Interview With Mr. Hiroyuki and his wife Tomiko
Q: Could you please introduce yourselves briefly?
A: We have a son, two daughters and nine grandchildren who are living separately from us. Before the disaster, we used to live at Ise-cho in Watanoha area of Ishinomaki city. Both of us are pensioners. My son is living in Shiogama city with his family and working for a courier company. One of my daughters used to live with us before the disaster but is living now in Sendai city. Another daughter has been living in Saitama prefecture. Each of our three children has three grandchildren.
Q: Could you tell me the damages you had and the situation at time of tsunami?
A: Our couple and my son’s family in Shiogama suffered damage directly. When the earthquake occurred, we were at home. However, we evacuated to a bamboo grove nearby because we feared our house could collapse due to the fierce shaking. About 30 minutes later, our daughter rushed to us crying “Tsunami is coming! Run for your lives!” We started running to the mountain but the tsunami caught us. However, we were very lucky to get away only with getting wet.
As for our house, the water came up to near the ceiling of the first floor. Our four cars were all swept away and our home garden was totally damaged. One of my grandchildren is a junior high-school student. When the earthquake happened, he was taking part in the after-school activity at his school. He survived by evacuating to the third floor of the school. My son was at work, on a truck running from Shiogama to Higashi-Matsushima. On the way, he was engulfed by the tsunami with his truck. However, he got out of the truck by himself and jumped to a sturdy building. Thus, he survived. Luckily, there was no harm with his family and his house as well.
At night of the same day, my husband, daughter and I evacuated to Watanoha Junior High School. Wrapping our body in cuts of cloth and curtain, we shivered with cold and the morning came. In the second morning there, the water was not removed and the cold did not let up. We could not go back home on the second day either. We stayed there for two days. Later, we were evacuated to my son’s home and then to my daughter’s home in Saitama. Then, in August, we moved to this transitional shelter.
Q: When did you join the community café for the first time? Has something changed since you started joining it?
A: I took part in the community café in December for the first time. I don’t join it every time but I try to when I am free, because I have been worried that there is nobody in this shelter who I knew before the disaster. If I can communicate with the neighbors of this shelter at community café, it can give me a feeling of security. My husband likes singing so much that he went to Karaoke Box every other day before the tsunami. So, I was glad to see him singing cheerfully in “Occhakko (networking salon) – Karaoke”. As I had a sore throat, I could not sing, but I could enjoy myself in the atmosphere. Since our transitional shelter is located far from the central Ishinomaki, there is almost no support by volunteers here.
Q: Do you have any future plan?
A: I cannot erase the fact that we were hard hit by the tsunami but I should be thankful that all my family members escaped without harm. Although I cannot see them anytime when I want, they really provide me with emotional support. Our son who is living in Shiogama has a plan of setting up a new house in Ishinomaki. He is inviting us to live there together. I am so happy to hear it. It makes me cry.