一般財団法人　連帯　東北・西南　RENTAI　TOHOKU-SEINAN

On Monday 31 October from 6 p.m., a dinner with about 20 people was held at our base camp, Senmaya International Club.

In addition to members of the local community with whom we have had a long-standing relationship, this time we were joined by Mr. Nishihara from the Laboratory of Conservation Ecology at Chuo University, a postgraduate student Ms. Saijo, and former chief priest Genpou Chisaka at Chishouin Temple in Ichinoseki City. Mr. Nishihara is conducting research on living creatures and environmental changes throughout Japan, and on efforts to conserve biodiversity (i.e. to protect the links between various living creatures and their habitats) in Ishikawa and Chiba prefectures. Our representative director, who was interested in his research, contacted Mr. Nishihara and heard that he was regularly visiting Chishouin in Ichinoseki City for his research, so we invited him and Chishouin's former chief priest Genpou Chisaka to join the dinner for the first time.

Chishouin is known as the first cemetery in Japan to have conducted tree burial, but according to former chief priest Genpou Chisaka, the 'Jumokusou no Sato (Tree Burial Village)', which has been active as a branch temple of Shouunji Temple, a family temple of the Tamura family, the 30,000-goku feudal lord of the Ichinoseki Domain, descending from Ukyo-dayu Tamura, was approved as a religious organisation as Nagakurayama Chishouin and is now a separate brother temple of Shouunji and is engaged in nature conservation activities. The wife of the Oyama priest of Shirahata Shrine, who has been very helpful in our activities and was also present at this dinner party, is a member of the Tamura family, so she was very happy to meet the former chief priest Genpou Chisaka again.

For the dinner, Sukiyaki was prepared by Mr. and Mrs. Hatakeyama from Okago and as usual was a great success. We would like to thank Mr. and Mrs. Hatakeyama for their preparation.

The dinner was also attended by former chief priest Genpou Chisaka, which led us to a visit to Chishouin on the following day, Tuesday 1 November. Chishouin, known as Japan's first tree burial cemetery, is a tree cemetery of the satoyama type, maintained and managed with the idea of preserving the ecologically rich natural environment and leaving it for future generations. The cemetery was made possible by the former chief priest Genpou Chisaka himself, who has a deep knowledge of living creatures and plants and is also involved in local ecosystem conservation activities and environmental education initiatives.

During these activities, we found that Mr. Nishihara and former chief priest Genpou Chisaka,with whom we were able to make new contacts, are strangely connected to the Ichinoseki and Senmaya areas, where we are based. We would like to continue our activities in the future, valuing both old and new relationships.

From 6:00 p.m. on Friday, July 29, at our base Senmaya International Club, we hosted a concert by koto (Japanese harp) player Ms. Miho Yamaji, in which she played five pieces of music ranging from 200 years ago to the present day. During the day, ceremonies and events were continuously held from the morning; however, the beautiful performance by Ms. Yamaji made everyone feel at peace. We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to her for coming from Okayama to Iwate and presenting wonderful performances many times.

From 7:00 p.m., we held a dinner party attended by about 32 guests from local communities. For this party, we requested Mr. Lee Shuei, a Chinese cuisine chef at Tokyo Prince Hotel, and his friend Ms. Fon to cook healthy dishes, which were a fusion of the food from their home countries, Taiwan and Vietnam. For the dishes, plenty of tomatoes and peppers were used, which were offered by Mr. Ikuo Takeyama, who set up a Dutch-style hydroponic farm in 2016 in partnership with local farmers, and everyone enjoyed the delicious taste.

We also invited Mr. Yuichi Yonezawa, his wife and his daughter Tae, from Rikuzentakata City, Iwate Prefecture, to the dinner party. On the day of the March 11, 2011 earthquake, Mr. Yonezawa evacuated to the rooftop of the three-story reinforced concrete building where he ran a packaging supplies shop. However, the tsunami soon reached there, so he climbed the chimney and had a narrow escape from death. In the meantime, his parents and younger brother fled to the shelter right next to the building and sadly, never came home. In his speech at the party, Mr. Yonezawa spoke as follows: "I feel chagrined at this tragedy, but I believe my wife and Tae survived in exchange for my deceased family members. Tae, born in the year of the earthquake, turned 11 years old this year. Please come and visit the building which saved my life; I put a sign indicating the tsunami water level on it. I am willing to guide you around at any time."

The party was also attended by Dr. Hiroyuki Iwamoto, who runs a neurology clinic in Senmaya Town, and his family. Dr. Iwamoto said that he became friends with Syed Tahir, a member of our foundation, and their friendship mentally saved him very much, and he was thankful to him. Mrs. Iwamoto also gave her speech. She told us that her hometown is Kamakura, and when she started living in Iwate, she felt a distance from her hometown; around that time, she heard about our foundation's activities related to Minamoto no Yoshitsune and felt a curious coincidence.

With this dinner party, once again, we deeply appreciated the connection with local communities and had a strong sense that we would like to continue such a dinner party that would allow us to interact with local people in the future.

Following the chinkonsai (a ceremony for the repose of the departed soul) for Yoshitsune of Minamoto, held on 15 June, the anniversary of his death, we performed a service to pray for the peace of the soul of Shizuyoshi of Minamoto (named by our Representative Director), who is the son born to Yoshitsune and Shizuka Gozen. It was held on 29 July, the birthday of Shizuyoshi, at Shirahata Shrine, which is associated with Shizuka Gozen and located near our base Senmaya International Club.

At the chinkonsai, kencha (tea offering) was conducted by Ms. Kiyoko Chida from Senmaya Town, who is a member of the Urasenke school of the tea ceremony. In addition, a piece of music, "Shizuka no Mai" (Shizuka's Dance), was performed by koto (Japanese harp) player Ms. Miho Yamaji who dedicated it to the souls of Yoshitsune and Shizuyoshi; she arranged the piece and performed it for the first time in Japan. In this ceremony, through the good offices of Mr. Jinan Fujiwara (the owner of Kurikomaso, hot spring inn on Mt. Kurikoma), a helmet and armor were placed in the main shrine in order to worship Yoshitsune as one soul; they were created by likening the helmet to his head and the armor to his body. In June 1999, Mr. Fujiwara performed a ceremony to pacify the soul of Yoshitsune at Shirahata Shrine in Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture by combining the soil taken from the grave that enshrines Yoshitsune's body, located on the Hanganmori hill in Kurihara City, Miyagi Prefecture, and the soil taken from the grave that enshrines his head at Shirahata Shrine in Fujisawa. After the ceremony, he walked a distance of 500 kilometers from Fujisawa to Kurikoma, Miyagi Prefecture, taking 43 days. Unfortunately, Mr. Fujiwara was unable to attend our ceremony, but we sincerely appreciate him for his cooperation.

Continuing on from June, Mr. Shin Oyama, the chief priest of Shirahata Shrine, and his wife again offered their support, which enabled us to perform the chinkonsai successfully. We deeply appreciate the enormous efforts of Mr. and Mrs. Oyama from preparation through to the day.Continuing on from June, Mr. Shin Oyama, the chief priest of Shirahata Shrine, and his wife again offered their support, which enabled us to perform the chinkonsai successfully. We deeply appreciate the enormous efforts of Mr. and Mrs. Oyama from preparation through to the day.

The naorai (feast after the ceremony) served at the shrine office was attended by guests who gathered not only from Senmaya Town but also from various places, including four from Kurikoma, Kurihara City, Miyagi Prefecture, and one from each of Nishiwaga and Hiraizumi. The foundation's Representative Director delivered the following thought-provoking speech: "History is often written by statesmen, but the truth lies deeply in the minds of the common people. To develop the areas around Ichinoseki and Hiraizumi to be a garden of love and peace that the Fujiwara clan once aimed for, what can we do today by going beyond the concept of 'world heritage,' which is just a defensive approach?" We also screened a video of "Shizuka no Mai" (Shizuka's Dance) performed at Kamakura Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine to think about the feelings of Shizuka Gozen.

We hope this ceremony will be held annually as a shrine event, along with the Yoshitsune's chinkonsai in June, and will be helpful to promote local development and make this place a garden of love and peace.

An article about the chinkonsai for Yoshitsune of Minamoto and Shizuyoshi was published in the Iwate Nichinichi Shimbun newspaper on 1 August, 2022.

On Friday, July 29 at 1:30 p.m., we held the unveiling ceremony of the stone monument in Hiraizumi that commemorates Yoshitsune of Minamoto, Shizuka Gozen, and their son, Shizuyoshi of Minamoto.

The monument was created in the hope that it would offer an opportunity for people to think about Yoshitsune, Shizuka Gozen, who suffered a tragic fate, and Shizuyoshi, the son born to them. The monument also represents a wish for reconciliation between the Minamoto clan and the Oshu-Fujiwara clan. On the back of the monument, the words "Love & Peace" are engraved, and we hope that this place will become a place of "Love & Peace" for all visitors. This monument was produced by Ishioto Sekizai, a stonemason shop based in Takaishi City, Osaka Prefecture, and the day before the ceremony, they drove all the way from Osaka to Hiraizumi, taking 15 hours to deliver it. We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to them.

After the ceremony, a tea party was hosted by Ms. Kiyoko Chida from Senmaya Town, who is a member of the Urasenke school of the tea ceremony. We sincerely appreciate her continuous support. The tea party was followed by a performance of a piece of music by koto (Japanese harp) player Ms. Miho Yamaji. She played "Midare" composed by Kengyo Yatsuhashi in the 17th century. While listening to the powerful and beautiful sound of the koto, the audience relived the moment of Japan 400 years ago.

From the afternoon on July 8 to July 9, we went to Iwaizumi town, Iwate prefecture and visited Senkin Shuzo Co., Ltd., Iwaizumi Elementary School, Iwaizumi Milk Products Co., Ltd. and Tanohata Yamachi Rakunou Gyunyu Co., Ltd.

【Visit to Senkin Shuzou Co., Ltd.】

On July 8, we visited Mr. Giichiro Yaegashi, the owner of Senkin Shuzo, a sake brewery and an old friend of Mr. Ichirou Murakami, our member. Established in the first year of Ansei (1854), the historic brewery have brewed Japanese sake using the water from the underground lakes of Ryusendo Cave, which is selected as one of the best 100 waters in Japan. Though we became late and visited the evening, he warmly welcomed us and showed us the brewery. Then at the fantastic place in there, Mr. and Mrs. Yaegashi prepared dinner to us with the help of their mother. Luckily, that day hit on the opening date of "ayu" (sweetfish) fishery, they also served us salt-grilled ayu. We really appreciate the pleasant dinner.

It was our first visit to Iwaizumi and the northern part of Iwate and they taught us a lot of new things.

【Visit to Iwaizumi Elementary School】

On July 9, due to our relationship with Ms. Kazue Takahashi, the principal of Iwaizumi Elementary school―our base camp Senmaya International Club was originally the estate of Ms. Takahashi's family―, we visited the school and saw a class. Ms. Takahashi told us that they have 149 students now but the number of students has been decreasing year by year. Her story saddened us.

They showed us a third year class by an American teacher and the students singing English songs cheerfully made us feel their eagerness to their future.

【Visit to Iwaizumi Milk Products Co., Ltd.】

On July 9 (Mon), we visited Iwaizumi Milk Co., Ltd., which locates just near Ryusendo Cave. The company is famous for its product called "Iwaizumi Yoghurt". Ms. Osawa, the senior executive, showed us their factory. Iwaizumi Milk was forced to stop operating because of the inundation caused by the heavy rain from Typhoon No. 10 in 2016. However, they spent 3 billion yen and reconstructed the facilities rapidly. Their effort astonished us and we couldn't help but wish they prosper more in the future.

【Visit to Tanohata Yamachi Rakuno Gyunyu Co. Ltd.】

On July 9, we visited Tanohata Yamachi Rakuno Gyunyu Co., Ltd., where cows are put to pasture and raised in the spacious field. Mr Kimio Yoshizuka, the owner, runs the farm with his five children and all their family members.

Two days before visiting the farm, we stopped at Yoshinoya, which is a confectionery shop in Hiraizumi town and has long been kind to us. Mr. Takashi Yoshino, the owner, told us that his sister married into the farmer. We felt some kind of connection and we took the opportunity and visited the farm.