hope that the women maintain their relaxed state and spend each day cheerfully.
villa petit roku
We went to Villa Petit Roku on June 5, 2016. The pension is visited by many people now.
The background of this pension is very interesting.
The pension owner, Mrs. Chiba, did not start out her career as a pension owner and/or manager. Rather, she was a full-time homemaker who was very sociable. She loved having people visit her home and enjoyed their meals together. Then, when she was in her late fifties, she decided to open a pension. Everything was going well and the future seemed promising --- and then the March 11, 2011 earthquake happened. Her pension was washed away by the tsunami. She thought that the reopening of the pension was impossible. However, with the support of many people, she was able to reopen her pension.
Due to the 2011 disaster, there is a difference between the pre- and post-2011 users and customers. Now there is a wider range in the age of guests, from young children to elderly people. People not only from the neighboring areas, but also from other prefectures and even foreign countries stay at her pension. Some people come to see the disaster-affected area, and so if it hadn’t been for the earthquake and tsunami, there wouldn’t have been a chance for them to meet, according to Ms. Chiba.
The warm-hearted Ms. Chiba sets a reasonable price for an overnight stay. She is also a kataribe, a recognized storyteller, so if you have a chance, we recommend considering a stay at Villa Petit Roku.
〒988-0273
宮城県本吉郡本吉町三島94-33
電話番号 0226-31-5623
FAX 番号 0226-31-5623
交通方法 ＪＲ気仙沼線「大谷海岸駅」より徒歩１分／Ｒ４５道の駅大谷海岸
