Part 3: Scenes of Devastation from Ishinomaki

River side: 

The waterline on the side of a building.

A clock stopped at the exact moment the tsunami went
through the area.

Ocean side:

Part 2: Volunteering in Ishinomaki (Days 3-7)

Day three, our team stayed at base camp, cleaning, while others prepared for the festival. We had to clean the bathrooms (yuck), and cars that are used for delivering food to shelters and others in need. It was actually pretty fun. We finished just in time to attend the festivities. There were fireworks that night that had been donated from all over the country. I've never seen so many or such amazing fireworks in my life. There were smiley faces, cats, and everything else you could imagine in firework form. It was beautiful.

Portable shrine made of tsunami debris.

The days following the festival were spent back in Kobuchi Hama, helping the fisherman with the oysters, as well as untangling rope from tsunami debris. We ended up nearly finishing all the work with them, so it was a very successful week. There were only a few buckets of oyster left by the time we were done.

Photo credit: Hai Huynh

Photo credit: Hai Huynh

Our team
Photo credit: Hai Huynh

Part 1: Volunteering in Ishinomaki (Days 1-2)

My final week in Japan was spent volunteering in Ishinomaki with Peace Boat, a Japan-based non-profit that has been very active in helping out since March 11. For those of you who aren't aware, Ishinomaki was one of the most seriously affected cities of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, with over 46% of the city destroyed. One elementary school, Okawa Elementary, was completely destroyed, killing 74 of 108 students and 10 of 13 teachers and staff. Despite such loss, I rarely witnessed the people of Ishinomaki expressing anything but strength. Their perseverance and kindness was unimaginably amazing.

The trip there was very well organized: Peace Boat picked us up in Tokyo on the night of July 29th, and we took an overnight bus straight to base camp at Senshu University in Ishinomaki, where we arrived bright and early the next morning. 

Base camp

After getting all of our things into the tent and collecting our rental equipment (boots, rain jackets, etc.), we set straight off to work at Kobuchihama, a local fishery that had lost everything in the tsunami. We spent much of the week there stringing oysters onto ropes for harvesting, a process that takes two years to cultivate, so you can imagine the devastation to the industry that was caused. We worked right alongside the fisherman, who'd lost so much, but it was actually their liveliness and energy that kept spirits up.

Photo credit: Hai Huynh

The building we worked in. The tide would come into it
when it was rising because the land had shifted,
causing roads and buildings to flood daily.

Right outside where we worked

Photo credit: Hai Huynh

Stringing oysters
Photo credit: Hai Huynh

That evening, we also helped load two trucks full of supplies for Niigata, an area that was flooding due to heavy rains, causing tens of thousands to evacuate their homes.

Photo credit: Yannick Hiryczuk

Day two wasn't as physical, as we were lucky to be a part of the the Ishinomaki Kawabiraki (“River Opening”) Festival, which is held on July 31-August 1 every year. There was much debate over whether or not it would be held this year, but eventually the people of Ishinomaki decided to continue the tradition, honoring the memories of the tsunami victims with 10,000 paper lanterns down the river. That day, we prepared the bottoms of all the lanterns with waterproofing spray.

Photo credit: Peace Boat

Photo credit: Laurel Raab

The evening was very somber. The lanterns were released at 6:30 pm, each with a victim's name written on the side. We were later told a story about one of the fishermen we'd been working with that absolutely broke my heart. He'd been desperately searching for his daughter and wife's lanterns, but had only been able to find his wife's. Finally, after finding his daughter's, he ran to nearest shop to buy a rope, so he could tie them together. So they could be together forever.

Lanterns on the streets, decorated by children.
Photo credit: Laurel Raab

Dorm Manager, Aki

Lolita dresses!

I HAD to indulge in Harajuku street fashion -- Lolita style!

Tokyo Ice Bar

Tyler has returned to Texas, but I'm still here for another week! Unfortunately, he didn't make it to the Ice Bar with us. :( It was amazing, though. You had 45 minutes in a room made of ice. Even the cups were ice. I made the mistake of wearing sandals that day, so I was freezing! They fortunately lend you coats and gloves, but what I really needed were shoes!

Ice cups!

I was ready to leave after about 20 minutes, but we
stuck it out!

Sanrio Puroland

We went to the Hello Kitty Castle, Sanrio Puroland, last week. It was adorable! There's really not much to say other than that. So cute. We went to a dinner show afterwards and were serenaded by Kitty and Daniel (her boyfriend). It was a random weekday, so there was hardly anyone there. We basically had private dinner and a  show. <3

Part 4: Nagoya

Day 4 - Nagoya

After buying kimonos and leaving Kyoto, I headed to Nagoya and met up with a friend to go to the July Grand Sumo tournaments. We bought our tickets, but the main ceremony didn't start until 3:30ish, so we decided to explore around a bit. We tried getting Noh tickets for later that night at a theater down the street, but unfortunately, there weren't any for a while, so we headed to Nagoya Castle instead, which was just across from the sumo gym. 

Ratty looking and wet from the typhoon.

After quickly going in and around the castle, we headed back to the gym. It was actually really entertaining to watch! The wrestlers have up to four minutes to mentally prepare themselves, so they'd go to the line, stare at each other for a while, and one might have been ready, but if the other wasn't, they got up and went back to the corner for a second. Apparently they didn't used to have time restraints, so they would sometimes take forever to actually wrestle. Hilarious! It was overall very entertaining, and it was really neat watching the ceremony.

Ring ceremony!

As I was leaving, the rain really started picking up, so I took a taxi back to the station. I had zero cash on me though, and for the first time in a taxi ever, my cards magically didn't work, so I had to pour all my change out for him. He was livid. I had maybe half of the fare. I was so ashamed, but there were literally NO ATMs the whole time I was in Nagoya. Where were you 7-Eleven? It was so embarrassing, but he eventually had no choice but to let me out. I felt awful. Then, the typhoon really picked up in the station. The winds were so strong that I fell while walking on the platform. I couldn't even walk forward and was drenched in sideways rain within five seconds. Awful. Luckily my train came quickly. Fun times.

Part 3: Osaka

Day 2 - Osaka:

Finally, we headed to Osaka for the night and checked in to the ryokan (a Japanese-style hotel). It was right on the Dōtonbori canal, and pretty cute, next to all the Osaka night life. We walked around Dōtonbori, one of the main tourist spots in Osaka. It's a huge street running along the canal, lined with neon lights and a ton of restaurants.

Our half-western ryokan

Dōtonbori!

Tyler went out and ate okonomiyaki, a Japanese savoury pancake containing a variety of ingredients, and I found a Mexican food restaurant (I miss Tex-Mex SO MUCH). After that, the girls and I decided to go to Spa World, the most amazing onsen resort ever! There were so many different themed baths, from Ancient Rome, the Mediterranean, or Finland, to tea baths! Best birthday ever. I wish I could have taken pictures, but there were too many naked people.

Day 3 - Osaka:

We woke up early to a rainy day, but decided to head out to Osaka Castle anyways. I think it was one of my favorites so far! There was so much intricate gold on it.

Headed to the castle in the rain.

Then we headed to the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan. It's one of the largest public aquariums in the world! It was super crowded, though. You were lucky if you reached the glass of some of the more popular exhibits.

Check out the guy behind Tyler. LOL.

My favorite part! These fish were a part of the
"Cawaii Collection." The cartoons were so cute!

On the way back, we decided to stop by the Pokémon Center. The one in Osaka is the largest one in Japan, so I had high hopes. It didn't end up being any different than the one in Tokyo, aside from its size, so I was a bit disappointed. It was still amazing, and super crowded with children. 

We went back to our hotel to pick up our bags, and Tyler and I had okonomiyaki (Tyler loves it!) before heading to the Shinkansen station to head our separate ways (Tyler to Tokyo and Kelly back to Kyoto).