一般財団法人　連帯　東北・西南　RENTAI　TOHOKU-SEINAN

The most important aspect of our activities at has been providing emotional support to the people living in the areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011. Our logo, which represents our spirit, depicts Tahir and me delivering love together (laughs).

　

This marks our fifth event, and we have continued this "Green & White Day" event, modeled after an Italian event, with the hope that it would serve as a catalyst for "town revitalization" based on ecology. As you know, the local population has decreased to nearly a quarter of what it was before the disaster, and I hear that the average age of those remaining is over 65. Stopping and reversing the declining birthrate and aging population can be described as a "daunting task."I truly feel that this is not just a problem for the disaster-stricken areas of Tohoku, but a serious issue shared by all of Japan.

　

On the day of the event, under a clear blue sky that made the previous day's rain seem like a distant memory, approximately 40 people joined us. This gathering was a special occasion, held in memory of Keishi Onodera, who passed away on August 6 of last year.

　 　

Tahir prepared "Tomodachi Curry"--a dish he has provided for many years in support of disaster-stricken areas--for the first time in a long while. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Yuri Nagasawa from Senmaya and Masayoshi Sugawara from Hiraizumi for arriving early at the venue to assist with the preparations. While making the curry, I fondly recalled how Mr. Sugawara's late wife used to diligently help with the preparations for the meals, such as chopping carrots.

　 　

　 　

At the venue, in addition to "Tomodachi Curry," a variety of dishes--including yakisoba, okonomiyaki, and grilled vegetables--were served with a true spirit of volunteerism. The savory aroma wafted on the breeze, naturally spreading smiles and conversation throughout the crowd. We also provided two shō of rice grown by Ichiro Murakami from Senmaya, and every last bit of the food we prepared was devoured.

　 　

This gathering, where warm feelings flowed between everyone, was truly a "place where people connect." Smiles of joy at long-awaited reunions and moments of new connections seemed to be spreading everywhere.

We are deeply grateful for all the kind gifts we received from everyone, including famous local confections, bread, homemade sweets, wild mountain vegetables, and beverages. In particular, we were honored that Mr. Ken Sasaki traveled all the way from Nishiwaga Town to join us, and we thoroughly enjoyed his wife's heartfelt and truly delicious home-cooked dishes featuring plenty of the local specialty, "warabi" (bracken). Thank you so much, Mrs. Sasaki!

　

　

In conjunction with this visit, we also paid our respects at the graves of Venerable Kocyu Sugawara of Chuson-ji Temple--who has supported us since the very beginning--as well as Chief Priest Koyama of Senmae Shirahata Shrine and Mr. Keishi Onodera.

We hope that "Green and White Day" will be more than just an event--we hope it will serve as a catalyst to revitalize the community. We're already thinking about the next one, the 6th edition!

I'd like to turn the Senmaya shopping district--which seems to be losing its vitality year by year--into a lively gathering where we fill 200 to 300 meters of the street with long tables. I'd like to hold this event three or four times a year, ideally once per season, and make it an event that draws visitors from all over the country.

We received tremendous support from so many of you, from setting up to cleaning up. Thank you very much.

On May 22, in the main hall of Kurikoma-so, a traditional Japanese inn bathed in the soft light of dusk, we held a pleasant dinner gathering with Mr. Tsuguo Sugawara of Kurikoma-so, Chairman Yasutoshi Takahashi and his wife of Kurikoma Kenkyo Co., Ltd. (the company that designed and built the Haibuden Hall in Hangwan-mori, Kurihara City), and the head priest of Ritsugen-ji Temple, Toshihide Takahashi, along with everyone who has supported the Kurihara region.

Our connection with Mr. Sugawara began when he took an interest in an anecdote from his youth: he walked 500 kilometers over 43 days from Shirahata Shrine in Fujisawa City (where legend has it that Yoshitsune's head was enshrined) to Hangan-mori in his hometown of Kurikoma City--the place said to be the resting place of Yoshitsune's body--to transport sacred soil (mitamatsuchi).
（From Mr. Tsugio Sugawara's website）

Furthermore, when the Haibuden (dance hall) was completed near Hangan-mori in November 2022, we invited a troupe performing the "Shizuka no Mai" (Shizuka's Dance) from Kamakura. You can view footage of this event on the website below: https://www.rentaitohoku.org/plaza/month2211.html

　

The meal was prepared with great care by Mr. Sugawara's daughter, Sumie, together with her mother, and everything was absolutely delicious. In particular, the whole char skewered and grilled was, as always, exceptional.

Furthermore, Mr. Ikuo Takeyama from Ishinomaki City went out of his way to deliver tomatoes, bell peppers, and other produce--grown at a magnificent high-tech farm built with major post-disaster reconstruction funds--from Okawa in Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture, all the way to Kurikoma-so on Mount Kurikoma, specifically for the event in Senmya the following day. Mr. Takeyama, thank you so much for your continued support.

Mr. Takeyama is someone who experienced the tragedy of losing his mother, wife, and daughter--all three of whom were in a car in Okawa--at once in the sudden tsunami. Please enjoy the newfound happiness you have now!

The open-air hot spring bath with its cloudy waters, enjoyed while gazing out at the forest of Kurikoma-so, is truly exceptional. I'm sure Yoshitsune and Shizuka would have enjoyed bathing together in harmony as well!

We will be holding a luncheon (the 5th "Green & White Day in SENMAYA") at the Senmaya International Club on Saturday, May 23, 2026, starting at 1:00 PM. We hope you will join us. Please refer to the attached flyer for details.

On Monday, March 11, 2024, at 6:00 p.m., we invited 30 of our closest friends to a dinner party at our base camp, Senmaya International Club, to commemorate the 13th anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake.

The menu for the dinner was prepared mainly by Mr. Lee, the former head chef of an authentic Chinese restaurant (in a certain hotel) and a long-time supporter of our activities. In addition, Mr. Merabi (https://www.persian.co.jp/), a close friend of ours, is good at Iranian cuisine and helped Mr. Lee immensely.

Mr. Melabi, who had prepared the food in advance at his home in Tokyo, and allowed us to ride in his car with him, helped us a lot with everything from preparation to cooking. Thank you, Mr. Melabi and Mr. Lee!

The menu began with Chinese appetizers, followed by a delicious hydroponic tomato salad provided by Mr. Takeyama, and then the main course of authentic spicy mapo tofu, followed by kebabs grilled by Mr. Merabi using an iron skewer, and we all enjoyed the savory dishes cooked on a charcoal fire.

Handmade sweets (Ms. Nagasawa), yuzu mochi (Ms. Takahashi), steamed buns (Ms. Yonezawa), apple juice (Ms. Ogata), and other after-dinner desserts were provided by everyone.

The participants, mostly from Senmaya-cho and Fujisawa-cho in Ichinoseki City, Iwate Prefecture, but also from Ishinomaki City and Kurihara City in Miyagi Prefecture and Rikuzentakata City in Iwate Prefecture, shared their thoughts and updates on the time of the disaster and what has happened since then.

When we hear the stories of people who lost their beloved families in the tsunami and have risen from the ashes, I am deeply moved by their courage and respect for their efforts. We have no experience in disaster relief, so we have been working on support activities in whatever way we can, but the greatest achievement and joy has been the strong sense of solidarity and friendship we have developed with the local people through our activities in an old house in Senmaya-cho, Ichinoseki City, Iwate Prefecture, which we acquired and set up as our base of operations and which we have named Senmaya International Club. We are very happy to have been able to experience this.

We changed the name of our organization from "RENTAI-TOHOKU" to "RENTAI　TOHOKU-SEINAN" to express our belief that Tohoku, which has been receiving support, should one day extend a helping hand to other disaster areas as well. What can Tohoku do for the victims of the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake?

We have held ecology-themed Green & White Day events at our base camp, Senmaya International Club, on May 20, 2018, June 8, 2019, and May 7, 2020, with a total of about 50 participants. (Please refer to the activity record on this website.)

Green & White Day is held annually in Rovereto, northern Italy. With an ecological theme, participants bring reusable glasses and plates and sit down to receive food on the dishes they bring in exchange for pre-purchased tickets, and the community enjoys food, conversation, and socializing until late into the night.

We had hoped to one day hold this Green & White Day event in the town of Senmaya as part of our efforts to revitalize the town, but thanks to the generous cooperation of the local community, we were able to hold the event at the Senmaya Rural Workers Welfare Center with about 300 people, including about 250 participants and 50 related people. We are very happy that the event was able to be held at there.

Nine local restaurants and bars opened their doors on the day of the event to provide food and beverages for the enjoyment of all participants. We all prepared Tomodachi Curry the day before the event and served it to the participants on the day of the event.

The vendors not only offered food and beverages, but also participation-type booths such as an e-sports experience, a nodate (tea ceremony) by Ms. Chida (Urasenke) from Senmaya, and test-rides of Toyota's MIRAI hydrogen car and a modern electrically power assisted bicycle with large tires made in China, allowing many people from children to adults to experience two of the most advanced ecological technologies. The booths were open to everyone, from children to adults.

On the stage, Hironori Sasaki played the shamisen, Mayu Musha, an elementary school student, played the trumpet, and Setsugen Yu played the erhu.

Three Ukrainians, Lyudmila and Luba, and her son, 13-year-old Jordan (a first grader in junior high school), who fled to Japan to escape the ravages of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, came all the way from their accommodation in Yokohama for a one-day visit to Senmaya. They expressed their gratitude for "helping Ukraine."

Our director also made a speech in the middle of the event, thanking the local people for the many meetings and preparations for this event, and strongly expressed his wish to hold the next Green & White Day in the shopping district of Senmaya, aiming at revitalization of the town, which is the original purpose of the event.

This event was on a scale never seen before, but thankfully, many people attended. This was all thanks to the efforts of local people who always support our activities, including Mr. Murakami, Mr. Hagisho, Ms. Nagasawa, Mr. Onodera, Mr. Ogata, and Mr. Sugawara. We were also very pleased to have many participants from Morioka City, Ichinoseki City, Hiraizumi Town, and Nishiwaga in Iwate Prefecture, and Kurihara City, Kesennuma City, and Sendai City in Miyagi Prefecture, who had been involved in our activities. Thank you very much.

This event was a first for us, with the introduction of a ticket sales system, but we were happy to see that a number of local high school students assisted in the operation of the event. We hope to make use of what we learned from this experience and assist in activities that will lead to the revitalization of the Senmaya area, with young people playing a central role.